A cinematic journey to South Korea

A few days ago, the South Korean film Parasite, directed by Bong Joon-ho, not only won the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film but also took home Oscars for Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Original Screenplay. This was a historic moment: Parasite is the first South Korean film to be nominated in these categories and the first non-English-language film to win the Academy Award for Best Picture. It had also previously won the Palme d’Or at the 2019 Cannes Film Festival. These remarkable achievements have unsurprisingly reignited my interest in South Korean cinema. For this reason, today I am embarking on a cinematic journey to South Korea.

Here are 9 South Korean films to watch:

Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter… and Spring (2003)

I believe this is the first South Korean film I have ever watched. Directed by Kim Ki-duk, this beautiful film is divided into four main segments, followed by a much shorter one at the end. Each of the four segments lasts about 20 minutes and is set during a different season, though separated by many years. Set on a small floating monastery in the middle of an idyllic lake, the story follows the life of the protagonist, a Buddhist monk, from his childhood to old age.

Oldboy (2003)

Directed by Park Chan-wook, Oldboy is one of the most famous South Korean films and could not be omitted from this list. It won the Grand Prix at the 2004 Cannes Film Festival. The film is based on a Japanese comic and also evokes the ancient Greek myth of Oedipus. It tells the story of a man who is kidnapped and imprisoned for 15 years; upon his release, he must uncover the reason behind his abduction and captivity. Oldboy is the second installment of the “Vengeance Trilogy,” preceded by Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance and followed by Lady Vengeance, both also directed by Park Chan-wook.

An American remake, directed by Spike Lee and starring Josh Brolin, was released in 2013.

Time (2006)

Another film by Kim Ki-duk, Time explores the lengths to which a woman will go to preserve her romantic relationship, undergoing extensive plastic surgery in an effort not to lose her lover. The film is a deeply thought-provoking meditation on love, identity, and the ways in which people change themselves to hold onto relationships, raising questions about the nature of desire and the fragility of human connections.

Cold Eyes (2013)

Cold Eyes is my favorite film on this list and one of my favorite films of all time, regardless of its country of origin. I first saw it at the Leeds International Film Festival in 2013, and it is the reason I have since prioritized South Korean films at the festivals I attend. Directed by Ui-seok Jo and Byung-seo Kim, the movie is a remake of an earlier Hong Kong film, Eye in the Sky. Unlike the other films on my list, Cold Eyes is a thriller, following a surveillance team as they attempt to track down a gang of bank robbers.

The Handmaiden (2016)

Another festival favorite, The Handmaiden was inspired by the novel Fingersmith by British writer Sarah Waters. Unlike the novel, however, the film is set in Korea during the 1930s, when the country was under Japanese occupation. Directed by Park Chan-wook, The Handmaiden features several sexually explicit scenes between the two main female characters—a Japanese heiress and her maid—evoking a similar intensity to French films such as Blue Is the Warmest Colour (La Vie d’Adèle) and Portrait of a Lady on Fire (Portrait de la jeune fille en feu).

Burning (2018)

Speaking of fire, let’s now turn to Burning. Directed by Lee Chang-dong, the film is based on Barn Burning, a short story by the Japanese author Haruki Murakami from his collection The Elephant Vanishes. Burning is a dark, atmospheric tale that revolves around two men and a woman caught in a tense and mysterious love triangle. The film delves into themes of obsession, desire, and the subtle, simmering frustrations of everyday life, all while maintaining an unsettling ambiguity that keeps the audience questioning the characters’ true motives until the very end.

Films by Bong Joon-ho

Award-winning South Korean director Bong Joon-ho has so far directed seven feature films, including ‘Parasite’, as well as the English-language ‘Snowpiercer’ and ‘Okja’.

“I’m just a journeyman film director who wants to keep making the films he wants to see. That’s what I do.”

Bong Joon-ho

Snowpiercer (2013)

Released in 2013 and directed by Bong Joon-ho, Snowpiercer is his first English-language feature film, and also the most recent South Korean film I’ve watched. I only saw it this week, as it had not been released in UK cinemas until very recently. The film is based on the French post-apocalyptic graphic novel Le Transperceneige and features a cast of both South Korean and Hollywood actors, including Tilda Swinton and Ed Harris. Snowpiercer is an allegorical tale set in a frozen world where the only survivors are passengers on a train that never stops moving. Life on board, however, is far from ideal.

An American TV series of the same name, starring Jennifer Connelly, is due to be released later this year.

Okja (2017)

Also written and directed by Bong Joon-ho, Okja is another South Korean film I’ve only recently discovered. Although it was released on Netflix in 2017, it somehow escaped my attention until now. Like Snowpiercer, it features a cast of both South Korean and Hollywood actors, including (once again) Tilda Swinton and Jake Gyllenhaal. The similarities do not end there: at the core of both films are pressing environmental issues. Yet, each story is ultimately about human relationships and interactions. Okja follows a young South Korean girl who goes to extraordinary lengths to save Okja, her beloved “super pig”—a massive, genetically modified animal.

Parasite (2019)

Returning to Parasite and to the present, this is the first film by Bong Joon-ho that I have watched, just a couple of days after the 92nd Academy Awards. The Oscar-winning film tells the story of a poor South Korean family who cunningly infiltrates a wealthy household by securing employment for each of its members in various positions. Beyond its darkly comic plot, Parasite is a sharp social commentary on class disparity, privilege, and the invisible barriers that divide society, making it as thought-provoking as it is entertaining.

If you’ve enjoyed this cinematic journey to South Korea, then check out the London Korean Film Festival, due to take place in November 2020. The exact dates are yet to be announced. Meanwhile, check out their website for year-round film events.

Further reading

If you’ve enjoyed this cinematic journey to South Korea, check out my cinematic journeys to France, to the Nordic Countries, or around (the rest of) Europe.

Alex

(the Traveling Psychiatrist)