It was only supposed to cost around 4 billion won, as there were no big stars, mostly actors from or acquainted with Jang's Suda family through their past work. But filming and post-production CGI took much longer than expected, and the budget skyrocketed to 8 billion won, putting Jang's company in trouble: for a small production company like Film It Suda failing with this film would have been catastrophic.
Was selected in September 2005 to represent South Korea in the Best Foreign Film category at the 2006 Oscars. Although it was reportedly very well-received at the Academy screenings, it did not get nominated.
The film was released in the United Kingdom under the alternate title Battle Ground 625.
Park had been a big fan of Japanese animation director Hayao Miyazaki's work since he watched Future Boy Conan as a child. And one of Miyazaki's most important collaborators was composer Joe Hisaishi. Park liked Hisaishi so much he wrote the script thinking about his music, visualizing the scenes in his mind while listening to his past work. During pre-production, producer Eun-ha Lee asked Park who the best music director for the project would be, and he didn't hesitate a moment, saying "Joe Hisaishi." Lee then wrote a very heartfelt letter to Hisaishi, explaining their situation and translating the script in Japanese for him. Hisaishi accepted the proposal, later stating that he was moved by the enthusiasm and sincerity in the letter, choosing Welcome to Dongmakgol (2005) as his first ever Korean film.
It has been assumed there is no village in either of the Koreas with the name "Dongmakgol". However, there is a small village near Jecheon, South Korea that is named Dongmakgol.
Contribute to this page
Suggest an edit or add missing content
