Film review

[Jennifer Jung-Kim]

Hi, Everyone,

One of your course requirements is a film review: 

at least one posting needs to be a film review from a teacher’s point of view:

• 100-150 word summary on how you can use the film in the classroom
• Reviewing a previously discussed film is acceptable, but be sure to offer your own assessment of the film and how it might be used with students o Post your review in the “Film Festival” forum at

http://china.usc.edu/k12/forums/forums/film-festival

The films are available via this link: 

https://ucla.box.com/s/jzcnl2z5dreyeobjqrz15aa8e98tzsmu

 

The link is available only for the duration of our course and will be disabled after that time. 

"Ode to my Father" is the most usable in a classroom, but I am including "JSA" and "Taegukgi: Brotherhood of War" as select scenes from both could be used in class. 

I look forward to discussing them with you. 

Best,

Jennifer 

[Jennifer Jung-Kim]

Hi, Everyone,

If you can see Parasite in theaters, I recommend that as well. It won the Palm d'Or at Cannes, and is a contender for the international category at the Oscars (and possibly other categories as well). The director, Bong Joon-ho, also made Snowpiercer and Okja. 

If youa re familiar with Jordan Peele, I would say he is the Bong Joon-ho of America. 

Best,

Jennifer 

[Duane Johansen]

I saw it this Saturday. I HIGHLY recommend. It is probably my favorite movie of the year. I would love to see it again. I haven't necessarily been a big fan of Bong's other work, but this was a fantastic movie.

 

[Billie Johnson]

Using this film in the classroom: I just finished watching the movie and my goodness it is an amazing film. I do think that many of the topics in this film would be lost upon my 6th graders. However, I do think this would work with 8th graders. There were so many topics touched upon in this movie: Shattering gender roles; Dynamic family compositions; Migrant workers; Race relations; Poverty; Nationalism; and more.  This film could be used as a way to see the similarities of the issues that were being addressed in the film and how those same issues intersect today. In many ways, the only thing that has changed is time.  I tell my students that history is a story of progress that it is on a continuum...that what they think is new has probably been done before. We could research the topics that I mentioned early in that time and then find more recent articles to compare and contrast.  Perhaps we could hold a film discussion where groups between 4-5 students research an issue that was displayed in the film and then report out how that issue was addressed during that time.  I also think a Socratic Seminar would be great as well. I know that I am completely over the word count, but I would also ask my students to draw or create something to demonstrate how this film made them feel.

[Jennifer Jung-Kim]

Billie, those are some good dieas. I don't know if your school disrict is super picky about what you show in the classroom, but you could also just show segments so you control what is seen. But yes, there are so many important issues covered. The film really knew how to tug at heartstrings and get viewers to conect with the film. 

[Billie Johnson]

From our discussion the final week you mentioned that it is the scene when he found his sister which was the scene that got me.  It's not that my district is super picky I could use this with my elective class but have to figure out how to work it in to the curriculum.  Can we download the film to our computers?  The film covers so much that it would be a great movie to analyze with students...so many conversation starting moments.

[Len Krieger]

The Korean movie I chose to review, was entitled Lee Jang-ho’s Baseball team. The movie itself was based on the book “Alien Baseball Team” written by Lee-Hyun-se. I chose this movie, because I really wanted to see if Korean sports-based movies had similarities to those in the United States.

I feel, I could show only selected clips of this movie in my class, to show how different cultures especially school aged youth go through the same types of problems ranging from: coming from a humble background, puppy love, heartbreak, competition amongst peers, and adversity of everyday life. I could not show the movie in its entirety or match it to any curriculum standards, but from a cultural standpoint, it would be very relatable to any high schooler. I was hoping to see more sports or more action in the movie, with less dialogue, but it shared a lot of the same characteristics of most sports dramas. You have the person you can root for and get behind in Hye-Sung, the love interest in Eom-ji, and the antagonist in Ma Dong-tak who is the rival to the main character. If I had to compare this film to any American counterpart, it would without a doubt be “Love and Basketball” written by Gina Prince-Bythewood.

Overall, I enjoyed the movie for the story it told, and for the gritty raw presentation of the cinematography. I would recommend to any baseball fan or to any fan of dialogue and drama. I do think the movie could have been cut shorter in certain parts of the middle scenes. I will say the ending did have me asking many questions, which is always a good thing, because it left me wanting to know and see more.

 

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