This is a very personal movie for the director. She was present at the showing in Berlin at the Festival in February 2012. This movie is based on her childhood memories. Especially one character has many traits of her. The movie itself plays with a big theme, that concerns relations between Japan and (North) Korea.
I almost wonder if any politician will watch the movie and comment on it. Even if this does not play in the current time, I'm sure the governments have something to say about the events portrayed in the movie, so I'm looking forward to any reaction. Meanwhile I can tell you that the movie is really tense and it has everything a good drama needs. You won't be disappointed in that department, in case you thought it might drift into a boring depiction of things.
Unfortunately there are some filmmaking mistakes in the movie (like a film crew that can be spotted during one very emotional scene in the windows), that might make you wonder about the professionalism at work here. I hope it does not spoil the movie for you. And maybe with the help of CG, this will be fixed (though I doubt there is money for that in the budget). Powerful drama with slight mistakes then
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