KoreanScreen.com's 100 Greatest Korean Films
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- DirectorHong Sang-sooStarsKim Tae-wooUhm Ji-wonGo Hyun-jungDelightfully comic exploration of the emotional and social geography of an art-house film director.
- DirectorKim Soo-yongStarsJeong-hie YuShin Seong-ilIl-woong LeeA couple who work together live in secrecy that they are planning to marry. Pak is more of a traditionalist and so Lee wanders the streets in frustration, until she looses everything. On the day scheduled for the wedding they take the train to Pak's hometown. Will her experiences on the street keep Lee in line, or will she shun a future with such a dull husband?
- DirectorBae Chang-hoStarsAhn Sung-kiLee Mi-sookSu-chol KimA disillusioned student meets a eccentric beggar and a mute prostitute he falls in love with. Together, without money, they cross South Korea to help the girl go home.
- DirectorKim Soo-yongStarsShin Yeong-gyunEun-a KoJeong-sun HwangAt an ocean side village, many fishing boats never return from the high sea, and many of the women in the village assume they are widows when their husbands never return. One of them, Seongku, begins an affair with a coal worker.
- DirectorYoung Nam KoStarsIl-bong YunKim Yeong-aeLee Ki-seonA wife starts to suspect her husband's infidelity after the arrival of their new, young housekeeper, who carries a mysterious wooden doll with herself.
- DirectorHong Sang-sooStarsKwon Hae-hyoYoo Joon-sangGi Ju-bongIn the middle of winter, a poet invites his son to meet him at a hotel.
- CreatorMerrill HeatterBob QuigleyStarsPeter MarshallKenny WilliamsCliff ArquetteContestants guess the correctness of celebrities' answers in order to win spaces in a tic-tac-toe game.
- DirectorShin Sang-okStarsChoi Eun-hieShin Yeong-gyunYeong-seon JeonOk-hui lives with her grandmother, her mother and the maid. People refer to their house as the "Widow House" because all three adult women who live there are widows. One day, a teacher named Mr. Han moves into the house as a lodger.
- DirectorKim Soo-yongStarsShin Seong-ilYun Jeong-hieLee Bin-hwaA married man who moved to live in Seoul for a better life visits the small town where he grew up and falls in love with a local girl.
- DirectorIm Kwon-taekStarsHyo-jeong LeeCho Seung-wooSeong-nyeo KimA governor's son falls in love and marries a beautiful girl, the daughter of a courtesan. Their marriage is kept a secret from the governor who would immediately disown him if he found that his son married beneath him.
- DirectorIm Kwon-taekStarsNam-kyeoung ChoDong-joon ChoiKwak Eun-kyeongA vagabond called Kaechoi is troubled by all the inhabitants of a remote South Korean village. His secret is unearthed by an innocent lady teacher who has moved to that village from the city.
- DirectorHa YooStarsZo In-sungChun Ho-jinMin Nam-koongA small time thug collecting debts for the local triad is torn between his criminal aspirations and his devotion to family.
- DirectorJang Sun-wooStarsBong ChoiKi-yeong ChoiLee Eung-kyungA Korean salesman seeks a successful career by using a bar hostess to spy on his rivals. However, soon he confronts the bar hostess's revenge, as well as his rivals' popular products.
- DirectorKim Ki-youngStarsHwa-shi LeeJeong-cheol KimYun-seok ChoiAn investor planning on developing a tourist resort begins an investigation into the legends of the mysterious Io Island in the hope of exploiting its unspoiled beauty.
- DirectorIm Kwon-taekStarsKim Hee-raYun-seok ChoiHie BangTwo ruined, old adversaries meet in a rehab center and reassess the conflict that dominated their lives since the Korean War. One man is a former cop and the other is a former communist guerrilla. The film flashes back to their tragic pasts to explain how they arrived where they are.
- DirectorHong Sang-sooStarsJung Eun-chaeLee Sun-kyunYoo Joon-sangThe secret relationship between a student and a teacher, will their love last?
- DirectorKim Ki-youngStarsWon NamkungGye-hyeon JeonYoun Yuh-jungThe lives of a composer and his wife, who live on a chicken farm, are thrown into turmoil when a femme fatale joins their household.
- DirectorPark Kyung-JinJohn H. LeeKim Tae-WonStarsJung Woo-sungSon Ye-jinJong-hak BaekA young couple's enduring love is tested when 27-year-old Su-jin is diagnosed with a rare form of Alzheimer's disease.
- DirectorJang Sun-wooStarsSeul-ki HangKyeong-won ParkJae-kyeong LeeA compilation of episodes from the lives of the 'bad teens' and the homeless of Seoul.
- DirectorHyun-seung LeeStarsLee Jung-jaeJun Ji-hyunMu-saeng KimIn 1999, a voice actor moves from Il Mare, a seaside house, and leaves a Christmas card in its (magical) mailbox. An architecture student receives it in 1997, and a friendship separated by 2 years begins.
- DirectorPark Chul-SooCheol-su ParkStarsPang Eun-jinHwang Sin-hyeChu-Ryun KimTwo women, a chef and an anorexic writer, are neighbors in an apartment building. The chef.
- DirectorIm Kwon-taekStarsChoi Min-sikAhn Sung-kiYoo Ho-jeongIn a time of political and social unrest in nineteenth-century Korea, an uncouth, self-taught painter explores his natural talent amidst the repressive world around him.
- DirectorHong Sang-sooStarsRyô KaseMoon So-riSeo Young-hwaKwon returns to Seoul from the mountains and is given a packet of letters from Mori back from Japan to propose to her. Kwon drops and scatters the undated letters. She reads them and has to make sense of the chronology - and so must we?
- DirectorKang Hyeong-cheolStarsYoo Ho-jeongShim Eun-kyungJin Hee-kyungSeven girls become good friends in high school, then events pull them apart for 25 years. When one of the friends lies dying in a hospital, she wishes to see each of them one last time.
- DirectorDae Hyung LimStarsKim Hee-aeYûko NakamuraKim SohyeYoon-Hee lives with her teenage daughter Sae-Bom. On a winter day, Yoon-Hee receives a letter from Otaru, Japan. Sae-Bom accidentally reads the letter and learns about her mother's first love, which she never spoke about before.
- DirectorHur Jin-hoStarsLee Yeong-aeYoo Ji-taeSang-hui BaekA sound engineer falls in love with a radio show host after they work together on a project capturing natural sounds.
- DirectorChan-ok ParkStarsKim Bo-kyungLee Bong-gyuLee Dae-yeonTeenager Eun-mo suspects her brother-in-law is responsible for her sister's death. Perhaps more unbearable than her grief and anger is the irreconcilable love she feels for him.
- DirectorYong-Gyu YoonStarsKi-jong ByeonHeon-yong OhSeung-min NamDo-seong is a child monk who lives at a small mountain temple with the head monk, learning the teachings of Buddha. He becomes attached to a young widow who comes to pray at the temple, and the childless widow entreats the head monk to let her raise Do-seong as her own son.
- DirectorHun JangStarsSong Kang-hoThomas KretschmannYoo Hae-jinA widowed father and taxi driver who drives a German reporter from Seoul to Gwangju to cover the 1980 uprising, soon finds himself regretting his decision after being caught in the violence around him.
- DirectorYeon Sang-hoStarsYang Ik-joonOh Jung-seKim Hye-naJong-suk and Kyung-min meet up to talk about their high school past, it's been 15 years since they last talked. It brings up all kinds of memories.
- DirectorHong Sang-sooStarsKim Min-heeKwon Hae-hyoLee Eun-miWhile her husband is on a business trip, Gamhee meets three of her friends on the outskirts of Seoul. They make friendly conversation but there are different currents flowing independently of each other, both above and below the surface.
- DirectorHong Sang-sooStarsPark Choong-seonKim Eui-sungJo Eun SookAbout desires and lives of four characters in diverse circumstances. A poor novelist, a cheating wife, a mysophobic husband and a ticket girl.
- DirectorSang-Jin KimStarsLee Sung-jaeYu Oh-seongKang Seong-jinFour disaffected youths rob a gas station but find their plans complicated and sidetracked before the night is through.
- DirectorKang Dae-jinStarsSeung-ho KimShin Yeong-gyunJeong-sun HwangA man tries to raise his two sons and two daughters under some of the most adverse conditions known to man. The father operates a horse-drawn cart, but in a city that is modernizing after the destruction of the Korean War, automobiles are making carts obsolete. The children are experiencing difficulties as well. The eldest son has flunked the bar exam twice and is not hopeful of passing it a third time to become a lawyer. The eldest daughter is mute and married to an abusive husband. The younger daughter tries to pose as a rich university student to move up in life. The youngest son has a penchant for petty theft.
- DirectorIm Kwon-taekStarsKang Soo-younGu-sun LeeYang-ha YunShin, a nobleman, had been trying to conceive a male heir to pass his family name. Unable to provide a male heir, Shin's wife gives her husband permission to search for a surrogate wife to bear a male heir. On the way to finding a surrogate wife, Shin runs into a 17 year old girl, Ok-nyo (Kang Soo-yeon). She was a poor feisty girl who stated she would do anything for money.
- DirectorJeon Go-WoonStarsEsomAhn Jae-hongJae-Hyun ChoiWhiskey and cigarettes, the only ways of keeping her dignity in this city.
- DirectorKim Ki-youngStarsWon NamkungYoun Yuh-jungGye-hyeon JeonA schoolgirl goes from braids to bouffant when her mother makes her a bar hostess/prostitute. She cures impotence for Professor Lee and becomes his concubine. His entrepreneurial wife is initially shocked but soon accepts the arrangement and even gives the girl and allowance.
- DirectorPark Chan-wookStarsLim Soo-jungRainPark Byeong-eunA girl who thinks she is a combat cyborg checks into a mental hospital, where she encounters other psychotics. Eventually, she falls for a man who thinks he can steal people's souls.
- DirectorKim Ki-dukStarsJung SuhKim Yu-seokCho Jae-hyunWorking at a fishing resort in an idyllic location, but surrounded by various facets of human unpleasantness, a young mute woman falls in love with a man on the run from the law for committing murder.
- DirectorSo Yong KimStarsChae Gil ByoungJung Gil JaShin Hyun JeIn Seoul, Korea, two sisters must look after each other when their mother leaves them to search for their estranged father.
- DirectorHong Sang-sooStarsEun-ju LeeMoon Sung-KeunJeong Bo-seokRelationship filled with pitfalls between a pleasant female video producer and a gallery owner as they become embroiled in their self-spun web of illusions. Bitter-sweet serenade to modern courtship.
- DirectorHong Sang-sooStarsKim Sang-kyungMoon So-riYoo Joon-sangTwo friends, while having drinks together, share their memories of visiting the seaside resort of Tongyeong.
- DirectorJae-young KwakStarsCha Tae-hyunJun Ji-hyunIn-mun KimA young man sees a drunk, cute woman standing too close to the tracks at a metro station in Seoul and pulls her back. She ends up getting him into trouble repeatedly after that, starting on the train.
- DirectorHong Sang-sooStarsYoo Joon-sangKim Sang-jungSong Seon-miA professor in the film department at a provincial university goes to Seoul to meet his senior, who works as a film critic, and stays in a northern Seoul village for three days.
- DirectorSeong-gu LeeStarsYun Jeong-hieSeung-ho KimThe movie begins with the mysterious death of a journalistic photographer named Kim Cheol-hun. Veteran police detective Park (Kim Seung-ho) teams up with a young, intellectual detective (Kim Seong-ok) to investigate the people surrounding Kim.
- DirectorHong Sang-sooStarsKim Min-heeSeo Young-hwaJeong Jae-yeongAn actress wanders around a seaside town, pondering her relationship with a married man.
- DirectorJang Sun-wooStarsLee Jung-hyunMoon Sung-KeunYeong-ran LeeA young girl is caught up in the 1980 Gwangju massacre, where Korean soldiers killed hundreds, if not thousands, of protesters who opposed the country's takeover by the military the year before. Flashbacks show the girl seeing her mother shot to death in the massacre. The film spurred the Korean public to demand the truth behind the incident, and their government eventually opened previously classified files on the massacre.
- DirectorHong Sang-sooStarsYeong-ho KimHwang Soo-JungPark Eun-hyeIn the summer of 2007 a painter in his forties travels to Paris to escape arrest for smoking marijuana, leaving his wife behind in Korea. While there he meets an ex-girlfriend and is introduced to a small community of Korean artists.
- DirectorLee Su-jinStarsChun Woo-heeJung In-sunKim So-youngHan Gong-Ju transfers to a new school to escape her past. It takes a long time for her troubled past to catch up with her but when it does, the revelation is devastating.
- DirectorPark Kwang-suStarsBae Jong-okPark Joong-hoonKang Shin-ilA painter quits his job and looks to an old acquaintance for work and a place to stay.
- DirectorHur Jin-hoStarsHan Suk-kyuShim Eun-haShin GooHahn Suk-Kyu suffers from a fatal disease. He meets Shim Eun-Ha and falls in love with her. Will their love story have a tragic ending?
- DirectorPark Kwang-suPark Kwang SooStarsKim Bo-KyeongKim Bo-kyungYoo Byeong-SeokThe film intercuts two stories, one in black and white, one in color. From 1965 to 1970.
- DirectorHyeong-mo HanStarsAm ParkJeong-rim KimKyeong-hie NoOh starts working at a boutique to help her make a living. Professor Jang begins dating the typist Miss Park, but decides to break up with her to protect her family. Han's wife anonymously sends a letter to Jang to reveal Oh's affair.
- DirectorYong-Kyun BaeStarsYi Pan-YongSin Won-SopHae-Jin HuangAbout three monks in a remote monastery; an aging master, a small orphan and a young man who left his city life to seek Enlightenment.
- DirectorSung-il JungStarsShin Ha-kyunKim Hye-naJung In-sunThe story begins with a man left by his girlfriend on Christmas Eve and unfolds across the city of Seoul.
- DirectorSoon-rye YimStarsKim Tae-riRyu Jun-yeolJin Ki-jooA young woman grows tired of life in the city and returns to her hometown in the countryside.
- DirectorBong Joon HoStarsTilda SwintonPaul DanoAhn Seo-hyunA young girl risks everything to prevent a powerful, multinational company from kidnapping her best friend - a fascinating beast named Okja.
- DirectorJung Byung-gilStarsKim Ok-binShin Ha-kyunSung JunA female assassin leaves a trail of bodies behind her as she seeks revenge.
- DirectorPark Hoon-jungStarsLee Jung-jaeChoi Min-sikHwang Jung-minAn undercover cop finds it difficult to play both a cop and a goon.
- DirectorKim Ki-dukStarsJo Min-sooLee Jung-JinWoo Ki-hongA loan shark is forced to reconsider his violent lifestyle after the arrival of a mysterious woman claiming to be his long-lost mother.
- DirectorJuly JungStarsBae DoonaKim Sae-ronSong Sae-byeokA young police officer is sent to work in a small village and takes in a teenager to protect her from her abusive stepfather.
- DirectorLee Jang-hoStarsKim Myung-gonLee Bo-heeSok-Yang ChooA young man travels to various regions of South Korea to scatter the ashes of his dead wife.
- DirectorKang Je-kyuStarsJang Dong-gunWon BinEun-ju LeeWhen two brothers are forced to fight in the Korean War, the elder decides to take the riskiest missions if it will help shield the younger from battle.
- DirectorNam-ok ParkStarsMin-ja LeeSeong-ju LeeTak-kyun LeeLee Shin-ja is a young widow, subject to the prejudices against her position in society. Trying to provide for her daughter as well as find love, Lee becomes entangled in the lives of her late husband's friend, his wife, and her lover.
- DirectorJoon-Hwan JangStarsShin Ha-kyunBaek Yun-shikHwang Jung-minByeong-gu believes that the world is on the verge of an alien invasion, and sets out to save the world.
- DirectorIm Kwon-taekStarsAhn Sung-kiJeon Moo-songMichelle Okkyung LeeA story that follows the lives and interactions of two Buddhist monks living in South Korea.
- DirectorPark Chan-wookStarsSong Kang-hoKim Ok-binChoi Hee-jinThrough a failed medical experiment, a priest is stricken with vampirism and is forced to abandon his ascetic ways.
- DirectorHa Gil-jongStarsNam-hyeon ChoiKim Hee-raHa Jae-YoungThe story is set in the 1970s during the period of military dictatorship. Schools were frequently closed down and society seemed to face bleak prospects on all fronts. Nonetheless, Byung Tae, a college student, enjoys pursuing romance at group "meetings" or blins dates. It is during one of these ventures that he meets Young-ja, a French Literature student.
- DirectorLee Hae-junStarsJeong Jae-yeongJung Ryeo-wonYeong-seo ParkA failed suicide attempt leads a heartbroken man to live a life in the wilderness.
- DirectorLee Man-heeLee Man-Hee-IStarsKim Eun-OkAn Eun-SukKim Gyeong-RaTwo lovers face a bleak future in 1960s Seoul.
- DirectorJee-woon KimStarsSong Kang-hoLee Byung-hunJung Woo-sungThe story of two outlaws and a bounty hunter in 1940s Manchuria and their rivalry to possess a treasure map while being pursued by the Japanese army and Chinese bandits.
- DirectorLee Jeong-beomStarsWon BinKim Sae-ronKim Tae-hoonA quiet pawnshop keeper with a violent past takes on a drug-and-organ trafficking ring in hope of saving the child who is his only friend.
- DirectorLee Chang-dongStarsJeon Do-yeonSong Kang-hoLee Dong-yongA woman moves to the town where her dead husband was born. As she tries to fit in, another tragic event overturns her life.
- DirectorJung Doo HongJee-woon KimStarsLee Byung-hunShin Min-aKim Yeong-cheolThings go wrong for a high ranking mobster when he doesn't follow his boss's orders.
- DirectorJae-eun JeongStarsBae DoonaLee Yo-wonOk Ji-youngIn the port city of Icheon, five female friends struggle to stay close while forging a life for themselves after high school. When one of the group, upwardly-mobile Hae-ju, moves to Seoul, the other girls deal with the loss in different ways. Feeling most rejected, shy Ji-yeong finds comfort in her new friendship with rebel Tae-hee.
- DirectorPark Chan-wookStarsSong Kang-hoShin Ha-kyunBae DoonaA recently laid off factory worker kidnaps his former boss' friend's daughter, hoping to use the ransom money to pay for his sister's kidney transplant.
- DirectorKim Ki-dukStarsLee Seung-yunJae HeeHyuk-ho KwonA transient young man breaks into empty homes to partake of the vacationing residents' lives for a few days.
- DirectorPark Chan-wookStarsNam-mi KangJeong-nam ChoiHye-Sook GoAfter being wrongfully imprisoned for thirteen years and having her child taken away from her, a woman seeks revenge through increasingly brutal means.
- DirectorJee-woon KimStarsLee Byung-hunChoi Min-sikJeon Gook-hwanA secret agent exacts revenge on a serial killer through a series of captures and releases.
- DirectorBora KimStarsPark Ji-huKim Sae-byeokJeong In-giSeoul 1994, in the year the Seongsu Bridge collapsed, 14-year-old Eunhee wanders the city searching for love.
- DirectorIm Kwon-taekStarsKim Myung-gonJung-hae OhKim Kyu-chulDespite its falling popularity, a father teaches his two children the Korean musical tradition of Pansori (one singer accompanied by one drummer).
- DirectorBong Joon HoStarsChris EvansJamie BellTilda SwintonIn a future where a failed climate change experiment has killed all life except for the survivors who boarded the Snowpiercer (a train that travels around the globe), a new class system emerges.
- DirectorBong Joon HoStarsSong Kang-hoByun Hee-BongPark Hae-ilA monster emerges from Seoul's Han River and begins attacking people. One victim's loving family does what it can to rescue her from its clutches.
- DirectorPark Chan-wookStarsLee Yeong-aeLee Byung-hunSong Kang-hoAfter a shooting incident at the North-South Korean border DMZ leaves two North Korean soldiers dead, a neutral Swiss and Swedish team investigates what actually happened.
- DirectorJee-woon KimStarsLim Soo-jungYum Jung-ahKim Kap-suAfter being institutionalized in a mental hospital, Su-mi reunites with her sister, Su-yeon, and they return to live at their country home. But strange events plague the house, leading to surprising revelations and a shocking conclusion.
- DirectorHong Sang-sooStarsJeong Jae-yeongKim Min-heeYoun Yuh-jungA married film director falls for a young painter - twice.
- DirectorLee Chang-dongStarsSol Kyung-guMoon So-riAhn Nae-sangAn irresponsible and childish ex-con befriends a girl with cerebral palsy and develops a progressively stronger bond with her.
- DirectorYeon Sang-hoStarsGong YooJung Yu-miMa Dong-seokWhile a zombie virus breaks out in South Korea, passengers struggle to survive on the train from Seoul to Busan.
- DirectorNa Hong-jinStarsJun KunimuraHwang Jung-minKwak Do-wonSoon after a stranger arrives in a little village, a mysterious sickness starts spreading. A policeman, drawn into the incident, is forced to solve the mystery in order to save his daughter.
- DirectorBong Joon HoStarsKim Hye-jaWon BinJin GooA mother desperately searches for the killer who framed her son for a girl's horrific murder.
- DirectorYu Hyun-mokStarsMu-ryong ChoiKim Jin-kyuJeong-suk MoonA pressured accountant, his war veteran brother and their dysfunctional family struggle with integrating into post-War Korean society.
- DirectorLee Chang-dongStarsSol Kyung-guKim Yeo-jinMoon So-riFollowing a man's suicide, time traverses back to reveal six chapters of his life on why he committed suicide.
- DirectorLee Chang-dongStarsYun Jeong-hieLee Da-witKim Hee-raA sixty-something woman, faced with the discovery of a heinous family crime and in the early stages of Alzheimer's disease, finds strength and purpose when she enrolls in a poetry class.
- DirectorKim Ki-youngStarsKim Jin-kyuJeung-nyeo JuEun-shim LeeA composer and his wife are thrown into turmoil when a housemaid becomes more than they bargained for.
- DirectorKim Ki-dukStarsKim Ki-dukOh Yeong-suJong-ho KimA boy is raised by a Buddhist monk in an isolated floating temple where the years pass like the seasons.
- DirectorPark Chan-wookStarsKim Min-heeHa Jung-wooCho Jin-woongA woman is hired as a handmaiden to a Japanese heiress, but secretly she is involved in a plot to defraud her.
- DirectorPark Chan-wookStarsChoi Min-sikYoo Ji-taeKang Hye-jeongAfter being kidnapped and imprisoned for fifteen years, Oh Dae-Su is released, only to find that he must track down his captor in five days.
- DirectorBong Joon HoStarsSong Kang-hoKim Sang-kyungKim Roe-haIn a small Korean province in 1986, two detectives struggle with the case of multiple young women being found raped and murdered by an unknown culprit.
- DirectorBong Joon HoStarsSong Kang-hoLee Sun-kyunCho Yeo-jeongGreed and class discrimination threaten the newly-formed symbiotic relationship between the wealthy Park family and the destitute Kim clan.
- DirectorLee Chang-dongStarsYoo Ah-inSteven YeunJeon Jong-seoJong-su bumps into a girl who used to live in the same neighborhood, who asks him to look after her cat while she's on a trip to Africa. When back, she introduces Ben, a mysterious guy she met there, who confesses his secret hobby.