It's interesting that North Korea is one of the few spots in the world where the Cold War is still directly relevant. The common ground between Shiri and American Cold War movies is vast--particularly a film like Manchurian Candidate, that captured an unease with the myths of communist efficiency, so much so that we presumed people were literally losing their souls to this human factory. See also the Rocky with Dolph Ludgren.
Things are complicated in Korea, and you have to give Shiri credit for attempting to capture that. Many of the events that occur in Shiri have at least some connection to the everyday world. Reports of North Korean espionage seem almost mundane--remember that mini-sub full of spies that was discovered? And think how difficult it must be to find some peace in this conflict when both sides are Korean. During WWII, the army found it was difficult to get Americans to be properly aggressive towards the Germans--we thought they were good kids who were misled. Everybody on the peninsula feels manipulated. The Koreans have little love for the American soldiers in their country and even less with our allies the Japanese. China is loathed, too. And the North Koreans have suffered under drought for years now.
So while elements of Shiri seem propagandistic, in the way The Siege did in the US (the status quo is always explicitly encouraged and myths of the enemy are brought out for the sake of drama), the film was obviously effective for Koreans at bringing some sort of order to this confusion. Hee has that mixture of humanity, hatred and mystery. Most people in the world really have no idea what's going on in the North. No doubt, that's the root of the sentimentality (see Spring in My Hometown) of Korean films that another IMDB reviewer commented upon. I think for western viewers, this atmosphere, and the amazingly compassionate acting by the leads, is what will draw people in. Did we ever make a Cold War thriller so heart-wrenching and complicated?
But I get the idea, from reading IMDB reviews and watching the DVD production report, what REALLY mattered was the quality of the film. Korea has its prides, and some xenophobia like any country, I imagine, and making a film the way they did is important. It is a mixture of Hollywood drama, HK blood ballet and Korean cultural themes. But what's important is that it's a glossy, high-quality film with good, if unspectacular, action sequences. National cinema has a patriotic or nationalistic element, and that's probably its most important legacy.
Things are complicated in Korea, and you have to give Shiri credit for attempting to capture that. Many of the events that occur in Shiri have at least some connection to the everyday world. Reports of North Korean espionage seem almost mundane--remember that mini-sub full of spies that was discovered? And think how difficult it must be to find some peace in this conflict when both sides are Korean. During WWII, the army found it was difficult to get Americans to be properly aggressive towards the Germans--we thought they were good kids who were misled. Everybody on the peninsula feels manipulated. The Koreans have little love for the American soldiers in their country and even less with our allies the Japanese. China is loathed, too. And the North Koreans have suffered under drought for years now.
So while elements of Shiri seem propagandistic, in the way The Siege did in the US (the status quo is always explicitly encouraged and myths of the enemy are brought out for the sake of drama), the film was obviously effective for Koreans at bringing some sort of order to this confusion. Hee has that mixture of humanity, hatred and mystery. Most people in the world really have no idea what's going on in the North. No doubt, that's the root of the sentimentality (see Spring in My Hometown) of Korean films that another IMDB reviewer commented upon. I think for western viewers, this atmosphere, and the amazingly compassionate acting by the leads, is what will draw people in. Did we ever make a Cold War thriller so heart-wrenching and complicated?
But I get the idea, from reading IMDB reviews and watching the DVD production report, what REALLY mattered was the quality of the film. Korea has its prides, and some xenophobia like any country, I imagine, and making a film the way they did is important. It is a mixture of Hollywood drama, HK blood ballet and Korean cultural themes. But what's important is that it's a glossy, high-quality film with good, if unspectacular, action sequences. National cinema has a patriotic or nationalistic element, and that's probably its most important legacy.