Top 10 Best Korean Movies Of All Time, You Shoud Enjoy

Top 10 Best Korean Movies Of All Time. Photo KnowInsiders

With a well-thought-out script, talented cast, beautiful images and investment, Korean films not only go viral in the Asian market, but also hit global ranking. Let's discover the best Korean movies with KnowInsiders.

Top 10 Best Korean Movies Of All Time

1. Old Boy (2003)

Original title: Oldeuboi

Directed by: Chan-wook Park

Stars: Min-sik Choi, Ji-tae Yu, Hye-jeong Kang

Awards: Cannes Grand Jury Prize (winner), Cannes Palme d'Or (nominated), Asia-Pacific Film Festival's Best Director (winner), Hong Kong Film Awards' Best Asian Film ( winner), Korean Association of Film Critics Awards Best Film (winner), Busan Film Festival Best Film (winner).

The film tell a story about Oh Dae-su. After a night of drunkenness, he woke up to find himself locked up in a rundown motel. Oh Dae-su didn't remember who he had animosity with and thinks that the kidnapping was blackmail, which took place only for a short time, unexpectedly he was imprisoned for 15 years. During that time, Oh Dae-su was completely changed, broke down after learning that his wife was assassinated. After a long period of imprisonment, Oh Dae-su found a way to "break out of prison", determined to find the mastermind of his imprisonment, as well as the culprit who killed his wife. Throughout the journey, Mi-do, a young girl serving a restaurant, always stands shoulder to shoulder with Oh Dae-su. Until Oh Dae-su found the mastermind, it was an unthinkable fact.

2. Parasite (2019)

Original title: Gisaengchung

Directed by: Joon-ho Bong

Stars: Kang-ho Song, Sun-kyun Lee, Yeo-Jeong Cho

Awards: Cannes Palme d'Or (winner)

Parasite is the newly released film of Bong Joon-ho - one of the most talented directors of Korean cinema. Attending the prestigious Cannes Film Festival before its premiere, Parasite surprised audience when it won the most prestigious category: the Palme d'or. This is the first time a Korean film has won the Palme d'Or, something that the Oldboy monument has also never done. The head of the jury - director Alejandro G. Inarritu (Birdman, The Revenant, Babel, Bitiful) was full of praise for the film.

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How many visual effects does ‘Parasite’ have? The film has 480 visual effects, but the majority of them are 'invisible.' Especially in comparison to Bong Joon-previous ho's two films, Snowpiercer and Okja, as well as 2007's The Host, Parasite does not appear to be a VFX-heavy film. However, appearances can be deceiving. Indeed, while the film is significantly smaller in scale than his previous two films, it contains nearly 480 visual effects shots, the majority of which, surprisingly, come from the luxurious house. According to Vulture, the first floor and its private front yard were built on an empty outdoor lot, and the second floor was inserted behind a green screen. Meanwhile, the various other floors were added separately.

3. Train to Busan (2016)

Original title: Busanhaeng

Directed by: Sang-ho Yeon

Stars: Yoo Gong, Yu-mi Jung, Dong-seok Ma

Awards: Asian Film Awards Best Actor (nominated), Asian Film Awards Special Effects (nominated), International Film Festiva Asian Blockbuster Award (win), Chunsa Film Favorite Film Art Awards (winner), Best Film Technique Korean Association of Film Critics Awards (winner)

This hyperkinetic zombie film, Korea's answer to 28 Days Later, takes place on a morning commuter train. Is this a lose-lose situation for the characters? If they are bitten, they become zombified; if they escape, they must return to work. Despite the fact that Squid Game's Gong Yoo is initially glued to his phone as a workaholic fund manager too busy to engage with his young daughter, Train to Busan is not a satire on wage slavery in the spirit of Shaun of the Dead (Kim Su-an). Instead, it's a thrill ride in which the trapped characters must devise inventive ways to stay alive as the undead claw at their carriage doors.

READ MORE: Top 10 Cutest Korean Drama Actresses of All Time

Do you know…? Despite being widely regarded as a zombie horror film, Train to Busan's producers marketed it as "action, suspense, and thriller." Despite its reputation as a zombie film, Train to Busan only uses the word "zombie" twice.

4. The handmaiden (2016)

Original title: Ah-ga-ssi

Directed by: Chan-wook Park

Stars: Min-hee Kim, Jung-woo Ha, Jin-Woong Cho

Awards: BAFTA Best Foreign Language Film (winner), Vulcain Cannes Award (winner), Cannes Palme d'Or (nominated), Chicago Film Critics Association Awards Best Foreign Language Film (winner), Asian Film Awards Production Design (winner), Best Foreign Language Film Toronto Film Critics Association Awards (nominated)

'The Handmaiden' is based on the novel 'Fingersmith,' published in 2002. A Japanese heiress hires a handmaiden who is being deceived as part of a larger conspiracy. This is a story of romantic deception set in Japanese-occupied Korea that has received widespread critical acclaim. This South Korean thriller romance was able to win a slew of internationally prestigious awards. This includes winning the Busan Film Critics Awards and being nominated for the Cannes Film Festival.

The script is based on Sarah Waters' novel "Fingersmith," and it takes place in 1930s Korea under Japanese rule. "Count" Fujiwara has infiltrated the very private circle of Kouzuki, an eccentric hedonist who has become the man in charge of a very large estate and plans to marry his niece, Lady Hideko, the actual heiress of the family's vast fortune. Fujiwara devises a complex scheme to "steal" Lady Hideko for himself, enlisting the assistance of a ragtag girl, Sook-hee, a petty criminal who lives with her aunt's family, all of whom are of the same "profession." The plan is for the girl to become Lady Hideko's handmaiden and assist Fujiwara in his seduction. However, things do not go as planned because an attraction develops between the two girls, and the numerous plot twists result in an unexpected story. Park stuck to the book's structure, which is divided into three sections, the first and third telling the story from Sook-perspective, hee's and the second from Lady Hideko's. However, because the disclosures are continuous and shed new light on what is actually happening, each segment presents new perspectives on the facts. In this manner, Park was able to extract the most from his script while maintaining the audience's agony and interest until the very end, while retaining the element of shock.

5. Poetry (2010)

Original title: Shi

Directed by: Chang-dong Lee

Stars: Jeong-hie Yun, Da-wit Lee, Hee-ra Kim

Awards: Cannes Best Screenplay (winner), Ecumenical Jury Cannes Award (winner), Cannes Palme d'Or (nominated), Asian Film Awards Best Director (winner), Best Screenplay Asian Film Awards (winner), Best Film Asian Film Awards (nominated), Best Film Korean Association of Film Critics Awards (winner)

Poetry is a typical film by another famous Korean director, Lee Chang-dong. The film tells a story about a middle-aged woman in her 60s who was in the early stages of Alzheimer's disease. She was also facing pain, pressure and guilt when her grandson is implicated in the death of a young girl she studied with. During her depression, she found inspiration in poetry class, where she learned tolerance and regained her faith in life, as well as reconciled with the deceased girl's family.

6. Burning (2018)

Original title: Beoning

Directed by: Chang-dong Lee

Stars: Ah-in Yoo, Steven Yeun, Jong-seo Jun

Awards: Cannes Film Press Association Award (winner), Cannes Vulcain Award (winner), Cannes Palme d'Or (nominated), Toronto Film Critics Association Awards Best Foreign Language Film (winner), Best Director Asian Film Awards (winner), Best Film Asian Film Awards (nominated).

Based on a short story by famous Japanese writer Haruki Murakami, Burning seems just a simple Korean romantic drama, telling a story about a love triangle between a poor boy Jong Soo, his girlfriend from childhood Hae Mi and Ben - a rich guy, Hae Mi’s new boyfriend. However, Burning is not a Korean romantic idol movie. The film has a dark, wild and sometimes burning hot color, just like the feeling when reading Haruki Murakami's books such as Norwegian Wood, East of the Border, West of the Sun. Burning seems to speak for the hearts of young Koreans.

7. Secret Sunshine (2007)

Original title: Milyang

Directed by: Chang-dong Lee

Stars: Do-yeon Jeon, Kang-ho Song, Yeong-jin Jo

Awards: Cannes Best Actress (winner), Cannes Palme d'Or (nominated), Best Asian Film Awards (winner), Asian Film Awards Best Director (winner).

This is one of the typical films representing Lee Chang-dong's gentle and profound filmmaking style, before Poetry and later Burning. The film revolves around the life of Shin Ae - a woman with a tragic fate. After her husband died, Shin Ae and her son went to her husband's hometown Milyang to live a new life.

However, tragedy continued to befall Shin Ae when her son was kidnapped and murdered. Since then, Shin Ae's life seemed to be nothing, but there was a person who silently cared for her, helped her overcome suffering and find the meaning of life, like a secret sunshine.

8. Mother (2009)

Original title: Madeo

Directed by: Joon-ho Bong

Stars: Hye-ja Kim, Won Bin, Goo Jin

Awards: Un Certain Regard Cannes Award (winner), Best Foreign Language Film Toronto Film Critics Association Awards (nominated), Best Foreign Language Film Chicago Film Critics Association Awards (nominated), Best Film Asian Film Awards (win), Best Screenplay Asian Film Awards (winner), Best Film Korean Association of Film Critics Awards (winner), Best Screenplay Korean Association of Film Critics Awards (winner).

Mother is a 2009 South Korean film that follows a mother as she goes all out to find a killer who has managed to frame her son for a heinous murder.

Bong Joon-fourth ho's film, a mash-up of psychological drama, black comedy, and murder mystery, is perhaps his strangest, a mash-up of psychological drama, black comedy, and murder mystery, with an elderly matriarch at its center. Kim Hye-ja plays the title character, an unnamed single mother who tries to clear her mentally disabled son's name after he is accused of murdering a young girl. It appears straightforward, but the unusual tone and plot twists distinguish it as an entirely unique work from a director incapable of doing anything routine.

9. The Host (2006)

Original title: Gwoemul

Directed by: Joon-ho Bong

Stars: Kang-ho Song, Hee-Bong Byun, Hae-il Park

Awards: C.I.C.A.E Cannes Award (nominated), Asian Film Awards Best Film (winner), Asian Awards Best Cinematography (winner), Asian Awards Best Actor (winner).

If Train to Busan is proud to be the first zombie movie of Korean cinema, The Host is the first monster movie of Korean cinema. The film is directed by Bong Joon-ho, inspired by the legend of the monster Chimera living in riverbeds and sewers, specializing in eating people.

10. Memories of Murder (2003)

Original title: Salinui chueok

Directed by: Joon-ho Bong

Stars: Kang-ho Song, Sang-kyung Kim, Roe-ha Kim

Awards: Best Film Korean Association of Film Critics Awards (winner), Best Director Korean Association of Film Critics Awards (winner), Tokyo International Film Festival Asian Film Awards (winner), Acting Director Best Award Busan Film Critics Association (winner).

Memories of Murder is another typical Bong Joon-ho film. If The Host is a movie about real monsters, then Memories of Murder has monsters, and the monster is the scary distorted personality of the killer. The film was made based on the true case that shocked Korea in 1986-1991, when many young girls were brutally murdered in a small village. Three detectives participated in the case of searching for a cold-blooded serial killer, thereby uncovering many details as well as the criminal's sick criminal psychology.

Conclusion

Is there any Korean movie you want to add to the list of best Korean movies of all time? If we have more space and expand to the list to top 20, 30, there are surely lots of movies waiting in line.

If you haven’t watched any of those movies we mentioned above, what are you waiting for? Why don’t spending a night with your beloved ones and enjoying the best Korean movies of all time?

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