This is a high context movie. Therefore, if you are not Koreans who lived in Korea in the past decades, you will certainly miss so many hidden cultural and historical cues. So, you need to be more forgiving to it. For example, there is a very short scene where a guy appears who says a short phrase about the future. The boys who cleaned his shoes in the movie did not know who he was. He is the founder of Hyyndai corporation. There 10s of such short high context cues.
So, this is really for Korean people.
The story is a fused story of omnibus short stories of Koreans who survived not only the war, but the harsh lives of 1950~2000.
Artistically, it is average. It is well done and tells the story well enough. Obviously there are exaggerations and mistakes. However, this is not a documentary at all. It is a movie. I see many people pointing out some errs in historical context. I challenge that it is extremely accurate in its overall depiction of Koreans.
It is one of the most dramatic stories based on a person/family's journey to present. It shows many aspects of Korean society with moving and great and miserable bits and pieces.
It is worth watching even if you are not Koreans.
