It’s an undisputed fact that the Korean movies industry is getting much bigger in terms of quality beyond expectations. The Hollywood filmmakers are concentrating more on the making style whereas the Korean filmmakers are concentrating more on the story and characters. Let’s have a look at 3 must watch Korean movies which you should watch at least once in your lifetime.
Oldboy (2003)
Oldboy is directed by Park Chan-wook. The movie is based on the Japanese comic Old Boy written by Garon Tsuchiya. The star cast of the movie includes Choi Min-Sik, Yoo Ji-Tae, Knag Hye-Jung and Yoo Yeon-Seok. The movie tells the story of a businessman Oh Dae-Su who is kidnapped and kept in a prison for 15 long years without any human contact. He gets to know that his wife is murdered and he is the main suspect. After 15 years he is released and what happens next forms the crux of the movie.
The movie received extreme positive words of mouth both from the critics as well as the audience. Choi Min-Sik delivered a terrific performance and won many awards. The movie had an Indian (Zinda) and American (Oldboy) remakes, but both couldn’t recreate the original magic.
The Man from Nowhere (2010)
The Man from Nowhere is an action thriller written and directed by Lee Jeong-Beom. The star cast of the movie includes Won Bin, Kim Sae-Ron, Kim Hee Won, and Kim Sug-oh. The movie tells the story of Cha Tae-Sik who is running a pawnshop. He is a quiet guy and his only friend is a little girl named So-mi who is his neighbor. But everything gets worse when So-mi’s mother Hyo-Jeong steals drugs from an organized crime group. Things get even worse when Hyo-Jeong pawns her camera bag to Cha Tae-Sik. Unfortunately, the stolen drugs were inside the camera bag. The film gets extremely thrilling and gripping from there on.
The film received positive reviews from the critics and normal viewers. The action sequences were brilliant and we could see the transformation of Won Bin from a lover boy image to an action hero.
I Saw the Devil (2010)
I saw the devil is a Psychological thriller written by Park Hoon-Jung and directed by Kim Ji-Woon. Lee Byung-hun plays the antagonist and Choi Min-Sik plays the protagonist. NIS agent Soo-Hyun’s (Lee Byung-hun) fiancée is murdered brutally by a psychopath named Kyung-Chul (Choi Min-Sik) and Soo-Hyun is in search of Kyung-Chul to hunt him down in order to seek his revenge.
The movie got an overwhelming response from the audience as well as the critics. The main highlight of the film is the outstanding performance of Choi Min-Sik. Some audience may find the over violence a bit irritating and creepy. But the story and characters demand such violence and without it the movie is incomplete.
