Punch

excellent Korean warm-up-your-heart movie. a lonely teenager, a struggling father, a crazy high school teacher, a timid but loving immigrant mother. this movie is a great example of how the Korean movies are sometimes superior to other Asian countries movies. you have to transcend the difference of the cultures to know that at the bottom of all human hearts, parental love is the most important thing to all the kids. all the children cannot and would not grow up to be a happy person if their parents are separated or divorced, because once the unity is broken, shattered like a mirror, none of the family member would find a complete image of their own. this is a wonderful Korean movie that i fully appreciated and enjoyed, because it showed us the other side of the rich facade of a developing country, poor and dirty neighborhood, the forever shanty town with struggling majority population of all the countries everywhere in the world. the screenplay writer(s), like painter, drawing a water color painting full of vivid scenes and people, and turned it out to be a masterpiece.

This movie goes in a pretty much generic direction when it comes to a Korean teacher trying to help out a student that feels all alone and gets into trouble. With some romance for both characters thrown in. Which is a shame cause from the trailer, I was expecting some unexpected and yet effective drama with some good amount of humor. The humor is just really bland in this movie and the story isn't anything special. The only thing that stands out is how there are actually these types of students living in Korea so it can be relatable. The building of the bond between the student and the teacher goes in a pretty much narrow direction. I was more interested in the romance between the teacher and the next door neighbor. But that was disappointing as well. Overall this is a disappointing movie about a teacher trying to motivate a student.

3.8/10

If I had to summarize this (complex) film, I would write "It takes a village to raise a child---and the world is our village and we are all its children." I watch a lot of Asian cinema, since I am an American Buddhist. Most of the Korean films which I have enjoyed have been dark/suspenseful/supernatural. This movie is not like any other Korean film that I have watched, but it is a lot like the Japanese classic "Ping Pong" and it is a lot like American coming of age films such as "The Freshman", "Breaking Away" and "The Graduate" and the Australian movies "Muriel's Wedding" and "Strictly Ballroom", i.e. there are plenty of belly laughs, a few tearful moments and a sense that what you are watching is universal.

Anyone who watches this looking for another "Shamo" (I love Shamo, btw) or similar martial arts film will be disappointed. While it starts on a downer note, it ends on a spiritual/emotional/intellectual high. I can not praise it highly enough. I makes me feel good inside knowing that it was a commercial hit in Korea---means there are a lot of good hearted people in Korea. I am definitely going to look for more films by the writer/director.

It makes me weird why they put PUNCH for its international title, just put WANDEUKI (taegukki?) its more suitable! Maybe its a metaphor, that boy use his punch to change his life! (right?).

What a superb director and screenwriter?! They can put on many character and they developed them well until we get nailed to know each character's story. This movie actually not depict a life of zero-boy who become hero after joined kickboxing (cliche?). This is heartwarming movie, mixed of many theme - drama,comedy,lovey dovey,religious,action. Whaaa... they did so well.

Its hard to find a live action movie without antagonist (except ghibli) nowadays. I recommend you this stuff. I tell you some synopsis, its about a poor-stupid boy who have no friend,no girlfriend,money,no mommy and his main plan how to get all that important stuff. Exciting... do I make you excited?

Love how Wan deuk start to care about his life, family and also build a relationship again with his friend