This is a film that beautifully captures a nation's pride, sorrow, and shame. For someone who does not enjoy political soapboxing and preaching, this movie does not do that, despite being drenched with historical and political motivation. It focuses on the commonality amongst humans - that is, having humanity and empathy. The personalities presented are indeed painted with the biases of the "model Korean", as acted by Song Kang Ho et al. , but it is not a distracting one because it plays well with the central message(s) of the film.

I came into this movie expecting nothing more than a time-kill, but left with a desire to learn more context; I was very satisfied, even when watching a genre I am unfamiliar with. Deep emotional responses are invoked from the general audience, through typical tactics, but that is nowhere near a fault. While some may argue that this film exploded in popularity because of the Korean political climate near and before its release (i.e. Park Geun Hye), it could have easily stood tall without that added fuel.