Lessons From War
I watched two anti-war movies recently.
One is a Japanese movie, Nijushi no Hitomi (Twenty-Four Eyes), that was produced in 1954. It is in black and white and it felt like watching all those Sampaguita and LVN productions on Channel 9 when I was growing up.
The story follows a teacher and 12 of her students from the time they were first graders to the time that only seven remained after the second world war. The children were played by local and untrained actors and it was very refreshing to see their untainted performances. The film was also very moving showing how people struggled during those times to make a living and to survive a war.
The film was recently voted as one of the 10 best films in Japan (and this was what made me curious) and considering that it came out a few years after the war, it shows the pacifist nature that was pervasive in Japan that time.
Pacifism was shown through the teacher who opposed the war and was very vocal about it. Her reason -- she did not want her students, sons and husband to die. But having this attitude, which people viewed as anti-nationalistic at that time was enough for one to be branded a communist.
Her husband and four of her male students eventually went off to war. Three of them never returned, including her husband. She continues to struggle for the sake of her children after the deaths of her mother and youngest daughter. She grows older and her fortune has changed from a relatively well-off young woman who can afford to buy a bicycle (which, to the view of the local villages, made her very Western) and dress up in nice kimonos to someone who had to walk for miles when she decides to return to the old school to teach.
Watching the movie is like watching a slow, typical day in a seaside town where nothing, yet something, always happens. It also reminded me of how noble indeed the teaching profession is and how it is a personal commitment to mold young people and watch them grow up to hopefully become responsible citizens.
And it made me grateful that I did not have to live through war.
The second movie, Welcome to Dongmagkol, is a South Korean dramedy.
It stars Shin Ha-kyun (SHK) as a South Korean soldier who deserted his unit and Jeong Jae-yeong (JJY) as a North Korean high commander who survives an encounter with two of his soldiers.
I like SHK since I watched him in Guns & Talks. He was also good in My Brother. Incidentally, both films co-starred him with Won Bin. This was the first time I watched JJY and I liked his performance.
Dongmagkol is set during the Korean War. It is about an innocent village up in the mountains where the North and South soldiers found themselves after an encounter. Also an incidental guest in the village is a US Navy pilot who was shot down in the area and is now the subject of a hunt by the US forces.
The villagers do not know that there is a war going on. They don't know that the long "sticks" are guns. They are amused at the sound of gunfire, are polite and listen to their village chief. The movie's highlights -- that are funny -- naturally involve them.
**Spoiler alert**
When the soldiers from the North arrive in the village led by a mentally retarded girl, they are dismayed to find that two soldiers from the South are already there. A stand-off ensues that lasts through the night and the following morning, with the villagers trapped on a square platform between them. The villagers do not know what is going on and listen to the soldiers' arguments with interest and puzzlement. Then a grenade from the North side was accidentally denotated and the soldiers scream for everyone to take cover, but only them actually do since the rest do not understand what the fuss is all about. The bomb does not go off and SHK picks it up with a look of scorn at the Northerners and throw if in the direction of the storage where the villagers keep their crops. The bomb explodes turning the corn kernels into popcorn and the village is instantly swathed in popcorn snow.
The villagers make a fuss about how they are going to go hungry with their annual food supply now gone. So the soldiers, out of conscience, decide to help them in the fields. They agreed to work until the storage is full again and only then will they leave. One day while they are out in the fields, a giant boar comes running into the mountain and everyone helps out to kill it. Unfortunately, the villagers do not eat meat so they bury the boar. Late in the night, the Southerners agreed that it was a pity to let the boar go to waste so they go back to the fields only to find the Northerners have beaten them to the lechon boar and were happily feasting on it. They awkwardly join and a few minutes later, the American pilot also arrives. Animosity gone and hungry stomachs the order of the day, they all sat down to stuff themselves with the meat.
The North and South became part of the village and learned to overcome their animosity. But then the American's rescuers were coming and this is when the film ceases to become charmingly funny and outrightly tragic. In war, there will always be casualties and sad as it may be, the reality is, a few have to give up their lives so that many would live.
In this day and age, some parts of the world are still at war yet it is difficult to imagine what it is like to be caught in a war. I could only hope that the leaders, especially in Asia, would not be stupid to throw the region into war when we have more to lose now than ever before.
One is a Japanese movie, Nijushi no Hitomi (Twenty-Four Eyes), that was produced in 1954. It is in black and white and it felt like watching all those Sampaguita and LVN productions on Channel 9 when I was growing up.
The story follows a teacher and 12 of her students from the time they were first graders to the time that only seven remained after the second world war. The children were played by local and untrained actors and it was very refreshing to see their untainted performances. The film was also very moving showing how people struggled during those times to make a living and to survive a war.
The film was recently voted as one of the 10 best films in Japan (and this was what made me curious) and considering that it came out a few years after the war, it shows the pacifist nature that was pervasive in Japan that time.
Pacifism was shown through the teacher who opposed the war and was very vocal about it. Her reason -- she did not want her students, sons and husband to die. But having this attitude, which people viewed as anti-nationalistic at that time was enough for one to be branded a communist.
Her husband and four of her male students eventually went off to war. Three of them never returned, including her husband. She continues to struggle for the sake of her children after the deaths of her mother and youngest daughter. She grows older and her fortune has changed from a relatively well-off young woman who can afford to buy a bicycle (which, to the view of the local villages, made her very Western) and dress up in nice kimonos to someone who had to walk for miles when she decides to return to the old school to teach.
Watching the movie is like watching a slow, typical day in a seaside town where nothing, yet something, always happens. It also reminded me of how noble indeed the teaching profession is and how it is a personal commitment to mold young people and watch them grow up to hopefully become responsible citizens.
And it made me grateful that I did not have to live through war.
The second movie, Welcome to Dongmagkol, is a South Korean dramedy.
It stars Shin Ha-kyun (SHK) as a South Korean soldier who deserted his unit and Jeong Jae-yeong (JJY) as a North Korean high commander who survives an encounter with two of his soldiers.
I like SHK since I watched him in Guns & Talks. He was also good in My Brother. Incidentally, both films co-starred him with Won Bin. This was the first time I watched JJY and I liked his performance.
Dongmagkol is set during the Korean War. It is about an innocent village up in the mountains where the North and South soldiers found themselves after an encounter. Also an incidental guest in the village is a US Navy pilot who was shot down in the area and is now the subject of a hunt by the US forces.
The villagers do not know that there is a war going on. They don't know that the long "sticks" are guns. They are amused at the sound of gunfire, are polite and listen to their village chief. The movie's highlights -- that are funny -- naturally involve them.
**Spoiler alert**
When the soldiers from the North arrive in the village led by a mentally retarded girl, they are dismayed to find that two soldiers from the South are already there. A stand-off ensues that lasts through the night and the following morning, with the villagers trapped on a square platform between them. The villagers do not know what is going on and listen to the soldiers' arguments with interest and puzzlement. Then a grenade from the North side was accidentally denotated and the soldiers scream for everyone to take cover, but only them actually do since the rest do not understand what the fuss is all about. The bomb does not go off and SHK picks it up with a look of scorn at the Northerners and throw if in the direction of the storage where the villagers keep their crops. The bomb explodes turning the corn kernels into popcorn and the village is instantly swathed in popcorn snow.
The villagers make a fuss about how they are going to go hungry with their annual food supply now gone. So the soldiers, out of conscience, decide to help them in the fields. They agreed to work until the storage is full again and only then will they leave. One day while they are out in the fields, a giant boar comes running into the mountain and everyone helps out to kill it. Unfortunately, the villagers do not eat meat so they bury the boar. Late in the night, the Southerners agreed that it was a pity to let the boar go to waste so they go back to the fields only to find the Northerners have beaten them to the lechon boar and were happily feasting on it. They awkwardly join and a few minutes later, the American pilot also arrives. Animosity gone and hungry stomachs the order of the day, they all sat down to stuff themselves with the meat.
The North and South became part of the village and learned to overcome their animosity. But then the American's rescuers were coming and this is when the film ceases to become charmingly funny and outrightly tragic. In war, there will always be casualties and sad as it may be, the reality is, a few have to give up their lives so that many would live.
In this day and age, some parts of the world are still at war yet it is difficult to imagine what it is like to be caught in a war. I could only hope that the leaders, especially in Asia, would not be stupid to throw the region into war when we have more to lose now than ever before.
posted by YupkiGirl at 3:15 pm
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