I watched this after borrowing the 10 book set from the library. The film captures the main points and characters, and the bombing particularly is handled very effectively, but overall I was disappointed.
In the books there are important themes that are either just glided over or dropped altogether in the film such as the society's anti-Korean sentiments, pro-war fervor, and fear of bombing victims (I was particularly impressed how critical the author was of the Japanese war government as much as he was of the American decision to bomb). As a characters reacted to these it gave them depth and humanness and set the stage for later difficulties, making the overall story great (I was moved to tears several times in reading). The movie's characters by contrast are pretty shallow and reactive and the more important sub-stories in the book become feel-good niceties, such as Gen's caring for the artist. At the end of the movie, you'll remember the big events, but not the characters.
Since the story is so important the movie is still worth catching, but books are much better.
In the books there are important themes that are either just glided over or dropped altogether in the film such as the society's anti-Korean sentiments, pro-war fervor, and fear of bombing victims (I was particularly impressed how critical the author was of the Japanese war government as much as he was of the American decision to bomb). As a characters reacted to these it gave them depth and humanness and set the stage for later difficulties, making the overall story great (I was moved to tears several times in reading). The movie's characters by contrast are pretty shallow and reactive and the more important sub-stories in the book become feel-good niceties, such as Gen's caring for the artist. At the end of the movie, you'll remember the big events, but not the characters.
Since the story is so important the movie is still worth catching, but books are much better.