Hi, Dharma! is a nice little film from South Korea. The premise is simple, gangsters on the run end up hiding out at a monastery. It’s a cliched plot really, with the twist being that instead of some dusty pueblo church’s sanctuary a la spaghetti western tradition, it’s a Buddhist monastery on top of a lush mountain.
I’m no expert on Buddhism, so I can only suspect that much of the movie’s “point” is showing how the monks need a more practical grounding for their faith, while the gangsters need some spiritual uplifting.
As with any foreign film, there are some idioms that are lost in translation, while other jokes are universally understandable. I still don’t get the foreign student character, at least not past the most superficial layers.
I was entertained.