This review may contain spoilers
A lovingly told, soulful story based on true events. 117 uplifting minutes that´ll bring you joy
"Miracle: Letters to the President" comes across as a wonderful fairy tale. And yet it isn´t. The story arose from harsh reality. "Miracle" is a soulful KMovie about dreams come true, bathed in the bright colours of the four seasons in a remote, idyllic mountain valley. This landscape is a crucial player in its own, thus impressively contributing to the whole plot. Actually, a handkerchief or two might be helpful, even though the KMovie isn´t particularly playing on our heart strings. It's just a touching story, lovingly told.The setting of this true story: a remote mountain village in the east of the country, that can only be reached via the trass of the railway line. However, it does not have its own train station. For the residents, this means that they have to put up with an arduous walk along the trass in order to get to the next village as quickly as possible. For example, the protagonist spends five hours each day commuting to and from school. And quite a few people have already lost their lives on this dangerous walk over this busy trass through the mountains – including the mother of the protagonist. The boy's dream: a train station for his village. The chances are low, but he does not give up.
It may help that he actually seems to have a special talent for science. Also it may help that in Rah-hee, a bright daughter from an influential family, he finds a school friend and at the same time his muse, always encouraging and inspiring him in her idiosyncratic way. Thus, "Miracle" is also a tender, unusual love story with the charm of the 1980s.
So there are wounds and wonders, as well as wonderfully staged images, yet with a challenging core. All in all, a lovingly told, soulful story based on true events. Nostalgia of the 1980s, picturesque nature and rustic mountain idyll, the slower pace of provincial life and spectacular railway lines through tunnels and over bridges in the steep foothills of the Taebaek Mountains convey "Miracle" its distinctive character. The KMovie is bathed in an all-round positive aura. 117 uplifting minutes that´ll bring you joy.
-------------------------------------------------
SIDE NOTE: --- Yangwon Train Station ---
Socheon-myeon is a mountainous area in North Gyeongsan, in the east of the country.
The Korail Yeongdong Line crosses this area on its way from Yeongju in North Gyeongsang Province via Taebaek Mountain to Gangneung in Gangwon Province. Since 1988, the Yangwon railway station has been the smallest and also the first private railway station in South Korea. Until then, the village was isolated from the rest of the world in the middle of a rugged valley. Even though a railway line had passed the village since 1955, the train had never stopped. There was also no road leading to the village. 3.7 km of railway line separated the villagers from the nearest Seungbu railway station and thus connections to other towns and cities. With ax, shovel, mortar and sweat, the villagers finally built their tiny train station themselves.
Was this review helpful to you?
A very beautiful one of a kind movie
It is one of those unique movies which are hard to come by but leaves you wanting more when you finish. It is a very very very beautiful movie, both cinematically and emotion wise. The movie gives off a earthly feeling with it's 1980s setting in a village. Coupled with the beautiful sceneries with the amazing lighting I was literally mesmerized. If you like unique movies full of emotions, then this is a great movie to watch.I don't want to praise the movie so much that it gets the expectations too high. But for my sake, I want to praise the movie some more .
This drama has a nice plot to it. And the execution of the plot was so good that it left me speechless for a moment. Don't get me wrong, the plot isn't too deep or that amazing, but the way they progresses the plot and the way it makes the viewer change their view on the whole movie is the amazing part.
After watching so many movies and dramas, these days I don't really find any new characters that I truly find memorable. But I think I will remember Bo-Kyung. I hope when you - the reader - watch the drama, find Bo-Kyung as beautiful as I find her. The actress Lee Soo Kyung seemed natural in this character and made the movie so much more better. I love it.
There was some romance to it as all k-movies have, but it wasn't overbearing and had a fresh feel to it.
If you are contemplating whether to watch this movie or not then you should give it a try. I found it very beautiful, maybe you will too.
Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
Tugs the Heartstrings but Uneven and Illogical
Based on a true story, this is a heartwarming fiction of a boy who really, really wants to build a train way station, the reasons behind his desires, and the relationships he has with his family, teacher, and his girlfriend. There were small moments that made me laugh out loud and revelations that made me sad. However, unfortunately, the movie is bogged down by some awkward editing choices and some gaps in the script that made me disappointed. I finished watching the movie with an overall positive feel, but couldn't help but wonder how a tighter production could have made it better.For starters, I don't think the movie knows what it wants to be: the first half of the movie is setup as 75% romance and 25% drama. The second half of the movie focuses on paying off the dramatic story line that was setup in the beginning, but almost entirely forgets that it spent a lot of time developing a love story, ultimately feeling like 85% drama and 15% romance for the latter half. I think the movie could have been better by focusing on either plot line more completely and setting aside the other portion in the backdrop. Even without this, I think there may have been an editing opportunity here to improve the pacing.
In my opinion, one consequence of this lack of focus is the creation of dissatisfaction with some of the finer points of the story. For instance, early on, the movie introduces Ra Hee, our leading lady who inexplicably crushes on our main character, Jun Kyung. Why is she so drawn to him? I don't think this is ever explained and I feel because of that, their love story isn't really organic: you have this pretty girl who inexplicably throws herself at this weirdo guy until they are able to bond into a proper love. I mean, I was once an awkward, teenage boy, and I can tell you I would have killed for some pretty girl to be unrelentingly interested in me for no discernible reason...but unfortunately it's nowhere near believable in this movie. Moreover, there's some additional details that I think the director/screenwriter simply forgot to address: there is a scene where they ALMOST kiss, but aren't able to. Later on in the movie, she sends him an audiotape imploring him to "remember our first kiss," but the thing is, we as the audience are never shown this so it's like "what first kiss? Did I miss something?" And when you go back they didn't -- ultimately, it was either a scene that got changed at the last minute or it was done off-screen -- either possibility, it's a little silly.
Approximately 60% into the movie, there is a sharp shift from the focus away from the love story, and into some interesting family drama caused by some setup earlier. However, the tonal shift is awkward, because there's something like a ~30-40 minute window where Yoona has no screen time which is a little weird if we consider the love story to be important and one of the overarching threads that keep this movie together. Honestly, I feel that this family plot line could have been a story all by itself: if we removed the romance tag and just dropped Ra Hee, it could have worked as a complete, drama-focused coming of age story. To me, it feels like the screenwriter didn't know what they wanted and just decided to cram in two unrelated stories together and try their best to tie it together.
I'm not quite sure what to think of the acting. As a non-Korean speaker, even I can hear the strong accents that the actors use in this movie to mimic the regional dialect of the area, so I can only wonder if they did a good job (I assume they did). However, I think all of the cast had strong performances. As a matter of personal taste, I thought Park Jung Min looked way too old to be a high schooler, but perhaps that's a fault of the makeup/costuming more than the casting.
I thought the music was appropriate, but average. It sets up the ambience well, but nothing to write home about in the end. I think the movie is also going to be difficult to rewatch, because you already know what the key moment of the movie is and I don't feel that the little, heartfelt moments are enough to warrant an entire second viewing.
I really wanted to like this movie. I really did. I can say that I enjoyed it, but there's glaring flaws that make me sigh a bit, and wonder how it could have been markedly better if they just changed a few things.
Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
the movie starts in a random small village, they don't have any roads connecting them to the next town or souel and only had a railroad that reached them through a bridgeit then starts showing us the life of a lazy highschooler that starts taking private lessons from the prettiest girl in class, and I thought it'd be an old school type of, school romance like 2521 so it was a bit boring (the movie not 2521)
but then the real twist happens. I was a bit confused mainly cuz of Park Jung Min, the 35 year old failing to look 18, he's a good actor, but to cast him after showing the tiny Kim Kang Hoon, who can easily be his son, made it hard to understand for a minute xD then after noticing the sister that didn't age I thought this was a scam movie.. then after the kid vr was brought back, as flashbacks, I started wondering if they were 2 different people with 2 similar looking sisters
now I do admit I didn't pay much attention in the 1st half for those reasons. it felt messy and cheap
until the twist happened... and they showed the both vrs pictures. with a missing SISTER! and it hit me. she died and that was when the waterfalls started till the last minute of the movie T_T
the events of the past. the acting of Lee Sung Min, the reasons and action of those actors, it was all so devastating..
the 2nd half was honestly pure emotinal gold. it was shocking, yet full of hope, redemption, bonding, understanding and heartwarming sweetness
I thought Tae Yoon was a tough love type of dad, but he was so vulnerable, so fragile, so soft.. again casting the 35 year old one thinks he left his son for years but it was around 10 years, tho again a bit much, but he held on to so much self loath he couldn't look at his son again
the moment he got angry at the paper cuz he didn't want his son to be hurt. the moment he forced him to go to souel, their trip, his pure joy over his results (my favorite scene T_T), Jung Jun Kyung confessing that he went to the beach to stop his dad from suicide, junkyung and Bo Kyung "hugging" their dad T_T, their farewell, and in the end the most hilarious ending that just made this little movie even more preciousT_T
Was this review helpful to you?
Really, the movie is a miracle ♡
::The Good::First, I loved the color tone of the movie, and how well it portrayed the older feel reflecting the time it’s set in. It gave immense scent of nostalgia. I also absolutely loved how cutesy the film was. There were lots of cute and humorous moments in the first half, and I personally think the title of the film, “Miracle,” is a great title as it fits the spirit of the movie perfectly.
In the beginning, I thought Park Jung Min and Yoona were the two main leads and Lee Sung Min and Lee Soo Kyung were supporting roles, as Park Jung Min and Yoona had much more on-screen time. However, as the film progressed, Lee Sung Min’s and Lee Soo Kyung’s characters had bigger roles and on-screen time, and ultimately all four had roughly the same amount of significance. The four leads had amazing chemistry, and I especially enjoyed the relationship between Park Jung Min and Yoona, and Park Jung Min and Lee Soo Kyung. It was like watching a real-life couple and real-life siblings, respectively.
Getting into each actor, of course, Park Jung Min was amazing as always. He’s such an incredible actor, and he’s able to play such a wide range of characters. He hit it out of the park again with his performance in this.
Moving onto Yoona, Yoona doesn’t age. She’s still just as pretty and gorgeous as when she first debuted with Girls’ Generation 14 years ago. Her acting has gotten a lot better, and I first noticed her improvement in acting in the film , and through that and , we can see just how crucial the role of the character needs to fit with the actor in order to have a good performance.
Moreover, Lee Sung Min didn’t have a big role in the first half, but he really shined in the latter half. It was good to see him on the big screens again, as I feel like we weren’t able to see him in movies too much recently. His most recent work other than this was , which was a Netflix release, and prior to that we weren’t able to see him for two years.
And finally but definitely not the least, Lee Soo Kyung I had the least expectations for, as I hadn’t recalled seeing much of her in other works. Upon seeing her filmography, I noticed she was also in . She left a good impression in that as well, but definitely a much bigger one in this. Her chemistry with Park Jung Min in this was outstanding.
I mentioned a few times that the movie was a very cute one, but don’t let that make you assume the movie is a very light, comedic film. Although it does have a lot of humor, the movie takes you on an emotional roller coaster ride. The film starts off with more of the comedic side that I mentioned, but as it progresses and passes the halfway mark, the movie takes a huge turn and the emotions begin. I won’t say too much in order to avoid spoilers, but yeah, there’s a reason the movie is defined as a “drama” film, and not a “comedy.”
Lastly, the movie had a good story and is generally able to keep you engaged. Although it does get a little loose later on, which I’ll get to in the “bad” parts, the overall narrative was pretty good, in my opinion. There’s an unforeseen event that’s revealed, which I didn’t see coming at all, and that added a big layer on top of the film.
::The Bad::
I don’t have too much bad things to say about , but there’s one big one. This is more of a personal matter and can be based on personal preference, but some may find the emotional scenes to be too forced and/or frequent. One thing that I can’t stand are forced emotions, where you can tell they’re trying to get you to shed a tear. And so, personally I found the emotional scenes to be too forced in this. I mean, it was okay at first, but it became kind of repetitive, or more-so prolonged. If it was one or two big, impactful emotional scenes, then I’d be okay with it, but they just kept attacking you with a sad scene, after a sad scene, after another sad scene. Nevertheless, I will say that there were sniffles throughout the theater, so if you are a fan of more emotional movies, this may very well be down your lane. After all the touching moments, though, I loved how the film ended.
::Verdict::
From the performances by Park Jung Min to Yoona to Lee Soo Kyung to even the minor role of the town’s little girl, the movie was extremely cute and adorable, but also gave a big punch in the emotional department as well. The first half is a lighter and more humorous film, and the latter half is more heavy with emotional scenes. Long story short, this may very well be my favorite K-movie of 2021 that released thus far. Definitely recommend giving this a go.
Was this review helpful to you?
A Sentimental Journey
I started this film expecting a sweet, feel-good story of personal triumph. It was that, but it should also have carried a trigger warning: May induce brony bawling.Another reviewer described it as uneven and illogical, and complained about the way it switched focus from a youth romance kind of story to one with much more pathos (the bawling bit). LIFE is uneven and illogical, and sudden shifts in the emotional tone of life are very, very real. I spent much of the last 30 minutes literally bawling out loud, thanks to the powerful performances from an old favourite, and an actor I've barely seen.
The old favourite is Lee Sung Min. I've loved him every since Miss Korea (best K Drama STP EVAH, if you haven't watched it, DO!) and he shone here as the self-repressed Dad. The actor I've barely seen before was Lee Soo Kyung. I absolutely lvoed her character and her performance and was watching to see how her story turned out. The answer was not the one I'd have hoped for. But I will be looking out for her from now on, hoping to see her shine in a brighter story,
I was also really impressed with Yoona. One reviewer said that the ML actor never looked like a high schooler while praising Yoona's eternal youth. That made me smile as she's only 3 years younger than the ML actor and she too NEVER looked like a high schooler in this film. But that didn't matter because both did well. I can't comment on the quality and authenticity of her satoori, but it sounded ok to me, and that she delivered real emotion in it shows how far she's come as an actor.
Overall, I'm very glad I watched this movie, and glad I did so alone, so that my loud crying didn't disturb anyone else ?
Was this review helpful to you?
A Beautiful Feel Good Film
Movies like this not release so often.You must feel this, Undoubtedly one of the best feel good film which i experienced in recent time, With a unique story and a very interesting screenplay the writer of the great Be With you done it again here.The story happening in the late 80's, jung kyung is a college student from a small village. The people of his village struggling every day because of lack of transportation facility. The only way they have was to travel through the train, but infact they don't have a railway station, so no train will stop there and they have to walk around every day through the rail from the previous station, there is no road way, because of that they have to face some difficulties, especially they have to pass through a tunnel in their journey after that tunnel there was also a bridge, and its very dangerous to walk through that bridge, because they can't predict when a train will pass through that bridge, especially some unannounced freight trains.
To find a solution for this they want a train station in their villages, So he (jung kyung) started writing letters to the President regarding this matter, sound funny right..?, an ordinary guy who has nothing is trying get attention from president definitely looks weird, But the movie has so much things to say. The emotions that delivers was exceptional and your eyes probably will filled after some point. Lim yoona is taking the female lead role, there were some beautiful moments between them. Also the relationship between he and his late sister also one of the highlight
Its a must watch and am highly recommend you to watch
Was this review helpful to you?
simple and warm movie kind of feeling
The plot wasn't anything heavy or hard to understand it was really straightforward and simple, which i like. I personally didn't expect the plot twist, so it was interesting to watch. The love story of rahee and joonkyung was cute and pure although i wished they showed more about them. This movie doesn't have huge progress like character development or something, all the characters are kind hearted and is willing to help everyone and i think that's one of the charms of this movie too. Maybe some would call this boring? but i really enjoyed it. Oh, and on the acting part, the actors did a great job! especially Park Jungmin on his emotional scene it was brought out so well. I also really like how this movie was about people living in the countryside where neighbours would rush out to help their fellow neighbours when in needed of help, i found it really wholesome. Overall i'd say this is a great movie, if i was bored and feel like watching a movie, this would be one of my top choices.Was this review helpful to you?
Al principio, comencé a ver esta película con ese pensamiento, con ver una película sobre una época de Corea y los problemas que los aldeanos de un pequeño pueblo tienen que enfrentar y también una película de superación personal del protagonista. Sin embargo, la historia tiene unos cambios que literalmente te dejan en shock porque no te lo esperas.
Los protagonistas me gustaron mucho, tanto la hermana que cuida de su hermanito como si fuera su hijo, como el chico que vive una vida despreocupada por muchas cosas pero queriendo siempre lograr sus sueños y el personaje de Yoo-ah porque lo ayuda a salir de su vida de pueblo y a poner todo en perspectiva y darle nuevas ideas para alcanzar sus sueños.
Si estás buscando una película ligera y bonita, la verdad es que te animo a darle una oportunidad a esta historia.
Was this review helpful to you?
