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Sean 
"Necrosphenisciform anthropophagist."
New Zealand
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 Posted - 23/02/2007 : 01:50:52
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Thought I should plug this one, as I just added it to fwfr so I assume few (if any) have seen it.
It's a dark, bleak, mystery / psycho-thriller set in Korea in the '80s. It's similar in atmosphere and quality to Silence of the Lambs or Se7en; anyone who liked those should like this. I gave it 9/10 anyway. Gripping and refreshingly non-Hollywood, it has high-quality cinematography and an excellent score that I've come to expect from the Korean film industry these days. 
Salinui chueok (2003)
Edit: Thread now includes any Korean movies anyone wants to talk about. |
Edited by - Sean on 27/02/2007 02:56:17 |
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demonic 
"Cinemaniac"
United Kingdom
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Posted - 23/02/2007 : 17:14:07
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I saw it last year on DVD having had it recommended to me by a fellow fan of Korean cinema. I do think it's a good film - but comparisons to "Silence of the Lambs" or "Seven" are a little misleading - it is about a real life serial killer and it does have a lot of atmosphere, but the tone veers into comedy quite frequently which is entertaining but often confusing and the motives of the main characters and your sympathies toward them shift dramatically as well. Personally I like an unexpected tone shifts or a challenging complexity to protagonists but I could imagine a lot of people dismissing it out of hand for not knowing what its trying to say about the Korean police force. Sean's right though - it looks absolutely gorgeous.  |
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Paddy C
"Does not compute! Lame!"
Ireland
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Posted - 23/02/2007 : 17:32:09
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Thanks for the recommendation, will keep an eye out..
Although I don't think I've seen a Korean movie since 'Oldboy'  (Still traumatised!!)  |
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Sean
"Necrosphenisciform anthropophagist."
New Zealand
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Posted - 23/02/2007 : 21:02:16
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quote:
Originally posted by demonic
...but the tone veers into comedy quite frequently which is entertaining but often confusing and the motives of the main characters and your sympathies toward them shift dramatically as well. Personally I like an unexpected tone shifts or a challenging complexity to protagonists but I could imagine a lot of people dismissing it out of hand for not knowing what its trying to say about the Korean police force.
Some reviewers at IMDb have seriously criticised it for this reason. Some like to have a protagonist that they can sympathise with and who's 'righteousness' is beyond question (a "Hollywood hero"), and hate movies where there's no obvious good guy to follow through the movie. This is exactly the reason I like such movies, you can take nothing for granted, much like real life.
An example, I told my sister-in-law to see Sideways as I was sure she'd love it, but she totally hated it and considered walking out. The reason? She didn't like any of the characters in it (they were assholes), which was one of the reasons I liked it and found it so funny. |
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rabid kazook 
"Pushing the antelope"
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Posted - 24/02/2007 : 00:52:33
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Pretty darn good and smart thriller/drama and also I easely liked the black-humored parts, which, for me, didn't put down the movie much.
'Saw also Bong's (director's) fantasy flick The Host, but 'was somewhat dissapointed, it was way to disjointed. |
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demonic
"Cinemaniac"
United Kingdom
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Posted - 24/02/2007 : 22:01:21
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"The Host" was a bit wonky wasn't it?
While we're on the subject what are the best Korean movies, or the must sees, does everyone think?
"Oldboy" sparked my interest - and that really is a film that should be seen by as wide an audience as possible - it's fantastic, gripping filmmaking. "Mr Vengeance" and "Lady Vengeance" are very worthwhile bookends to the "revenge" trilogy too. The same director's earlier film "JSA" is on my DVD shelf awaiting a watch.
"Tale of Two Sisters" is an excellent psychological horror in the "J Horror" style, although needs a second viewing to really make full sense of.
"Taegukgi" (Brotherhood) is a brilliant war movie too.
I've heard a lot about "The Isle", and "Shiri" but not seen them. I'd be interested to hear of some other hidden gems out there - "Memories of Murder" was a recommendation too - before that I'd never heard of it even getting into modern Korean film. |
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rabid kazook
"Pushing the antelope"
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Posted - 25/02/2007 : 21:47:27
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quote:
Originally posted by demonic
While we're on the subject what are the best Korean movies, or the must sees, does everyone think?
Sure, don't have a problem of throwing in some of my favs, that could count as recommendations too:
The Isle - Kim Ki-duk
very violent and strange but very poetic and powerful, atleast to me
Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter... and Spring - Kim Ki-duk
extraordinary filmmaking, it basically sucks you in
3-Iron - Kim Ki-duk
see what simbolism does a golfclub have in this beautiful movie
Memories of Murder - Bong Joon-ho
it's very all that, like it's been already said
Tale of Cinema - Hong Sang-soo
very remarkable, I'm personally starving to see more from this director
A Bittersweet Life - Kim Ji-woon
great neo-noir, 'has coolness to spare
Oldboy - Park Chan-wook
energetic, fresh and abrusive, but some aspects of the story... hmmm
So basically, Korean, and other Asian cinematographies too, have through a past few years rejuvinated my ever expanding interest in movies. They're very much teh roxxxxors!
quote:
Originally posted by demonic
"The Host" was a bit wonky wasn't it?
Yeah, they somewhat overwrote and overcomplicated the story and characters. I mean keep it "simple" and thrilling you fantasy/horror filmmakers. 
quote:
Originally posted by demonic
"Taegukgi" (Brotherhood) is a brilliant war movie too.
I don't know, I thought this was predictable and tired... felt to be more actiony than having much dramatic flair. |
Edited by - rabid kazook on 25/02/2007 21:51:35 |
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demonic
"Cinemaniac"
United Kingdom
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Posted - 25/02/2007 : 22:38:49
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| Thanks Rabid - I own "Spring, Summer" and "A Bittersweet Life" too, but there are a few there I hadn't heard of that I'll check out. "3-Iron" looked great from the trailers. By the way have you seen "R-point"? I've heard very mixed things. |
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rabid kazook
"Pushing the antelope"
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Posted - 26/02/2007 : 11:21:20
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quote:
Originally posted by demonic
Thanks Rabid - I own "Spring, Summer" and "A Bittersweet Life" too...
Go pop it open as soon as possible.
quote:
Originally posted by demonic
By the way have you seen "R-point"? I've heard very mixed things.
Haven't seen it, but somebody made me aware about it... about a movie called Silmido, too. Gonna see those eventually, no doubt. |
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SixFourian
"Four ever European"
The European Union
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Posted - 26/02/2007 : 11:31:31
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quote:
Originally posted by rabid kazook
quote:
Originally posted by demonic
"The Host" was a bit wonky wasn't it?
Yeah, they somewhat overwrote and overcomplicated the story and characters. I mean keep it "simple" and thrilling you fantasy/horror filmmakers.
I really enjoyed this, as I went into it with virtually no expectations. On that basis, the following is a spoiler, although I expect that most people are aware of it: I had no idea that it was a monster film. I thought it was just about a girl being kidnapped. This made the appearance of the monster a great moment, especially as I arrived late and so missed the chemicals being poured down the drain. I felt that the monster was very original, especially in its movement. Impressively, this managed to come across as naturalistic despite being absurd. I also enjoyed the family relationships - more action in their place would not have offered any benefit. |
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Sean
"Necrosphenisciform anthropophagist."
New Zealand
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Posted - 27/02/2007 : 02:54:15
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OK, let's generalise this thread. Here are some of my favourite Korean flicks, mostly mentioned above, I think. My IMDb scores in brackets...
A Tale of Two Sisters - (10) Brilliant. Definitely needs to be seen at least twice, preferably more.
Vengeance trilogy - Oldboy (8) is the best, followed by Lady Vengeance (8), then Mr Vengeance (7).
Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter... and Spring - (9) Excellent. One word is enough to describe this one.
Memories of Murder - (9) described above, damned good stuff.
Brotherhood of War - (8) probably the most Hollywood-ised Korean movie I've seen, big budget war epic. Still an excellent war movie.
Phone - (7) decent enough "ghost gets ya' by phone" flick.
Ryeong - (7) another ghost flick, also pretty good.
Edit:- Finally seen the ones I could netflix...
The Isle - (8) the violence made me cringe, but it looked great and was refreshingly original. Could only have been Korean, westerners don't make this kind of movie.
The Quiet Family - (8) funny in a tongue-in-cheek Hitchcockian way. Plenty of murders but ultimately it's a comedy.
The Bittersweet Life - (8) ultra violent revenge film. Atmosphere raises this above other shoot-em-up flicks.
The Host - (6) Korean Godzilla. Lacks tension or scares or originality. |
Edited by - Sean on 16/10/2007 11:32:28 |
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damalc
"last watched: Sausage Party"
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Posted - 27/02/2007 : 23:27:45
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i've said many times on these boards how much i love Korean cinema. i check the Korean section everytime i visit my favorite local store (http://www.wandwvideo.com/).
of course "Oldboy" is at the top of my list of K-films. i also loved "Wishing Stairs." i thought "A Tale of Two Sisters" was OK, but like Demonic said, it probably deserves another viewing. "Bad Guy" was sexy and disturbing all at once. "Arahan" is a fun Korean take on the super-hero learning on the job. "Princess Aurora" is a decent thriller that's a little tricky.
in the good but not too original category are "Tube" and "One Missed Call." (oops, not Korean) i didn't care much for the other two revenge trilogy movies.
on my list of movies to see are "Unborn but Forgotten," "Shiri," "Memories of Murder," and "The Uninvited," and whatever else catches my eye in the K-section. |
Edited by - damalc on 28/02/2007 01:28:45 |
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rabid kazook
"Pushing the antelope"
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Posted - 28/02/2007 : 04:31:48
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@Salopian
You esencially had the best possible scenario to watch a movie, didn't knew much of it, and skipped the overly-explainable opening.
Alas, the monster scenes were superb, but inbetween, as demonic said, how the movie outplayed, was somewhat wonky to me.
I have anther entry in my Korean movie favorites. It's called Antarctic Journal and it's a gritty and spookish combo about a group of explorors out to reach a mystical Point of Inaccessibility. It's written by the Memories of Murder/Host director, so a high level of quality is guaranteed. |
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Airbolt
"teil mann, teil maschine"
somewhere
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Posted - 06/03/2007 : 13:51:19
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I thought that "Brotherhood" was an attempt to produce a Hollywood type of film. However my main problem was with the Lead who was a complete Ham! I havent seen such an arch performance since Robert Newton.
Seriously tho , it was interesting to see a Korean War film made by Koreans. The scenes of the Kangaroo Court were something that I havent seen in a Korean War film before. |
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BaftaBaby 
"Always entranced by cinema."
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Posted - 06/03/2007 : 23:13:30
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OK, confession time. I've just seen The Host, and ....
I'm Hooked!  
I want to think about all the various levels upon which it works ... for now I'm just gob-smacked!
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Edited by - BaftaBaby on 06/03/2007 23:14:02 |
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Shiv 
"What a Wonderful World"
Kimberleys, Western Australia
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Posted - 07/03/2007 : 11:41:52
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I really liked A Bittersweet Life - it really took me by surprise. I'm going to check out the other films being recommended by people here.
How would people compare Korean cinema with Japanese cinema - if it is possible to generalise like that? The reason I ask is because the person who recommended Bittersweet to me told me it was a Japanese movie (yes, I know ) so I was expecting one thing and found it completely different. |
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Korean films - Memories of Murder (2003) etc
