By Over at Korea Pop Wars, reporter Mark Russell has a posting on the Top 10 Korean movies of the past decade. Considering Mark’s significant background on reporting on Korean cinema this is definitely a list to take seriously. On the other hand my list of the Top 10 Korean movies of the decade may not have Mark’s solid credentials behind them, but I hope everyone finds the list of interest anyway.
1. Memories of Murder (2003) – The best movie of the decade I am in total agreement with Mark Russell, which is Memories of Murder. This isn’t just a great Korean movie, but one of the best crime movies I have ever seen.
2. Sympathy for Lady Vengeance (2005) – The beautiful Lee Young-ae stars in this movie as a woman falsely imprisoned for murder who long plots her revenge from prison against the person that framed her. The plot, characters, and acting in this movie I found to be excellent.
3. The Way Home (2003) – This movie about a modern spoiled boy left to live with his elderly mute grandma is rural Korea really shows on film the differences between modern and old Korea, but how these differences can be overcome though love and understanding. A really touching movie that probably no ajumma can resist crying after watching.
4. Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter… and Spring (2003) – This Buddhist fable told by the changing of the seasons seperated by the passing of many years is beautifully shot in the mountains of rural Korea and supported by excellent acting and an engaging story .
5. Old Boy (2004) – Another great revenge thriller by director Park Chan-wook that is ultra-violent, disturbing, and fun to watch all at the same time.
6. Silmido (2003) – This action movie with a totally unbelievable plot really grips viewers simply because it is based off the true story of the secret ROK military commandoes that revolt and fight there way through the streets of Seoul to kill South Korean dictator Park Chung-hee.
7. Chunhyang (2000) – This is a period drama that was masterfully filmed by master director Im Kwan-taek by switching from a talented pansori performance to the live acting to tell the classic Korean tale of the beautiful and loyal Chunhyang.
8. Marathon (2005) -Touching story about a autistic boy with a love for running as well as a loving mother that always believes in him despite his learning disability.
9. The President’s Last Bang (2005) – This movie was highly controversial when it was released due to its political overtones, but after watching it I was left wondering what all the fuss was about? For a movie that theatrically shows the last hours of former South Korean dictator Park Chung-hee’s life, I was taken by surprise by the dark humor and great storyline that made this movie highly entertaining.
10. Taeguki (2004) – This one makes the list for being the best Korean War film out there in a category of films that is admitedly quite weak.
Some honorable mentions for me on this list would be Friend, The King and the Clown, JSA, Musa, and The Good, the Bad, & the Weird.
For those wondering my all-time favorite Korean movie is The Taebak Mountains (1994) with honorable mentions going to Attack the Gas Station (1999), Sopyonje (1993), and Shiri (1999). Did I overlook a movie that should have been in the Top 10? Well let me know in the comments section.
7:02 am on January 15th, 2010 1
Have you ever seen the movie 깊고 푸른 밤 ? (I’m not sure what the English title is…maybe something “Deep Blue Night” or “Deep, Dark Night”). It came out in the mid-80s and was one of the first Korean movies to be filmed in the US. It stars 안성기.
I thought that was an excellent film that was ahead of its time in terms of the quality of the videography and cinematography.
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7:56 am on January 15th, 2010 2
Not that I like the genre, but I notice the absence of any chick flicks
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January 15th, 2010 at 12:52 pm
My Sassy Girl?
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1:31 pm on January 15th, 2010 3
Achi and SSipak, Failan, Windstruck, and 3 iron to add few..
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2:26 pm on January 15th, 2010 4
The only ones on the list I’ve seen is Taeguki and Silmido. I enjoyed them. On the honorable mention list, I found JSA boring and Shiri stupid. I don’t go for over the top martial arts scenes and NKPA agents going through ROK’s best like a hot knife through butter had my eyes rolling.
I saw Haeundae in the theaters a couple months ago. Its one of the best disaster movies I have ever seen. BEWARE: Use caution if you purchase a Haeundae DVD and aren’t capable of understanding conversational Korean. I bought one and the subtitles were absolutely HORRIBLE!
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2:30 pm on January 15th, 2010 5
I’ve seen only about two dozen Korean films so far, including most mentioned above. Here’s my all-time ranking:
1) Oldboy
Sympathy For Lady Vengeance
2) Seo-pyeon-je
3) Mal-ju-kkeo-ri Jan-hok-ssa (Spirit of Jeet Kune Do: Once Upon a Time in High School)
4) Dal-kom-han In-saeng (A Bittersweet Life)
5) A-hop Sal-in-saeng (When I Turned 9)
6) Geu-ttae Geu-sa-ram-deul (The President’s Last Bang)
7) Wang-ui Nam-ja (The King and the Clown)
9) Bi-yeol-han Geo-ri (A Dirty Carnival)
10) Mu-sa (The Warrior)
The Taebak Mountains is hard to track down, unfortunately.
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3:12 pm on January 15th, 2010 6
My favorite movie from the 00’s is Peppermint Candy. Another one you don’t mention is Secret Sunshine (Milyang), which I also enjoyed.
I would also add Urideul-ui haengbok-han shigan (Maundy Thursday), I liked a lot despite t seems it’s not well known. And maybe because I’m not Korean like Kim Ki Duk’s movies, specially Iron 3.
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5:50 pm on January 15th, 2010 7
“Save the Green Planet” certainly deserves at least an honorable mention. The most original and bizarre thing I’ve ever seen come out of Korea.
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3:54 am on January 16th, 2010 8
Why no comedy category?
I would nominate my favorite comedy flick of all time — Gangster Wife. Sequel 2 and 3 sucked, but I love to periodically rewatch #1 because it is SO funny when she gets piffed. A perfect farcial comedy up to having scissors as her gangster weapon and a wimp of an unsuspecting husband. Unfortunately, the female lead has only one expression, but it was perfect for this movie.
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11:37 am on January 16th, 2010 9
The Chaser (추격자)
The best film of 2008, by far. I thought I read somewhere it’s showing in the US somewhere, and Hollywood is doing a remake.
Trailer here.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WKAwfNdv0cs
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2:15 pm on January 16th, 2010 10
How did Chingu not make this list? Classic gangster film. Also, A Dirty Carnival and A Bittersweet Life are good, more recent gangster movies. The second being something like the Korean Scarface. Beastie Boys is another good one, these guys are players to the fullest, gives me something to aspire to.
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January 16th, 2010 at 5:41 pm
GI Korea listed “Chin-gu” on his honorables list under its English title, “Friend.”
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8:26 am on January 19th, 2010 11
Nobdy like the Chaser???
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January 20th, 2010 at 9:25 pm
I haven’t seen The Chaser yet but have heard a lot of positive feedback from it. I have actually just ordered it from Amazon. I’ll let you know what I think.
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1:01 am on January 26th, 2010 12
[...] of films of the decade – in which the biggest shock was that there was no Park Chan-wook. GI Korea also has a list, which redresses the balance somewhat. So here is [...]
3:43 pm on January 28th, 2010 13
Yes, I’d kind of forgotten about Friend. Another one to watch again.
Taebak Mountains is an interesting choice. Not one of his easiest, but very rewarding. From recollection, what struck me was that after all the division caused by the troubles of modern times, it was the shaman who brought healing.
But I never related to Attack the Gas Station – a genre-bend too far: too much violence along with the madcap humour.
Some good choices in all.
My own choice of neglected film from the 90s: An Affair / Jeong Sa by EJ Yong.
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9:27 am on February 8th, 2010 14
One of my favorite Korean movies, “The king and the clown” is not in the list. So sad …
Now what really made me sad was that Hollywood gave up the remake of OLDBOY. I was so eager to see how a western director would adapt the OLDBOY manga to the western audience.
We lost a good chance to see how different cultures could deal with madness and revenge in an artistically way.
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2:00 am on March 11th, 2010 15
For me would be Brotherhood of war , Attack the gas station , Welcome to dongmakgol , My Sassy Girl(All time fave), Oldboy .
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