Korean Cinema
Dubbed the 'new Hong Kong', Korean cinema has taken the international film world by storm with its brutal and confrontational style and original political perspectives. Encompassing both the North and South Korean industries it is the films from the south that have become worldwide hits. From border security thriller, 'JSA' to the haunting 'Oasis' to the mesmerising madness of 'Old Boy', Korean cinema is bold, diverse and here to stay.
Pictured: Horror-chiller already slated for an American remake, 'A Tale of Two Sisters'.
The Duelist (2006)
6.4/10
Director: Myung-Se Lee
Starring: Ji-won Ha, Sung-kee Ahn
In old Korea a corrupt Minister seizes power and begins printing counterfeit money that throws the economy into disarray. Detective Namsoon and her p... Read more
The King and the Clown (2005)
7.5/10
Director: Jun-ik Lee
Starring: Woo-seong Kam, Jin-young Jeong, Seong-Yeon Kang, Jun-gi Lee, Hang-Seon Jang, Hae...
South Korea's highest-grossing film of all time (until it was surpassed by 2006's 'The Host') is this period drama-comedy about a group of wandering m... Read more
The Front Line (2011)
7.4/10
Director: Jang Hun
Starring: Ha-kyun Shin, Go Soo, Seung-su Ryu
The battle for a strategic stronghold heats up as the Korean War winds to a bloody close in this war drama from director Jang Hun. Korea is in crisis... Read more
A Werewolf Boy (2012)
7.4/10
Director: Sung-Hee Jo
Starring: Joong-ki Song, Bo-yeong Park
Summoned by an unexpected phone call, an elderly woman visits a cottage she used to live in as a child. She begins to recall her memories of a boy she... Read more
Brotherhood of War (2004)
8.1/10
Director: Je-Gyu Kang
Starring: Dong-kun Jang, Bin Won, Eun-joo Lee
Korea's leading filmmaker, Kang Je-gyu, wrote and directed this epic-scale drama focussed on two brothers forced into the war that tore their nation a... Read more
The Tower (2012)
6.5/10
Director: Ji-hoon KIm
Starring: Kyung-gu Sol, Sang-kyung Kim, Ye-jin Son
A freak helicopter accident over a Seoul high-rise apartment complex turns the skyscrapers into a towering inferno. Now the buildings' manager and loc... Read more
New World (2013)
7.6/10
Director: Hoon-jung Park
Starring: Min-sik Choi, Jung-Jae Lee, Jeong-min Hwang
The head of the Goldmoon crime syndicate is dead, leaving his top two lieutenants. Seizing the opportunity, the police launch an operation called New... Read more
Decision To Leave (2022)
7.3/10
Director: Chan-wook Park
Starring: Park Hae-il
A detective investigating a man's death in the mountains meets the dead man's mysterious wife in the course of his dogged sleuthing. Read more
Escape From Mogadishu (2021)
7/10
Starring: Zo In-Sung
In 1991 war-torn Somalia the personnel and the families of both the South Korean and the North Korean embassies have the same goal: to escape from Mog... Read more
Princess Aurora (2005)
6.6/10
Director: Eun-jin Bang
Starring: Jeong-hwa Eom, Seong-kun Moon, Oh-jung Kwon
A bizarre crime spree appears to leave a trail of random dead, with the only thing to connect them a sticker left on the body of the cartoon character... Read more