ODE TO MY FATHER
Starring: Hwang Jung-min, Kim Yun-jin, Oh Da-su 
Director: Yoon Je-kyoon 
Category: IIA (Korean, English and German)

"May you live in interesting times." Thus supposedly goes an ancient Chinese curse that actually may have Western origins. In any event, the protagonist of this epic melodrama certainly does live through interesting times for himself. So, too, does pretty much everyone on the Korean peninsula in this film, which begins in 1950, the year that the Korean war — which still is not yet officially over — began.

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Youn Duk-soo (Hwang Jung-min) is briefly seen as an elderly Busan resident at the beginning of before the film flashes back to the wintery December day in 1950 on which the residents of the northern Korean port town of Hangnam desperately sought to flee the invading Chinese forces. Emotions run high, since those who make it out of there leave much behind, including, in some cases, family members.

Told by his father (Jung Jin-young) to take care of his mother (Jang Young-nam) and two younger siblings, seconds before the family patriarch leaves them to look for a daughter who has gone missing, Duk-soo does his utmost over the ensuing decades to do just that.

In a manner that has been likened to Forrest Gump, Duk-soo becomes involved with several of his country's defining developments, including going off to work in Germany, where he meets his future wife, and then to Vietnam. Like the Hollywood movie character, Duk-soo isn't a particularly bright individual — although in his case, it's more to do with letting his heart rule over his brain.

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Those who prefer films that appeal to the intellect rather than the emotions will think is overly dramatic and soppy. Park Soo-jin's script is also filled with one-note characters; with the leading cast members' dramatic efforts further impeded in some scenes by their being saddled either with goofy hairdos or bad make-up jobs.

Still, fans of sentimental fare should find plenty to like about this blockbuster offering, even though a lot of director Yoon's attempts to tug at the heartstrings will work better for those familiar with the past 75 years of Korean history. In particular, the scenes relating to the real-life 1983 KBS "Campaign to Reunite 10 Million Divided Families" telethon are more emotive than those in (1985), master director Im Kwon-taek's drama about familial separation and national division.