This movie is a portrait of human beings. There are no "the good ones" and "the bad ones". The characters are victims of their circumstances. The problem I saw in this movie was: there are so many stories that after 80 or 90 minutes the film becomes tedious and artificial. Every single story has a dramatic end. There are so many screams, cryings and dramas that it begins to be artificial. Although I know in war is impossible to have a big smile in the face; in this case is a drama after drama within a whole drama. Thus the movie loses its effectiveness. I think the movie must show more clearly the main story and use two or three stories, as maximum, to support it. I have seen better movies of Kim Ki Duk, that's why I rate this one with a 6.