Korean Job Discussion Forums

[siborg69]

ive only really seen old boy (great) and city of violence (not that great). can you guys recommend any films that i should definitely see? cheers!

[Rusty Shackleford]

There are a million threads on this topic. My answers are pretty standard.

Memories of Murder is as good as Oldboy.

Sympathy For Mrs Vengeance/ Mr Vengeance. (the other two in the trilogy, that includes Oldboy).

The Good, The Bad and The Weird is ok.

Shilmido.

Joint Security Area.

Secret Sunshine.

The Chaser.

My Sassy Girl.

Taeguki

Korea has some great films. I'm sure I will think of some more.

[samcheokguy]

Wet Dreams 2 (it's not a porno I swear!)

[Steelrails]

The Classic- Good Melodrama and a good snapshot of Koreans post K-War. Sweet and touching story, well acted, and has a historical element to it (Gwangju Uprising, Vietnam War, From Agrarianism to Modernity). Great motif of Non-verbal communication.

Attack the Gas Station- Dark Comedy. Weird, But Interesting.

Sex is Zero- American Pie Style K-movie. Juvenile sex antics and raunch humor. Good for a group laugh over beers.

[Yaya]

Avoid the ones out in the theaters now. Korea had a good run with films like "Oldboy," "Taegeukki" and others but the industry has now hit a dry spell.

If you want a good resource on good Korean movies, try koreanfilm.org

The last Korean film I saw was "Haeundae," and I thought after seeing it that I never want to experience a disaster with Koreans.

[crossmr]

What kinds of movies do you like?
one thing I like about asian movies in general is there is more of a chance for an unhappy ending. 5 minutes into most american movies, I can make a list of who will shag, who will die, who will have a harrowing experience, etc.

[Buffalo]

[samcheokguy]

[Mod Edit] Post deleted by moderators. Sorry, keep to the TOS.

[jsk]

Bong Joon-ho's movies are pretty good -
Memories of Murder (my favorite Korean movie)
The Host
Mother

If you like revenge films, I would recommend Sympathy for Lady Vengeance (same director as Oldboy) and A Bittersweet Life

A couple silly but entertaining comedies - My Sassy Girl, 200 Pounds Beauty

The Way Home is a good movie about a little boy who goes to live with his grandmother. Another good movie about being a kid is When I Turned Nine.

I also liked Forever the Moment, about the 2004 Olympics Korean women's handball team. There's a movie in theaters now, Take Off, about the men's ski jump team that is supposedly good.

The President's Last Bang - about the assassination of President Park Chung-hee

A Good Lawyer's Wife and Oasis were pretty good (but depressing) art dramas. Both star the actress Moon So-ri.

[fermentation]

JSA is a decent film but my gripe with that movie is the bad performances by some of the actors. It is however, one of the very few Korean movies that is consistent with what genre its decides to be.

Another Korean film is Welcome to Dong Mak Gol or however you spell it in English. Other than the ridiculous battle at the end, I really liked it.

[warmachinenkorea]

I liked Chingoo. It might be slow for some people but I enjoyed it. You can watch it with subs on google videos.

[Paul Ajosshi]

I'd agree with a lot of the above choices. Here's a few more for you:

Old Partner (워낭소리) - documentary about an old man and his ox. Gives extraordinary insight into the loves of the elderly in Korea, especially exploring the plight of farmers.

Shiri (쉬리) - The action film that started the revolution in Korean cinema 10 years ago. Much better than Kang Jay-gyu's bloated Brotherhood.

Save the Green Planet (지구를지켜라) - Twisted black comedy about an alien hunter and his circus girlfriend. Very weird, but very good.

I'm a Cyborg, but that's ok (싸이보그지만 괜찮아) - Other posters have mentioned Park Chan Wook's more popular films, but this box office flop is worth checking out for Rain's performance. If you want to know why Hollywood is interested in him, then watch this.

Christmas in August (8월의 크리스마스) - Dying photographer makes friends with a traffic warden. Love blossoms, someone dies. Break out the hankies...

Spring, summer, autumn, winter and spring (봄 여름 가을 겨울 그리고 봄) - Loved by Europeans, shunned by Koreans; Kim Ki Duk shows a softer side with this story of the life of an old monk and a little boy and how life progresses. Absolutely stunning cinematography and the only film I have seen that includes the use of a cat as a paintbrush.

Number 3 (넘버. 3) - 90's gangster comedy. very silly, very funny.

The Foul King (반직왕) - One of Kim Ji Woon's earlier films, this is the story of a salary man who dreams of being a professional wrestler. Much better than his later movies.

Wonderful Days (원더풀 데이즈) - Flawed yet beautiful animation. The story isn't wonderful, but the visuals are stunning.

There are so many more good films out there. The best advice I can give you is stay away from the silly comedies and the melodramas and you'll probably have a more enjoyable cinematic experience.

[Whitey Otez]

Also:
Guns and Talks - it's about four assassins that have a crush on a news anchor.

My Wife Is a Gangster - just the first one.

Saving My Hubby - Awesome highlight of the social problems in the early 2000s that have since been resolved. Also a very rare flick.

[eddiebaby]

If you like odd indie films I recommend Kim Kee duk.

3 iron especially and Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter... and Spring

An English guy, Jonathan Ross did an interesting TV show talking about Korean movies.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbcfour/cinema/features/asian-invasion3.shtml

You can watch it in bits on youtube.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rLi2MWjCCzg

Hope that helps

[thekakapo]

Go on mysoju.com to watch these, I guess...

I loved Antique, Running Turtle, and My Sassy Girl.