FOR THE LOVE OF KOREAN CINEMA.... (Updated on 7th Aug 2020)

            

Hi friends,

Koreans are very emotional people (atleast their movies suggest so!!), so even their movies with serious themes have a strong emotional appeal. This can, at times, be an achilles' heel because there is thin line difference between cliche' and brilliance. I somehow developed a strong penchant for korean movies in final year and the mania continued for entire year; I ended up watching dozens of korean movies. Not all of them turned out to be so good but some are definitely worth watching. Jae-young-kwak has given some absolute gems like "The Classic" & "My Sassy Girl". Chan-woo-park is a director of international repute, famous for "JSA" & revenge trilogy esp. "Oldboy". Kim-ki-duk is a master of abstract cinema. Jee-woon-Kim and Joon-ho-Bong are famous directors of mainstream Korean cinema. Now, I'll get down to the business. Following is the list of my top korean movies (along with my ratings) seen so far :

1. The Classic (2003) 5/5
2. When I turned nine (2004) 5/5
3. Tae-guk-gi: The Brotherhood of war (2004) 5/5
4. Hope/Wish (2013) 4.5/5
5. My Sassy Girl (2001) 4.5/5
6. JSA (Joint Security Area) (2000) 4.5/5
7. Memories of Murder (2003) 4/5
8. Train to Busan (2016) 4/5
9. The Host (2006) 4/5
10. Parasite (2019) 4/5
11. Daisy (2006) 4/5
12. Art of Seduction (2005) 4/5 
13. The Chaser (2008) 4/5

14. The Good, the Bad, the Weird (2008) 4/5

15. Silmido (2003) 4/5
16. Oldboy (2003) 4/5
17. I Saw the Devil (2010) 4/5
18. Assassination (2015) 4/5
19. A Taxi Driver (2017) 4/5
20. Deranged (2012) 3.5/5
21. Musa: The Warrior (2001) 3.5/5
22. Mother (2009) 3.5/5
23. Miracle in Cell No.7 (2013) 3.5/5
24. The Handmaiden (2016) 3.5/5
25. Memoir of a Murderer (2017) 3.5/5
26. The Wailing (2016) 3.5/5
27. A Moment to Remember (2004) 3.5/5
28. Marriages (2007) 3.5/5
29. Welcome to Dongmakgol (2006) 3.5/5
30. Too Beautiful to Lie (2004) 3.5/5
31. Who Slept with Her (2006) 3.5/5
32. 3-Iron (2004) 3.5/5
33. A Tale of two Sisters (2003) 3.5/5
34. Friend (2001) 3.5/5
35. Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter....and Spring (2003) 3.5/5
36. The Thieves (2012) 3.5/5 
37. The Tower (2012) 3.5/5
38. Sympathy for Lady Vengeance (2005) 3.5/5
39. Burning (2018) 3/5
40. The Silenced (2015) 3/5 
41. Someone Special (2004) 3/5
42. Windstruck (2004) 3/5
43. Between Love & Hate (2006) 3/5
44. Il Mare (2000) 3/5
45. Sex is Zero (2002) 3/5
46. Time (2006) 3/5
47. Swiri (Shiri) (1999) 3/5
48. A Millionaire's First Love (2006) 3/5
49. Open City (2008) 3/5
50. Confession of Murder (2012) 3/5
51. The Man from Nowhere (2010) 3/5 
52. 100 Days with Mr. Arrogant (2004) 3/5
53. 200 Pounds Beauty (2006) 3/5
54. My Girl & I (2005) 3/5
55. My Little Bride (2004) 3/5  

Signing Off
Anurag Gupta