I felt sorry for non-Koreans because this movie is not very kind to them. I was born and raised in Korea so I could see a lot of subtle things that director or actors intended, but I can see why that could be so much harder for non-Koreans.
I think most Koreans know Yun's poems, because we learn so many of them in high school. I could recognize most of the poems in the movie as well, so I appreciate the director's effort to give some contexts to those poems. Also I think the actors illustrated emotions in a very sophisticated and restrained way, which is historically rather correct. (Even today, many Koreans cover their face with their hands when they laugh, mostly because it's habit, but historically because it was a bad thing to expose emotions to other people) Most Korean viewers think the actors did amazing job, and many say this movie is the best of Kang Haneul.
Also, just to give some context to another reviewer on this website, women and men weren't even allowed to eat or sit together with men in that era in Korea. So I was actually surprised to see some women who are socially quite active and talented in the movie. I assume most Koreans don't know their existence in Yun's life, so I appreciate that as well. Also in most cases, arrange marriage was the norm in that era so it makes sense that Yun never had a 'girlfriend' of sort. That would've been very weird at that time, and could be dangerous for women's reputation to be in a romantic relationship. Also Yun was pretty Christian as you can see in the film, which also explains why he wasn't in any romantic relationship.
And being a doctor wasn't a prestigious thing historically. Not sure how it was in the era of this movie. But you can see how Yun's father says Yun could save many lives if he became a doctor. So I suppose that was more of a Christian thing. However, teachers were historically very admired.
I usually like action or horror movies so I watched this movie only because my friend told me to. I was pleasantly surprised to see how this movie serves as a good biography of Yun and Song in general. Because I already knew Yun's life and poems vaguely, I could feel and empathize with his life and poems so much more through this movie. This movie resonates with Koreans because of the history, so I don't expect non-Koreans to feel the same. It's definitely so much more emotional for Koreans. In addition, I liked how Song and the actor looked so much alike loll Whoever casted him should be proud.
