kosmasp
This movie was part of the Berlin International Film Festival. It plays the conflict of North vs. South Korea. Told from the eyes of a woman. A drama that plays very good especially because of the really good acting and the very good script.I really enjoyed the conflict and the interaction between the characters. It's like fish out of water as they say. But in a somewhat hostile territory (well not really friendly territory). Not everyones cup of tea I guess, but if you like slow moving dramas, this could be the one for you. Not a movie that is likely to be remade, because this is made with local problems in mind. Still very accessible
John Seal
Apparently the third in a series of films about newcomers adapting to life in the big city of Seoul, Dance Town examines the difficulties faced by Jung-nim Rhee (newcomer Mi-ran Rha), a middle-aged North Korean housewife who flees Pyongyang for the South at the behest of her husband, a businessman whose travels have allowed him to establish connections beyond The Hermit Kingdom's borders.Jung-nim makes it to Seoul with relative ease, but difficulties begin immediately upon her arrival. After enduring a grilling by South Korean intelligence agents intent on winnowing out Northern spies from genuine refugees, she's granted citizenship and lodged in an apartment equipped, ironically, with spy cameras and a tapped telephone. No longer financially supported by her beloved husband, she's forced to take a job at a laundry and gets noticed by a policeman whose intentions are less than honorable.Produced after South Korea's conservative government ended the country's Sunshine Policy, which allowed for some business and cultural relationships between the two Koreas, Dance Town insistently suggests that, though there are differences between North and South, they're not irreconcilable — and don't always redound to the South's favor. It's definitely a film that falls at the inclusive, 'liberal' end of the spectrum: as one of Ms. Rhee's laundry colleagues suggests, "kimchee is kimchee", no matter on which side of border it's made.Though slowly paced, the film is never less than engrossing, and Rha is utterly convincing as the stranger in a strange — yet strangely familiar — land. Dance Town is the best film I've seen so far in 2011, but be aware that it features a surprising amount of quite graphic sexual content, not all of it consensual.
dasouljah
I saw this movie at the Berlin Film Festival 2011. It is the third part of a series of movies (Animal Town, Mozart Town) which were directed by Kyu-hwan Jeon. According to the director who was present at the screening in Berlin, these movies all present a town and its characters while focusing on individuals who are being neglected by society. A woman from North Korea has to flee the country and leaves behind her husband and her mother. The movie follows her journey as she has to cope with adapting to a new life in South Korea. During the movie we also encounter other South Korean characters who also struggle to live in "the town". As a whole it is a deep taught provoking movie. Although it could be said that it is a "slow movie" with relatively long shots a few dialogs it still seems faced paced. I enjoyed it a lot.
