The last movie I saw on the big screen is Da Vinci Code (and boy was I disappointed!). That was five days before I gave birth in 2006. I miss watching movies in a theatre. So I’m planning to see one this June, and it isn’t going to be Sex and the City. I want to see Cha In Pyo’s new film titled “Crossing.”
The movie is inspired by the successful “crossing” of the North Korean defector Jang Gil Su. My husband and I often talk about the people north of the border and how he’s frustrated with the way they are treated here. Six years ago, my husband joined a two-week hike for reunification (통ì¼). He’s also maintained friendship with the people he met through the hike including a reporter for Tongil News :).
I like watching documentaries on North Koreans but they often make me feel bad in the end. The videos on separated family meetings often make me bawl. I think they should not be allowed to meet if they’re just going to be separated again. I also once watched a documentary on North Korean spies who volunteered to be repatriated to their home country. I didn’t understand that time why would they want to go back (and I still don’t understand since it isn’t the Philippines).
I really hope to see this film with English subtitles but if not, I would still go to the cinema and support it. I love Cha In Pyo! He and his wife Shin Ae Ra are two of my favorite Koreans. I remember that he was offered a role in one of the James Bond movies but he turned it down. It could have made him internationally known but I guess for some people, principles rule over fame and fortune.
The movie’s tag line is “Cry with us!” and I did cry just watching the trailer. Whenever I go on a DMZ tour, I often wonder what could be on the minds of those people living in the north. Then I also think of the younger generation of south Koreans. I hope they are not as apathetic to the plight of their northern brothers as they seem to be. I wish they would see this film so they’ll realize how lucky they are (yes, despite the hours they have to spend studying).
“Crossing” will be in theatres nationwide on June 26. I hope it will be a box office success! More on Crossing’s official website.
I’ve seen a documentary about North Koreans before but it’s still not clear to me why a lot of families there preferred to stay in NK rather than becoming independent like the South Koreans.
edens last blog post..Got tagged! OvO v
^^ because it’s not easy to defect from the North… if they were in china, they could escape through the embassies… but that’s still difficult
Believe me, there are so many reasons – as Betchay mentioned – that keep a person from staying away from a home country even if it is bad…
I am sad to hear, after reading the wikipedia article about him, that this story is not more widespread. I think this is an important example for all countries – not just Korea. The laws in the US are so much like Russian roulette that the bad have no trouble staying while the good people who try to follow the law are punished…
Are you for reunification, Betchay? I am for liberation and a change in the government of North Korea, but wouldn’t reunification be a huge economic insult to the boon South Korea is in? Wouldn’t its green turn red? Even if it is the 5th richest (or 14?) country, even it won’t be able to recover from a hit like that. It will be a great depression…