Battle Ground 625 (2005)

Soldiers from both sides of the Korean divide live among villagers who know nothing of the war.

Director:

Kwang-Hyun Park

Writers:

Jin Jang (play), Joong Kim

Stars:

Jae-yeong Jeong, Ha-kyun Shin, Hye-jeong Kang

4 wins & 9 nominations.

Cast

Credited cast:
Jae-yeong Jeong	...	Chief Comrade Lee Su-Hwa
Ha-kyun Shin	...	2nd Lt. Pyo Hyun-Chul
Hye-jeong Kang	...	Yeo-il
Ha-ryong Lim	...	Jang Young-hee (North)
Jae-kyeong Seo	...	Army Medic Mun Sang-sang (South)
Deok-Hwan Ryu	...	Seo Taek-ki (North)
Steve Taschler	...	Smith
Jae-Jin Jung	...	Mayor
Young-yi Lee
Nam-Hee Park
Deok-hyeon Jo	...	Teacher Kim (as Duk-hyun Cho)
Seung-mok Yoo	...	Soo
Won-cheol Shim
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
David Anselmo	...	Special Forces Commander (as David Joseph Anselmo)
Michael Arnold	...	Attack Pilot Last Scene

Storyline

Soldiers from both sides of the Korean divide live among villagers who know nothing of the war.

---

Plot Keywords:

killing an animal | slow motion scene | butterfly | wild boar | swarm of bees | 

---

Genres:

Comedy | Drama | War

---

Certificate:

Not Rated

Did You Know?

Trivia

Was selected in September 2005 to represent South Korea in the Best Foreign Film category at the 2006 Oscars. Although it was reportedly very well-received at the Academy screenings, it did not get nominated.

---

Quotes

Teacher Kim: [in English] How are you?
Smith: What?
Teacher Kim: How are you?
Smith: How do you think I am, huh? I mean, how do you think I am? Look at me, huh? I mean, look at me! I'm tied up with sticks here. You know, I feel like shit! Like shit!
Village Chief: [in Korean] Not going well?
Teacher Kim: It's strange. You can see, like it says here, sir.
Village Chief: I can't read that.
Teacher Kim: Yes, sir. Well, if I say
[in English]
Teacher Kim: 'How are you?', he should say
[...]

User Reviews

A spellbinding gem.

I am a lover of all foreign cinema especially the Asian side of things but for me this came under the radar. I had not heard of this until i rented it in my local video shop 2 years ago. World cinema is far popular now than when i first got into it and i'm not to sure thats such a good thing because there was a time where only the best titles made there way to this country, a time where renting a foreign film guaranteed quality but that changed with the sudden American studio interest. This film was apart of that era for me, a film that i picked up many times but couldn't bring myself to rent. Wow was i wrong

This film is politically based but mythically set, get past the war and into the ethos of dongmakgol and you have a far more enjoyable film. I am not writing off the atrocities of war by no means but the way the spirit of this village has in bringing these enemies together is what the film is all about.

From the performances to the music score and even the quality SFX this film amazed me, how this isn't more widely appreciated is a sin. I urge all the people who read this that haven't seen it to watch it, and if you don't enjoy it then i can at least say i tried.

Details

Official Sites:

Official site [South Korea]

Country:

South Korea

Language:

Korean English

Release Date:

4 August 2005 (South Korea)

Also Known As:

Welcome to Dongmakgol

Filming Locations:

Korea

Box Office

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$32,065,527

Company Credits

Production Co:

Film It Suda

Technical Specs

Runtime:

133 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1