In Love and War (2011)

Original title

적과의 동침

Directed by

Geon-yong Park

Genre

drama film, romantic comedy film

Country

South Korea

Runtime

2h 15m

Rated

12

Rating

7.0 of 10 from 4 voters

Elsewhere

IMDb

How it feels

During the Korean War, North Korean soldiers occupy a small South Korean village. The villagers try to stay in the army's good graces by being hospitable, and over time genuine friendships form between the soldiers and the locals.

warmgentlebittersweettenderunexpectedly funnyhumanizingslow-paced

What happens

In Love and War (Korean: 적과의 동침; RR: Jeokgwaui dongchim; lit. 'Sleeping with the Enemy') is a 2011 South Korean romantic comedy-drama film starring Kim Joo-hyuk and Jung Ryeo-won. In June 1950, soon after the Korean War breaks out, a troop of North Korean soldiers enter a small South Korean village. The troop captain proclaims that they came to liberate the villagers but their true agenda is to ferret out the reactionaries. The villagers offer them heartfelt hospitality and cooperation to avoid falling out of the army's favor. Eventually genuinely strong and close friendship starts to build up between the soldiers and the villagers. Screenwriter Bae Se-young was inspired by a true story in the life of her grandmother, who used to live in Pyeongtaek. A group of soldiers from the North Korean People's Army stayed for a couple of days at the grandmother's home (because her father was the village leader), and one young soldier, touched by the villagers' hospitality, said that he wanted to stay. When asked to describe the film, director Park Geon-yong said that its "main purpose is to highlight the plight of the most vulnerable people in the Korean War - innocent civilians." He said he "wanted to use it to inspire viewers to think about what the war left behind," and "tried to give the tragic story a light-hearted touch." (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

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