MovieChat Forums > Madeo (2009) Discussion > Old Men/Women dancing on the bus

Old Men/Women dancing on the bus

posted 15 years ago by Guerilla-SK
6 replies | jump to latest

Middle-aged to old men and women dancing on the narrow aisle of moving bus, loud Korean trot music playing inside the bus, it was very easy to see a bus like that in the 90s to probably early 2000s when you were driving down the highway. Those buses were, most of the time, for people who's on a travel agency package tour deal, while the bus's moving from one place to another, people dance on the bus as if they were in a nightclub, it was very funny to look at from the outside. We can't see that anymore in Korea, obviously because it's very dangerous for passengers to be standing while the bus is moving, maybe the police started cracking down on those buses and travel agencies, I don't know who did what exactly, but when they were getting stopped and fined for it, I guess that's when it started disappearing. You don't see a bus like that anymore. It was a very unique Korean culture.

To see that culture revived on this movie was very interesting indeed.

[–] sitenoise 15 years ago

Interesting to know. Thanks for sharing that.

[–] cbracamonte 15 years ago

it really looks very funny. I was thinking dammit! we can't do that in Canada!

Btw, several parts of the movies seem strange to me but not sure if they were part of the Korean culture or they were funny also there.

for example when the guy is pissing on the wall and the mother stared at his d**k and gave him the soup.

or at the police station. Those were really laid back policemen

why were the mother and son sleeping together.... I know they were poor but he could have another bed in the same room

[–] ndg1930 15 years ago

About that scene where Do-joon is urinating on the wall and his mother stared at his privates while feeding him soup:

Prior to this scene, they were eating lunch (or breakfast) and he told her that he wanted to be with a woman (this was the morning after he went drinking at the Manhattan Bar where he made a pass at the owner and her daughter). At lunch, the mother was telling Do-joon to eat something (a root?) because it would improve his virility. In her eyes, he'll always be her little boy, and she'll always look after him (and even more so because he's mentally challenged and easily bullied).

You could extrapolate that the mother was examining Do-joon's privates to see if he was ready for sex yet. After the son left, she cleaned up the mess.

Although that scene was creepy (and also that Do-joon slept on the same bed as the mother), I don't think there was an incestual relationship.

[–] cbracamonte 15 years ago

I also was wondering about that conversation. I know he was mentally challenged, but I was surprised how open the mother talk about improving his virility. Maybe in Asia those kind of conversations are normal within the family

[–] ndg1930 15 years ago

The mother worked in a store that sold roots and herbs-- I'm sure she got a lot of male customers looking for virility-enhancing concoctions. So maybe it wasn't a big deal for her. Remember, too, that she kept pushing a root to her younger female friend to increase the chances of getting pregnant.

[–] hajj628 15 years ago

This is very common dialogue in Korea, although I can't speak for other countries. Both men and woman alike openly discuss how certain foods increase one's virility.

Public urination is also something that is less frowned upon in South Korea. In some cities there, there are no restrictions on drinking in public, and seeing drunk businessmen pissing against walls after knocking a few back after work is not unusual.