Dec 20, 2014
After watching this film and finding myself being filled with such heartfelt emotions, I am assured to say that I truly adore this movie. Oseam is merely a sentimental and touching story of a brother and sister's love for one another and in demonstrating this aspect, shows how one's affections can surpass many boundaries. The simplicity that is shown here as well as the spiritual themes that are conveyed makes for a beautiful and one of a kind piece about those that we care for the most.
The story follows the lines of a Korean fairy tale of the same name and depicts the lives of
...
a brother and older sister, both of whom having no one to care for them and no home to go to. Their names are Gami and Gilson. After witnessing their home burn down in a fire years ago and therefore losing their mother due to it, they are left to fend for themselves. Not to mention that Gami became blind from the fire and Gilson not knowing that their mother is dead. From then on, they live off their lives having to beg others for food and taking shelter wherever they may find available. Gilson being the epitome of childish innocence and mischief,attempts to care for Gami and in doing so causes many issues for the both of them. The plot then takes off with them meeting a pair of Buddhist monks after witnessing one of Gilson's mischievous scenarios. From there, the monks take them in as orphans and in turn, feed them and give them shelter. With Gilson being only a child and having difficulty coping with the monks' religious lifestyle, he ends up causing much trouble for the Buddhist adherents. Gami, on the other hand, is grateful for having a place to stay, regardless of her blindness, though the only regrets she carries are not being able to see her little brother's face once more as well as not bringing herself to tell him about their mother's death. As time passes and both of these children's lives continue in the monks' care, Gilson becomes more and more irritated with their boring, new life and furthermore, saddened at the fact that he still has not heard of their mother's whereabouts. But one day, Gilson is offered to travel with one of the monks to the mountains after being told that he would be able to learn to "open the eyes of his soul" to which he gladly agrees to, and in doing so, hopes to teach Gami to open her soul's eyes once he returns...
Characters: The main characters that we are able to see here are of course, Gilson and Gami. Both of them being very simple yet very down to earth as characters, thus rendering them easy to relate to. The genuine emotions that we are able to see through them are what makes them such tender beings, and in seeing this only makes the viewer want to cry their hearts out to them. Gami is a sweet, loving girl who only cares for her brother's well being despite her condition and wishes dearly to see his face again. She cries at the fact of knowing that her brother is in emotional pain and only yearns to be there for him, to care for him. Gilson is nothing more than your hyperactive, troublesome yet innocent little brother who bares a pure heart and wishes the best for him and his sister and to be able to be with their mother once again. Unlike most characters conveyed in anime and movies today, the drawn-out personas found here allows for something more for the viewers to appreciate.
Animation : Though the art and animation are somewhat dated and antiquated, being that of its time, it does do a fairly good job in displaying what it intends the most, the characters and atmosphere. The hues and colors shone in the different settings throughout are nicely distinguished and detailed without it being too exaggerated with its use of visuals. Whether being the warm red tones of the fall season or the colder colors of the winter, you can easily tell when certain seasons are due. The character designs are also befitting for its type of scenario and story, as they are appropriately illustrated to look Asian rather than being your generic bug-eyed type of design, making them seem all the more realistic. Overall I find the animation to be quite solid and well-done and I can't complain much else.
Sound : The sound track for this movie was surprisingly well-orchestrated and pleasing to listen to; each piece was well accompanied to fit certain moods and scenes. Though there was really nothing that stood out as being the main specialty of it all as it was mainly used as background music and subdued accompaniment rather than being a prominent powerhouse of instruments and vocals. Speaking of which, the ost consists mainly of fine instrumental and orchestral pieces with very few vocal tracks to be heard. There is a lullaby tune sung by Gami's character, to which I found to be soothing yet very sad and nearly brought me to tears. On an extra note, I also found it to be quite refreshing to listen to Korean dialogue for a change as I'm usually more accustomed to listen to Japanese and sometimes English voice-acting. The children's voices were not that of the usual squeaky and pitchy voice-acting that I'm used to hearing of the Japanese but rather it sounded more like, well... children's voices. All in all, very consistent dialogue and good soundtrack.
Enjoyment : I won't go in depth here since this category is usually subjective to most people. I will say that I did find myself enjoying this movie more often than not as I did get emotional in many of the scenes. The characters were easy to attach yourself to and the affections brought out by them so vivd. I admit that I did get choked up at certain points where the characters' actions impacted me the most. Nevertheless, for those of you who do watch this, prepare yourselves to be greatly moved by this touching story.
Conclusion:
In all honesty, I really did not expect much before I began watching this film, but now, the feels and emotions are all too real to deny. The austerity, the warmth, the tenderness of it all, makes up for what I believe to be a very delightful watch. It boggles me to know that this film is unknown to the rest of the anime community out there as it is something that should be more appreciated. For those of you looking for a film that consists of raw emotion while also conveying childish innocence, such as that of Grave of the Fireflies, I deeply recommend that you watch this, you just may find yourself enjoying this more than you would expect.
*Edit (Tis my first review, and even I know it's shit...)
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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