Address Unknown (2001)
Romances end in blood and the frail hopes of individuals are torn apart in a vile karmic continuity of colonialism, civil war and occupation. After surviving Japanese colonization, Korea became the first war zone of the Cold War. The legacy of war remains today in this divided country.
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Wonderful Movie
An absolute waste of money
Excellent characters with emotional depth. My wife, daughter and granddaughter all enjoyed it...and me, too! Very good movie! You won't be disappointed.
It's simply great fun, a winsome film and an occasionally over-the-top luxury fantasy that never flags.
ADDRESS UNKNOWN is such a grubby and begrimed film. It features ugly characters in ugly situations and settings, and offers little or nothing in the way of artistic redemption. It is nearly impossible to believe that the same director, Ki-duk Kim, fashioned the elegant and haunting film, "3-Iron" which charted the despair and loneliness of a homeless couple who seek solace and sanctuary in the empty vacation homes of strangers. ADDRESS UNKNOWN skirts the line between pathos and bathos, and then plunges in without a backward glance. Thus, ADDRESS UNKNOWN becomes almost punch-drunk and silly instead of emotive or poignant.
This movie is a portrait of human beings. There are no "the good ones" and "the bad ones". The characters are victims of their circumstances. The problem I saw in this movie was: there are so many stories that after 80 or 90 minutes the film becomes tedious and artificial. Every single story has a dramatic end. There are so many screams, cryings and dramas that it begins to be artificial. Although I know in war is impossible to have a big smile in the face; in this case is a drama after drama within a whole drama. Thus the movie loses its effectiveness. I think the movie must show more clearly the main story and use two or three stories, as maximum, to support it. I have seen better movies of Kim Ki Duk, that's why I rate this one with a 6.
One of the reasons I enjoyed this film as much as I did is because it is one of those rare films that sticks with you! After I finished watching it, I felt compelled to stay up way later then I should have because I just could not stop talking about it! There was just so much going on! It was so powerful...dark, emotional, complex, intense. However, unlike most reviews that I have read, I noticed a few comedic elements as well. It was kind of a sad funny, but they were scenes that literally gave you a moment to catch your breath and laugh before being thrown back into the darkness... which I felt really made the film that much more powerful! The director is just so talented it's sick! No pun intended!
This is gritty and bleak realism at its best. We are in a countryside village on the border to North-Korea were poverty and war (both the Korean war and the continuation of the cold war) takes its toll on the villagers. Prospects are none, but some think of America as one and therefore learns English. This also provides some of the small pieces of comedy in the movie, for example when some youngsters try to translate from a hustler magazine or when two bullies are tough with speaking English with strong Korean accent; Koreans have trouble pronouncing f for instance.. Some other comedy is the US army battalion running and crawling everywhere and the war veteran crazy for medals always bragging about killing 3 commies.Anyway this very grim and bleak realism is obviously made as a political commentary. I don't blame any of them, they are victims of their circumstances. I sympathize with every one of them. Kim Ki-Duk don't blame anyone either, the Americans are portrayed as human, not as heroes nor devils, but the theme of globalization and colonization still lies implied in the movie. Actually its full of commentary. I wont get into it here.I know there's a big difference between countryside Korea and big city Korea, but even though I cant say if its real or not, I believe this to be quite realistic. The utter consequences the movie depicts of course is fiction and made to emphasize the horror and drama, this is a movie after all.This was not very well received in Korea and understandably so, it takes up problems that are very actual today and brings up a painful past. To get rid of these problems it is very important however, that someone like Kim Ki-Duk makes these kind of movies and for people to see them. So go see it!! But its not a pleasant watch.