There seems to be many who complain about the movie without knowing why that happened so here are some explanations.
1. This is Somalia! Why aren't the actors from Somalia?
A: Because Somalia is considered as an extremely dangerous county to visit. Due to dangerous situation of Somalia, it is currently forbidden to visit Somalia and even Korean embassy doesn't exist.
Under these circumstances, it was highly improbable to cast somalis for all africans in the movie. In the director interview, he said he wanted to cast more Somali actors and did try but it was impossible.
The director and staff tried to build the set to be as close to what it actually was like back then that they built it as far as 1km so it would seem as realistic as possible.
2. It is silly that the local is speaking Korean but the ambassador's wife speaking back to him in broken english.
A. There were Somali employees working at the embassy at the time and some have worked for a long time. Some of the employees still came to work even after everything began.
It is probable some of them could speak broken Korean. The local man in the movie spoke very broken Korean and so the wife of ambassador spoke back in her best, yet broken english.
They were just trying to be kind to each other by speaking languages the other person could understand better.
3. What's with the car chase? It's ridiculous that only one person died even if there were books and sand bags.
A. As you all know, this movie was based on true story and that true story was even crazier than the movie.
In the actual event, there were no books, sand bags or wooden doors. They had just two Korean flags waving to show these were embassy vehicles. Nothing else was on the car to protect them from gunfire.
After the dangerous car chase, one North Korean died of gun shot wound just before reaching Italian embassy.
4. It's degrading NK and pushing for anti-communism!
A. Personally I don't get where this comment came from but the facts were a bit different from the movie. Truth is.. SK embassy helped NK embassy even more than the movie.
Some of these facts were left out because they might seem too over-the-top and exaggeration. Truth was more amazing than the fiction.
1. This is Somalia! Why aren't the actors from Somalia?
A: Because Somalia is considered as an extremely dangerous county to visit. Due to dangerous situation of Somalia, it is currently forbidden to visit Somalia and even Korean embassy doesn't exist.
Under these circumstances, it was highly improbable to cast somalis for all africans in the movie. In the director interview, he said he wanted to cast more Somali actors and did try but it was impossible.
The director and staff tried to build the set to be as close to what it actually was like back then that they built it as far as 1km so it would seem as realistic as possible.
2. It is silly that the local is speaking Korean but the ambassador's wife speaking back to him in broken english.
A. There were Somali employees working at the embassy at the time and some have worked for a long time. Some of the employees still came to work even after everything began.
It is probable some of them could speak broken Korean. The local man in the movie spoke very broken Korean and so the wife of ambassador spoke back in her best, yet broken english.
They were just trying to be kind to each other by speaking languages the other person could understand better.
3. What's with the car chase? It's ridiculous that only one person died even if there were books and sand bags.
A. As you all know, this movie was based on true story and that true story was even crazier than the movie.
In the actual event, there were no books, sand bags or wooden doors. They had just two Korean flags waving to show these were embassy vehicles. Nothing else was on the car to protect them from gunfire.
After the dangerous car chase, one North Korean died of gun shot wound just before reaching Italian embassy.
4. It's degrading NK and pushing for anti-communism!
A. Personally I don't get where this comment came from but the facts were a bit different from the movie. Truth is.. SK embassy helped NK embassy even more than the movie.
- South Korean ambassador met North Koreans at the airport. After dozens of attacks on North Korean embassy, North Koreans were staying at the airport so SK ambassador suggested joining them at the SK embassy.
- Before this encounter, SK and NK embassies didnt really know each other and it was first time for many of them to actually talk to one another.
- There weren't as much tension between NK and SK people during being locked in the embassy for 14 days(not 3 as shown in the movie). They shared their food, made kimchi, and talked. They had their own generator so lack of electricity wasn't really a problem.
- SK didn't lie to Italian embassy. SK convinced Italian ambassador that they cannot leave without their fellow Koreans and Italian ambassador was persuaded.
- When they departed after landing in Kenya, they hugged and shook hands. There weren't any scary government officials coming to collect them.
- NK ambassador did refuse on joining them at the hotel for dinner because he was worried what might happen if they seemed too close.
- NK ambassador reported to Kim Ilsung about their escape, despite the possibility of being punished. However Kim just said it's good that they made back alive and there were no punishments.
Some of these facts were left out because they might seem too over-the-top and exaggeration. Truth was more amazing than the fiction.