# South Korean Cinema



## Connavar (Jan 26, 2011)

Since they have international acclaim,easy to find these days i thought we could talk about our fav korean films,directors,actors.

Also use this thread as kind of what movie you are watching from that country.  I see there are fans of Oldboy,The Host and co i hope people can join this thread,talk about any film from S.K.


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## No One (Jan 28, 2011)

You mentioned *Typhoon *and *Bad* *Guy *in the other thread, Connavar. Please let us know what you think of those.

I've just seen *Antartic Journal* by Yim Pil-sung (who also did the superb Hansel and Gretel), with Song Kang-ho (no introductions needed), Yu Ji-tae (of Oldboy), and Park Hee-soon (also of Hansel and Gretel). Plus, Kang Hye-jeong, also of Oldboy. I'm finding myself familiar with a lot of korean actors these days!

The ending lacked just a touch, but overall I thought this was excellent. It was a cold day today, until I watched this. Now I'm thinking, 'it's not _that _cold'. It also felt longer than it's 2 hours, but only because it conveys hardship so well, along with plenty of suspense. It's the film that *R-Point* could've been - even if R-Point was still kinda good.


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## Connavar (Jan 29, 2011)

Yeah i will let you know we SK fans must share the good films with each other.

Wow i didnt even know *Antartic Journal* film existed and Song Kan-ho is huge fav and the others names i know.

Funny early with korean films i could never know,remember the names and now after 30-40 films i know even the minor roles actors names


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## Foxbat (Jan 29, 2011)

I haven't seen many South Korea movies but a couple that I have are:

*The Host  *Enjoyable monster romp with a lot of humour.

*Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter and Spring. *A thought provoking and well shot movie that really showcases the stunning beauty of the country.

Both these movies I enjoyed very much. Perhaps I should seek out more from this country.


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## Connavar (Jan 30, 2011)

*The Host *is like one of 5 korean films i didnt have to rent and saw on cable.  The others was small time films and not the best ones. It was fun monster film and somewhat weird humour,drama too.

I have seen so many great korean films that its hard to make a fav top 5/top 10.


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## No One (Jan 30, 2011)

Connavar - having mentioned the films of Kim Ki-duk, you may want to check out *Spring, Summer...*etc, if you haven't already. I saw that late one night and was just happily mesmerised by the scenery and the fact that there's barely a word of dialogue.

I'll have to give some thought to a top 5/10, but out of curiosity I've been compiling a list of south Korean films I've seen and come up with a total of 26 (plus a segment) - which just seems like so few!

Anyway, I think this is all of them, in no particular order:

Oldboy 
  Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance 
  Lady Vengeance 
  Joint Security Area
  I’m a Cyborg and that’s Okay
  Thirst
  Three Extremes (segment)
  A Bittersweet Life
  A Tale of Two Sisters
  The Good, the Bad, the Weird
  The Quiet Family
  The Chaser
  Hansel & Gretel
  The Host
  Memories of Murder
  R-Point
  Save the Green Planet
  The Spiral
  Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter and Spring
  Brotherhood of War
  Silmido
  Musa
  Doll Master
  Mr. Socrates
  Castaway on the Moon
  Into the Mirror
  Antarctic Journal

A few were average, and still watchable, but the majority range from good to some of the best cinema I've seen.


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## Connavar (Jan 30, 2011)

I have seen atleast 30-35 korean films thanks a good local rental store before i went online dvd sites for korean films.

Here is in ranking order my top ten:*

Memories of a murder
A Bittersweet Life
Oldboy
Lady Vengance
A Tale of two sisters
The Good, the Bad, the Weird
Brotherhood of War
The Chaser
Joint Security Area
Shiri*

I didnt add Thirst because i thought Oldboy/Lady Vengance was more even,greater.  

The lowest quality korean film i have seen are Musa,Volcano High.  Volcano High was fun to watch though.


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## No One (Feb 13, 2011)

Have just seen *The Foul King*, which I think may be Kim Jee-woon's first film.

Also features Song Kang-ho (I swear he's featured in half the films I've seen). Early role for him, but he was still brilliant. If you haven't seen this one Connavar... well, you know the rest.

And aside from the slightly puzzling last minute, it was excellent. Incredibly funny film using just little moments.


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## No One (May 23, 2011)

From a few insane Japanese films to a couple of Korean thriller/vengeance story types…

The first is Kim Jee Woon’s *I Saw the Devil*. I’d been looking forward to this for many a month, but am left a little ambivalent. 

  Good performances (great to see Choi Min Sik! It may be a despicable role, but I thought he was brilliant) and Jee Woon will always make a film look good (and have awesome moments like the unluckiest taxi driver in the world), but I definitely expected more from the story. Okay, the idea of frustrating a serial killer is a beaut, but the ending lacked impact for me.

Ultimately though, my problem is that it felt like violence over substance, and brutality over flair, which is the last thing I expected from this director (or at least, I didn’t expect so _much _violence!).

Dare I say, this felt like Jee Woon’s attempt at making his own Oldboy, but Oldboy _is_ substance over violence, flair over brutality and a better film/script by a long way.

The second is *The Man From Nowhere*, which oddly enough reminded me in some ways of Jee Woon’s A Bittersweet Life. It was very good overall – not exactly high on originality but well executed and understated given how much it’s lauded as an action film. Despite a rather kick ass ruckus near the end, most of the best (and most shocking) moments happen in the storytelling, which is a good thing.


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