Not to mention September or October, looking at the whole year, there is no more popular Korean drama than "Squid Game".
Since its broadcast, "Squid Game" has been rising in popularity, continuously occupying the top spot in the global list of Netflix, which is really popular in the world.
According to Netflix's preliminary estimates, the show has become the most valuable streaming TV series in history, generating a value of perhaps $900 million.
Compared with the popular Korean dramas, this year's Korean film performance is not so prominent.
After "Parasite" in 2019, the Korean film that can be remembered by the audience can be counted on one hand. Taking the rating on Douban as an example, in the entire 2020, only 1 movie in The Korean film has scored more than 8 points.
It was not easy, and finally waited for the only two Korean movies worth watching this year, and it was also the film that South Korea chose to send the Oscar this year.
Mogadishu
The film was released at the end of July, and more than 120,000 people watched the film on its first day of release, making it the highest opening record among Korean films released this year.
In the seven days of release, the cumulative number of viewers exceeded 1 million, and it was also the first Korean film to exceed 1 million this year.
As of now, "Mogadishu" has been the top korean film annual box office with 3.6 million viewers.
There are two reasons why movies are so interesting.
One is that the film's lineup really makes people have no reason not to expect, "tens of millions of film veterans" Liu Sheng finished directing, double film emperor Kim Yoon-seok, national male god Zhao Yincheng, and golden supporting role Xu Junhao.
One is the cost of blood, the film cost more than 20 billion won, the crew spent 4 months in various parts of Africa to explore the scene, the place where the money was even fine to the sound configuration of the racing scene.
The Korean net score was 8.7, and the Douban score was 8.6, which has now dropped to 8.2, which is better than 83% of historical films and 79% of drama films.
It is also the second highest-rated Korean film this year, the highest being the biographical film "Zishan Fish Recipe".
Whether it is a short review or a long review, the high praise is the praise of the film, and some people bluntly say that "at least it is also the Oscar Best Chinese Film".
Personally, with a low rating of 8.2, Mogadishu deserves a higher score.
"Mogadishu" takes place in Mogadishu, the capital of Somalia from late 1990 to 1991, and first introduces the background of the story.
Mogadishu has been plagued by civil war since 1969, and until 1991, the regime was dominated by a major warlord.
He is a famous dictator in Africa, and during his tenure, he frantically supported his own tribe and suppressed the other 5 tribes, which also led to the further intensification of conflicts between tribes.
At the same time, Somari is one of the two Koreas, in order to win the full membership of the United Nations and the support of African countries with diplomatic or reciprocal relations.
The protagonists of the story are the two Ambassadors of the Two Koreas who came to win the support of General Barre.
At the beginning of the movie, The South Korean counsellor Kang Dae-jin, played by Cho Yin-sung, landed in Mogadishu, and he came to send gifts to the South Korean ambassador this time.
This gift was carefully prepared by the South Korean side for General Barre, and for this meeting, the Korean ambassador (hereinafter referred to as the Korean envoy) prepared for a long time, but on the way there, he was robbed.
When they arrived at General Barre's residence in a daze, they were disqualified from meeting because they were 15 minutes late.
Soon, the Han envoys also found that the looting of the gift was not an accident, but was planned by the Ambassador of the DPRK-Xian (hereinafter referred to as the "DPRK Envoy"), who was also enlisting the support of General Barre.
Jiang Dazhen, who came from intelligence, had already thought of countermeasures, and through a photo by a US reporter, fabricated rumors about the sale of weapons to the rebels by the DPRK and spread them everywhere.
Although the practice was not bright, it did work, and the news succeeded in getting them and General Barre to see it above. But the meeting process was not smooth, Barry did not care who supported, only cared about who gave more money, talked down, no results.
The two ambassadors have not yet won or lost, but the riots in Mogadishu have come.
Embassies of various countries have withdrawn, but the two Koreas are in an embarrassing situation, and the entire city is not enough electricity, the telephone is also destroyed, and suddenly it is isolated.
The staff of both embassies hid in the embassies, the guerrilla warfare in the city did not stop, the rebel army gained momentum, and finally General Barre and the main officials fled.
The embassy's residence was attacked by rebels, first snatching money and food, and the next second it was likely to kill them.
In order to save his life, the envoy decided to lead more than a dozen compatriots in the embassy to find a new way out.
Desperate, they came to the door of the South Korean Embassy.
Kang Dae-jin discovered the greed of government forces for money early on, and he spent $300 to hire government troops to protect the official residence of the South Korean embassy.
Because of the armed protection, the rebels did not dare to approach easily, and the Korean embassy became a refuge.
However, the relations between the two Koreas have always been antagonistic, and whether to accept these North Koreans has become a major problem for the Rok ambassador.
But what they didn't expect was that the bigger problem was actually ahead.
Because of the acceptance of the Korean compatriots, the mercenaries were dissatisfied with the rewards they had given, and they left, and the Korean embassy became an unprotected place.
As a result, how to escape from Mogadishu alive has become a common goal of both the two Koreas.
The next step is the efforts made by the personnel of the two countries to escape, and there is the most tense and exciting bridge section in the film - the car chase gun battle scene.
At the end of the story, both sides successfully fled after losing only one compatriot.
Judging from the trailer and introduction alone, the movie gives people the illusion of a Korean version of "Operation Red Sea" or "Escape from Tehran".
Yes, in terms of scene scheduling, the director did show his "tens of millions of film veterans" skills, the film in the emotional mobilization of the upper layers of progress, burst points one after another, relaxed, very gripping.
From the first carjacking scene, the suspense and tension hang on.
The sudden riot, the camera shifts from the 4 people in the hotel to the chaotic street scene outside the door, and then to the picture of the whole city in the war, the cruelty of the war is immediately revealed.
The scene where Han's driver sneaks in in the middle of the night and is then discovered to be a member of the rebel army is also well filmed.
In addition, perhaps because the protagonist and his party are only diplomats, they cannot fight with the rebels like special forces, and the action scenes and gunfight scenes in the movie are not big scenes.
The gun battle chase scene is a one-sided "you chase me to escape", and the point of view of this part is actually not how good the gun battle scene is, but the audiovisual effect of the whole process.
It is said that the director has put a lot of effort into the sound effects in order to make the racing scenes in the movie make the audience feel "immersed", and the scheduling and transition of the shots are definitely worthy of praise.
Both action scenes take place on the North Korean counsellor, one in which he takes the rebels to loot the Embassy, and he is knocked to the ground by the rebels to protect his compatriots.
Once, he found out that Counselor Han wanted to take the opportunity to forge the defection documents of their group and fight with Jiang Dazhen in the room.
These two scenes make the character of Counselor Chao very three-dimensional, and it can even be said that he is the most full-bodied character in the movie.
He could think of using informants to create robberies to prevent the Han envoy from meeting with Barre, and he was the first to question it when the North Korean ambassador wanted to seek refuge from the Rok embassy.
At the same time, the portrayal of "Mogadishu" in the literary drama is also very plus, and it can even be said to be more subtle.
For example, there are many contrasting pictures in the film, both current and before and after.
The riots in Mogadishu came at a time when the "quiet years" of embassies and chaotic streets were separated by a wall.
On the side of the radio, the declaration that "family is like friends, friends are like family" was played.
On one side are civilians who have been beaten violently on the street for no reason, and some of them are dragged on the street covered in blood;
Someone grabbing something on the street has no scruples;
Someone clutching a small shoe and crying in despair;
There is also the contrast between the children in Mogadishu, where the North Korean counselor goes to the beggars of the informant to get "gifts", and the camera gives the child born in such an environment that still has a naïve, cute and studious side.
But when the civil war broke out, the children who had been happy for half a day because of a loaf of bread picked up heavy machine guns and fired wildly at the crowd and the sky.
Similarly, this contrast exists in the korean children and somali children.
Watching the whole movie, compared with the tense and exciting picture of chasing a car and fleeing, the film focuses more on the inner tug and choice of the two Koreas.
The director uses a lot of silent pictures to depict the compatriotism of the two countries, and the transition between the two sides from confrontation to cooperation is very delicate.
For the first time, embassy personnel from both countries eat at the same table, and because of the same eating habits, they will naturally help when the dishes are not going well.
There is also a shot of a North Korean child covering his eyes, which appears twice.
Once, they entered the Korean Embassy and looked at the mascot of the Seoul Olympic Games in the hall, and the children were attracted by the toys because of the fun, but the adults thought that this was a red flag and quickly covered the children's eyes.
One was when the two countries landed safely, because they could not disclose their relationship with each other, they made a final farewell in the narrow cabin, disembarked in batches, and no longer looked at each other.
Colleagues who have experienced life and death together, but because of the situation, they can only be strangers.
And the most obvious change in attitude between the two counselors, and finally when watching the North Korean counselor die in the driver's seat, the South Korean counselor's sigh was very tear-inducing.
So what "Mogadishu" really wants to talk about is that the characters temporarily let go of their antagonistic hatred for each other through mutual understanding.
After all, at such a delicate moment in the relationship between the two countries today, instead of making a cool film about how to escape from Mogadishu, it is better to use such a helpless ending to make people think more.
It is no wonder that this movie can be selected for the Oscar, such an "ambitious masterpiece" that needs to be seen.
Finally, I would like to add that after the story of the Korean ambassador in the movie having a real-life prototype and the protagonist of the story leading 14 Korean embassy personnel to get rid of the crisis together was made public by the media, it became a topic of "humanitarian love beyond the concept".
But he and the envoy never saw each other again.
Bluestone Film Editorial Office | Old Meng
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