Text/Scarlett
There are blockbuster Korean films every year, and this year is probably "Mogadishu".
Douban netizens have also believed that this is the best foreign language film that should win the Oscar again after "Parasite".
Mogadishu
Kind of interesting.
This movie, which was released in South Korea in July this year and has been drawn so far, why did it suddenly become a hit in the mainland after 3 months?
This movie is truly impressive.
In the month of its release in South Korea, it has seen 3 million movies. It surpassed Black Widow at the box office and became the Korean box office champion of the year at that time.
Although it is far from the tens of millions of movies watched by Korean blockbusters in the past, it is not easy to have so many people risking infection to go to the cinema in the epidemic period. Even the tens of millions of film emperor Huang Zhengmin's "Hostage 2021" this year, the box office is only half of this film.
After reading it overnight, I found that this was a familiar recipe, a familiar taste. In recent years, the films made in South Korea on the theme of north and south are consistently excellent.
In fact, to understand the korean north and south theme of the film, you may first need to understand a small knowledge of the background of the times, that is, the current president of South Korea, Moon Jae-in, was elected in 2017.
South Korea has always attached great importance to the dissemination of Hallyu culture through film and television and celebrities. Park Kyung-hye was popular in Asia because of "Descendants of the Sun", attended cultural events, and also took Song Joong-ki with him.
Since Moon came to power, he has been committed to breaking the ice on inter-Korean relations. Therefore, since 2017, we have seen more high-quality films with north-south themes, such as "Iron Rain" (starring Zheng Yusheng, which has been brushed three times); in 2018, "Agent" (huang Zhengmin, has been brushed twice); and then this year's "Mogadishu".
Of course, before 2017, there were similar themes, and they were very good, all of which were tens of millions of box offices, such as "Tai Chi Flag Flying", "Shiwei Island", and "International Market".
At the same time, after 2017, there are other films involving the theme of north and south.
However, after comparison, it can be found that the north-south theme films after 2017 have shown great similarities, and it is obvious that they are the same trend type of films, releasing a friendly expectation of South Korea's north-south relations.
01
South Korea's goodwill was unleashed
Whether it is "Iron Rain", "Secret Agent" or "Mogadishu", we can see the model of the film, which is the elite of a certain industry in the north and south under different ideologies, everyone from passive to active, and finally work together to solve some problems.
"Iron Rain"
The contradictions and conflicts in "Iron Rain" are relatively complex. There are wars, there are struggles for power and profits, and there are conspiracies between the North and the South. But in the end, two men from the north and the south, with different ideologies, realized that everyone was actually the parents and sons of ordinary people, and they did not want war.
On the same peninsula, the demonized cognition gained understanding. Both will be moved by each other's sacrifice.
This movie can be said to be the beginning of an attempt, and there is even a line in the movie: "Nuclear weapons are divided into half of us." Such an idealistic call. It expresses a kind of dream: the security of the Korean Peninsula, let us decide for ourselves.
The Secret Agent
In "Secret Agent", this expression is even more obvious.
In fact, the upper echelons of the north and the south do not want to fight, and the tense appearance is made in order to use the other side to create panic in the hearts of the people to maintain the support rate.
The two elite agents from the north and the south, out of their desire for peace and out of their heartfelt love for their respective countries, braved the possibility of losing their lives to promote peaceful contacts between the north and the south.
Ordinary people really don't want to fight. Ordinary people, from "Iron Rain", in fact, the north and south miss each other, to "Secret Agent", let us work together to achieve icebreaking. From this vein, the positive significance of the film has gone a step further.
Mogadishu, on the other hand, deepens this North-South cooperation as possible.
This time, they are not facing internal pressures, but external pressures.
At a time of civil strife in Somalia, the North and the South overcame their ideological contradictions and worked together simply to survive.
So, in the time of life and death, the North and the South can cooperate, can't they? In the face of life, ideology is no longer important. Ordinary people must live, and only those who are officials can toss and turn.
Eventually, in the presence of casualties, most of the people were rescued. Not only that, but there was also an understanding between them. The ROK side especially hopes that the DPRK side will be able to live a little better after returning home.
Looking at these three excellent north-south theme films from a longitudinal perspective, it will be found that this is a vein that is expected to be better step by step in the relationship between the north and the south. The goodwill of the film is in line with the wishes of ordinary Koreans, and in our words, it belongs to the political correctness in the minds of ordinary people. So it's understandable that movies are popular.
02
The tendency to demonize North Korea is under control
Although many friends say that South Korea is black in movies all the time, you know, Korean movies also black themselves all the time. Hei himself spares no effort, and in comparison, it is nothing to North Korea.
In fact, in my opinion, the portrayal of North Koreans and North Korea in the movie actually expresses that South Korea admits that it has been demonizing and stereotyping North Korea, but in fact South Korea is very curious about North Korea.
And from these three films, we can see the change in attitude towards North Korea in Korean movies.
In "Iron Rain", the North Korean soldiers we see are tool people full of iron laws. The male protagonist played by Zheng Yusheng is like the male protagonist played by Xuan Bin in "Mutual Help" who walked into "Iron Rain", handsome and different, with different souls, full of only loyalty to the Republic of Korea.
In the eyes of Koreans, this is pedantic and stereotyped. This impression is inextricably linked to the films on North-South relations before 2017.
In "Agent", we see North Korea, where the road has frozen bones. This is also a stereotype of North Korea in South Korea. I take it for granted that socialist North Korea must be poor as that. Capitalism is the paradise of mankind.
By the time of Mogadishu, there was finally no longer a frontal black North Korea.
But curiosity about North Korea is on full display.
For example, when the staff of the South Korean embassy talked about north Koreans, they said that they seemed to be born everyone who threw themselves into training, and each one had a special skill, and could be ten at any time. The tone was full of curiosity.
At the same time, he will use the mouth of the North Korean to say the details that are extremely frightening: Diplomats who go abroad to work must keep a child at home. If they don't go back, the child becomes an orphan.
Compared to the direct black in "Iron Rain" and "Secret Agent", this is already a lot more euphemistic.
03、
A perfect blend of hilarity, sensationalism and artistry
Whether it's "Iron Rain", "Secret Agent" or "Mogadishu", we can see that the film has perfectly integrated the funny elements and sensational elements in a movie, without any sense of violation.
In "Iron Rain", Guo Duyuan is the main funny person. "Secret Agent" is relatively restrained because of the heaviness of the tone. In Mogadishu, from the beginning of the film until it was robbed, I thought it was a funny film.
But at the end, these three films all appropriately get the audience's tears.
In "Iron Rain", the male protagonist played by Zheng Yusheng finally "wind Xiao Xiao is easy to be cold in the water", and it can be predicted that "the hero will not return once he is gone". But each told each other to take care of their bodies. From this point on, in fact, the tone of the North and South movies is that we are still brothers after all.
In "Agent", the North Korean played by Lee Seung-min has obviously guessed whether Hwang Jeong-min is a secret agent or let go of the South Korean played by Hwang Jeong-min. Let the understanding, affection and friendship between two men override ideology.
At the end of "Mogadishu", after the arrival of the plane, it is clear that everyone has just lived and died together, but when they get off the plane, they have to pretend that they don't know each other. This ending really made me cry instantly. If ideology is not important at the moment of life and death, and the North and the South are cooperating and working together to have a way out, then back in peacetime, how can we make compatriots become real compatriots? This is actually the most important issue to be resolved in North-South relations.
These three endings directly elevate the pattern of the movie. Both in artistry and reality give the audience room to think. Become the finishing touch to the movie.
04
The processing of real events is appropriate
With the exception of Iron Rain, which is based on comics, Agent and Mogadishu are based on true events. In terms of artistic processing, the changes can be said to be appropriate.
The true story found on the Internet is that the North Koreans did not ask for help from the South Koreans at first. It was the South Korean ambassador who took the initiative to think of the North Koreans.
But this plot, which is thicker than water, is too rustic and great, without drama.
So, in the movie, it becomes a North Korean crossing the line of life and death to find the South Korean for help. From the perspective of creating conflict, this will be more interesting.
The South Korean ambassador and counsellor also behaved more convincingly from rejection to struggle.
Reluctant at first, still burdened by ideology. But seeing the child, the counsellor persuaded the ambassador to agree.
After agreeing, the South Korean counselor wanted them to switch to South Korea, but the North Koreans refused. There was also a fight. According to the ambassadors who witnessed the incident at the time, they did not do so. The whole time it's just about how to live.
But these one conflicts after another have vividly expressed the tension in North-South relations. Movies are not the same as real life, and they do require intense conflict to grab the audience.
When I finally went to persuade the Italian embassy, the problems encountered were indeed based on the truth.
The South Korean ambassador recalled that at the time Italy did not agree to north Koreans without diplomatic relations going along. At his insistence, he agreed. As for his deception of the Italians that the North Koreans are defectors, it is also added to the movie.
It's also true to go on a plane at a life-and-death speed. It is also true that the Staff of the North Korean Embassy did not die until the end of the car to send everyone to death.
From here, we can see that the film has made a very attractive adaptation of reality to the audience, making the conflict of the film more concentrated.
05
The three films starred in the film emperor
Of course, these three films have received praise, and the strength of the main creative staff also has great appeal.
Yang Yushuo, the director of "Iron Rain", is also the director of "The Defender". Friends who have not seen "The Defender" strongly recommend making up lessons. This Green Dragon Award for Best Film fully demonstrates the strength of the director.
The male protagonist of "Iron Rain" Isong Yusheng is the Emperor of The Green Dragon Film, and Guo Duyuan is also a golden supporting role in the Korean film industry.
Agent's cast takes it to the next level. Huang Zhengmin, Li Xingmin, Zhao Zhenxiong, Zhu Zhixun, any one of them can carry an excellent movie, let alone gather them all? That year's Korean Film Grand Bell Awards gave the double film emperor to Hwang Jeong-min and Lee Seung-min, and the Baeksang Art Awards also gave the best film to "Agent".
In this year's "Mogadishu", the girls must be screaming for Zhao Yincheng, so he, I don't need to introduce.
But you can't help but not know the director of "Mogadishu." He really understands how commercial films end to point. "Berlin" starring Quan Jixian, "Old Hand" played by Hwang Jeong-min, and "Gunkanji" starring Song Joong-ki are all his works.
The lead actor, Uncle Kim Yoon-seok, is the double film emperor of Baixiang and Qinglong, and is a Chungmuro actor who can be assured of appearing in any drama. Another uncle who starred as the South Korean ambassador, Xu Junhao, I will say one, the mainland audience will know. He is in "Kingdom", playing the role of Shiko's teacher Ann Uchihi. It is also an old drama bone with famous acting skills.
At the Puri Film Festival in October, "Mogadishu" swept six awards, including Best Film and Best Supporting Actor (Uncle Xu Junhao). Whether it can enter the Oscars or not, at least among the Korean movies that have been broadcast this year, it is the best.
2021/10/21