Korea

SPOILER: Where to start with this fillum (it is Irish) is the most difficult part. It was shown as the closing event of the 2007 Irish cultural festival in Tel Aviv, Israel. It is 1952 in the midlands of Ireland some 30+ years after the war that led to Independence and when feelings still ran high between families over which side they supported. It is set in a rural town immediately prior to the coming of electricity and is the story of two families, one a poor widower (Donnelly) and his teenage son who scrape a living by fishing for eels in the local lakes and the other family a little better off with a daughter and a son who has gone off to join the US army in Korea (hence the title), where he is killed.

This is simply about two relationships, the main one between father and son that is intense with a domineering (but loving) father and a simple love relationship between son and daughter. The father wants to break up this relationship by sending his son to America because of his hatred of the Moran family. Its a simple story, well told and brilliantly acted. At less than 90 minutes, the screenplay is exactly right being based on three short stories.

The scenery is magnificent. Bleak countryside, often raining, with terrific cinematography. The colors are washed out to the point that it sometimes appears to be in black and white. The darkness of much of the film adds to its passions. If you get a chance to see this on DVD or a television channel without advertisements, do so.