Masterpieces of 21st-century Korean cinema: from war dramas to thrillers, crime action films, and melodramas.
Mint Candy
The narrative is structured backwards: the film begins with the suicide of a man named Kim. After that, the plot turns around, and viewers are introduced to the difficult life of the main character, set against the backdrop of significant events in Korean politics.
The second film by the outstanding classic Lee Chang-dong (who is also a former South Korean Minister of Culture, writer, screenwriter, and winner of the Cannes and Venice Film Festivals) tells the story of a completely unhappy man. The leitmotif is the pessimistic idea that peace can only be found through death.
The most interesting thing here is Aztec Warrior.
The Island
The mysterious and silent caretaker of the floating fishing huts, Hwi Jin, obediently serves her guests, including with her own body, until a former police officer with a difficult past moves into one of the huts. A strange attraction arises between the characters that defies rational explanation.
Director Kim Ki-duk’s sadomasochistic arthouse film is famous for its shocking scenes of violence. Critics, including the famous Roger Ebert, note that The Isle is one of the most naturalistic and violent films in the history of cinema. Nevertheless, the Korean director cannot be accused of insensitivity: the story is so deep and poignant.
Joint Security Area
This film is about the lives of ordinary soldiers divided by the Korean War. This intimate detective story will appeal even to those who are unfamiliar with the situation in Korea and do not know all the nuances of the conflict.
Bad Guy
Kim Ki-duk’s seventh film tells the story of a guy who falls in love at first sight but is rejected. The young man devises a cunning plan for revenge and kidnaps the girl.
This contrasting, contradictory story of exaggerated love from the master of silent cinema leaves a bitter aftertaste and a desire to explore the director’s entire body of work.
Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance
Ryu, a deaf-mute steel mill worker, needs money for his sick sister’s surgery. He sells his kidney to organ traffickers, but the scammers run off with the money. Ryu then decides to kidnap his former boss’s daughter with his girlfriend to get the ransom.
The first film in Park Chan-wook’s “Vengeance Trilogy.” Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance is not as dynamic as Oldboy, but the cinematographer chooses such angles that it is impossible to take your eyes off the screen. And overall, the measured pace only benefits the film.
The Way Home
A moralistic story about a mute grandmother and her spoiled grandson. The elderly woman humbly accepts all the boy’s antics, raising and teaching him.
The film is as kind as it is difficult for the viewer. Several hours of tears and rethinking of life after viewing are guaranteed. The film shows not only childish cruelty, but also the wisdom of old age, which not everyone is capable of acquiring.