Top 250 MoviesMost Popular MoviesTop 250 TV ShowsMost Popular TV ShowsMost Popular Video GamesMost Popular Music VideosMost Popular Podcasts
    Release CalendarBrowse Movies by GenreTop Box OfficeShowtimes & TicketsMovie NewsIndia Movie Spotlight
    What's on TV & StreamingBrowse TV Shows by GenreTV NewsIndia TV Spotlight
    What to WatchLatest TrailersIMDb OriginalsIMDb PicksIMDb Podcasts
    OscarsBest Picture WinnersBest Picture WinnersEmmysSTARmeter AwardsSan Diego Comic-ConNew York Comic-ConSundance Film FestivalToronto Int'l Film FestivalAwards CentralFestival CentralAll Events
    Born TodayMost Popular CelebsMost Popular CelebsCelebrity News
    Help CenterContributor ZonePolls
For Industry Professionals
  • All
  • Titles
  • TV Episodes
  • Celebs
  • Companies
  • Keywords
  • Advanced Search
Watchlist
Sign In
Sign In
New Customer? Create account
  • Fully supported
  • English (United States)
    Partially supported
  • Français (Canada)
  • Français (France)
  • Deutsch (Deutschland)
  • हिंदी (भारत)
  • Italiano (Italia)
  • Português (Brasil)
  • Español (España)
  • Español (México)
  • Cast & crew
  • User reviews
  • Trivia
IMDbPro

Ode to My Father

Original title: Gukjesijang
  • 20142014
  • Not RatedNot Rated
  • 2h 6m
IMDb RATING
7.8/10
5.5K
YOUR RATING
Yunjin Kim in Ode to My Father (2014)
Trailer for Ode to My Father
Play trailer1:15
2 Videos
99+ Photos
DramaWar
Amid the time of Korean War, a young boy's vow to take care of his family marked the beginning of a lifelong promise spanning 60 years.Amid the time of Korean War, a young boy's vow to take care of his family marked the beginning of a lifelong promise spanning 60 years.Amid the time of Korean War, a young boy's vow to take care of his family marked the beginning of a lifelong promise spanning 60 years.
IMDb RATING
7.8/10
5.5K
YOUR RATING
    • JK Youn
    • Su-jin Park
    • JK Youn
  • Stars
    • Hwang Jung-min
    • Yunjin Kim
    • Dal-su Oh
    • JK Youn
    • Su-jin Park
    • JK Youn
  • Stars
    • Hwang Jung-min
    • Yunjin Kim
    • Dal-su Oh
  • See production, box office & company info
    • 34User reviews
    • 16Critic reviews
  • See more at IMDbPro
    • Awards

    Videos2

    Ode to My Father
    Trailer 1:15
    Watch Ode to My Father
    Main Trailer - Ode to My Father
    Trailer 1:45
    Watch Main Trailer - Ode to My Father

    Photos195

    Hwang Jung-min and Dal-su Oh in Ode to My Father (2014)
    Hwang Jung-min in Ode to My Father (2014)
    Hwang Jung-min and Dal-su Oh in Ode to My Father (2014)
    Yunjin Kim and Hwang Jung-min in Ode to My Father (2014)
    Hwang Jung-min and Dal-su Oh in Ode to My Father (2014)
    Yunjin Kim and Hwang Jung-min in Ode to My Father (2014)
    Yunjin Kim and Hwang Jung-min in Ode to My Father (2014)
    Ode to My Father (2014)
    Hwang Jung-min in Ode to My Father (2014)
    Dal-su Oh in Ode to My Father (2014)
    Ode to My Father (2014)
    Hwang Jung-min and Dal-su Oh in Ode to My Father (2014)

    Top cast

    Edit
    Hwang Jung-min
    Hwang Jung-min
    • Yoon Duk-soo
    • (as Jeong-min Hwang)
    Yunjin Kim
    Yunjin Kim
    • Young-ja
    Dal-su Oh
    Dal-su Oh
    • Cheon Dal-gu
    Jin-young Jung
    Jin-young Jung
    • Yoon Jin-gyu
    Jang Young-Nam
    Jang Young-Nam
    • Mother
    Ra Mi-ran
    Ra Mi-ran
    • Aunt Kkotbun
    Seul-gi Kim
    Seul-gi Kim
    • Kketsun
    • (as Seul-ki Kim)
    Jason Archilla
    • US Soldier
    Stella Choe
    • Maksoon
    Jesse Day
    • American Soldier
    Ji-seong Eom
    • Deok-Su
    Lee Ho-Cheol
    • Refugee
    Yunho Jung
    • Nam Jin
    Hyun Lee
    • Seung-Gyu
    István Medvigy
    • Maksoon's Husband
    Kim Min-jae
    Kim Min-jae
    • Yoon, Dojoo
    Yeong-su Park
    • Youth Association President
    Inho Tae
    • Yoon, Kijoo
      • JK Youn
      • Su-jin Park
      • JK Youn
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

    More like this

    1987: When the Day Comes
    7.8
    1987: When the Day Comes
    Veteran
    7.0
    Veteran
    The Spy Gone North
    7.3
    The Spy Gone North
    The Attorney
    7.7
    The Attorney
    Tae Guk Gi: The Brotherhood of War
    8.0
    Tae Guk Gi: The Brotherhood of War
    Masquerade
    7.8
    Masquerade
    Assassination
    7.2
    Assassination
    Miracle in Cell No. 7
    8.1
    Miracle in Cell No. 7
    Nameless Gangster: Rules of the Time
    7.0
    Nameless Gangster: Rules of the Time
    Hope
    8.2
    Hope
    A Taxi Driver
    7.9
    A Taxi Driver
    The Age of Shadows
    7.1
    The Age of Shadows

    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      JK Youn named the lead characters after his own real-life parents, Deok-soo and Young-ja.
    • Goofs
      The brief shot of Boeing 747-400 with modern Air France livery was shown. The part of the story took place in 1963 so the Boeing 747 wasn't launched until 1968 and entered into commercial flights in 1970. Air France didn't have the modern livery shown in the film until 21st century.
    • Connections
      Remade as Bharat (2019)

    User reviews34

    Review
    Review
    Featured review
    7/10
    Bypass the PTSD
    Ode to My Father is a story for most Korean-Americans who came to the US as children with their parents. I always thought my Uncle Thomas was such a brave and entrepreneurial individual for going to Saigon during the war to sell pizza to the US soldiers but after watching the film, I realized these opportunities were presented to the masses after the Korean War. I never knew about the German coal mines recruiting laborers from Korea and that definitely gave me pause to reflect upon the scene where the Korean high schoolers were discriminating against the Pakistani couple at Starbucks. South Korea was once 3rd world too.

    My dad always lamented on why the conflict between super powers was fought on Korean land instead of Japan. And why Korea was divided and not Japan. Germany was divided after WWI, why wasn't Japan? Japan shared all its medical learnings from the wartime POW science experiments and gave unconditional surrender to the US to do its will and was spared. He resigned that the 2 atomic bombs were punishment enough.

    Ode to My Father is an attempt at epic film-making spanning 4 decades like Forrest Gump. The biggest issue I have with this film in attempting depiction of such a span of time is the lack of period transport for the film watcher. The film Taegukki was much better at cinematography showing life after the liberation from Japanese colonialism. You feel like you are there with the brothers. In Ode to My Father, the breathtaking scene of the refugees amassed at the port was eye-opening to say the least but the rest of the film showed contemporary thoughts and actions from its main characters rather than the unworldly views possessed by most Koreans living at the time.

    Duk-soo and Dal-gu's friendship is exemplary of the many friendships forged during that time. My father is still good friends with his buddies from middle school and high school. They never share stories or reminisce about the past because it is just too painful. But if my father saw this film, he would definitely be in tears at his ripe old age of 82.
    helpful•8
    3
    • myalbum
    • Jun 6, 2015

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • December 17, 2014 (South Korea)
      • South Korea
      • Official site (Japan)
      • Korean
      • English
      • German
      • Vietnamese
    • Also known as
    • Filming locations
      • Thailand
    • Production companies
      • JK FILMS
      • The 6th Element
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

    Edit
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Technical specs

    Edit
    • 2 hours 6 minutes
      • Color
      • Dolby Digital

    Related news

    Contribute to this page

    Suggest an edit or add missing content
    Yunjin Kim in Ode to My Father (2014)
    Top Gap
    By what name was Ode to My Father (2014) officially released in India in English?
    Answer
    • See more gaps
    • Learn more about contributing
    Edit page

    More to explore

    Recently viewed

    Please enable browser cookies to use this feature. Learn more.
    Get the IMDb App
    • Get the IMDb App
    • Help
    • Site Index
    • IMDbPro
    • Box Office Mojo
    • IMDb Developer
    • Press Room
    • Advertising
    • Jobs
    • Conditions of Use
    • Privacy Policy
    • Your Ads Privacy Choices
    IMDb, an Amazon company

    © 1990-2023 by IMDb.com, Inc.