29 South Korean Movies You Must Watch
After Professor Oh from KWOW, Episode 98.
See her list here:
http://sweetandtastytv.com/2013/08/08/29-south-korean-movies-you-must-watch/
(with a nice Youtube video surveying the films, describing some of them in detail).
"Bold" denotes the use of bold font ("super recommendations") in the original list.
I decided to use the numbering from the blog post after initially using the Youtube ordering.
My motivation to create this list was to take away the work of looking up these titles on IMDB for those interested in the list, and some of these titles being rather hard to find here (try finding "Il Mare" by yourself).
See her list here:
http://sweetandtastytv.com/2013/08/08/29-south-korean-movies-you-must-watch/
(with a nice Youtube video surveying the films, describing some of them in detail).
"Bold" denotes the use of bold font ("super recommendations") in the original list.
I decided to use the numbering from the blog post after initially using the Youtube ordering.
My motivation to create this list was to take away the work of looking up these titles on IMDB for those interested in the list, and some of these titles being rather hard to find here (try finding "Il Mare" by yourself).
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31 titles
- DirectorSeok-won ChoiStarsHan Ji-hyeLee Dong-geonYi ShinYoung-bin and Ha-mi meet by accident after a row over him ruining her cellphone. She believes he and she were destined to meet, but the problem is, he has blood-type B, making him spontaneous and emotional but unreliable. Her sister, running a dating-agency based on selection by blood-types, opposes the friendship, as she's convinced that Ha-mi, with blood-type A, making her soft, introvert and shy, will only end up as another victim of his whims and arrogance. Romantic comedy by Seok-won Choi.Romantic Movies, first film.
Like star signs (and horoscopes) in the west, bloodtypes are a popular way of ascribing personalities to people in eastern countries like Korea and Japan. - DirectorHwan-kyung LeeStarsSong Seung-heonDa-bin JeongLee Ki-wooA girl insults a bully on internet. He starts calling her repeatedly and finally finds her. On an escape attempt she trips and their lips meet. Being the first to kiss him, she now has to promise to marry him. Is life over or...?
- DirectorJo Byung-SukShin Jae HoShin Jai-HoStarsKim Jae-wonHa Ji-WonJin Tae-hyunA cute, poor, Korean high school senior's dumped by her boyfriend so she kicks a beer can hitting a handsome driver, who "crashes" his convertible. He insists on 3M won/USD3000 in damages. She can work it off over 100 days. Comedy follows.
- DirectorJae-young KwakStarsCha Tae-hyunJun Ji-hyunIn-mun KimA young man sees a drunk, cute woman standing too close to the tracks at a metro station in Seoul and pulls her back. She ends up getting him into trouble repeatedly after that, starting on the train.Bold.
- DirectorPark Chan-wookStarsLim Soo-jungRainPark Byeong-eunA girl who thinks she is a combat cyborg checks into a mental hospital, where she encounters other psychotics. Eventually, she falls for a man who thinks he can steal people's souls.Directed by Spike Lee.
- DirectorHyun-seung LeeStarsLee Jung-jaeJun Ji-hyunMu-saeng KimIn 1999, a voice actor moves from Il Mare, a seaside house, and leaves a Christmas card in its (magical) mailbox. An architecture student receives it in 1997, and a friendship separated by 2 years begins.Bold.
- DirectorKim Jee-woonStarsSong Kang-hoLee Byung-hunJung Woo-sungThe story of two outlaws and a bounty hunter in 1940s Manchuria and their rivalry to possess a treasure map while being pursued by the Japanese army and Chinese bandits.Comedy movies, first of the list. Because what's life without laughter?
Korean Cowboys! - DirectorSang-Jin KimStarsLee Sung-jaeYu Oh-seongKang Seong-jinFour disaffected youths rob a gas station but find their plans complicated and sidetracked before the night is through.
- DirectorKwang-Hyun ParkStarsJeong Jae-yeongShin Ha-kyunKang Hye-jeongSoldiers from both sides of the Korean divide live among villagers who know nothing of the war.Bold.
- DirectorJin-gyu ChoStarsShin Eun-kyungAhn Jae-moKim In-kwonThe story of how Eun-jin (Eun-kyung Shin) became a legend in the South Korean underworld by defeating an army of gangsters.
- DirectorLee Chang-dongStarsSol Kyung-guMoon So-riAhn Nae-sangAn irresponsible and childish ex-con befriends a girl with cerebral palsy and develops a progressively stronger bond with her.Independent movies, first of the list.
Bold. - DirectorLee Chang-dongStarsJeon Do-yeonSong Kang-hoLee Dong-yongA woman moves to the town where her dead husband was born. As she tries to fit in, another tragic event overturns her life.
- DirectorLee Chang-dongStarsHan Suk-kyuShim Hye-jinMoon Sung-KeunReturning home and finding his town drastically changed, a former soldier falls in with gangsters.
- DirectorLee Chang-dongStarsSol Kyung-guKim Yeo-jinMoon So-riFollowing a man's suicide, time traverses back to reveal six chapters of his life on why he committed suicide.
- DirectorLee Chang-dongStarsYun Jeong-hieLee Da-witKim Hee-raA sixty-something woman, faced with the discovery of a heinous family crime and in the early stages of Alzheimer's disease, finds strength and purpose when she enrolls in a poetry class.Bold.
- DirectorKim Ki-dukStarsKim Ki-dukOh Yeong-suJong-ho KimA boy is raised by a Buddhist monk in an isolated floating temple where the years pass like the seasons.First of the films by Ki-duk Kim, who has a very quiet style of movie-making where you can interact with the film and have room to think actively, opposing Hollywod's style.
Bold. - DirectorKim Ki-dukStarsHa Jung-wooPark Ji-yeonBaek Gwang-DooTo save her relationship, a woman puts herself through extensive plastic surgery.By Ki-duk Kim.
Bold. - DirectorPark Chan-wookStarsSong Kang-hoShin Ha-kyunBae DoonaA recently laid off factory worker kidnaps his former boss' friend's daughter, hoping to use the ransom money to pay for his sister's kidney transplant.Dark/Horror/18+, first of the list.
Directed by the maker of Oldboy, Spike Lee, also vengeance-themed (obviously). - DirectorPark Chan-wookStarsNam-mi KangJeong-nam ChoiHye-Sook GoAfter being wrongfully imprisoned for thirteen years and having her child taken away from her, a woman seeks revenge through increasingly brutal means.Directed by Spike Lee.
- DirectorPark Chan-wookStarsLee Yeong-aeLee Byung-hunSong Kang-hoAfter a shooting incident at the North-South Korean border DMZ leaves two North Korean soldiers dead, a neutral Swiss and Swedish team investigates what actually happened.Directed by Spike Lee.
Bold. - DirectorPark Chan-wookStarsChoi Min-sikYoo Ji-taeKang Hye-jeongAfter being kidnapped and imprisoned for fifteen years, Oh Dae-Su is released, only to find that he must track down his captor in five days.Highest-rated Korean movie.
Bold. - DirectorJung Doo HongKim Jee-woonStarsLee Byung-hunShin Min-aKim Yeong-cheolThings go wrong for a high ranking mobster when he doesn't follow his boss's orders."Crazy films", first of the list.
- DirectorNa Hong-jinStarsKim Yoon-seokHa Jung-wooSeo Yeong-hieA disgraced ex-policeman who runs a small ring of prostitutes finds himself in a race against time when one of his women goes missing.
- DirectorKim Jee-woonStarsLee Byung-hunChoi Min-sikJeon Gook-hwanA secret agent exacts revenge on a serial killer through a series of captures and releases.
- DirectorLee Jeong-beomStarsWon BinKim Sae-ronKim Tae-hoonA quiet pawnshop keeper with a violent past takes on a drug-and-organ trafficking ring in hope of saving the child who is his only friend.