Attack the Gas Station: It's a Gas Alright

I haven't had much luck with Korean comedies. So imagine how thoroughly tickled I was by Attack the Gas Station. It's not just that I laughed out loud a few times; it's that for the last half hour I couldn't stop smiling—maybe in part because that culturally freaky, ultraviolent slapstick was over. Attribute my unstoppable grin to Park Jeong-woo's screenplay, a script which understands exactly what makes a teen comedy great (even if the characters are a little older): The story has to begin by representing the rebellious spirit then end by presenting the less exuberant rewards of growing up. These four buddies—an artist, a rocker, an athlete, and a moron—are never meant to be realistic portrayals of disaffected youth on a criminal lark. They're comically instructive ones whose haircuts shorthand for character development and whose ability to change lives simply by being themselves borders on the magical. Director Kim Sang-jin (who also did Ghost House, another guilty pleasure) brings a nice sense of visual flair to the proceedings by opening a few scenes upside down or occasionally shooting from a corny POV. I don't fault him. Deep-seeded irreverence is Attack the Gas Station's greatest charm.

Samaritan Girl: Daddy's Sweetheart Is Doing It

When Samaritan Girl starts off, the plot is perfectly sordid. Two pretty young things are earning money to go to Europe by pimping the dumber one out as a prostitute. The sex is all in good fun though. For the never-met-a-guy-I-didn't-like-doing girl, whoring is a harmless way to meet new people and learn about their jobs. (He's nice. He's a musician!) But for the other, it's an increasing source of jealousy that must be assuaged with a lesbian spongebath. They're about ten customers shy of Paris (I assume) when the happy hooker leaps out the window to land on her numbskull head. Anything but prison! Subsequently, you'd think that her best friend forever was the one who'd had her brains rattled as she proceeds to contact all the former johns and get nasty (in a sweet way) then refunds their money. Cause and effect is not this movie's strong point. When the live girl's father—who happens to work in the Vice Squad—discovers his baby is peddling her booty, he can't find a way to talk to her about it probably because teens are so...difficult. So he stalks the customers. Director Kim Ki-duk won a Silver Bear for Samaritan Girl. I'm guessing this says reams about parent-child relationships in Germany.

301/302: What Really Counts for Women

It's hard not to imagine that scenarist Lee Suh-goon's 301/302 was inspired by a found box of papers by a now-dead radical feminist from the 1970s. The central thesis plays out between two single women who reside across the hall from each other and who conveniently represent diametrically opposed aspects of stifled personhood. In apartment 301 lives a divorcee (Bang Eun-jin) who loves to cook, eat, screw, scream, and be complimented. You'd say she was a carefree spirit if she hadn't cooked the family dog then fed it to her husband in a flashback. In apartment 302 lives an anorexic intellectual (Hwang Sin-hye) who hates sausage, was molested by her stepdad the butcher, and could probably resolve all that inner turmoil if her editor let her write in the first person for goodness sake. I kid you not. Eventually, the two become one as the food-fetishist makes a stew out of the grim-faced bulimic. I kept waiting for someone to say, "Eat me." No such luck. A little lesbianism would have gone a long way amid the psycho-symbolism. The closest we get is having the surviving tenant steal the starving tenant's smart bob of a hairstyle posthumously. Women can be so vindictive! Down with the patriarchy.

Phone: Dial "M" for Misbehavior

Adultery. Incest. Murder. There's a decent number of heinous crimes committed in Phone but the worst is not returning calls or text messages from loved ones. In Ahn Byeong-ki's technophobic ghost story, a spurned succubus exacts revenge on anyone unlucky enough to be assigned her cellphone number by delivering "calls for their death." What final utterance she relates into the ear piece is never made clear but it must be pretty terrible since a car crash, a ruined manicure, and an eye-gouging result. Eventually, she has the decency to concentrate her anger on those who actually led to her untimely demise but not before she's driven a sex-crimes reporter (Ha Ji-won) to the brink. Ha, a scream queen in Asia, is certainly believable as the next slated victim who doesn't change her number because she wants to get to the root of the story and demystify her hallucinogenic visions, yet Phone's real star is Eun Seo-woo as the little girl possessed by the avenging spirit. Eun is one of those creepy little kids who can look downright evil one second then sweet and charming the next. You're never sure whether you should feel bad for her or whether someone should hit her over the head with a brick. It's your call.

The Brotherhood of War: Boy's Life

I never considered that the love that dares not speak its name could be that between two brothers but such is the supposition of The Brotherhood of War, Kang Je-gyu's wacky war pic about two siblings drafted into service (and a weird battle of wills) during the Korean War. The opening sequence has the two young men feeding each other, sharing a popsicle, and fetishizing shoes. What with the string section in the background, you almost expect to see a class-usurping gay romance unfold before your disbelieving eyes. Instead, amid the prettily photographed explosions and hand-to-hand combat, what transpires is the making of a warrior—and a ruthless, bloodthirsty, wild-eyed one at that. Naturally, the younger, prettier sibling (Won Bin) is the conscience of the movie and the hunkier older one (Jang Dong-kun) is the fearless fighter. But the baby brother cries so much and seems so unappreciative of the butch one's self-sacrifices, perverse and self-aggrandizing as they might end up being, that you feel disappointed that the moralizer's head isn't blown off in some artful fashion with snow coming down from above and grenade-propelled dirt rising up from below. Can't blame communism for that.

Champion: The Man Who Wears Gloves

If you've ever seen a championship boxing match, then you know that while the lightweights certainly can't beat the heavyweights, they're nevertheless a hell of a lot scrappier, tougher, even scarier since they haven't got an ounce of fat to cushion any of the furiously thrown blows. Champion, Kwak Kyung-taek's biopic on South Korea's world-class contender Kim Deuk-gu, doesn't tell one fighter's rags to riches story, or traffic in his poetic inarticulacies of rage, though it could have done either given its subject matter. Instead, the flick relates the ascent of a fairly likable, none-too-bright pugilist who seems motivated by cultural imperatives and grounded by the respect that accompanies accomplishments which garner you a big fat wreath and a bloody nose. It's hard to tell whether actor Yu Oh-seong is doing a bad job or a solid one as he represents a man with little depth, not much smarts, and a boy's undeveloped philosophies. There's a lot of blank stares and looks of incomprehension. That might be the brutal truth. Ultimately, he's easy on the eyes and his tightie whities are always spotless. While the actual matches could've gone on much longer, his flashbacks are kept to a minimum. Kindly so.

The Ghost: Ring-a-ding-ding

What's the most influential horror movie ever? Psycho? Halloween? Frankenstein? In recent history, at least in Asia, the answer would definitely be The Ring. And for The Ghost, writer-director Kim Tae-kyeong trots out his own facsimile of that landmark movie's creepy dead girl. Why is the image of a silent young woman with straight, dirty black hair hanging in front of her face so unsettling? Even now, after having seen various incarnations of this demon-spawn in a half-dozen flicks, she's still got a certain undeniable power. Maybe it's the idea of a battered woman or an abused child who refuses to be beaten coming back from the dead to right wrongs. (The catch is she's got so much justifiable anger that she's a little out of control.) Woman as victim becomes woman as vengeance. Having the spirit inhabit different bodies, as Kim does here, just makes her transformation that much more universal. Like any decent fright flick, The Ghost also throws out a number of existential questions like if our memories were erased would we become someone else or who is responsible for an accidental death? I think I like amnesiacs! They're so open.

Shiri: She-bang She-bang

Shiri, Kang Je-gyu's enjoyable political thriller, has a riveting opener: With barely a word of dialogue, an extended montage of shooting, stabbing, screaming, running in the rain, and eating slop introduces us to the dehumanization undergone by a North Korean rebel military outfit. Yet the star pupil of this factional force isn't Pyongyang's answer to Sylvester Stallone; it's Kim Yunjin, the same lovely actress who made a splash stateside with her role in the cult series Lost. To call her character in this film a femme fatale strikes me as missing the point. Such an assertion just cheapens her antiauthoritarian convictions...or the effectiveness of the brainwashing. (That's your call.) But as she kill, kill, kills, she's destined to break as many hearts as she shoots because she can't shed her convictions as easily as her disguising wig. Though this flick has some slow sections before the big shoot-em-up in the stadium, it's also got some unexpected treats like a makeout scene in an aquarium and an excerpt from a Korean production of Guys and Dolls. The light military protection of a newly discovered, scent-free liquid bomb is an improbable plot point but from the looks of the resultant explosions perhaps that material was overhyped.

A Tale of Two Sisters: Lights! Camera! Inaction!

As far as symbolist family sagas involving ghostly multiple personalities go, I suppose A Tale of Two Sisters is one of the less hermetic ones. By the end of this atmospheric mystery (which is another way of saying that it's not that suspenseful), everything except for the creepy critters has pretty much been explained. Frankly, I would have preferred a bit more head scratching. I like the lizard creatures, the child crawling out of the woman's crotch, and the big bloody bag. Who cares what's in it? That's scary! But most of the time Kim Ji-woon's film has you watching anticipatory tableaus cheapened by the nagging question is this happening in the stepmom's head, the daughter's head, or the little sister's head. Why none of the characters chose to bash in the father's head may be the greatest mystery of all. Though he's somewhat peripheral to the action, his very coolness is so inappropriate that I kept hoping he'd turn out to be a modern version of Ted Bundy or Dr. Frankenstein. No such luck. Lots of nice haircuts shot so the face is somewhat obscured like in The Ring. But not nearly as riveting.

Three... Extremes: A Cut Above

It recently dawned on me that Korea is the Ireland of Asia. As major influences go, it's got China and Japan to Ireland's U.S. and England. Plus, it's got a similar North-South, politically polarized split with the Southern part being the more celebratory half. (Are Protestants the Communists of Europe?) It wasn't politics that triggered this realization however. It was art. For just as the Emerald Isle, despite its diminutive size, smaller population, weaker role in the world, troubled history, etc., can go head-to-head with either America or Britain in terms of literature (Shaw, Wilde, Joyce, Swift), Korea can do the same with its big brothers in terms of film. Take a look at the movie Three... Extremes, a trilogy of horror flicks from Hong Kong ("Dumplings"), Korea ("Cut"), and Japan ("Box"). This triptych could easily serve as an argument for Korean moviemaking supremacy. Admittedly, Fruit Chan and Takashi Mike aren't their respective countries Wong Kar-wai or Kurosawa (whereas Park Chan-wook is his country's Park Chan-wook). But even so, when it comes to working within the horror genre, neither Hong Kong nor Tokyo comes close to Seoul's succubus of a film. In comparison to Park's Shavian tale of a film-extra hell-bent on leveling the playing field for heaven, Chan's Swiftian parable about a woman willing to eat fetuses to regain youth and Mike's not-too-wild dream of a Siamese twin look plain silly. Throw in a fantastic performance from Lim Won-hie as the crazy who can dance as well as he wields an axe, and you've got the makings of thriller that's not only visually stunning but highly entertaining as well.

Memories of Murder: Postcards From the Dead

What makes Memories of Murder such an unusually gripping detective film isn't some requisite, titillating peeling of layers that ends up revealing the twisted logic of a sick-but-brilliant serial killer's mind. Instead, director Bong Joon-ho slowly draws you into the frustrated psyches of his two policemen as they find themselves increasingly frustrated in their attempts to crack the code. It's a momentum headed towards the void, not hell. The country mouse / city mouse conflict between the two investigators is initially played for chuckles but eventually the contrast in techniques (primitive vs. sophisticated) remains just that. A contrast. Bong never ends up celebrating one over the other or even equating them as yin and yang. Justice, it turns out, takes her own sweet time if she even arrives at all. I'm always psyched to see Song Kang-ho in a movie (The Host, Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance, Joint Security Area); he's somehow likable even when he's playing what should be a fairly unsympathetic cop. Here, as a self-aggrandizing doofus who must come to grips with his own inadequacies, he brings his usual love-me-even-though-I'm-stupid persona that personally I find impossible to resist.

Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance: Prime Park

Let's face it. Park Chan-wook rocks. I just saw Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance, the first part of his visually lush vengeance trilogy and that man has such a gorgeously deranged understanding of human psychology. He's definitely got a thing for the anti-hero that leaves you wondering who to route for. The deaf-dumb child-killer who's just trying to get a kidney for his dying sister? or the cold-hearted businessman who finds his world turned upside down by a kidnapping? The narrative tying these two guys together is outlandish even as it slips inside reality. It's just this side of the possible. There could be a world where people got gypped doing black market organ donations; where grief-stricken artists buried their siblings under a pile of thoughtfully arranged river stones; where a makeshift band of terrorists exacted revenge on behalf of their ludicrous pamphleteer. What I love about Chan-wook's films is how these narrative twists are surprising and inevitable. Life can be like that, the slippery slope. You look up, everything is rushing by in a flash of bruised beauty. The world is a mercilessly violent place.

Korean Film: In Search of My Seoul

I love Korean film. Not all Korean films, mind you. Romances like The Classic are a little too sappy, and aside from The Host, most of the comedy in their movies would bore me if it were in English. But when it comes to noir, this country's cinema can compete with the best of Hollywood. (When it comes to horror, they more than hold their own, too.) Looking back over the last few years, I know it was Save the Green Planet that first excited me about Korean film. An homage to Fellini and The Wizard of Oz, Jang Jun-hwan's serial killer thriller struck me as a one-up on Tarantino, the work of an utterly original mind that made me reconsider the importance of man's survival in the universe. (Don't worry! I still think we should live.) After that, Park Chan-wook's Oldboy turned me into a bonafide fanatic. Now I'll watch anything out of Korea. I even rented the abysmal Painted Fire which won the Golden Palm at Cannes perhaps because it reiterated that old truism that art is boring. Some people say that Korea is in the midst of a Golden Age for filmmaking. I think you should listen to those people. I think it's true. This blog's sole intention is to win new converts to Korean cinema and perhaps to figure out for myself what makes Korean movies so damned good.

Documentaries About Korea

Arirang (2010)
Camp 14 (2012)*
Crossing the Line (2006)*
Dear Pyongyang (2002)*
Fading Away (2013)
Intangible Asset Number 82 (2008)
Kimjongilia (2009)*
National Geographic Explorer: Inside North Korea (2007)*
North Korea: A Day in the Life (2004)*
Old Partner (2008)
Planet of Snail (2011)
Turn It Up to 11 (2009)

*movies about North Korea

Movies Indexed by Year

1934
Crossroads of Youth (1934)

1936
Sweet Dream (1936)

1938
Military Train (1938)

1939
Fisherman's Fire (1939)

1941
Spring in the Korean
Peninsula (1941)
Volunteer (1941)

1943
Straits of Chosun (1943)

1954
The Hand of Destiny (1954)

1960
The Housemaid (1960)
Romance Papa (1960)
Stray Bullet (1960)

1961
My Mother and
Her Guest (1961)
Seong Chun-hyang (1961)

1964
Deaf Sam-ryong (1964)

1967
Yongary, Monster From
the Deep (1967)

1969
A Thousand Year-Old Fox (1969)

1974
The Korean Connection (1974)

1980
The Tale of Chun Hyang (1980)*

1982
Ban Gyeumryeon (1982)

1985
Pulgasari (1985)*

1986
Hong Kil Dong (1986)*

1989
Why Has Bodhi Dharma
Left for the East (1989)

1990
General's Son (1990)

1991
Son of a General II (1991)

1992
White Badge (1992)

1995
301/302 (1995)
Bitter and Sweet (1995)

1996
Born to Kill (1996)
The Day a Pig Fell Into
the Well (1996)
Piano Man (1996)

1997
The Green Fish (1997)
Lament (1997)
Motel Cactus (1997)
My Look in the Distant
Future (1997)*
No. 3 (1997)
Repechage (1997)

1998
Christmas in August (1998)
The Power of Kangwon
Province (1998)
The Quiet Family (1998)
The Soul Guardians (1998)
Whispering Corridors (1998)

1999
Attack the Gas Station (1999)
Dance, Dance (1999)
A Great Chinese Restaurant (1999)
Happy End (1999)
Judgement (1999)
Lies (1999)
Memento Mori (1999)
Nowhere to Hide (1999)
Peppermint Candy (1999)
Phantom: The Submarine (1999)
The Ring Virus (1999)
Shiri (1999)
Tell Me Something (1999)
White Valentine (1999)

2000
The Anarchists (2000)
Barking Dogs Never Bite (2000)
Chunhyang (2000)
Ditto (2000)
Il Mare (2000)
The Isle (2000)
JSA Joint Security Area (2000)
Just Do It! (2000)
Kilimanjaro (2000)
Killing Machine (2000)
Libera Me (2000)
Nightmare (2000)
Real Fiction (2000)
Terror Taxi (2000)
Vanishing Twin (2000)

2001
Address Unknown (2001)
Bad Guy (2001)
Dream of a Warrior (2001)
Friend (2001)
Flower Island (2001)
Guns & Talks (2001)
Hera Purple: Devil
Goddess (2001)
Hi! Dharma! (2001)
The Humanist (2001)
Musa: The Warriors (2001)
My Boss, My Hero (2001)
My Sassy Girl (2001)
Paradise Villa (2001)
Running 7 Dogs (2001)
Sorum (2001)
Take Care of My Cat (2001)
This Is Law (2001)
Volcano High (2001)

2002
4 Toes (2002)
2009 Lost Memories (2002)
Addicted (2002)
A.F.R.I.K.A. (2002)
Champion (2002)
The Coast Guard (2002)
Conduct Zero (2002)
H (2002)
Jail Breakers (2002)
Jungle Juice (2002)
Lovers' Concerto (2002)
Marriage Is a Crazy
Thing (2002)
Marrying the Mafia (2002)
My Beautiful Days (2002)
My Beautiful Girl, Mari (2002)
No Blood, No Tears (2002)
Oasis (2002)
Over the Rainbow (2002)
Phone (2002)
Popee (2002)
Public Enemy (2002)
Saulabi (2002)
Saving My Hubby (2002)
Sex Is Zero (2002)
Steal It If You Can (2002)
Sympathy for Mr.
Vengeance (2002)
Three Extremes 2 (2002)
Too Young to Die (2002)
Unborn but Forgotten (2002)
The Way Home (2002)
Yesterday (2002)
YMCA Baseball Team (2002)

2003
Acacia (2003)
Doggy Poo (2003)
Garden of Heaven (2003)
Memories of Murder (2003)
Mutt Boy (2003)
My Tutor Friend (2003)
Natural City (2003)
Oldboy (2003)
Please Teach Me English (2003)
Romantic Warriors (2003)
Run 2 U (2003)
Save the Green Planet (2003)
A Smile (2003)
Spring Bears Love (2003)
Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter...
and Spring (2003)
Sweet Sex and Love (2003)
A Tale of Two Sisters (2003)
Tube (2003)
The Uninvited (2003)
Untold Scandal (2003)
Wishing Stairs (2003)

2004
100 Days With
Mr. Arrogant (2004)
3-Iron (2004)
Arahan: Urban Martial Arts
Action (2004)
The Brotherhood of War (2004)
The Doll Master (2004)
Face (2004)
Fighter in the Wind (2004)
The Ghost (2004)
My Little Bride (2004)
R-Point (2004)
S Diary (2004)
Samaritan Girl (2004)
Spider Forest (2004)
The Spirit of Jeet Kune Do (2004)
Spygirl (2004)
Three... Extremes (2004)
To Catch a Virgin Ghost (2004)
When I Turned Nine (2004)
Windstruck (2004)
Witchboard (2004)
Woman Is the Future
of Man (2004)

2005
Another Public Enemy (2005)
Anatarctic Journal (2005)
A Bittersweet Life (2005)
Blood Rain (2005)
Blossom Again (2005)
The Bow (2005)
Cello (2005)
Crying Fist (2005)
Daddy Long Legs (2005)
Geochilmaru (2005)
Green Chair (2005)
Innocent Steps (2005)
Jenny, Juno (2005)
The King and the Clown (2005)
Lady Vengeance (2005)
The Legend of the
Shadowless Sword (2005)
Marrying the Mafia II (2005)
Murder, Take One (2005)
The President's Last Bang (2005)
Princess Aurora (2005)
The Red Shoes (2005)
Redeye (2005)
Sad Movie (2005)
She's on Duty (2005)
Typhoon (2005)
Voice (2005)
The Wig (2005)
Wolf Daddy (2005)
You Are My Sunshine (2005)

2006
200 Pounds of Beauty (2006)
Arang (2006)
A Bloody Aria (2006)
Bloody Reunion (2006)
Bloody Tie (2006)
Cinderella (2006)
The City of Violence (2006)
The Curse of
February 29th (2006)
Daisy (2006)
Dark Forest of Death (2006)
Dasepo Naughty Girls (2006)
A Dirty Carnival (2006)
Forbidden Quest (2006)
Holy Daddy (2006)
The Host (2006)
I'm a Cyborg But
That's Okay (2006)
In Between Days (2006)
Les Formidables (2006)
Like a Virgin (2006)
Lump of Sugar (2006)
Marrying the Mafia III (2006)
Monopoly (2006)
My Bloody Roommates (2006)
My Friend and His Wife (2006)
No Mercy for the Rude (2006)
No Regret (2006)
The Old Garden (2006)
Puzzle (2006)
The Restless (2006)
Righteous Ties (2006)
Seducing Mr. Perfect (2006)
See You After School (2006)
Tazza: The High Rollers (2006)
Time (2006)
Woman on the Beach (2006)
The World of Silence (2006)

2007
Attack on the Pin-up
Boys (2007)
Black House (2007)
Breath (2007)
The Butcher (2007)
Dragon Wars: D-War (2007)
Epitaph (2007)
The Evil Twin (2007)
Going by the Book (2007)
Hansel & Gretel (2007)
Le Grand Chef (2007)
M (2007)
Mapado 2: Back to the
Island (2007)
Meet Mr. Daddy (2007)
Muoi: The Legend of
the Portrait (2007)
My Father (2007)
My Tutor Friend 2 (2007)
Paradise Murdered (2007)
The Perfect Couple (2007)
Punch Lady (2007)
Rainbow Eyes (2007)
The Schoolgirl's Diary (2007)*
Secret Sunshine (2007)
Sex Is Zero 2 (2007)
Shadows in the Palace (2007)
The Show Must Go On (2007)
Soo (2007)
Temptation of Eve:
A Good Wife (2007)
Texture of Skin (2007)
Voices (2007)
Wide Awake (2007)
With the Girl of
Black Soil (2007)

2008
Antique Bakery (2008)
Baby and Me (2008)
Beastie Boys (2008)
The Chaser (2008)
Daytime Drinking (2008)
Death Bell (2008)
The Divine Weapon (2008)
Eye for an Eye (2008)
A Frozen Flower (2008)
Girl Scout (2008)
The Good, the Bad,
the Weird (2008)
Hello, Schoolgirl (2008)
Land of Scarecrows (2008)
Loner (2008)
Lovers of 6 Years (2008)
Make Yourself at Home (2008)
My Dear Enemy (2008)
My Mighty Princess (2008)
Night and Day (2008)
Old Partner (2008)
Once Upon a Time
in Seoul (2008)
Open City (2008)
The Pit and the Pendulum (2008)
The Pot (2008)
Rough Cut (2008)
Spare (2008)
A Tale of Legendary
Libido (2008)
Treeless Mountain (2008)

2009
Animal Town (2009)
Asian Queer Shorts (2009)
Be My Guest (2009)
Be With Me (2009)
A Blood Pledge (2009)
A Brand New Life (2009)
Cadaver (2009)
Cafe Seoul (2009)
The Case of Itaewon
Homicide (2009)
Chawz (2009)
The Executioner (2009)
Five Senses of Eros (2009)
Insadong Scandal (2009)
Into the White Night (2009)
Jeon Woochi: Taoist
Wizard (2009)
Lifting King Kong (2009)
Like You Know It All (2009)
A Little Pond (2009)
Living Death (2009)
Marine Boy (2009)
May Story (2009)
Missing (2009)
Missing Person (2009)
Mother (2009)
My Girlfriend Is an Agent (2009)
My Heart Beats (2009)
Postman to Heaven (2009)
The Righteous Thief (2009)
Running Turtle (2009)
Searching for the
Elephant (2009)
The Story of Mr. Sorry (2009)
Thirst (2009)
Tidal Wave (2009)
Turn It Up to 11 (2009)
Visitors (2009)
Yoga Hakwon (2009)

2010
Ashamed (2010)
Attack the Gas Station! 2 (2010)
Bedevilled (2010)
A Better Tomorrow (2010)
Blades of Blood (2010)
Bloody Innocent (2010)
Death Bell 2:
Bloody Camp (2010)
Enemy at the Dead End (2010)
Finding Mr. Destiny (2010)
Hahaha (2010)
The Housemaid (2010)
IRIS: The Movie (2010)
The Man From Nowhere (2010)
Midnight FM (2010)
Miss Staff Sergeant (2010)
My Dear Desperado (2010)
Oki's Movie (2010)
The Outlaw (2010)
Parallel Life (2010)
Poetry (2010)
The Recipe (2010)
Secret Love (2010)
The Secret Reunion (2010)
The Unjust (2010)
Venus in Furs (2010)
The Yellow Sea (2010)

2011
Arirang (2011)
Blind (2001)
The Cat (2011)
Couples (2011)
The Day He Arrives (2011)
The Front Line (2011)
Ghost (2011)
Glove (2011)
Hanji (2011)
Head (2011)
I Saw the Devil (2011)
Invasion of Alien Bikini (2011)
Little Black Dress (2011)
Mr. Idol (2011)
My Way (2011)
Night Fishing (2011)
Penny Pinchers (2011)
Planet of Snail (2011)
Punch (2011)
Quick (2011)
Scars (2011)
Shotgun Love (2011)
The Showdown (2011)
Silenced (2011)
Sorry, Thanks (2011)
Sunny (2011)
Unbowed (2011)
War of the Arrows (2011)
White: The Melody of
the Curse (2011)

2012
Azooma (2012)
The Berlin File (2012)
Camp 14 (2012)
A Company Man (2012)
Dino King (2012)
Don't Cry, Mommy (2012)
Doomsday Book (2012)
Fatal (2012)
Gabi: Russian Coffee (2012)
Helpless (2012)
House With a Nice View (2012)
Howling (2012)
In Another Country (2012)
Let Me Out (2012)
Masquerade (2012)
National Security (2012)
Natural Burials (2012)
Pieta (2012)
Role Play (2012)
The Taste of Money (2012)
The Thieves (2012)
The Tower (2012)
Two Weddings and a
Funeral (2012)
White Night (2012)


2013
Born to Sing (2013)
Commitment (2013)
Fading Away (2013)
Fists of Legend (2013)
Flu (2013)
Friend 2: The Legacy (2013)
Hide and Seek (2013)
Moebius (2013)
New World (2013)
Snowpiercer (2013)
Stoker (2013)

2014
The Divine Move (2014)
Pirates (2014)
Tazza: The Hidden Card (2014)


* indicates North Korean movie

Movies Indexed by Titles

#
100 Days With
Mr. Arrogant (2004)
200 Pounds of Beauty (2006)
2009 Lost Memories (2002)
301/302 (1995)
3-Iron (2004)
4 Toes (2002)

A
Acacia (2003)
Addicted (2002)
Address Unknown (2001)
A.F.R.I.K.A. (2002)
The Anarchists (2000)
Animal Town (2009)
Another Public Enemy (2005)
Anatarctic Journal (2005)
Antique Bakery (2008)
Arahan: Urban Martial Arts
Action (2004)
Arang (2006)
Arirang (2011)
Ashamed (2010)
Asian Queer Shorts (2009)
Attack on the Pin-up
Boys (2007)
Attack the Gas Station (1999)
Attack the Gas Station! 2 (2010)
Azooma (2012)

B
Baby and Me (2008)
Bad Guy (2001)
Ban Gyeumryeon (1982)
Barking Dogs Never Bite (2000)
Be My Guest (2009)
Be With Me (2009)
Beastie Boys (2008)
Bedevilled (2010)
The Berlin File (2012)
A Better Tomorrow (2010)
Bitter and Sweet (1995)
A Bittersweet Life (2005)
Black House (2007)
Blades of Blood (2010)
Blind (2001)
A Blood Pledge (2009)
Blood Rain (2005)
A Bloody Aria (2006)
Bloody Innocent (2010
Bloody Reunion (2006)
Bloody Tie (2006)
Blossom Again (2005)
Blue (2003)
Born to Kill (1996)
Born to Sing (2013)
The Bow (2005)
A Brand New Life (2009)
Breath (2007)
The Brotherhood of War (2004)
The Butcher (2007)

C
Cadaver (2009)
Cafe Seoul (2009)
Camp 14 (2012)
The Case of Itaewon
Homicide (2009)
The Cat (2011)
Cello (2005)
Champion (2002)
The Chaser (2008)
Chawz (2009)
Christmas in August (1998)
Chunhyang (2000)
Cinderella (2006)
The City of Violence (2006)
The Coast Guard (2002)
Commitment (2013)
A Company Man (2012)
Conduct Zero (2002)
Couples (2011)
Crossroads of Youth (1934)
Crying Fist (2005)
The Curse of
February 29th (2006)

D
Daddy Long Legs (2005)
Daisy (2006)
Dance, Dance (1999)
Dark Forest of Death (2006)
Dasepo Naughty Girls (2006)
The Day a Pig Fell Into
the Well (1996)
The Day He Arrives (2011)
Daytime Drinking (2008)
Deaf Sam-ryong (1964)
Death Bell (2008)
Death Bell 2:
Bloody Camp (2010)
Dino King (2012)
A Dirty Carnival (2006)
Ditto (2000)
The Divine Move (2014)
The Divine Weapon (2008)
Doggy Poo (2003)
The Doll Master (2004)
Don't Cry, Mommy (2012)
Doomsday Book (2012)
Dragon Wars: D-War (2007)
Dream of a Warrior (2001)

E
Enemy at the Dead End (2010)
Epitaph (2007)
The Evil Twin (2007)
The Executioner (2009)
Eye for an Eye (2008)

F
Face (2004)
Fading Away (2013)
Fatal (2012)
Fighter in the Wind (2004)
Finding Mr. Destiny (2010)
Fisherman's Fire (1939)
Fists of Legend (2013)
Five Senses of Eros (2009)
Flower Island (2001)
Flu (2013)
Forbidden Quest (2006)
Friend (2001)
Friend 2: The Legacy (2013)
The Front Line (2011)
A Frozen Flower (2008)

G
Gabi: Russian Coffee (2012)
Garden of Heaven (2003)
General's Son (1990)
Geochilmaru (2005)
Ghost (2011)
The Ghost (2004)
Girl Scout (2008)
Glove (2011)
Going by the Book (2007)
The Good, the Bad,
the Weird (2008)
A Great Chinese Restaurant (1999)
Green Chair (2005)
The Green Fish (1997)
Guns & Talks (2001)

H
H (2002)
Hahaha (2010)
The Hand of Destiny (1954)
Hanji (2011)
Hansel & Gretel (2007)
Happy End (1999)
Head (2011)
Hello, Schoolgirl (2008)
Helpless (2012)
Hera Purple: Devil
Goddess (2001)
Hi! Dharma! (2001)
Hide and Seek (2013)
Holy Daddy (2006)
Hong Kil Dong (1986)*
The Host (2006)
House With a Nice View (2012)
The Housemaid (1960)
The Housemaid (2010)
Howling (2012)
The Humanist (2001)

I
I Saw the Devil (2011)
Il Mare (2000)
I'm a Cyborg But
That's Okay (2006)
In Another Country (2012)
In Between Days (2006)
Innocent Steps (2005)
Insadong Scandal (2009)
Into the White Night (2009)
Invasion of Alien Bikini (2011)
IRIS: The Movie (2010)
The Isle (2000)

J
Jail Breakers (2002)
Jenny, Juno (2005)
Jeon Woochi: Taoist
Wizard (2009)
JSA Joint Security Area (2000)
Judgement (1999)
Jungle Juice (2002)
Just Do It! (2000)

K
Kilimanjaro (2000)
Killing Machine (2000)
The King and the Clown (2005)
The Korean Connection (1974)

L
Lady Vengeance (2005)
Lament (1997)
Land of Scarecrows (2008)
Le Grand Chef (2007)
The Legend of the
Shadowless Sword (2005)
Les Formidables (2006)
Let Me Out (2012)
Libera Me (2000)
Lies (1999)
Lifting King Kong (2009)
Like a Virgin (2006)
Like You Know It All (2009)
Little Black Dress (2011)
A Little Pond (2009)
Living Death (2009)
Loner (2008)
Lovers of 6 Years (2008)
Lovers' Concerto (2002)
Lump of Sugar (2006)

M
M (2007)
Make Yourself at Home (2008)
The Man From Nowhere (2010)
Mapado 2: Back to the
Island (2007)
Marine Boy (2009)
Marriage Is a Crazy Thing (2002)
Marrying the Mafia (2002)
Marrying the Mafia II (2005)
Marrying the Mafia III (2006)
Masquerade (2012)
May Story (2009)
Meet Mr. Daddy (2007)
Memento Mori (1999)
Memories of Murder (2003)
Midnight FM (2010)
Military Train (1938)
Miss Staff Sergeant (2010)
Missing Person (2009)
Missing (2009)
Moebius (2013)
Monopoly (2006)
Motel Cactus (1997)
Mother (2009)
Mr. Idol (2011)
Muoi: The Legend of
the Portrait (2007)
Murder, Take One (2005)
Musa: The Warriors (2001)
Mutt Boy (2003)
My Beautiful Days (2002)
My Beautiful Girl, Mari (2002)
My Bloody Roommates (2006)
My Boss, My Hero (2001)
My Dear Desperado (2010)
My Dear Enemy (2008)
My Father (2007)
My Friend and His Wife (2006)
My Girlfriend Is an Agent (2009)
My Heart Beats (2009)
My Little Bride (2004)
My Look in the Distant
Future (1997)*
My Mighty Princess (2008)
My Mother and
Her Guest (1961)
My Sassy Girl (2001)
My Tutor Friend (2003)
My Tutor Friend 2 (2007)
My Way (2011)

N
National Security (2012)
Natural Burials (2012)
Natural City (2003)
New World (2013)
Night and Day (2008)
Night Fishing (2011)
Nightmare (2000)
No. 3 (1997)
No Blood, No Tears (2002)
No Mercy for the Rude (2006)
No Regret (2006)
Nowhere to Hide (1999)

O
Oasis (2002)
Oki's Movie (2010)
The Old Garden (2006)
Old Partner (2008)
Oldboy (2003)
Once Upon a Time in
Seoul (2008)
Open City (2008)
The Outlaw (2010)
Over the Rainbow (2002)

P
Paradise Murdered (2007)
Paradise Villa (2001)
Parallel Life (2010)
Penny Pinchers (2011)
Peppermint Candy (1999)
The Perfect Couple (2007)
Phantom: The Submarine (1999)
Phone (2002)
Piano Man (1996)
Pieta (2012)
Pirates (2014)
The Pit and the Pendulum (2008)
Planet of Snail (2011)
Please Teach Me English (2003)
Poetry (2010)
Popee (2002)
Postman to Heaven (2009)
The Pot (2008)
The Power of Kangwon
Province (1998)
The President's Last Bang (2005)
Princess Aurora (2005)
Public Enemy (2002)
Pulgasari (1985)*
Punch (2011)
Punch Lady (2007)
Puzzle (2006)

Q
Quick (2011)
The Quiet Family (1998)

R
Rainbow Eyes (2007)
Real Fiction (2000)
The Recipe (2010)
The Red Shoes (2005)
Redeye (2005)
Repechage (1997)
The Restless (2006)
The Righteous Thief (2009)
Righteous Ties (2006)
The Ring Virus (1999)
Role Play (2012)
Romance Papa (1960)
Romantic Warriors (2003)
Rough Cut (2008)
R-Point (2004)
Run 2 U (2003)
Running 7 Dogs (2001)
Running Turtle (2009)

S
S Diary (2004)
Sad Movie (2005)
Samaritan Girl (2004)
Saulabi (2002)
Save the Green Planet (2003)
Saving My Hubby (2002)
Scars (2011)
The Schoolgirl's Diary (2007)*
Searching for the
Elephant (2009)
Secret Love (2010)
The Secret Reunion (2010)
Secret Sunshine (2007)
Seducing Mr. Perfect (2006)
See You After School (2006)
Seong Chun-hyang (1961)
Sex Is Zero (2002)
Sex Is Zero 2 (2007)
Shadows in the Palace (2007)
She's on Duty (2005)
Shiri (1999)
Shotgun Love (2011)
The Show Must Go On (2007)
The Showdown (2011)
Silenced (2011)
A Smile (2003)
Snowpiercer (2013)
Son of a General II (1991)
Soo (2007)
Sorry, Thanks (2011)
Sorum (2001)
The Soul Guardians (1998)
Spare (2008)
Spider Forest (2004)
The Spirit of Jeet Kune Do (2004)
Spring Bears Love (2003)
Spring in the Korean
Peninsula (1941)
Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter...
and Spring (2003)
Spygirl (2004)
Steal It If You Can (2002)
Stoker (2013)
The Story of Mr. Sorry (2009)
Straits of Chosun (1943)
Stray Bullet (1960)
Sunny (2011)
Sweet Dream (1936)
Sweet Sex and Love (2003)
Sympathy for Mr.
Vengeance (2002)

T
Take Care of My Cat (2001)
The Tale of Chun Hyang (1980)*
A Tale of Legendary
Libido (2008)
A Tale of Two Sisters (2003)
The Taste of Money (2012)
Tazza: The Hidden Card (2014)
Tazza: The High Rollers (2006)
Tell Me Something (1999)
Temptation of Eve:
A Good Wife (2007)
Terror Taxi (2000)
Texture of Skin (2007)
The Thieves (2012)
Thirst (2009)
This Is Law (2001)
A Thousand Year-Old Fox (1969)
Three Extremes 2 (2002)
Three... Extremes (2004)
Tidal Wave (2009)
Time (2006)
To Catch a Virgin Ghost (2004)
Too Young to Die (2002)
The Tower (2012)
Treeless Mountain (2008)
Tube (2003)
Turn It Up to 11 (2009)
Two Weddings and a
Funeral (2012)
Typhoon (2005)

U
Unborn but Forgotten (2002)
Unbowed (2011)
The Uninvited (2003)
The Unjust (2010)
Untold Scandal (2003)

V
Vanishing Twin (2000)
Venus in Furs (2010)
Visitors (2009)
Voice (2005)
Voices (2007)
Volcano High (2001)
Volunteer (1941)

W
War of the Arrows (2011)
The Way Home (2002)
When I Turned Nine (2004)
Whispering Corridors (1998)
White: The Melody of
the Curse (2011)
White Badge (1992)
White Night (2012)
White Valentine (1999)
Why Has Bodhi Dharma
Left for the East (1989)
Wide Awake (2007)
The Wig (2005)
Windstruck (2004)
Wishing Stairs (2003)
Witchboard (2004)
Wolf Daddy (2005)
Woman on the Beach (2006)
With the Girl of Black Soil (2007)
Woman Is the Future
of Man (2004)
The World of Silence (2006)

Y
The Yellow Sea (2010)
Yesterday (2002)
YMCA Baseball Team (2002)
Yoga Hakwon (2009)
Yongary, Monster From
the Deep (1967)
You Are My Sunshine (2005)

* indicates North Korean movie