According to the life of a young courageous and smart guy, Deok-Su, who during the war in South Korea, lost his father and sister, as years later, he searches for them everywhere, facing many challenges, but finally, he manages to find them, the thing that inspires his life.
Everything is lathered with a syrupy, string-laden musical score designed to gnaw at a viewer's tear ducts. It's about as subtle as having an off-screen narrator yell "Start crying!" before big scenes, and probably as effective.
It's too bad the treatment of Capt. LaRue will likely put off those who are familiar with him as a historical figure, because the work of Hwang and Oh give Ode real heart.
Heartwarming, brilliantly acted and unexpectedly funny, Ode to My Father is an epic odyssey through Korean history that feels so personal, it is impossible not to be engrossed in the emotion of the story.
Tugging shamelessly yet persuasively on the heartstrings, "Ode to My Father" is an epic South Korean melodrama capturing more than half a century of recent history through the eyes of an everyman shopkeeper.
