Korean Cinema

Do_Lers

I have limited knowledge of Korean film; having only seen the popular 'Oldboy' and 'Smpathy for Lady Vengeance' which I loved. I'm eager to delve into more.

Looking for recommendations (Korean only) I have no preference of genre here, just strong cinematography and decent plot.

Any takers?


Cheers
D

SpatialPlanning

Do_Lers wrote: »

I have limited knowledge of Korean film; having only seen the popular 'Oldboy' and 'Smpathy for Lady Vengeance' which I loved. I'm eager to delve into more.

Looking for recommendations (Korean only) I have no preference of genre here, just strong cinematography and decent plot.

Any takers?


Cheers
D

Go to Daves ESL Cafe or waygook.org and ask there. You will receive countless responses.

Do_Lers

will do, thanks SP

Sad Professor

Well, for starters, you've seen two of Park Chan-wook's Vengeance trilogy, so make sure you check out the third: Sympathy for Mr Vengeance. Many people feel this is the best of the three. I'm not sure it's quite as watchable, but I find it the most affecting. Most of Park's other films are worth checking out as well. Particularly Thirst, about a priest who becomes a vampire, and Joint Security Area.

After that Kim Jee-woon's films are essential viewing. A Tale of Two Sisters is a horror masterpiece. The Good, The Bad, The Weird is a swashbuckling adventure film along the lines of The Good, The Bad and the Ugly. I Saw the Devil is a disturbing but darkly humorous serial killer/revenge film - starring Choi Min-sik (aka Oldboy). And A Bittersweet Life is a gangster film with the sort of excessive violence reminiscent of Scarface. Kim is directing Arnold Schwarzenegger comeback film, I believe. If it sucks it won't because of Kim.

Then there's Bong Joon-ho. Fantastic director who made Memories of Murder, which is often described as a South Korean Zodiac. Like Zodiac it's also about a series of unsolved murders, but it's also extremely funny. Bong's other two recent films are also must-sees: The Host and Mother.

Make sure you see Na Hong-jin's The Chaser as well. It's a serial killer film about a pimp whose girls are being murdered. There's a Hollywood remake in the works, but it's unlikely to be as thrilling as the original. This is typical of the sort of adult thriller that Hollywood just doesn't seem to know how to make anymore, but which South Korean directors can do almost effortlessly.

All the above are fairly Hollywood/mainstream friendly films. There's nothing difficult about them, except that they are not watered down PG-13 rubbish like most of what Hollywood puts out these days. They are just damn good movies. But after you check them out, you might always want to check out some of the smaller films, such as those by Kim Ki-duk, Lee Chang-dong and others. I'd especially recommend Oasis, 3-Iron, Failan and Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter and Spring.

Kess73

I love The Host. A really well done creature feature which has a cast of characters that are all engaging in their own way.


The Good, the Bad, and the Weird is an excellent Western influenced film. It has shades of The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly and Red Sun running through it, but at the same time manages to be it's own film for the most part.


R-Point is a military horror which to my mind was one of the main influences for Outpost, and was itself influenced, imho of course, by the WW1 military horror Deathwatch.

johnny_ultimate

Save the Green Planet is a perennial favourite around these parts. It's mental, funny and breaks rules at a gleefully casual pace.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3NLbDgyMusk

Slightly more old school (many of the good contemporary ones have been mentioned) is The Housemaid, a brilliantly camp melodrama. Avoid the recent remake though, it's more mental but less satisfying.

Otherwise, you have the likes if I'm a Cyborg But That's OK (yet another fascinating oddity from the director of Oldboy). I'd very much +1 Oasis, Spring Summer..., The Good the Bad... and I Saw the Devil.

e_e

Memories of Murder, a must for any fans of police thrillers.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GqwABQpnjZA

Sad Professor

It's a bit silly in places, but for anyone looking for something to watch with the girlfriend, I'd recommend My Sassy Girl. One of the most offbeat and endearing romantic comedies I've ever seen. The girl is an abusive drunk who pukes all over a train passenger in one of the opening scenes and the guy is an effeminate whimp whose life is turned upside down by her. There was an American remake with Elisha Cuthbert that was meant to be pretty awful. The original was a huge hit in Asia.

Kess73

Another must see is The Man From Nowhere

A brilliant film about a loner who runs a little shop whose only friend is a little local girl. The girl falls foul of a local drug gang and our loner (who has a very particular set of skills, skills he acquired during a past career ) decides to get involved.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_o3X4GqfZZ0

nix

A good war movie to get is Tae Guk Gi (Brotherhood), North vs South Korea, brothers made fight for their country, the older brother takes on all the suicide missions to ensure his younger brother stays out of harms way. Really good war flick.

Also as the others have stated, the rest of the vengeance trilogy, The good, the bad and the weird, and the host are great films. Must see!

Ridley

Sad Professor wrote: »

It's a bit silly in places, but for anyone looking for something to watch with the girlfriend, I'd recommend My Sassy Girl. One of the most offbeat and endearing romantic comedies I've ever seen. The girl is an abusive drunk who pukes all over a train passenger in one of the opening scenes and the guy is an effeminate whimp whose life is turned upside down by her. There was an American remake with Elisha Cuthbert that was meant to be pretty awful. The original was a huge hit in Asia.

Is there a region 2 DVD or is it an import job?

Sad Professor

Ridley wrote: »

Is there a region 2 DVD or is it an import job?

It's years since I've actually watched it, but I think it was an R3 DVD.

It seems it was never released on DVD in the UK, or the US for that matter, which is a shame. When studios buy the remake rights to a foreign film they often buy the international distribution rights as well. That way they can bury the original film to prevent it distracting from the remake. Happens a lot. Usually it only affects the theatrical release (i.e. it doesn't get one), but I guess when the remake ends up going straight-to-DVD they don't bother releasing the original on DVD either.

losthorizon

I would concur about Mother a great Hitchcock like thriller woth absolutely stunning visuals.

SuperGrover

Check out the films by Kim Ki Duk. Some great stuff there including The Isle and 3-Iron. Not as in your face as Park Chan Wook, more ethereal but excellent nonetheless.

Sad Professor

Yeah, I've seen most of Kim Ki-duk's films. Excellent director. 3-Iron (horrible title, the Korean title translates as "Empty Houses") is probably my favourite. It's mostly silent. The two main characters barely speak a word, which I didn't even notice until half way through the film. It's about a teenager who breaks into people's houses while they are away (for totally benign purposes) and the relationship he forms with an abused housewife.

Bad Guy is an interesting one as well. It's about a mute thug who falls in love with an upper class college girl. But instead of trying to become more like her, he decides to drag her down to his level by forcing her into a life of prostitution. lol. The ending is a bit bizarre but definitely leaves you with something to talk about.

PWEI

Only watched Memories of Murder last Sunday night. I'm a big fan of Korean cinema but it was easily one of the best I've seen yet. The acting was superb through out and it also had a lot of very funny moments.
Another film worth watching that would be considered a Korean epic is
Musa or also known as The Warrior;

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0275083/

Corsendonk

Ridley wrote: »

Is there a region 2 DVD or is it an import job?

If you can live with it Youtube has a HD version of My SassyGirl, well worth a watch.

fish fingers

"The chaser" is a Great film I thought. "I saw the devil" is another good one.

Sad Professor

The Yellow Sea, director Na's follow-up to The Chaser, is really good as well. It's about a cab driver living in the border area between North Korea and China who accepts a hit job from a local crime boss. It's not as tightly focused as The Chaser, but is still very enjoyable. Two words: axe fights!

I'm not sure if it's going to get a theatrical release here. It's supposed to be out in the UK at end of October though, so hopefully it will.

Corsendonk

Korean movies all the way for me, they can be predictable like Hollywood in certain formats but usually a general high standard of production and writing. Some of my favs

Hello Ghost- a man that fails to kill himself now sees ghosts. Comedy set for a Hollywood makeover, far funnier than Ricky Gervais Ghost offering.

Going by the Book- smart comedy in which a straight by the book regional police officer is made play the bank robber in a police demonstration.

The Man from Nowhere- +1 Korean version of Leon with a great knife fight.

My SassyGirl- very funny screwball comedy.

100 Days with Mr Arrogant- comedy in which a schoolgirl is forced to work as a slave for 100 days to pay for a damaged car.

Welcome to Dongmakgol- great looking movie in which soldiers from both sides of the Korean War stumble across a mysterious village in the mountains.

Some pointers on Korean movies especially the Comedies and Rom Coms that they churn out at an amazing rate. Essentials of the Script must include

• Piggyback- the korean version of a Western sex scene is the girl getting a piggyback after getting drunk.
• Beautiful Women Farting- well the national dish is fermented cabbage.
• Suicide- 40 a day in South Korea so they love to laugh at it.
• Orphans and Orphanages- always one charactor that was an orphan or they visit an orphanage.
• Terminal Illness of the Young- they love to kill off one of the leads , even in comedies.

Sir Digby Chicken Caesar

100 Days with Mr Arrogant- comedy in which a schoolgirl is forced to work as a slave for 100 days to pay for a damaged car.

such a shame that movie isn't japanese

Corsendonk

fish fingers wrote: »

"The chaser" is a Great film I thought. "I saw the devil" is another good one.

Yes a great movie, actually based on true life events.

Asian MediaWiki

1. "The Chaser" is based on the real life serial killer Young-cheol Yoo (유영철), who was convicted in 2005 of murdering 20 people.
2. How the "Chaser" followed the real life killings of Young-chul Yoo.
3. Young-chul Yoo initially targeted the rich, specifically wealthy homes in the upscale neighborhoods of Seoul. He would first locate a church in such an area and then look for a nearby home that was large and featured a courtyard, surrounded by a walled area.
4. Young-chul Yoo often used a hammer as his primary weapon.
5. During Young-chul Yoo's killing spree he was arrested once by the police, but they failed to check his background of past criminal offenses and mistook him for a petty thief. He was released.
6. Young-chul Yoo then targeted prostitutes, specifically ones who would visit his home.
7. Pimps for the missing girls began to get suspicious of a certain anonymous client and his unique phone number which were linked to the phone numbers of the missing women. The pimps then notified an acquaintance, who was also a police officer, and they eventually caught Young-chul Yoo

Do_Lers

Brilliant!

Thanks everyone for your replies, I have a long list to set me up for the cold Seoul winter.

D

Sir Digby Chicken Caesar

if you're in korea, head out to see some broodwar or starcraft 2

Sad Professor

To follow up on my earlier post, The Yellow Sea is in the IFI from October 21.

Aurora Borealis

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1287878/

"Poetry"

Fantastic film.

indiewindy

A bittersweet life is another quality Korean film. Lifted this from amazons review
Highly anticipated revenge thriller from the director of A Tale of Two Sisters – Kim Jee-woon. A loyal worker is devoted to his crime boss who asks him to kill his girlfriend’s lover. Daring to defy him, his actions lead to terrible personal consequences and set in motion a torrent of blood and mayhem. Stylish balletic violence, but a brutal masterpiece. A pulse-racing powerhouse that serves as a Korean Point Blank., John Woo-style. Unforgettable film noir for the modern day.

enji1225

First, I a Korean girl in Dublin. I also recommend the man from nowhere.
A perfect movie !!!!!! and It's top of fancy movies in Korea too.
http://youtu.be/r9xT73R0bL8

Gee Bag

Thirst - a proper horror show.

Kicks those sissy ass vampires from twilight in the face and steals their lunch money.

Gee Bag

Gee Bag wrote: »

Thirst - a proper horror show.

Kicks those sissy ass vampires from twilight in the face and steals their lunch money.

To be fair 99.99% of Hollywood vampires also put those those in Twilight to shame.

Corsendonk

This one looks interesting, WW2 film, Korean/Chinese/Japanese production. Looks like Chariots of Fire combined with Band of Brothers.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hlMLD_MhmOU

Brian?

I'd agree with most of the films already mentioned. The Vengance Trilogy especially, I still think Old Boy is the highlight of the 3 but they are all superb.

I saw a couple of Korean films in JDIF last years, Hansel and Gretal and Castaway on the Moon. Hansel and Gretal is a creepy re imagining of the classic fairy tale, not a bad aul film

Castaway on the Moon was brilliant. It's about a man who attempts to commit suicide and ends up as a castaway on a small Island in the middle of the Han rive in Seoul.

http://www.hancinema.net/korean_movie_Castaway_on_the_Moon.php

It's basically a quirky rom-com, but it's one of the most original rom-coms you'll ever see.

Hollywood could do a lot worse than pay attention to Koreas output right now, although the way the major studios work they'd re make Castaway on the Moon with Aston Kutcher and that blonde wan from the Notebook.

Brian?

Has anyone seen this:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0497137/

It looks deadly.

Mickeroo

briankeating wrote: »

Has anyone seen this:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0497137/

It looks deadly.

I've had it on the hard drive for a while now, been on my to watch list for ages. Same with Save the Green Planet.

Brian?

Mickeroo wrote: »

I've had it on the hard drive for a while now, been on my to watch list for ages. Same with Save the Green Planet.

That does look deadly.

Where's my utorrent ...........

Sir Digby Chicken Caesar

Mickeroo wrote: »

I've had it on the hard drive for a while now, been on my to watch list for ages. Same with Save the Green Planet.

watch save the green planet

if you're at work, just take a sick day and go home to stick it on

Giruilla

Oldboy is a knockout of a film.

Really enjoyed the Chaser but it was tough watch. Kind of had enough of 'disturbing' korean films.

Any recommendations for good korean serious police/mob/thriller type movies? Kind of in the spirit of infernal affairs (hong kong film I know)?

Decuc500

briankeating wrote: »

I saw a couple of Korean films in JDIF last years, Hansel and Gretal and Castaway on the Moon. Hansel and Gretal is a creepy re imagining of the classic fairy tale, not a bad aul film

Castaway on the Moon was brilliant. It's about a man who attempts to commit suicide and ends up as a castaway on a small Island in the middle of the Han rive in Seoul.

http://www.hancinema.net/korean_movie_Castaway_on_the_Moon.php

It's basically a quirky rom-com, but it's one of the most original rom-coms you'll ever see.

I saw Castaway on the Moon at the Dublin Film Festival last year as well and thought it was one of the best film I've seen in a while.

What has happened to it? I thought it would have a big release here before now.

johnny_ultimate

Giruilla wrote: »

Any recommendations for good korean serious police/mob/thriller type movies? Kind of in the spirit of infernal affairs (hong kong film I know)?

Yellow Sea recently has a heavy mob element. Personally didn't think it was all that satisfying.

A Bittersweet Life is probably the best Yakuza-esque film made outside Japan! Didn't like it as much as the director's other stuff, but it's interesting.

Memories of Murder is the best serial killer / police procedural thriller I've seen: like an even better version of Zodiac. Mother by the same guy is equally thrilling.

And of course, the Chaser, which turns the police thriller on its head by

having the bad guy caught by the first act

. It's then that **** really hits the fan.

Giruilla

johnny_ultimate wrote: »

Yellow Sea recently has a heavy mob element. Personally didn't think it was all that satisfying.

A Bittersweet Life is probably the best Yakuza-esque film made outside Japan! Didn't like it as much as the director's other stuff, but it's interesting.

Memories of Murder is the best serial killer / police procedural thriller I've seen: like an even better version of Zodiac. Mother by the same guy is equally thrilling.

And of course, the Chaser, which turns the police thriller on its head by

having the bad guy caught by the first act

. It's then that **** really hits the fan.

Thanks, I'll look into them. Especially A Bittersweet Life... 100% rating on rotten tomatoes

I saw the Chaser... very good and wasn't expecting the turn it took.

Fishooks12

e_e wrote: »

Memories of Murder, a must for any fans of police thrillers.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GqwABQpnjZA

Checking this out tonight!

Bipolar Joe

Recommend pretty much everything above, too. Here's some of my own!

Girl Scouts: A group of women get ripped off, then go find the con men to get their money back. Funny, exciting and a very, very satisfying ending. Easily in my top five Korean movies.

I'm A Cyborg, But That's OK: Quirk city. Very weird movie, and keeps you guessing as to what's going on. Don't want to give away spoilers, but expect much oddness.

Sad Movie: OK, it's a chick flick, but not like usual. I recommend this on every Korean film list, because it's what made me realise that chick flicks are just done terribly 99% of the time. Bloody fine film.

My Wife Is A Gangster: Gangster movie where one of the top people in a particular syndicate, a woman, has to get married. It's not quirky, cutesy fish-out-of-water comedy. Lots of action, plenty of great moments. You can pretty much avoid the sequels.

My Tutor Friend: A girl takes the job of tutoring a rich, spoiled delinquent for extra money. Worth watching on a quiet night. It's one of those films I like, but can't place why. It's just good!

Murder Take One: Another good crime one. A police investigation becomes a televised event in order to raise funds for them As the film goes on, more and more is revealed. Bloody good, couple of things I could have done without, but solid nonetheless.

Attack The Gas Station: Essential comedy. Four guys decide to rob a gas station for no reason other than boredom. The ending is fantastic, a bunch of real laugh out loud moments. Sequel is much of the same, but still worth watching.

Officer Of The Year: One part comedy, one part serious crime. An award and reward will be given out to whichever cop catches the most criminals, but a big case forces two different precincts to band together. I've had people say they had trouble getting through it because it seems all over the place, but give it a shot.

Bravo My Life: A salaryman is being forced to resign, and he looks back on his life and everything he's given up in order to provide for his family. Aspirations of being a rock star, he gets other musicians in his company together to form a band. Funny and pretty heart-warming, and has characters you'll despise for being total assholes.

The Greatest Expectation: Two hapless losers witness a hit and run, and the race is on to get a reward for the information. Hysterical film, the two main cast members make a fantastic duo.

That's all I can think of, but also check out IRIS, a drama about a secret Government sector who look after national security. They made a movie, and it has a spin off called Athena, which personally I don't enjoy as much but it's still worth watching.

On a goofy note, anything with SHIN Min-A in it is usually fantastic or at least very enjoyable. I might be biased because I have a retarded crush on her, but go for it.

Some very good recommendations in this thread, i've recently got back into watching asian movies after a bit of a break, recently watched Princess Aurora directed by Bang Eun-jin, it's kind of a police/serial killer drama with a twist, drags a bit for 20 mins midway through but a very good last act and ending even if a little obvious but still packs an emotional punch. It's a decent watch that hasn't been mentioned yet.

I'd also put down A Bittersweet Life and Chan Park Wooks Vengeance trilogy and memories of murder also,

A very good one i saw recently also is "Mad Detective" not sure if its Korean though but definitely worth checking out.

johnny_ultimate

Mad Detective is from Hong Kong.

Lives up to the title though. Messy, but good fun.

Bipolar Joe

Mad Detective is Chinese, but definitely awesome. Worth seeing.

Outkast_IRE

Just finished watching "I saw the devil" and really enjoyed it and it got me thinking korea seems to doing very well this last decade with films such as

well the entire vengence trilogy to start
Oldboy
Sympathy for mr vengeance
Sympathy for lady vengeance

Feel free to reccomend other films to me , i have seen more just cant think of names off hand.

Kess73

Lot of folk on here, myself included, would be big fans of Korean cinema.

There was a thread not to long ago where a few of us recommended some great films, so rather than list the films again, here is a link to that thread.

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056393903

johnny_ultimate

Ain't much point in having two threads doing the same thing in such close succession.

*waves hands, threads magically merge*

Giruilla

I watched Memories of Murder the other day. Great film and I was really suprised by the ending. I was totally convinced though that I knew who the killer was from very early on.

I was sure it was the girlfriend of the main cop. She kept asking him about the case. She was the one who directed inital attention the kid. The killer was said to have womanly hands. She had access to medicines to drug people. I rewatched when you breifly see the killers face and pretty sure its not a woman though.

Very much like Zodiac.

nix

Giruilla wrote: »

I watched Memories of Murder the other day. Great film and I was really suprised by the ending. I was totally convinced though that I knew who the killer was from very early on.

I was sure it was the girlfriend of the main cop. She kept asking him about the case. She was the one who directed inital attention the kid. The killer was said to have womanly hands. She had access to medicines to drug people. I rewatched when you breifly see the killers face and pretty sure its not a woman though.

Very much like Zodiac.

Saw this the other day and loved it, which is strange as i didn't think much of zodiac.

But

I think the killer was the last guy as the killers next murder broke the trend of murder in the rain with the song playing also after the cops lost track of him.. It had to be him, why else would the trend have been broken? He knew they were onto him with those two things rain and song request... And he never killed again after nearly getting murdered by the good cop..

Giruilla

nix wrote: »

Saw this the other day and loved it, which is strange as i didn't think much of zodiac.

But

I think the killer was the last guy as the killers next murder broke the trend of murder in the rain with the song playing also after the cops lost track of him.. It had to be him, why else would the trend have been broken? He knew they were onto him with those two things rain and song request... And he never killed again after nearly getting murdered by the good cop..

I'd agree thats probably most likely.

Also when I watched still of the killer emerging, it looks quite like the last guy.