Korean Job Discussion Forums

[coolsage]

And not just from Koreans. My students ask me frequently if I've seen this movie or that one, and I have to reply that the producers have not seen fit to subtitle the movie in English. An audience is lost, because, dammit, I don't have enough Korean to follow a movie. Is it merely another example of xenophohia, because the producers are quite happy to translate their product to other Asian audiences (i.e Chinese, Thai and Vietnamese), without making it available in English? I realize that the bigger market is in Asia, but I'm feeling somewhat deprived.

[Gord]

At the local DVD store, I don't think I've ever seen a Korean movie that didn't have English subtitles.

[Korea Newfie]

Have you tried DVD's, or do you mean there are no subtitles in the theaters? I find most Korean movies have English subtitles, just go to a DVD room. (I recently bought a DVD player just to watch them at home, and have been buying some of the better ones I've seen to bring home.)

I definitely find many of them entertaining. They can be an interesting look at how Korean culture is-or wishes it was (many people live in impossibly large houses, street scenes from Seoul seem to be shot in either Japan or the cleanest part of Korea, etc.). Having said that, I find many to be long, drawn out, and have poor character development. My girlfriend and I often laugh and wonder who some new main character is, and where they came from. And just as often, where a main character has gone.

There seem to be some scenes which are in every movie, and very cliche. All in all, though, I like checking them out.

[Saxiif]

Go to DVD Bangs to see Korean movies. Works for me. There's some good ones out there, try JSA...

[mindmetoo]

Are you talking about first run movies? If so I've not heard of a single movie theatre in Seoul that subtitles their first run movies in Japanese or Chinese. I'm not sure exactly what you're talking about.

You've got 10 million Koreans in Seoul and 10,000 native english speakers. I think only cinecore makes the occasional attempt to run subtitled first run Korean movies. They don't subtitle at megabox etc for the same reason they don't subtitle films in Ontario with French or with Spanish in Texas. Koreans, like all people all over the world, don't like subtitles in another language distracting them from their movie.

If you're talking about DVDs, what Korean movie has you found on DVD that didn't have English subtitles? Nearly all Korean movies I find at technomart have English subtitles.

[J.B. Clamence]

I rent Korean movies pretty often. A lot of them are really good -- I've been impressed with them for the most part. If you've never watched one before, I would recommend "My Sassy Girl". That's the best one I've seen so far, which is interesting because I'm not usually a fan of that genre. I hear that a Western remake is in the works, set to be directed by the woman who did "Bend it Like Beckham". Something tells me it's not going to live up to the original.

On the other hand, I've found that some Korean movies can be pretty dragged out and boring. Korean movies are definately edited a lot less than Hollywood movies, meaning that there are lots of trivial scenes with no importance to the story that Hollywood directors would have cut out for the sake of clarity and brevity. Also, Drama definately has a much different style here than in Hollywood. It's quite normal to find a scene in a Korean dramatic film that drags on for ten minutes without a word spoken or anything happening. Some people find it moving; I just find it annoying.

[Korea Newfie]

[shakuhachi]

I wouldnt recomend JSA - too boring. Same with that other famous korean movie ģ�� (friend).

I can thouroughy recomend �λ����ü though.

[Yaya]

Instead of reading the reviews on this whiner-infested board, try those on dvdtalk.com. There are quite a few reviews of Korean movies on the Int'l Forum section on such films as "Save the Green Planet" (others liked it but I sure didn't) and "Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter...and Spring" (great movie by a very disturbed director; AO Scott of the NY Times loved it).

There are also good reviews on koreanfilm.org by Darcy Paquet, who works for the Korean Film Council in Seoul.

[Saxiif]

[VanIslander]

I've enjoyed each of the dozen or so Korean movies I've seen on DVD. The ones on T.V. less so, partially because of the lack of subtitles and due to the fact that they weren't specifically recommended.

"Shiri" was good but the one action movie I thought was better than "Braveheart", showing similar battle scenes but from a more realistic, pain-filled perspective of the wounded and other observers, is... "Warrior".

"Warrior" is the story of a small group of ancient Koreans trying to make their way back to Korea as they're being chased by Mongolians after liberating a Chinese princess from their custody.

I usually don't like American action movies for their cartoonish and gratuitous violence: Not so with this Korean flick.

The comedies and dramas are good too. I don't mind subtitles. I used to watch foreign films a lot back home. The selection of such films is great here but narrow in scope to East Asia cinema.

I think I'll watch more Korean films than I have, to take advantage of the opportunity.

Any recommendations of a good drama or comedy from a child's perspective? (French films and a couple of Iranian films do that well; English films tend to cardboard children.). Given I'm an English teacher here, I think such films could be enjoyable, insightful or maybe even pedagogic.

[Yaya]

The movie Happy End was praised by critics and won international acclaim, but I thought it was just another run-of-the-mill movie on a philandering spouse (in this case, the wife cheated with a former lover). Some of you may like it, but I gave it three out of five stars.

[jaebea]

I'm a big fan of the romantic comedies that come out of Korea. Stuff like My Sassy Girl and the ilk. I think big budget blockbuster action style flicks have only really turned out well recently with Taegukgi and Shilmido.

The often bizarre sense of humour that Koreans seem to possess is good fodder in the right hands.

I'm afraid of what the remake of My Sassy Girl is going to turn out to be. There are a few cultural jokes that wouldn't really work outside of Korea.

jae.

[Homer]

Coolsage,

If you are refering to Korean movies being showed in the Theater in Korea then why would they be subtitled?

For the few foreigners that might see them? That makes little economic sense.

Like Gord said, hit the DVD bang and most Korean movies there have English subs.

As for the Korean movies that I enjoyed:

Chingu (Good story and good character development)

Ji Bu Ro (Simple but powerful story and nice social message)

Attack the gas station (older but damn funny)

Foul King (Hilarious)

Little Monk (good drama)

JSA (Thriller-intrigue, good character development...one big flaw the main actress who speaks in horrible English!)

Musa (Nice Epic)

Sympathy for Mr Vengeance (one heck of a story)

Saving my Hubby (Entertaining and funny)

Stories of Murder (got the title wrong) (good cop movie)

Oasis (Awesome movie)

There are a few more...

[Yaya]

I'd also recommend Why Has Bodhi-dharma Left for the East. It's perhaps one of the greatest Buddhist movies ever made but if you're new to Zen, watch it and then read a review about it on imdb.com. It's not available on DVD in Korea but you can order from any DVD retailer.