claytonchurch1

This is a good, substantive film about people surviving in the family of an alcoholic husband and father.

Hence, I was nervous through the whole movie, because the alcoholic father, being alcoholic, is unpredictable. You're scared for the kids and scared for their mother. All the acting was very good, and this is a true story!

The upside of it is that it proves the point that adversity, met with character, produces success. That's a great lesson.

Nice ending. Don't think I'll watch it again. Tough to watch because of all the hardship and fear that you see coming to this family whose head is an alcoholic.

I almost gave this an eight. What caused the seven is not the movie's fault. The front part of the movie was emotionally disturbing, and not in an unfair way. I am not saying that the director, writer, and actors did a bad job. They were excellent in pulling this off. What was portrayed, as far as I can tell, is accurate. What I'm saying is that the portrayal of the removal of Jews from their homes, transportation of them, and placing them in concentration camps (in which husbands are separated from wives and children from their parents, with all the chaos and the brutality of the place) was all really hard to watch. And, it was hard to watch without people being killed or shot in the head, as you see in most Nazi movies that involve Jews. I appreciated that.

And, even though I was disturbed with the opening 40 minutes (almost to the point of turning it off), my being disturbed is a testament to how well they portrayed the emotional terror of your nuclear family being forcibly separated as cattle, with no likelihood of seeing any of them ever again, as each went to his almost certain death.

That said, as one other reviewer wrote, after the initial terribleness you have to witness in the first 40 minutes, the rest of the movie is intriguing, engaging, heartwarming, painful, sad, tough, and encouraging. So much going on, and so good! Good writing. Good acting.

I'm really glad to have seen this movie. It was a tough thing to see, so I don't think I want to see it again. I'm glad I know about it, and I will probably always remember it. So, that's great. I just don't want to go through those 40 minutes again.

That said, maybe if I come across this in two years, I'll watch it! This is a really worthwhile movie.

I enjoyed this film, though it has an intended feeling of sadness and loneliness throughout. Besides the three main characters, there are no friends. That's lonely.

The film also does a good job showing the difficulty of moving to a different country when you are an elementary or middle school kid. The ending captured this very well, as the main character and you as the viewer could reflect back on what probably would have been had Nora just stayed in Korea.

I would imagine this film has a split in opinions regarding where Nora ends up. Some, who value career and realizing ambition, will see this movie and say "that's life." Others, who see marriage and family as important, will see this movie as a warning against pursuing career and accomplishments over marriage and family.

I appreciate that this movie makes the viewer think on those things.

I would imagine this movie brings another split between viewers--between those who believe in God or at least believe there's a cosmic purpose for a person in life, on the one hand, and those who think life is random and that people only wind up in places, but without those places having a particular purpose, on the other. The latter viewpoint was expressed, in my opinion, pretty painfully as Nora and her husband discussed such things and their own relationship one night as they were falling asleep.

Last thing: I really appreciated Nora's husband and his understanding of Nora's situation in life. He was very kind and patient, humble, and loving. And, you sympathize greatly with his pain and struggle with jealousy. His character makes a viewer consider such things, and is a good example of kindness and care for one's spouse.