The Best Korean Films of the Decade: 10 –> 6

Here’s the recap:

25: The Host
24: Searching for the Elephant
23: A Tale of Two Sisters
22: Samaritan Girl
21: Our School
20: 200 Pounds Beauty
19: Taegukgi: The Brotherhood of War
18: Forever the Moment
17: Il Mare
16: Sunny
15: Silmido
14: Oldboy
13: My Love
12: Addicted
11: The Chaser

So now we break the Top 10!

10)  Daytime Drinking (2008)
Directed by Young-seok Noh

Daytime Drinking is one of those independent movies that kind of comes up out of nowhere and hits the world with something unique and fun. It received a lot of attention at various film festivals and with good reason. This comedy is a road trip adventure, but with enough freshness to really earn a deserved spot as one of the best Korean films of the decade.

Hyuk-jin separates with his girlfriend. While drinking one night, his friends decide that they should take a vacation to the small town of Jeongseon where one of the guys knows the owner of a guesthouse. Like every idea that pops up while drunk, it doesn’t sound quite as good in the morning. In fact, when Hyuk-jin arrives in Jeongseon after a bus trip, he finds nobody else came. Alone in an unfamiliar city, he decides to try and make the best of a bad situation and just relax at the guesthouse. The situations that Hyuk-jin finds himself in are hilarious in the Wes Anderson tradition: scenes are funny because we know the characters, not because the situation sounds funny on it’s own. This makes it difficult to describe Daytime Drinking’s humor because the audience needs to know Hyuk-jin first. We also need to remember earlier conversations and events to see why he reacts so uncomfortably later.

With a title like Daytime Drinking, I expected most the movie to revolve around ill-advised decisions made under the influence of alcohol. While partially true, Daytime Drinking tries for so much more than a standard movie. As you can see in the trailer, there are rules for drinking. In the context of Daytime Drinking, many of the rules serve to make life more difficult for Hyuk-jin. Like a permanent hangover, every person he meets somehow makes his headache worse. When you always need to drink a cup poured, Hyuk-jin finds himself drunk more often than he wants. So when his friend pours the first shot for his health, the second for his cold and the third to get drunk, you just know his night is about to get harder. This movie is like watching a bar story as it occurs instead of over-the-top Hangover moments. This is waking up on the side of the road, missing your pants, wallet and cell phone and hitchhiking to a hotel (and honestly, who can say you’ve never found yourself in the same situation?).

A lot of the humor and magic for Daytime Drinking requires some personal context for how alcohol can land you into weird situations. Although the humor is easy to understand, it is drastically amplified when if you’ve personally found yourself dazed the morning after. One of the reasons I love this movie so much is I can imagine drinking with Hyuk-jin, hearing him tell these stories. The movie connects well with me primarily because I’ve had enough of these drunk talks to know people just like Hyuk-jin. The movie is slower and builds humor on the awkwardness of the characters and situations. That also allows the protagonist to exercise some of his dramatic strength. His darting and worried eyes as a man suddenly joins him in the shower shows us the apprehension he feels. The audience understands Hyuk-jin’s emotions because of his nuances, which take time to develop.

Daytime Drinking is a refreshing comedy because it makes the comedy come from the characters. I don’t have too much more to say about this film because it doesn’t try to overextend itself. It’s funny and artistic, letting the comedy naturally flow from realistic dialogue and human experience. The movie is much closer to Wes Anderson than Judd Apatow, as mentioned before. Daytime Drinking is slower and uses dialogue to drive the film, which can be frustrating at times because the comedy is gold. Although a very good movie, it is placed at number 10 mostly because this is David fighting Goliath. The actors were unknown, as was the script and director. I have to root for smaller, independent productions every once in a while. A lot of Korean movies depict nights of heavy drinking, meaning that watching Daytime Drinking can also introduce you to some Korean customs: karaoke, standing up and dancing, drinking out of politeness, the typical bar food and so forth. Understanding normal Korean drinking customs also helps make sense of many other movies that use drinking scenes to advance the story.

On Amazon: Daytime Drinking

9) Welcome to Dongmakgol (2005)
Directed by Kwang-hyun Park

Welcome to Dongmakgol reminds me of A Farewell to Arms. For those unfamiliar with Farewell, the book is ambivalent in simplicity and complexity: simple because of language, complex through characterization and themes. Hemingway is famous for his “accessible” writing because it seems like he didn’t know a thesaurus existed. A look at almost any page and you will find “said” written at least 20 times because he didn’t use any other verb to describe talking. But he knew how to create characters and addressed complicated and multifaceted issues with brevity, wit and insight. Welcome to Dongmakgol reminds me of these themes because it seems to channel Hemingway in many regards.

Welcome to Dongmakgol is primarily a comedy, but genre blends as other movies I’ve mentioned before. In the early days of the Korean War, a U.S. Navy Pilot, two South Korean and three North Korean soldiers converge in the remote village of Dongmakgol. In fact the village is so remote, that they have never seen a gun, much less aware the country was divided and currently at war. The village, possessing no allegiance, wants to help the travelers but won't unless they stop their fighting. There's something special about Dongmakgol, something peaceful, something that allows the soldiers to put their past behind them and try to coexist in the village. As the soldiers spend some time in Dongmakgol, they find enough common ground that they no longer wish to fight, but fear that they brought the war to the village. The film is somewhat anti-war, but not in a preachy or explicit way. It's not like the characters wake up one day and see the futility in fighting, but instead overcome challenges and see greater benefit in cooperation than conflict.

One woman in the village, slightly unintelligent and “crazy,” is really stunningly beautiful to watch. Her innocence and common-sense approach, despite her mental deficiencies, is one of the only reasons the movie possesses an anti-war argument. Her childlike wonder exemplify the immeasurable cost of war; her simplicity is the foil for all the complex justifications that use to people kill each other. Additionally, her fascination with butterflies complicates an absolute and pure anti-war reading of the film. The movie suggests something more complex than pacifism, leaving the door open for creative destruction. A reoccurring focus on butterflies seems to suggest that war may be awful, but also life-giving. Dongmakgol resurrects the soldiers, giving them a new life, letting them see through the fog. In that way, we have to look at the soldiers bloody experiences of war positioning them to be reborn like butterflies.

Remember, this movie is a comedy! One of the funniest scenes occurs when the villagers are trying to communicate with the U.S. Navy pilot. A teacher in the village has obtained a little English conversation book and goes to the pilot with other villagers. "How are you?" the teacher asks in English. The pilot, with broken bones after crashing, confused and angry, launches into an exasperated complaint. "How do you think I am, huh? I mean, how do you think I am? Look at me, huh? I mean, look at me! I'm tied up with sticks here. You know, I feel like shit! Like shit!" The teacher looks around, confused. He looks back at his book and complains that the book's reply is "fine, and you?" The teacher remarks, "that's the right American answer." Another villager intrudes and says that the pilot is rude for refusing to communicate. The pilot's anger, wonders the villager, may be because he wants to fight. As people quickly leave, the teacher awkwardly flips the page. He looks at the pilot and stares quietly for a few seconds. The teacher musters "thank you" and starts walking away. The pilot pleads for the teacher to come back, but the teacher continues leaving while saying "ok, ok, ok, ok." This movie is another example of genre-blending that I've brought up before. Welcome to Dongmakgol is a comedy, but the scenes of war are on par with the violence from Saving Private Ryan. In an early scene, during fighting between the North and South Koreans, we see missing limbs as soldiers scream from all directions. The early tone has nothing to do with comedy at all, which means the first few jokes will be awkward and out of place. But nonetheless, it's an interesting choice to open and close the movie violently.

The film also employs several surreal cinematographic scenes for artistic effect. When the North and South Korean soldiers arrive at the village and discover the other side, they enter a standoff with guns pointed at each other. They stay in this standoff for hours. When a North Korean soldier accidentally drops a grenade, a South Korean soldier jumps on it before realizing it's a dud. As he stands up, holding the grenade, he condescendingly stares at the North Koreans as he tosses it over his shoulder. It rolls into the village food supply of corn and explodes. The explosion creates popcorn, which rains down on the village like snow, with everyone watching in wonder.

The stylized surreal scenes, especially the popcorn explosion and fight with the boar, earn this movie a strong artistic rating for a gutsy choice. After all, audiences usually enjoy action scenes when they are quick and exciting, not slow and humorous. Welcome to Dongmakgol is entertaining and fun to watch, meaning it reaches number 9 for sitting in the middle of the spectrum. The actor portraying the pilot is mostly acceptable, but would probably be painfully mediocre if this were an American movie. But since a Korean movie uses an American (I'm guessing because I can't find much information on the actor) for such an important part, it should be somewhat forgiven. My favorite character, the aloof and crazy women, is standout for her simple response to problems. Her character and performance are really highlighted in a movie full of memorable moments.

 

Here is the U.K. trailer. Take notice that the U.K. doesn’t portray the movie as a comedy:

After watching this scene, please experiment and let me know if this works:

On Amazon: Welcome to Dongmakgol

8) Voice of a Murderer (2010)
Directed by Jin-pyo Park

I've mentioned this movie before in context for helping Hollywood utilize new filmmaking techniques to keep films interesting. With the short review, hopefully I will convince you the goose bump-inducing ending will haunt you for a long time.

A news anchor in South Korea, Kyung-bae, finds himself in a parent's nightmare – his child has been kidnapped and he receives the ransom demand. As he and his wife argue, they decide to involve the police. Kyung-bae attempts to deliver the money, he finds that the kidnapper is one step ahead and outfoxes them at every juncture. Although Kung-bae pays the required sum, including bending to the demand for more money due to police involvement, he starts to believe the kidnapper has no interest in returning his son.

To a large degree, the audience gives up as well. We can see that the child is probably not going to return and the parents are in denial. However, the kidnapper keeps trying to return the son. In one of the final conversations, Kyung-bae apathetically rejects all the demands: he hangs up midsentence, refuses meeting locations and tells the kidnapper to call back later, when Kyung-bae isn't so busy. It's bittersweet to see him coming around and become aggressive after spending so much time passive and inept. When they agree on a time, the audience starts anticipating this will be when Kung-bae gets revenge, assaults the kidnapper and makes the kidnapper regret ever touching his kid. But when he becomes stuck in traffic on the way to the meeting, he starts looking desperate again. He bolts out of his car and starts running. In his face, we see that he hasn't moved on. We still see his hope that the kidnapper will be there with his child. And when the police find the body of the kid a few days later, we're also crushed. Not in that it's-always-sad-when-a-child-dies sort of way, but crushed because our hope was kept alive by Kyung-bae. His refusal to surrender started to encourage us that there could be a happy ending.

The movie takes an honest look at miracles and religion when faced with grief. At one point, Kyung-bae’s wife is sick in bed with church members praying around her, Kyung-bae is outside smoking. As the reverend leads a prayer that starts “Lord, we thank you for this test of adversity,” Kyung-bae angrily breaks a cross sitting over a piano and forces the Church members out while scorning them for thanking God. The wife maintains a faith that they will find her son because she prays to God, and the reverend assures her that prayers are answered.  When they find the body, she's left angry, exemplified by her slowly tearing pages out of the Bible. She looks absolutely destroyed. The wife takes on a new depth because she loses more than her son, she also loses her religion in that moment. Since she transferred so much of her loneliness and hope onto religion, the failure to deliver leaves her lonelier than Kyung-bae. Through the ordeal, Kyung-bae sees religion as a comfort and he loses less of his identity when the news is delivered. For her, the religious person she became dies as well, leaving her hollow and lost.

With all the emotion in this movie, the ending is perhaps what makes it the most fascinating and distinct among all other kidnapping movies. Kyung-bae returns to work as a news anchor, wearing his Superman tie – a painful and reoccurring image about his inability to protect his son. When he takes his seat, the first story that appears is the police finding the body of his child. His female co-anchor leads into the story before the camera switches to Kyung-bae. He gets out a few lines before he starts stumbling. He spent so much of the movie trying to maintain a composed strength, a counterweight to his emotional wife. But he breaks down. The camera shifts to his wife watching, pleading that he resists crying, then to the production room as they try to keep the cameras rolling. Kyung-bae starts describing what happened and pleading for help finding the killer. He starts introducing a voice recording he wants the audience to hear with the hope viewers would be able to do something. The screen goes black and tells us we're listening to the real recording, made in 1991, which served as the influence for the film. The killer keeps talking, making demands that we saw in the movie and the real mother responding. The screen shows us police sketches and physical descriptions, based on thousands of police working the case. What stings the most is when we're told the statute of limitations expired, meaning that even if someone turned in the real killer, he could no longer be charged with the kidnapping and killing. If you think you can handle this movie, you really need to experience it.

On Amazon: Voice of a Murderer

7) My Sassy Girl (2001)
Directed by Jae-yong Kwak

My Sassy Girl is one of the movies that helped launch Hallyu, also known as the Korean wave. The Korean Wave is generally understood to be the wave of culture leaving Korea and touching the world. Hallyu is one of the only reasons that Korean movies make it to American theaters. Hallyu is the reason that Korean Air advertises luxury flights in Newsweek. Hallyu is the reason Korean bands go on tour throughout the U.S. And My Sassy Girl helped cut the path for basically every other movie on the list to even reach Amazon.

Like several other movies, this one is based on a true story. The author basically wrote the whole story of My Sassy Girl through internet forum posts, and caught the attention of movie executives after he combined his posts into a novel. Let this be a note to all amateur authors: you have better luck getting your script published and made into a movie if you write it in Korean. It is also important to be aware of this fact because the female protagonist, played by the wonderful Ji-yeon Jun, is nameless the whole movie. She is simply credited as "The Girl." This is my pure speculation, but given the fact that the writer was posting on internet forums telling the story of his relationship with this woman, he may have wanted to protect her identity.

My Sassy Girl is mostly a comedy, but also genre blends by carrying childlike romance with serious adult drama. Kyun-woo is a typical college student: he is pushed very hard by his parents to study and be successful, but is lazy and aimless. On his way home one night, he stands a little too close to a drunk girl who vomits and passes out. As she faints, she calls to Kyun-woo “honey,” meaning that the other subway passengers pressure Kyun-woo to take care of his girlfriend. Unsure what to do, but nonetheless unwilling to leave her alone in the street, he carries her to a hotel. After a domino series of misunderstandings, he is arrested and spends the night in jail. A few days later, the girl contacts him to try and figure out who he is and what he did to her. As he explains what happened, she starts to show herself as the opposite of the stereotypical Korean girl. The plot follows their relationship budding into a deeper love, a unique romance unlike others.

The movie is divided into halves plus "overtime." Remembering the original format for this movie, we can understand how the message board medium has translated into a novel then movie script. Several events are written somewhat isolated, disconnected from the previous and following scenes, but nonetheless snippets on their time together. On to the romance. Kyun-woo and The Girl have one of the oddest relationships that I've ever seen in a movie. Revisiting my earlier comment that it was childlike and adult at the same time, this is an expansion on what I mean. Kyun-woo and The Girl never start "dating" per se, as what we would expect in movies. They never kiss, for example. In one scene, Kyun-woo says that if he wins a bet, he should get a kiss. The Girl stares at him and responds, "hey! Want to die?" In this way, their romance is childish. It looks like two elementary school kids that start "dating," but have no idea what dating means or what couples do. They eat together, they spend time together, but it seems like they are just really good friends. Their characters are passionate, so it isn't like there isn't some attraction between them. At one point, they decide to create a “time capsule” of sorts and bury secret letters for the other to read two years later. If this sounds like your middle school romance, don't feel alone.

On the opposite side of the spectrum, there are times when they seem like an old married couple. They appreciate each other. If we had only seen these few isolated scenes, we would imagine they've been together for years. They trust each other and most viewers would quickly agree they appear in love. So when The Girl is set up on a blind date by her parents (a slowing tradition, although I once had a Korean coworker who flew from the U.S. back to Korea for one week to meet a potential husband on a blind date that her parents set up), both Kyun-woo and The Girl look depressed. Romantically, halfway through the dinner, The Girl rushes off to try and find Kyun-woo. She ends up pleading over a subway intercom for him to come to the office and meet her. But they don't kiss. My Sassy Girl has many romantic scenes, but the viewer doesn’t realize how romantically beautiful they are until later. Usually, audiences need a passionate kiss to let us know the moment was perfect – but we never seen Kyun-woo and The Girl share that moment. Looking back, though, we can see a dozen instances.

My Sassy Girl is also one of the only movies on the list that acts like it never expected to be viewed internationally. This is probably because, at the time it was released, Korean cinema was still obscure – few movies made it off the shores. What I mean by calling it a domestic movie is a lot of the humor needs some cultural understanding for why it's funny. For example, Korean language has different honorable addresses when speaking with people. There are tiers of formality, but in general, if you don't know a person too well and you're younger, you address that person with more honor than someone younger. The Girl refuses to address Kyun-woo, her elder, in honorable language when they first meet. Kyun-woo tries to explain that since he's older, she needs to show more respect, but she ignores the convention. Coupled with the difference of language, polite dining etiquette also dictates that the younger is supposed to pour alcohol for the older, never pouring the alcohol for yourself. The Girl defies these conventions, demanding that Kyun-woo pour for her and not offering to return the favor. A little later she pours for herself, which is slightly insulting. It's like if two people go on a date and the woman opens all the doors for her date, orders for him and pays for dinner. An outsider may not see how this reveals the personality and beliefs of the character whereas a domestic audience will chuckle and understand the rejection of tradition, the uniqueness of character.

The movie was remade in America in 2007. I refuse to see it partially because I came to adore the Korean version so much that I didn't want to see it ruined, and partially because the synopsis I read made the movie lose just about all similarity to the original. Also the straight to DVD release meant the studio didn't believe in it either. From the description and trailers of the American remake, The Girl was the only character that bared similarity to the original. Although her character was wonderfully written, the audience really needs Kyun-woo to balance her out. We need Kyun-woo to let us know how abnormal she is. From the Wikipedia description of the remake, The Girl inexplicably seems to be searching for fun, no matter what damage it does to the American Kyun-woo. This is a drastic misinterpretation of her character – in the Korean version, she simply rejects social etiquette. She is untamable, but not crazy. When Kyun-woo describes classic Korean stories, she offers suggestions for how to make them better. In other words, she tries to rewrite Shakespeare. This shows she isn't oblivious, but chooses to defy traditions because she doesn't want to be constrained. She doesn't want her identity molded to be like everyone else. In fact, the times she looks unhappiest is when she submits to normalcy; the times when we see her acting exactly as social norms dictate.

The relationship between Kyun-woo and The Girl is why this movie is one of the best Korean movies of all time. We love them and want to spend more time with them. They are amazingly written to be complicated, open to interpretation but clear enough that they are not enigmatic. The film shows us enough about both of them to see through their faults, which are numerous, but their relationship blends so well that we ignore the problems. We understand that Kyun-woo wants something more serious, more physical…in other words, a typical girlfriend. His attempts to push The Girl in that direction show that she sometimes relents, unknowingly, because she isn't written as a script – she's written as a real person – a real person that inspired and frightened the writer to the point of artistic awakening. Her vulnerability and fierce attempts to hide her weaknesses make her amazing, fascinating, loveable and Machiavellian all in one.

The simple fact that My Sassy Girl can do so much with so little is the reason that Hallyu spreads so furiously. To not see My Sassy Girl as integral, seminal, to Korean cinema is to not understand Korean cinema at all. The movie is a great film, a creator and sustainer of exporting Korean culture abroad.

 

Although not the official trailer, it has English and looks pretty good.

And for comparison (remembering it is a straight to DVD release):

On Amazon: My Sassy Girl (2001)

6) The King and the Clown (2005)
Directed by Jun-ik Lee

This movie is one of my all time favorite Korean movies, but is ranked at number 6 because I doubt the synopsis will attract American audiences, meaning that few people will give it a chance before or after this review. Two street performers are trying to scrape a living in the early 1500's Korea. Unfortunately, the performer Gong-gil is often coerced into sex with the elite and powerful. Gong-gil’s partner Jang-saeng is angry that Gong-gil is prostituted out, so Jang-saeng quickly plans a way to escape. Their clunky getaway is luckily successful and they travel to Seoul. When they arrive, they start recruiting a bigger group to perform a brand new act unlike anything the city has ever seen. They end up enlisting three other street performers and decide to perform a skit mocking the royal family. The people love it and the troupe enjoys success beyond their dreams, but then they draw the wrath of the government when a bureaucrat passes by and orders them to jail. Jang-saeng, showing his savvy business, charisma and faith, bets that the king himself will enjoy the performance. If not, the entire troupe will submit to execution.

After a disastrous and nervous performance, the king surprisingly laughs at the vulgar ending and welcomes to group to become court jesters. A royal advisor recognizes that the troupe has the king’s ear and can make suggestions otherwise impossible. With a simple comment, the troupe decides to mock the court ministers that have become corrupt and burdensome to the kingdom. Unfortunately, the plan works too well as the king finds that many of his advisors have been deceiving him for years. This causes the king to become paranoid and tyrannical, as he starts purging the entire government, the guilty and innocent alike. Additionally, the king starts showing romantic interest in Gong-gil, demanding personal finger puppet performances and engages in a suggested sexual relationship (don’t misunderstand me, the finger puppet performances are literal and not sexual, so get your mind out of the gutter!). Jang-saeng and Gong-gil draw the anger and fear from the rest of the government frightened that they created a monster who will end up killing everyone. The ministers conspire to implicate Jang-saeng and Gong-gil as trying to overthrow the king, causing the king to order their execution. I didn't spoil the ending, but actually just left enough left to pique your interest.

The King and the Clown is important for several other reasons beyond the amazing story. When you watch this movie, you will spend the whole time confused about Gong-gil's gender because the movie never explicitly tells us. The actor is male, but a very effeminate male. Since so many men are attracted to Gong-gil, the audience is hesitant to see Gong-gil as a man because of how people react – in other words, there is no hesitation when men lust for Gong-gil. The relationship between Jang-saeng and Gong-gil is also impressive because of the complexity. Jang-saeng spends the whole film genuinely loving Gong-gil, but we're never sure how this love is manifested: does Jang-saeng love Gong-gil like a family member? Romantically? A friend? We're never fully sure and that allows the audience to really think about love. Whenever Gong-gil is "entertaining" someone privately (even if non-sexual), Jang-saeng looks uneasy and angry. Is he jealous or protective? His sacrifice near the end adds amazing depth – he loves Gong-gil deeper than lust.

Another surprise with this film was how Korean audiences responded. With so many undercurrents of homosexuality and/or transgenderism, King and the Clown looked to be on par with Brokeback Mountain: controversial, adored by critics but unable to turn good ratings and press into a blockbuster. In just about every social issue, Korea is more conservative that the U.S. As late as 2003, the Korean government blocked access to some websites deemed pro-homosexual – and as late as the 80's and 90's, the Korean government denied that homosexuality even existed among South Koreans (the Iranian president made the same claim a few years ago). So what should have been an obscure film surprised everyone by becoming the top grossing Korean movie, dethroning Taegukgi, but relegated to number two a year later with The Host. The King and the Clown may be one of the only films on my list that even acknowledges homosexuality.

Homosexuality is important to this movie because it demands fair treatment to understand the relationship between Jang-saeng and Gong-gil, a relationship that keeps us interested in their plight. The king's slow descent into madness and tyranny is also great to watch because the actor pulls off the tragedy of loneliness so elegantly. I had this film in my collection for a long time before watching because the description, movie trailer and cover were too boring to convince me the move had much merit. I eventually forced myself to see it because I was out of DVD's and refused to buy more while I had some unwatched. That's why this blew me away as an amazing film. Your attraction to Gong-gil, unsure of his/her gender, will make you question your own sexuality...many times over... Like I said at the beginning of the article, this movie is a hard sell. For that reason, it ranks at number 6 because the setting and content may be unfamiliar to audiences (especially those who have never seen LGBT issues in movies before). The three main actors pull off their roles with such perfection that the triangle of their personalities conflicting keeps the viewer glued to the screen, interested to see what happens next. Movies like this are rare and beautiful.

Gong-gil stares into your soul, challenging your sexuality:

On Amazon: The King and the Clown

Starting with King and the Clown, all the following movies have a justifiable shot at number one. From this point, the choice isn’t clear and it took me a lot of time to really figure out why I could rank one above the other. Ultimately, King and the Clown went to the bottom of the contenders because I felt it hardest to convince you to watch this movie.

With Thanksgiving coming up, the list reaches an exciting conclusion next week!