The characters are layered and Park Chan manages to give them emotional depth. His ideas sometimes hover in a cynical zone that may leave you agitated. Related to Best Korean Movies: Thirst (2009): Fairy Tale of Love and Bloodlustĭriven by the invigorated passion, Park Chan-Wook’s “ Thirst” is filled with an abundance of inventive ideas and meticulous characterization, at times he gets nasty & creepy- which is usual for him. His jazzed up & evolved vampire tale feels relatable, even if the possibility of their existence shares a similar fate to fairy tales. Park Chan-Wook brings a new twist to a generic staple of our usual high cheekbones vampires that appear in Pop Culture vampires who siphon off blood, and have elongated teeth to hook on the carotid artery. And even despite the big reveal towards the end of the film, it leaves you with a lump in your throat with its hypnotic tendency that doesn’t let go. It also shows how love can often result in pain, revenge, and the likes of it. It shows how love can be the start of every single thing that goes right and wrong in life.
Kim’s “Pieta” is a staggering study of the human condition. Gradually he accepts the woman in his life, wherein he starts to think that there’s hope for him. A mysterious woman comes to his doorstep and refuses to leave his side. But life doesn’t want him to be that way. He is alone and depressed, which is evident from one of the essential scenes in films. Lack of any remorse or compassion towards his victim make him cold. Neither he gives them extension nor he kill them, he just cripples them. While “Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter…Spring” was his meditation on life along with all its significant entities, through “Pieta” ( 피에타) he tells a story of a vicious loan-shark, who is cold-hearted, merciless and ruthless towards his debtors. It has melodrama in abundance, but it is the only way to deal with such a skin-crawling, disturbing event.Ĭan you escape the horrors of your past? Whether you are amoral person or a victim of circumstances, is there still hope for you? Ki-Duk Kim (Known for Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter… and Spring) often passes small but significant commentary on human nature through his films. So-won’s journey in finding herself and getting back to stability would fill you with hope, even if the film never digs deeper into the psychological conundrum she went through. So-won survives the inhuman brutality, but it leaves a psychological and emotional scar on her and the family. Their harmonious lives fall apart when their 8-year-old daughter So-won is beaten, raped, and left for dying. Hope | Lee Joon-Ik | 2013īased on the infamously tragic Nayoung Case that shook the country in 2008, “Hope” is a devastating film about an idyllic family. The Good The Bad The Weird and A Tale of Two Sisters – Director: Kim Jee-Woonīedevilled – Director: Jang Cheol-soo 35. The Net, 3 Irons, The Isle – Director: Kim Ki-Duk Right Now, Wrong Then and Hotel by The River – Director: Hong Sang-soo Here is the exhaustive list of the best South Korean movies of the 21st century that redefined the medium. South-Korean cinema has found a balance between competitive contemporary mainstream and art films that shape world cinema. While modern auteurs like Lee Chang-dong, Kim Ki-Duk, Hong Sang-soo, and Im Kwon-Taek have garnered praise for their masterful direction in the film festivals, they have carved an inviolable niche for themselves. Modern renaissance filmmakers like Park Chan-wook, Kim Jee-Woon, and Bong Joon-ho have put South Korean cinema on the world stage. Thus, although Bong Joon-ho and Kim Jee-Woon are contemporaries of Park and began making films around the same time, it is fair to say that Park is the name that establishes the Korean cult director, and thus can be seen as influencing an entire generation. The biggest name in Korean cinema continues to be Park Chan-wook, with his international success opening up Korean cinema for similar directors, who make genre films aimed at popular domestic and international festival crowds. The 30 Best South Korean Movies of the 21st Century: South Korean cinema is best known for their on-screen, no-holds-barred, grotesque violence that would find space in the list of the most unsettling movies.