Recommended Korean movies?

MX7 · Post by **MX7** » Mon Aug 18, 2008 9:27 pm

Just saw I'm a Cyborg, But that's OK. Serious contender for the best film I've seen so far this year. Quirky, funny, gorgeous to look at, and decidedly bitter sweet. It's set in a mental institution, with none of the characters having any hope of mental rehabilitation: not that you really want them to change. Definitely not a Hollywood romance flick. Amazing mise en scene as well. In face I would go as far to say that it is Park Chan Wook's best, and most mature film to date. If Oldboy was a spotty teenager, then Cyborg is fully adjusted adult.

jonny5 · Post by **jonny5** » Mon Aug 18, 2008 11:53 pm

Daigohji wrote:The only ones I think I've seen are Park's Vengeance trilogy, of which you already have the best entry queued up (Oldboy). Lady Vengeance is also good, but give Sympathy for Mr Vengeance a miss.

what what??

sympathy for mr vengeance was sooooo much better than oldboy.....

but ya...any chan wook park stuff is gold....check out 3 extremes....

KindGrind · Post by **KindGrind** » Mon Aug 18, 2008 11:56 pm

Lady Vengeance is head and shoulders over Oldboy. Creative/edgy editing, awesome use of classical music (again) beautiful images full of poetry.

jonny5 · Post by **jonny5** » Tue Aug 19, 2008 12:07 am

i really like mr vengeance, oldboy was ok, but after all the hype i was a bit disappointed....

and for some strange reason i didnt like lady vengeance all that much....i found the story didnt draw me in the way mr vengeance did....maybe i just couldnt sympathize with the characters the way i did for mr vengeance....

still a must see series

im surprised nobody has mentioned D-WARS(dragons wars).....best movie evar.....

t0yrobo · Post by **t0yrobo** » Tue Aug 19, 2008 3:03 am

DEL wrote:A Bittersweet Life is my favourite Korean movie so far, but I've only seen a few.

I think that A Bittersweet Life is probably my favorite Korean movie I've seen also. It's one of the best asian films imo. I'd also second The Host, along with two more movie from the same director. Barking Dogs Never Bite is a pretty solid dark comedy. And Memories of Murder, it's kinda like the Korean version of Zodiac, also very good. One more to at least check out is Sex is Zero, it's a pretty standard teen sex comedy but it's a fun watch.
In regard to the Chan-wook Parks vengeance movies, watch them for sure, they're some of the better Korean movies. But to me they were just a bit too pretentious and trying too hard to be artistic. Watch all three though, preferably in order, if you don't watch them all you'll be missing out.

Daedalus · Post by **Daedalus** » Tue Aug 19, 2008 6:33 am

I don't watch a whole lot of Korean films, but I just thought I'd chip in regarding that "Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter... and Spring" movie. I thought it was pretty terrible. It's like a guy read "Buddhism for Dummies" and then tried to make a movie deep for its own sake.

That's all I got.

evil_ash_xero · Post by **evil_ash_xero** » Thu Apr 05, 2012 3:11 pm

Thought I would update this thread, to see what other flicks have come out since...2008.

I've seen: Tale Of Two Sisters, Bittersweet Life, I Saw The Devil, The Vengeance Trilogy(contains Old Boy), JSA, The Chaser, The Host, Mother, Memories Of Murder, The Brotherhood Of War, and The Man From Nowhere. On my "to do" list is Yellow Sea, Good The Bad The Weird, Thirst, and I'm a Cyborg and That's OK(don't know WHAT I'm going to make of that one).

So far, my tops would be The Host, Old Boy, A Tale of Two Sisters, and The Chaser. I liked all of the Tale Of Two Sister's guys movies, but I haven't liked any of them as much as TOTS. I think it was simply the story to that one that pushed it over the edge. The Old Boy director...his films kind of let me down. I liked all the Vengeance movies, but the other two that aren't Old Boy, are just alright. JSA was pretty good though. Man From Nowhere was probably the least of them all(well, definitely the least). It was OK, but just struck me as a cliched American action movie, like Taken. But it had enough of the SK dark humor and quirkiness to make it enjoyable. I was let down by Brotherhood Of War. It was good, but it reminded me a little too much of a Hong Kong movie or something. And by that, I mean it had less depth, and less restrain than the other SK movies I've seen.

Well, those were my mini-reviews, that no one asked for.

It seemed like there was a bit of a peak of international interest, around the time The Host, TOTS, and Old Boy came out. I haven't heard almost anything else, since then(I hadn't even heard of The Chaser...which was REALLY good), but stumbled upon it on NetFlix. Kind of seem like Sweden has stolen a little of their thunder, with the Millenium Trilogy, and Let The Right One In.

SO...what else is there out there? I'm gonna check out some of the TOTS' guys older films, like the Quiet Family, and The Foul King. But after that, I'm kinda out of movies.

Shmups forum, give me advice! I implore you! Also, I am a bit tired of vengeance movies(recommend them anyway, but point out that's what they are, so I can space them out), so I'd like maybe some crime or horror. Not really into any family dramas or anything like that, at this point.

Vamos · Post by **Vamos** » Thu Apr 05, 2012 3:30 pm

The vengeance trilogy is quality throughout , i think oldboy tends to ge the most hype due to it being the most accessible of the 3 especially if you are not so familiar with world / korean cinema lady vengeance is my fav though .

Obiwanshinobi · Post by **Obiwanshinobi** » Thu Apr 05, 2012 3:36 pm

Aachi & Ssipak.

hzt · Post by **hzt** » Thu Apr 05, 2012 3:36 pm

evil_ash_xero wrote:Shmups forum, give me advice!

Sounds like you might like Tell Me Something, it's an older (1999) serial killer movie.

Skykid · Post by **Skykid** » Thu Apr 05, 2012 4:50 pm

Quite disappointingly, a little before this thread was created I thought Korean cinema was undergoing a golden era led by Chan Wook-Park.

Several years later and I'm dismayed that the industry just didn't fulfil its promise at all, hardly anything I've seen outside of Park's canon is actually a 'must-see' watch. I'll try to recall all the Korean stuff I've seen for comprehensiveness:

Joint Security Area: Must see

Sympathy for Mr Vengeance: Must see. Arguably better than Old Boy, if only by a smidge.

Old Boy: Must see. Just terrific.

Sympathy for Lady Vengeance: Perhaps not on par with the others, but close. Still a very well directed movie and recommended.

Cut: Park's contribution to Three... Extremes. The weakest of his work, but still compelling with an interesting hook.

Shiri: Not a bad action movie, one of Korea's early blockbusters, but nothing to write home about. Could do worse.

The Tube: Which is where it went almost instantly. An absolute waste of your time, utter garbage.

R-Point: Rubbish really. Boring, slow, pointless, completely lacking characterisation or plot direction. Great idea, totally wasted.

Brotherhood: Long, overwrought war epic that has some nice big-budget set-pieces marred by a lack of credibility in its plot and some real bullshit that needed editing out. All surface no depth. Will put you to sleep.

I Saw the Devil: Anyone who tells you this is one of the best serial killer movies they've ever seen, or how 'deep' it is, doesn't know their ass from their elbow. The best of this film (and all its promise) happens in the first 45 minutes. You can switch it off after that, less you'll be subjected to an overly violent, comic book style cat-and-mouse farce with no actual plot direction (script?) and some godawful wooden acting from the leading hero. It has no idea when to end either, and you'll be thinking about killing your TV set long before the credits roll.

A Tale of Two Sisters: Massively overrated horror that would have had some good scares if they decided to make a film to go with it. An aimless snoozefest.

Save the Green Planet: Often recommended by people, was switched off by me after 30 minutes. Just couldn't watch any more.

The Host: Passable for what it is, with some good sequences. Not bad, but not one you need to see before you die or anything.

Moss: Thriller about a guy who goes to his father's funeral in a mountain village. Absolute shite, goes on forever and devolves into absolute farce. Crap as they come.

If there's any saving grace in this pile of 90% pathetic, it's that they're probably still better than most Japanese live action movies released in the last few years.

That ain't saying much though.

iconoclast · Post by **iconoclast** » Thu Apr 05, 2012 5:45 pm

evil_ash_xero wrote:Shmups forum, give me advice! I implore you! Also, I am a bit tired of vengeance movies(recommend them anyway, but point out that's what they are, so I can space them out), so I'd like maybe some crime or horror. Not really into any family dramas or anything like that, at this point.

You've already mentioned almost all of my favorite movies, but here are some other ones I liked:

The Quiet Family - A black comedy, pretty funny with a great cast. It's a remake of the Takashi Miike movie "The Happiness of the Katakuris", and it's better than the original imo.
Tell Me Something - Thriller/horror movie. Starts out a little slow, but the story is quite good. What I really liked about this movie is how they they leave it up to the viewer to piece together all of the clues throughout the movie to make total sense out of everything. I'd recommend either watching it twice, or reading a summary of the finer details after the first viewing.
Attack the Gas Station - Comedy about a group of guys who rob a gas station. It's pretty good.
Secret Reunion - Action/drama about the partnership of North Korean spy and a South Korean agent (played by Kang-ho Song). Nothing special, but I liked it well enough.
A Dirty Carnival - Action/crime/thriller about a gangster. Again, it's nothing special, but it's enjoyable.
Barking Dogs Never Bite - Comedy. Starring Doona Bae, so I like it by default.
Sunny - Drama/comedy about a woman who used to be in an all-girl gang during her high school years. The story is pretty far-fetched, but I enjoyed it a lot. Not sure if you'd like it though.
No Mercy - Another South Korean revenge movie.
Breathless - Drama about an asshole debt collector. It's alright.

I normally don't care for vampire movies, but I liked Thirst since it was different from the norm. The girl kinda annoyed me though.

I liked The Man From Nowhere more when it was called Leon: The Professional.

emphatic · Post by **emphatic** » Thu Apr 05, 2012 7:03 pm

iconoclast wrote:I liked The Man From Nowhere more when it was called The Crow.

^^fixed?

chum · Post by **chum** » Thu Apr 05, 2012 7:28 pm

I really do not like their thrillers, crime films or action films at all. Oldboy was utterly awful, the only impressive thing about it was the hallway fight scene, which was still ruined by the overly dramatic music. Flabbergasted that noone has mentioned works by Lee Chang-Dong, Jeon Soo-il or Hong Sang-Soo. What gives?

Less is more. Some of my favourite Korean movies:

With the Girl of black soil
Peppermint Candy
Oasis
Tale of Cinema
Camel(s)
Himalaya, Where the Wind Dwells
Like you Know it all

Skykid · Post by **Skykid** » Thu Apr 05, 2012 7:34 pm

chum wrote:I really do not like their thrillers, crime films or action films at all. Oldboy was utterly awful, the only impressive thing about it was the hallway fight scene, which was still ruined by the overly dramatic music. Flabbergasted that noone has mentioned works by Lee Chang-Dong, Jeon Soo-il or Hong Sang-Soo. What gives?

Less is more. Some of my favourite Korean movies:

With the Girl of black soil
Peppermint Candy
Oasis
Tale of Cinema
Camel(s)
Himalaya, Where the Wind Dwells
Like you Know it all

Despite seemingly dropping a massive clanger in your first line of text, I find myself intrigued as to what this list of films you mentioned are like. I've not heard of any of them, but if I was to start with just one, which would you recommend?

chum · Post by **chum** » Thu Apr 05, 2012 7:43 pm

Skykid wrote:
chum wrote:I really do not like their thrillers, crime films or action films at all. Oldboy was utterly awful, the only impressive thing about it was the hallway fight scene, which was still ruined by the overly dramatic music. Flabbergasted that noone has mentioned works by Lee Chang-Dong, Jeon Soo-il or Hong Sang-Soo. What gives?

Less is more. Some of my favourite Korean movies:

With the Girl of black soil
Peppermint Candy
Oasis
Tale of Cinema
Camel(s)
Himalaya, Where the Wind Dwells
Like you Know it all
Despite seemingly dropping a massive clanger in your first line of text, I find myself intrigued as to what this list of films you mentioned are like. I've not heard of any of them, but if I was to start with just one, which would you recommend?

Depends on your tastes. Most of them are of the contemplative "arthouse" kind, you know, slow movies. Some are more dramatic and obvious (Peppermint Candy) others more subtle (Himalaya).

I am quite the snob when it comes to cinema but I mean well... so if you're interested, perhaps read a bit about the films and decide from there?

Besides, though I disliked Oldboy I actually liked Mr Vengeance quite a bit.

Obiwanshinobi · Post by **Obiwanshinobi** » Thu Apr 05, 2012 8:00 pm

Oldboy was just silly, and not in a good way.
As for Aachi & Ssipak, don't let the cheap looks put you off. It's every bit as badass as Brazil and Kontroll. Such a mighty re-watchable film.

chum · Post by **chum** » Thu Apr 05, 2012 8:02 pm

Obiwanshinobi wrote:Oldboy was just silly, and not in a good way.
As for Aachi & Ssipak, don't let the cheap looks put you off. It's every bit as badass as Brazil and Kontroll. Such a mighty re-watchable film.

Poor man's "Dead Leaves", imo. It's kind of fun, but kind of meh (@Aachi)

hzt · Post by **hzt** » Thu Apr 05, 2012 8:03 pm

chum wrote:Besides, though I disliked Oldboy I actually liked Mr Vengeance quite a bit.

Mr Vengeance is a better film in literally every way except for what I guess I'll call "mass appeal". I'm not exactly trying to damn Oldboy by faint praise there by the way (clarifying as it's something I do a lot), that is a difficult thing to pull off as well as it did, I just think Mr Vengeance is the better film.

Have you seen Secret Sunshine? I've had it sitting around but I never seem to feel like watching it. I was keen to watch it before but I don't remember why.

chum · Post by **chum** » Thu Apr 05, 2012 8:05 pm

hzt wrote:
chum wrote: Have you seen Secret Sunshine? I've had it sitting around but I never seem to feel like watching it. I was keen to watch it before but I don't remember why.

That's the one film by Lee Chang-Dong I still need to watch... And I haven't been in the mood to watch movies lately as I'd rather play shooters

Obiwanshinobi · Post by **Obiwanshinobi** » Thu Apr 05, 2012 8:24 pm

chum wrote:Poor man's "Dead Leaves", imo. It's kind of fun, but kind of meh (@Aachi)

Dunno about Dead Leaves (if it's anything like FLCL, now that's what I call meh), but I watched Aachi & Ssipak like three times last year, and am going to watch it next time I get too drunk to play video games. Something I enjoy like that.
Not unlike Brazil, I don't think you're gonna quite "get" it if you're not at all familiar with the urban folklore of the Iron Curtain's wrong side. I could elaborate, but that would be rather off-topic. South Korea seems to still have the sort of edge Hong Kong keeps losing, if their cinema is any indicator of such things.

Skykid · Post by **Skykid** » Thu Apr 05, 2012 8:34 pm

chum wrote: Depends on your tastes. Most of them are of the contemplative "arthouse" kind, you know, slow movies. Some are more dramatic and obvious (Peppermint Candy) others more subtle (Himalaya).

I am quite the snob when it comes to cinema but I mean well... so if you're interested, perhaps read a bit about the films and decide from there?

Besides, though I disliked Oldboy I actually liked Mr Vengeance quite a bit.

Oldboy is no way near as bad as you made out. Stylish to a fault? Depends on how you're looking at it perhaps. For what it's worth, I agree Mr Vengeance has the edge.

I've got no problem with 'arthouse' or slow movies. In fact some of my top Asian films fall into the same category. However are we talking arthouse in terms of 'abstract' (y'know, in a Japanese kind of way) or in an indie-esque world cinema way?

emphatic · Post by **emphatic** » Thu Apr 05, 2012 9:12 pm

+1 on Mr. Vengeance > Oldboy. I still think Mrs. Vengeance is the best of the three.

njiska · Post by **njiska** » Thu Apr 05, 2012 10:02 pm

So glad to see A Tale of Two Sisters is getting love in this thread. One of my all time favourite horror films.

chum · Post by **chum** » Thu Apr 05, 2012 10:06 pm

Skykid wrote:However are we talking arthouse in terms of 'abstract' (y'know, in a Japanese kind of way) or in an indie-esque world cinema way?

The latter, so you're in luck

However, I personally would be interested in something more abstract or surreal from South Korea, as I have yet to really see anything like that.

RNGmaster · Post by **RNGmaster** » Thu Apr 05, 2012 10:42 pm

MX7 wrote:Just saw I'm a Cyborg, But that's OK. Serious contender for the best film I've seen so far this year. Quirky, funny, gorgeous to look at, and decidedly bitter sweet. It's set in a mental institution, with none of the characters having any hope of mental rehabilitation: not that you really want them to change. Definitely not a Hollywood romance flick. Amazing mise en scene as well. In face I would go as far to say that it is Park Chan Wook's best, and most mature film to date. If Oldboy was a spotty teenager, then Cyborg is fully adjusted adult.

I had this in my Netfix queue a bit ago and decided to watch it. Beautifully shot, really absorbing, and the ending scene is just great. I'd highly recommend it.

Skykid · Post by **Skykid** » Thu Apr 05, 2012 10:52 pm

njiska wrote:So glad to see A Tale of Two Sisters is getting love in this thread. One of my all time favourite horror films.

No love from me, it's rubbish.

RNGmaster wrote:
MX7 wrote:Just saw I'm a Cyborg, But that's OK. Serious contender for the best film I've seen so far this year. Quirky, funny, gorgeous to look at, and decidedly bitter sweet. It's set in a mental institution, with none of the characters having any hope of mental rehabilitation: not that you really want them to change. Definitely not a Hollywood romance flick. Amazing mise en scene as well. In face I would go as far to say that it is Park Chan Wook's best, and most mature film to date. If Oldboy was a spotty teenager, then Cyborg is fully adjusted adult.
I had this in my Netfix queue a bit ago and decided to watch it. Beautifully shot, really absorbing, and the ending scene is just great. I'd highly recommend it.

This sounds great, I think I'll go for this tonight.

chum wrote:
Skykid wrote:However are we talking arthouse in terms of 'abstract' (y'know, in a Japanese kind of way) or in an indie-esque world cinema way?
The latter, so you're in luck

However, I personally would be interested in something more abstract or surreal from South Korea, as I have yet to really see anything like that.

Cool, in that case I shall use your list as reference material for future Korean dabblings, thanks.

njiska · Post by **njiska** » Thu Apr 05, 2012 11:00 pm

Skykid wrote:
njiska wrote:So glad to see A Tale of Two Sisters is getting love in this thread. One of my all time favourite horror films.
No love from me, it's rubbish.

Yeah, but you have no taste, so it's no great loss.

Skykid · Post by **Skykid** » Thu Apr 05, 2012 11:24 pm

njiska wrote: Yeah, but you have no taste, so it's no great loss.

If it was the minority rather than the majority that kept telling me that I might actually lose some sleep.

xbl0x180 · Post by **xbl0x180** » Thu Apr 05, 2012 11:46 pm

I'm gonna recommend some sappy Corean movies:

Donggam/"Ditto": This one had such a great premise and was going really well up until around the denouement. From there, it just derailed into nonsense and it seemed as if the director and writer didn't know how to wrap things up. The music in this is also overused in a bad way. Still, it looks like a lost episode of the old Twilight Zone and I liked the actors in it. I wouldn't try to read up on it and just watch it expecting nothing but a strange Mystery genre movie

Il Mare: Another movie that is set up almost like Donggam. I thought the photography looked alright, as if it was shot on HD video rather than film. The ending was a total cop out, but it's supposed to be a K-drama, so the ending has to be made that way. Again, try not to read the synopsis and just watch it expecting nothing in order to be pleasantly surprised that sappy K-dramas can look okay.

There have been some excellent movies coming from Japan in the last decade or two, so I don't know what you guys have been watching. Just Miike Takashi and Iwai Shunji alone could dwarve anything coming from Corea and China in the past decade, not to mention the stuff from Oshii Mamoru, Anno Hideaki, Miyazaki Hayao, and a few one-shots, such as the guy who directed Cha No Aji/"Taste Of Tea" (I ferget his name) or Murakami Ryu, who directed Topazu/"Tokyo Decadence." A lot of it is great-looking stuff that looks like a bona fide New Wave of movie-making coming from Asia

shmups.system11.org

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