North Korean defector Seung-chul is a refugee living on the harsh edges of Seoul. Bewildered by exploitative employers and cynical urbanites, he’s no good for business. A powerful realism underscores this prize-winning feature debut about the struggle to survive in a strange new world.
Seungchul's rotisserie of pain is almost worth enduring just to get to the film's climax: the most knee-jerk tragedy in the world becomes, in Park's hands, one devastating bitter-victory lap.
B
Benjamin Mercer
RTVillage VoiceAug 16, 2011
By playing Seung-chul as extremely sullen, and by constantly calling attention to his disheveled appearance, Park also provokes viewers to blame the character for his own problems- and thus confront their similarity to the movie's hard-hearted citizens.
M
Mike Hale
RTNew York TimesAug 16, 2011
Eventually we learn that a haircut and a new suit don't make for a better man, which seems like a small lesson after what we've been through.
P
Panos Kotzathanasis
RTHanCinemaApr 28, 2019
"Journals of Musan" is a very rewarding film that manages to shed a realistic light to the lives of North Korean refugees, and that is where its true value lies.
Finecut
