Homeless Angels

The film by Ch'oe In-gyu is an interesting propaganda film of Japanese imperialism in Korea. the story follows a man who takes in orphaned boys and teaches them dignity, respect, loyalty and community. The interesting part is that the film encompasses ideas of nationalism by displaying that those who are tainted by the west lose all faith in Korea and only in the final portion of the film does the Japanese imperialist propagnda truly expose itself. The film uses multiple variations in camera shots and movements including long shots and tracking as well as zooms. My reaction to Homeless Angels was that the film was a to be a story about struggling to survive and only by trusting in educated adults (who represent the Japanese via the doctor and the teacher) can these misguided children (the Koreans) learn to survive. Another interesting point in the film is when one of the children went missing after fetching water only to later return with a new kettle because a man had tricked him into selling the old kettle, which, in turns represents this boy's assimiliation to the Japanese notions of community that are constructed in the boarding school. -James Seiling