This is Part two of a list of Fifteen Films of the New Korean Cinema – Part One of this list can be found here
Friend (Kwak Kyung-taek, 2001)
A good example of the type of Korean films that started to explode at the domestic box-office and helped encourage an interest in Korean cinema overseas, Friend is the story of a group of childhood friends and the way their lives change as they grow up. This manages to tap into popular cinematic genres – a historical gangster drama with melodrama, based on a true story – and is made with real energy and excitement. The cast also became very popular and includes Jang Dong-gun.
What’s Korean Cinema? Ep3: Friend
Beyond Hollywood Review
Memories of Murder (Bong Joon-ho, 2003)
This happens to be my favourite Korean film from my favourite Korean director but, even though I’m biased, it’s an incredibly gripping thriller which follows an investigation into a serial killer. The film manages to show the way the the police attempt to find the killer while at the same time delivers a social commentary on the class system in Korea. It’s also a true story. Highly recommended, along with the rest of Bong Joon-ho’s films which include the biggest grossing Korea film of all time, The Host.
A Tale of Two Sisters (Kim Jee-woon, 2003)
Managing tap into the international interest in Asian Horror at the time as well as to be very successful domestically this is loosely based on a Korean folktale, but director Kim Jee-woon brings a unique cinematic style to it. All of Kims films can be recommended – his first two films, the excellent black-comedy The Quiet Family (1998) and the wrestling comedy The Foul King (2000) are often overlooked in favour of his flashier and more violent A Bittersweet Life (2005), The Good, The Bad, The Weird (2008) and I Saw The Devil (2010), but all are worth a look.
New Korean Cinema Review
Save The Green Planet (Jang Joon-hwan, 2003)
Although this was a flop in Korea, it’s since become a cult favourite and it’s one of the best examples of genre hopping to be found anywhere in the world – something that Korean filmmakers in the early 2000s seemed to manage to do better than anyone. This is the story of a young man who kidnaps a businessman because he is convinced that he’s an alien preparing to attack the world. This is a mixture of comedy, drama, sci-fi, action, musical – pretty much everything is in here, and amazingly it works. Great stuff.
A Moment to Remember (John H. Lee, 2004)
Another Korean melodrama which was very popular and is a very good example of the genre. It’s a gentle romance which stars a likeable couple (Jung Woo-sung and Son Ye-jin), which gets quite teary when events seem to ensure that they won’t be together long. Director John H. Lee went on to make the successful teen war film 71: Into The Fire (2010) and has signed on to direct a remake of the classic John Woo film The Killer (1989). A Moment To Remember is very good stuff, although you’ll need a box of tissues handy…
Welcome To Dongmakgol (Park Kwan-hyun, 2005)
A feel-good film dealing with the conflict between the North and the South, Welcome To Dongmakgol is the story of soldiers stuck together in a small village where the villagers are unaware of the war. A beautiful film with a pitch-perfect performances from its cast, this manages to address issues of the Korean war without reducing them to the point of over-simplifying, it’s another example of the genre-bending and freshness found in Korean films. Bizarrely this has been released in the UK under its original title and then re-released the seemingly unrelated name of Battleground 625.
What’s Korean Cinema? Ep 2: Welcome To Dongmakgol
The City of Violence (Ryoo Seung-wan, 2006)
Ryoo Seung-wan is probably the most famous action director in Korea right now and who right up until his most recent film, The Unjust (2010) made a series of films that owe much of their style and technique to Hong Kong and early Korean action films. The City of Violence is probably his most polished action film – literally half of the film is made up of inventive action scenes, although it’s worth checking out all of his others, including Arahan (2004) which is a martial arts comedy in the vein of Stephen Chow and Crying Fist (2005) – a boxing drama which divides its time between each of the fighters preparing for a match.
VCinema Episode 12: The City of Violence
FILLER
The Chaser (Na Hong-jin, 2008)
A mid-budget film that exceeded expectations and did massive business both domestically and around the world, The Chaser is a dark serial killer story with a twist – the killer is caught very early on in the film. It’s a tense, brutal film and pushed the director and it’s two leads into the big time – they’ve recently regrouped to make the even more violent Yellow Sea, although The Chaser remains the benchmark.
Castway On The Moon (Lee Hae-jun, 2009)
A feel-good film about a man who tries to kill himself but then wakes up to find himself stranded on an island in the middle of the Han river, Castaway On The Moon is a bizarre film with some amazing visuals and a fantastic central performance. This should be more universally recognised as it’s one of the best Korean films in recent years and director Lee Hae-jun is one of the directors that everyone should be keeping a close eye on.
VCinema Review
What’s Korean Cinema? Season 2 Ep1: Castaway On The Moon
So there you go – fifteen films are from the ‘new’ Korean cinema. Of course, there’s plenty of great films not listed and there’s also plenty of great stuff pre-1999. Let me know in the comments box below if you agree or disagree with the choices here and if there’s any films that you think I should have included…
