List of South Korean Films to See (Mostly Recent)
So there is a paper I have to write about South Korean cinema. I am comparing A Tale of Two Sisters and its remake The Uninvited as an example of how Hollywood interacts with the Korean film market. Through my research I’ve learned all about the South Korean film industry and it’s completely fascinating. Only in the past 10 years has Korean cinema actually become a commodity. Through occupation, invasion, Hollywood imports, extreme censorship laws and other reasons there were few Korean films even being made, none were making money and only a handful were of quality. Then in 1997 the Asian economic crisis happened and South Korea could no longer afford to import Hollywood films. This is what allowed the industry to finally flourish; the absence of Hollywood. By the time the crisis subsided the industry had already blossomed and Hollywood now had to share its ticket intake with Korean films which now takes up just as much in ticket sales.
In my studies I also read a great article about Tartan Asia Extreme, the distribution label which is single handedly responsible for bringing Korean cinema to the attention of both fanboys and arthouse crowds alike in America and the UK. However, only the horror films were distributed on this label which led to a perception that horror films are the rage in both Japan and Korea. This is not true and in fact melodramas are most popular in Korea and some of the horror films on the label are not even well received in their home country. The article talks about how our own fascination with extreme horror films shapes our perception of the East even though it really just says more about our own interests. While K-Horror still represents the majority of films being distributed in America, Korean cinema has become one of the biggest national cinemas in the world and more and more films are becoming available here. While The Uninvited represents where Hollywood is at with its dependence on remakes, reboots and adaptations, A Tale of Two Sisters represents a new industry brimming with energy and originality and playing with American based genres in order to display a commodity that is so much younger than Hollywood is and is now experiencing that period of originality that comes with a new booming international industry.
Anyways, I have become fascinated with this and I have made a huge list of Korean films from the past 10 years I am interested in seeing. Summer is coming up and that is my prime movie watching season of the year. With school ending I will have time to watch things. While I don’t plan on watching all of them due to lack of time, desire to watch other things as well and availability issues, I do plan on using this as a list to pick from. I am only doing the last 10 years because while I really want to see earlier films, I am really just interested in how they have constructed their own national cinema and what they are doing as an industry right now. So here is a list I will be working from. If I can watch at least 30 of these over the summer I will
be very pleased with myself.
I'm open to suggestions if there are any missing from the list that people would recommend!!
1. …ing
2. 301, 302
3. 3-Iron
4. Acacia
5. Addicted
6. Attack the Gas Station
7. A Bittersweet Life
8. Bunshinsaba
9. Cello
10. The Chaser
11. Christmas in August
12. Chunhyang
13. Cinderella
14. The City of Violence
15. The Classic
16. Crying Fist
17. The Day a Pig Fell into a Well
18. Death Bell
19. A Devilish Homicide
20. Ditto
21. Doll Master
22. Eternal Empire
23. The Evil Stairs
24. The Evil Twin
25. Face
26. Failan
27. Friend
28. A Frozen Flower
29. The Good, the Bad, the Weird
30. A Good Lawyer’s Wife
31. Haeundae
32. Hansel and Gretel
33. The Host
34. I’m a Cyborg but That’s OK
35. Into the Mirror
36. The Isle
37. Joint Security Area
38. The King and the Clown
39. Le Grand Chef
40. Lies
41. Loner
42. M
43. Maundy Thursday
44. May 18
45. Memento Mori
46. Memories of Murder
47. Mother
48. Muoi: The Legend of a Portrait
49. The Murmuring
50. My Wife is a Gangster
51. Nightmare
52. Nowhere to Hide
53. Oasis
54. Peppermint Candy
55. Phone
56. The President’s Last Bang
57. Public Enemy
58. Push! Push!
59. The Quiet Family
60. The Railroad
61. The Record
62. The Red Shoes
63. Samaritan Girl
64. Save the Green Planet
65. Sex is Zero
66. Shiri
67. Silmido
68. Sopyonje
69. Sorum
70. Speedy Scandal
71. Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter…and Spring
72. Sympathy for Lady Vengeance
73. Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance
74. Taekugi
75. Take Care of my Cat
76. Tears
77. Tell Me Something
78. This Charming Girl
79. Three
80. Time
81. To Sir, With Love
82. Unborn but Not Forgotten
83. The Uninvited
84. Untold Scandal
85. Virgin Stripped Bare by her Bachelors
86. Voice
87. Voice of a Murderer
88. The Way Home
89. Welcome to Dongmakgol
90. Whispering Corridors
91. The Wig
92. Windstruck
93. Wishing Stairs
94. Woman is the Future of Man
95. You Are my Sunshine
In my studies I also read a great article about Tartan Asia Extreme, the distribution label which is single handedly responsible for bringing Korean cinema to the attention of both fanboys and arthouse crowds alike in America and the UK. However, only the horror films were distributed on this label which led to a perception that horror films are the rage in both Japan and Korea. This is not true and in fact melodramas are most popular in Korea and some of the horror films on the label are not even well received in their home country. The article talks about how our own fascination with extreme horror films shapes our perception of the East even though it really just says more about our own interests. While K-Horror still represents the majority of films being distributed in America, Korean cinema has become one of the biggest national cinemas in the world and more and more films are becoming available here. While The Uninvited represents where Hollywood is at with its dependence on remakes, reboots and adaptations, A Tale of Two Sisters represents a new industry brimming with energy and originality and playing with American based genres in order to display a commodity that is so much younger than Hollywood is and is now experiencing that period of originality that comes with a new booming international industry.
Anyways, I have become fascinated with this and I have made a huge list of Korean films from the past 10 years I am interested in seeing. Summer is coming up and that is my prime movie watching season of the year. With school ending I will have time to watch things. While I don’t plan on watching all of them due to lack of time, desire to watch other things as well and availability issues, I do plan on using this as a list to pick from. I am only doing the last 10 years because while I really want to see earlier films, I am really just interested in how they have constructed their own national cinema and what they are doing as an industry right now. So here is a list I will be working from. If I can watch at least 30 of these over the summer I will
be very pleased with myself.
I'm open to suggestions if there are any missing from the list that people would recommend!!
1. …ing
2. 301, 302
3. 3-Iron
4. Acacia
5. Addicted
6. Attack the Gas Station
7. A Bittersweet Life
8. Bunshinsaba
9. Cello
10. The Chaser
11. Christmas in August
12. Chunhyang
13. Cinderella
14. The City of Violence
15. The Classic
16. Crying Fist
17. The Day a Pig Fell into a Well
18. Death Bell
19. A Devilish Homicide
20. Ditto
21. Doll Master
22. Eternal Empire
23. The Evil Stairs
24. The Evil Twin
25. Face
26. Failan
27. Friend
28. A Frozen Flower
29. The Good, the Bad, the Weird
30. A Good Lawyer’s Wife
31. Haeundae
32. Hansel and Gretel
33. The Host
34. I’m a Cyborg but That’s OK
35. Into the Mirror
36. The Isle
37. Joint Security Area
38. The King and the Clown
39. Le Grand Chef
40. Lies
41. Loner
42. M
43. Maundy Thursday
44. May 18
45. Memento Mori
46. Memories of Murder
47. Mother
48. Muoi: The Legend of a Portrait
49. The Murmuring
50. My Wife is a Gangster
51. Nightmare
52. Nowhere to Hide
53. Oasis
54. Peppermint Candy
55. Phone
56. The President’s Last Bang
57. Public Enemy
58. Push! Push!
59. The Quiet Family
60. The Railroad
61. The Record
62. The Red Shoes
63. Samaritan Girl
64. Save the Green Planet
65. Sex is Zero
66. Shiri
67. Silmido
68. Sopyonje
69. Sorum
70. Speedy Scandal
71. Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter…and Spring
72. Sympathy for Lady Vengeance
73. Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance
74. Taekugi
75. Take Care of my Cat
76. Tears
77. Tell Me Something
78. This Charming Girl
79. Three
80. Time
81. To Sir, With Love
82. Unborn but Not Forgotten
83. The Uninvited
84. Untold Scandal
85. Virgin Stripped Bare by her Bachelors
86. Voice
87. Voice of a Murderer
88. The Way Home
89. Welcome to Dongmakgol
90. Whispering Corridors
91. The Wig
92. Windstruck
93. Wishing Stairs
94. Woman is the Future of Man
95. You Are my Sunshine
Horrorphile
Lies and The Chaser are good, I didn't like Haeundae though.
I've heard of a few other titles, but most I haevn't heard of
I like the title I'm a Cyborg and That's OK. Sounds like a comedy to me.
I'm a big fan of Asian cinema, and particularly enjoy Japanese and HK movies.
Thoughts from a Cinephile
Thoughts from a TV Watcher
I'm a Cyborg, But That's OK is actually a romantic comedy by none other than Chan-Wook Park!! Weird! I know it's supposed to be pretty good if not as remarkable as his other works.
Horrorphile
Thoughts from a Cinephile
Thoughts from a TV Watcher
Right now my favorite Korean director is Lee Chang-dong. I noticed you included his Oasis and Peppermint Candy on your list but I'd also really recommend his Secret Sunshine as well. Also, I'd recommend Repatriation (a documentary about North Korean spies who years after being released from South Korean prisons attempt to return to North Korea), White Badge (a film about South Korea's presence in the Vietnam War), and two 1950s films, Madame Freedom and Stray Bullet.
I hope you're doing well and that you enjoy watching all of these Korean films!
Thoughts from a Cinephile
Thoughts from a TV Watcher
Thank you so much for the recommendations. I will definitely add them to my list. It's really cool that you took a South Korean cinema class. : )
Also, life is pretty good right now. I'm reaching the second half of the quarter here at UCLA so it's getting busier. I'm taking a Japanese postwar literature and cinema course as well as a course on the Occupation of Japan and Japanese. How have you been this year?
Thoughts from a Cinephile
Thoughts from a TV Watcher