South Korea

  • Ki-duk Kim – Nabbeun namja AKA Bad Guy (2001)

    Ki-duk Kim2001-2010CrimeDramaSouth Korea
    Nabbeun namja (2001)
    Nabbeun namja (2001)

    In busy downtown Seoul, a thuggish young man notices a fresh-faced college student who sits on a bench. He stares then sits next to her. She looks at him as if he’s vermin, rises and walks to another bench. He sits staring. Her boyfriend arrives, she points to the stranger, the boyfriend shrugs and puts his arm around her to walk away. The stranger starts to leave as well, turns, goes to them, takes her face firmly in his hands and kisses her long and hard. The boyfriend tries unsuccessfully to break them apart, then soldiers beat the stranger. She demands an apology. He is silent. She slaps him and spits on him. They leave. The next day, he sets out to ruin her. How can this end?Read More »

  • Ki-duk Kim – Yasaeng dongmul bohoguyeog AKA Wild Animals (1996)

    Ki-duk Kim1991-2000AsianDramaSouth Korea

    IMDB:
    Two Korean ex-pats meet in Paris by chance encounter. One a petty thief and wannabe artist/painter (Chong-Hae), the other a tough guy (Hong San). Hong San saves Chong-Hae from a gang of thugs and the two become friends. Seizing an opportunity, Chong-Hae and Hong San perform martial arts stunts on the streets for money. A French mobster spots them and recruits the duo as hit men. While in Paris Chong-Hae falls in love with a statue-performer and Hong San yearns for the affections of a local peep-show stripper. After much backstabbing and being caught-up in murder; the duo find themselves at war with their mobster recruiters and each other. Written by Alex L Read More »

  • Ki-duk Kim – Paran daemun AKA Birdcage Inn (1998)

    Ki-duk Kim1991-2000DramaSouth Korea

    Quote:
    With a red-light district in Seoul being demolished, the residents there find they have to relocate. Jin-a opts to leave Seoul and heads to the eastern city of Pohang. There she takes up residence in a boarding house run by a small family. Besides the parents, there is a daughter attending university and a son in high school. At first Jin-a is very happy there, however she continues to sell her body driving her into confrontation with the repressed daughter, Hye-mi. Things go from bad to worse when Jin-a meets Hye-mi’s boyfriend…

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  • Ki-duk Kim – Ag-o aka Crocodile (1996)

    Drama1991-2000Ki-duk KimSouth Korea

    Quote:
    I often quote Kim Ki-Duk as my favourite director of all time, partly because of his prolific output (I’m glad he numbers his films, I was losing count!) and his consistently emotional style. While I absolutely adore the “new-wave” Kim Ki-Duk (3-Iron, Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter…And Spring, The Bow), I also thoroughly enjoy his earlier, grittier films (The Isle, Address Unknown). This film, his debut, is possibly the best and grittiest of the early films. In a setting that stands somewhere between urban and rural, and filled with Kim Ki-Duk’s beloved water motif, we see three misfits (a boy, the title character Crocodile and an elderly man) inexplicably living together on a platform under a bridge. Read More »

  • Young Nam Ko – Sonagi AKA The Shower (1979)

    Young Nam Ko1971-1980AsianDramaSouth Korea

    Quote:
    Seokee meets Yeonee at the entrance to the village. She has transferred from a shool in Seoul as a result of her father’s business failure, and has been sent to live with her great-grandfather Yoon. Yeonee waits for Seokee near a stream and tries to befriend him, but Seokee feels awkward and avoids her. Thereafter, Seokee doesn’t see Yeonee neer the stream for days. He misses her. He dresses up in his best clothes and goes to try and find her. After Seokee fights with other kids on Yeonee’s behalf, they become friends. Yeonee asks Seokee to go hiking and they have a wonderful time. They are caught in a rain shower. Seokee givers his shirt to Yeonee. They dash for cover and sit together under a haystack…Read More »

  • Ahn Ju Young – A Boy and Sungreen (2018)

    2011-2020Ahn Ju YoungDramaSouth Korea
    A Boy and Sungreen (2018)
    A Boy and Sungreen (2018)

    Synopsis:
    Bo Hee, a 14 year old boy, was raised by a single mother and has always thought his father had passed away. Bo Hee hears that his father may be alive, and he sets out in search for him with his best friend Nok Yang (Sungreen). He finds his half sister on the way and forms a friendship with her boyfriend.Read More »

  • Ki-duk Kim – Suchwiin bulmyeong AKA Address Unknown (2001)

    Ki-duk Kim2001-2010DramaSouth KoreaWar

    Romances end in blood and the frail hopes of individuals are torn apart in a vile karmic continuity of colonialism, civil war and occupation. After surviving Japanese colonization, Korea became the first war zone of the Cold War. The legacy of war remains today in this divided country. In a small town on the outskirts of an American military base in South Korea, three teenagers, Chank-guk, Jihum and Eunok struggle to find their way in the violent wake of the Korean War. Chang-guk, the son of a Korean barmaid, longs to travel to America to find the soldier father who abandoned him. Timid Ji-hum can’t deal with his boastful, disabled veteran father. And withdrawn Eunok, blinded in one eye by a sibling’s prank, falls for James, a U.S. soldier, who promises to pay for restorative surgery. These three teenagers are the figures in the landscape of this story, which highlights the global implications of a very Korean reality. None of them is able to escape the withering pull of tragedy. All lives collide as each one’s hope and longing for a better future returns upon them like a letter returned stamped in red with “Address Unknown”.Read More »

  • Tae-hwa Eom – Konkeuriteu yutopia AKA Concrete Utopia (2023)

    2021-2030ActionAdventureSouth KoreaTae-hwa Eom

    Survivors from a massive earthquake struggle for a new life in Seoul.Read More »

  • Jee-woon Kim – Choyonghan kajok AKA The Quiet Family (1998)

    1991-2000ComedyCrimeJee-woon KimSouth Korea

    Quote:
    A family decides to buy a lodge in a remote hiking area. Their first customer commits suicide and the distraught family buries his body to avoid the bad publicity. But their luck gets worse, the bodies start piling up, and the family becomes frantic to rectify the situation.Read More »

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