The Marines Who Never Returned

   Due to the relatively small time difference between the shooting of the film and the real life war itself (~ 10 years), The Marines Who Never Returned was very realistic in respect to the war setting. I believe that some of the props used, like the large war vehicles, were genuine vehicles used during the war. There were also real explosions that were used to make the film. Clearly, director Lee Man-hee was determined to represent the war realistically through his point of view. Therefore, it is understandable how the Korean soldiers are portrayed in a positive light. They are seen as compassionate and emotional, for they are portrayed as victims of the devastation of war. Throughout the film, none of the Korean solders appeared to be glory seeking by fighting the war. Instead, they appear to detest it, whereas the opposing forces are displayed as the destructive and selfish bodies. At the beginning of the film, in the images of the soldiers you are unable to see their individual faces, instead they all appear the same. The song in the background is the men all singing together, they are united as one.

   One particular character that stood out to me, and i’m sure to the rest of the class, was Yong-hui. She was introduced into the film as an orphan; we all saw her witness the death of her mother. This startling introduction showed us how young Yong-hui was dramatically shook by the war, like many other Koreans. She represents Korea, for she was once carefree and joyous. Then the war took her innocence as it also did Korea’s. She also represents the future Korea and the traumatic turmoil that all Koreans went through, and continued to endure when the war ended but the scarring memories remained.