Korean Movie: Declaration of Idiot 바보선언

This is number 9 on the top 101 Korean movies list made by the Korean Film Archive. My goal is to watch them all. 6 down....95 to go!

Year: 1983
Length: 97 minutes
Genre: Social Drama
Where to Watch: https://www.youtube.com/user/KoreanFilm

Main Cast:

Lee Bo-hee 혜영

Kim Myung-kon 동철

Lee Hee-sung 육덕

Plot:

동철 has lived a life of crime. 동철 sees a girl that he likes (혜영). He follows her around and one day 동철 and 육덕 (a taxi driver) try to kidnap her. They find out that 혜영 is a prostitute. They do errands for her. They get kicked out after fighting with a customer. All 3 of them go to a beach resort. 동철 falls in love with 혜영. 혜영 gets a job in a high-class restaurant in Seoul. She is killed when a customer forces her to drink too much alcohol. 동철 and 육덕 dress her up nicely and bury her.    


**This movie was so odd to me! I can't understand why it is in the top 100 movies. Maybe you have to understand the Korean culture in the 80s to appreciate this movie.

There isn't much dialogue in the movie. The dialogue doesn't start until about 40 minutes into the movie. A lot of the movie is silent with a kid narrating.

It was neat to see how Korea has changed over the years. The cars, fashion and buildings have changed a lot since the 80's.

Korean Movie: Love Fiction 러브 픽션

I watched this movie on the plane home from South Korea. The movie was the 16th most watched film of 2012.

Trailer:



Year: 2012
Genre: Romantic Comedy
Length: 121 minutes

Cast:

Ha Jung-woo - Goo Joo-wol / Detective Ma Dong-wook

Gong Hyo-jin - Lee Hee-jin / Kim Hae-young

Jo Hee-bong - Publisher Kwak / Detective squad chief Kwak

Lee Byung-joon - M

Ji Jin-hee - Goo Joo-ro, Joo-wol's older brother

Yoo In-na - Soo-jung / Kyung-sook

Kim Ji-hoon - Hwang / Detective Ryu

Seo Hyun-woo - Yi-gyu

Choi Doo-ri - Kyung-ja

Kwak Do-won - Director Hwang / Murdered senator

Kim Seong-gi - Dr. Pyo

Choi Yoo-hwa - Min-ji / Veronica

Park Young-soo - Young-shik / Director Jo

Jo Yong-joon - Sysop

Lee Joon-hyuk - Professor Jeong

Kim Hye-hwa - Ma-yi

Kim Jae-hwa - Joo-hee

Park Joon-myun - Baek Sun-young

Choi Won-tae - Baek Seon-il

Kang Shin-cheol - Hee-jin's ex-husband

Son Byung-wook - Joo-wol's high school gym coach

Jeon Soo-ji - art teacher

Kim Hye-ji - beauty salon hairdresser

Chi Woo - Joo-wol as a high school teen

Yeom Hyun-seo - little girl Ye-ja

Plot:

Goo Joo-wol is a writer who suffered from writer's block for a few years. His publisher asks him to go to Germany for a book fair. While he is in Germany he meets Hee-jin. Hee-jin is a film distributer who is there to check out the European film market. Its love at first sight for Goo Joo-wol. He writes her a love letter to ask for a date. They start dating and he uses her as a character in his story. As his story becomes popular he learns more than he wants to about his girlfriend's past with men.

**I liked this movie!

Korean Movie: "Plan Man" 플랜맨

I watched the movie "Plan Man" while I was on the airplane on my way to Korea back in May. I think its a very cute movie.I couldn't see myself always having a plan like the man in the movie did. I don't think I could date someone who has every second of their day planned out.

"Plan Man" Trailer




Genre: Romantic Comedy
Year Released: 2014

Main Characters:

Jung Jae-young as Han Jung-seok
Han Ji-min as Yoo So-jung
Cha Ye-ryun as Lee Ji-won
Jang Gwang as Goo Sang-yoon
Kim Ji-young as psychiatrist
Ju Jin-mo as Laundry
Yoo Seung-mok as Writer Lee
Jo Yong-jin as young Jung-seok
Go Seo-hee as Jung-seok's mother
Park Gil-soo as Section chief Nam
Park Jin-joo as Eun-ha

Plot:

Jung-seok is a librarian who has every second of his day planned out. He sets alarms to do everything. Everything is done at the same time every single day. He feels the need to straighten up things that are out of place which annoys his coworkers. He has a crush on a woman at a convenient store who has the same neat freak mindset. One day he decides he will tell his crush that he likes her, but he runs into So-jung instead. So-jung is a free spirit who doesn't live by a plan. He tries to talk to his crush with So-jung's help, but his crush doesn't want someone who is also neat like her. She is trying to break free from that lifestyle. Jung-seok tries to break free from his obsession with neatness by changing his routine.

Korean Movie: "The Housemaid" 하녀

I went to see "The Housemaid" at the Global Tourism Center in Myeong dong. A lot of foreigners and a few Koreans came to watch the movie. It was being shown by the Seoul Film Society. The movie was in black and white with English subtitles.

This movie is tied for number one on the top 101 Korean movies.

The director's son was in attendance at the screening to introduce the movie.

Genre: Horror/Thriller
Year: 1960

Main Characters:

Kim Jin-kyu
Lee Eun-shim
Ju Jeung-ryu
Um Aing-ran
Ahn Sung-ki
Kang Seok-je
Ko Seon-ae
Na Jeong-ok

Plot:

A music teacher moves into a new house with is wife and 2 kids. His pregnant wife is tired from sewing all the time. The man decides to hire a housemaid to help out around the house. The housemaid acts very strange. The man ends up having an affair with the housemaid. She becomes pregnant. When the wife finds out she convinces the maid to fall down the stairs to kill the baby. The maid convinces the husband to drink rat poison with her and they both die. The ending is very clever.  You'll have to watch it to find out!! Its a surprise twist.

-The movie is based off of actual events that happened in Guemcheon
-The beginning and end of the movie were intentionally out of order to create confusion

***I liked this movie. There was ominous music every time something bad was about to happen. I really liked the ending. It was so funny! I can see why this was the best movie.

Korean Movie: "My Girl and I" 파랑주의보

This was a cute, sweet movie!! I really liked it. It made me cry at the end.

This is a remake of the Japanese movie "Crying Out Love From the Center of the World"

Genre: Romance
Year: 2005
Length: 95 minutes
Where to watch: Netflix (with English subtitles)

Main Characters:
Song Hye-kyo as Su-eun
Cha Tae-hyun as Kim Su-ho
Song Chang-eui as Park Jong-goo
Kim Hae-sook as Su-ho's mother

Trailer:


Plot:

Su-ho and Su-eun are two teenagers who start dating. Su-ho is just an average guy and Su-eun is pretty and popular. They are madly in love and their classmates are jealous of their love. While they are dating Su-eun gets sick. Su-ho is always by her side until the end.

I don't want to give away too much....you just have to watch it for yourself. I really liked it.

Korean Movie: Aimless Bullet 오발탄

This movie tied for the number 1 spot in the top 101 Korean Movies.

Genre: Literary Art

Year: 1961

Main Characters:

Choi Mu-Ryong,as Cheol-Ho
Kim Jin-Kyu as Yeong-Ho
Moon Jeong-Suk as the wife
Seo Ae-Ja as the sister
Kim Kye-Jeong
Noh Jae-Shin as the mother

Where to watch: YouTube user KoreanFilm

Plot:

The movie follows the story of Yeong-Ho's family and their struggles. Yeong-Ho is a clerk who lives with his mom, his pregnant wife, sister and brother. His mother was driven to insanity by the war and constantly says "let's go". His wife is pregnant and suffers from malnutrition. His younger brother is an unemployed war veteran. His younger sister is a prostitute to US soldiers.

Yeong-Ho is struggling to support his family on his small salary. He also has a toothache and won't see the dentist. His brother tries to help them by robbing a bank, but he is arrested. His wife dies during childbirth. He leaves the hospital without even seeing her body. He finally gets the bad tooth pulled and he gets in the taxi and says "lets go."

_____________________________

This movie was in black and white with subtitles.

***This was a good movie. I liked one of the last lines of the film:

"Did God send me out like an aimless bullet with no place to go?"

5 down....96 to go

Korean Movie: "Pieta" 피에타

**This is from the top 101 Korean movie list. This is my 3rd movie from the list. 3 down, 98 to go!

My review: There was a ton of violence and cursing in this movie. It was a good movie though. It is very intense. There were moments when I wanted to cover my eyes because I thought I know what would come next. It makes you feel sorry for the man knowing his past, but also you think he is a cruel person for all the things he does to others.

Genre: Drama
Year: 2012
Length: 104 minutes
Where to watch: Netflix (this movie is not on the Korean Film YouTube channel)

Main Cast:

Jo Min-soo as Mi-son (the mother)
Lee Jung-jin as Gang-do (debt collector)

The movie is the first Korean movie to win top prize at the Venice Film Festival.

Plot Summary:

Gang-do, a debt collector, travels around threatening people to pay back their debts. He doesn't have any family so he doesn't feel bad about ruining their lives. The debtors have to become cripples and he claims their insurance payout for their debt. One day a woman shows up and says that she is his mother that abandoned him 30 years ago. He rejects her at first, but slowly comes to accept her. One day his mother disappears. Then he goes to look for all the people he hurt in the past to see if one of them kidnapped his mother.

Korean Movie: "Yeong-ja's Heydeys" 영자의 전성시대

**This is one of the movies on the top 101 Korean movies.

My review: This was the first movie I watched on the top 101 movie list. I liked this movie. Young-ja was a funny character in some of the movie. She also suffers a lot of misfortune.

Year: 1975
Genre: Melodrama
Where to watch: YouTube user KoreanFilm (english subtitles)

Main Cast:

Song Jae-Ho as Chang-su
Yeom Bok-Sun as Yeong-ja

Plot Summary:

Chang-su returns from the Vietnam War and sees Yeong-ja at the police station. He met Yeong-ja 3 years earlier when he worked at an iron foundry. He met Yeong-ja at his boss's house where she was employed as a housemaid. He fell in love with her and proposed before leaving for the Vietnam War. Yeong-ja was kicked out after being exploited by the boss's son. She started working at a sewing factory, but the wages weren't enough. She tried working at a bar, but the job wasn't right for her. Then she became a conductor on a bus, but she lost her arm in a traffic accident. Then she became a prostitute. Chang-su reunites with Yeong-ja after the war 3 years later. He is shocked that she is just living with no goals. He takes care of her, but she leaves him so he can have a better future. After a few years Chang-su finds out where she lives and goes to see her. He finds out that she is married. Her husband is also disabled and they have a child together. He wishes her happiness and leaves.

Korean Movie: "The Marriage Life" 결혼이야기

**This is one of the movies on the top 101 Korean movies list.  It was the fourth most highly attended Korean film between 1990 and 1995.

I'm trying to watch movies from the top 101 Korean movie list. This is the 2nd one I have watched so far.

My Review: I found this movie on the Youtube channel (KoreanFilm) where the top 101 movies are uploaded. The movie is very funny. It shows what happens after marriage. Before getting married you are happily in love, but then once you are married things change. You start to notice all of your partners bad habits. The guy who shines shoes was my favorite character. He was so funny and kept reciting metaphors against marriage.

Year Aired: 1992
Genre: Romantic Comedy
Length: 95 mins
Where to watch: Youtube user KoreanFilm (with English Subtitles)

Main Cast:

Choi Min-Su as Kim Tae-gyu
Shim Hye-Jin was Choi Ji-hye

Plot Summary:

Radio producter Kim Tae-gyu and voice actress Choi Ji-hye get married for love although their family and friends don't approve. At first they have great passion and their new marriage is good. Then the realness of marriage sets in and their marriage suffers. They start fighting over the correct way to squeeze the toothpaste, making dinner, and doing dishes. They are fighting so much that they are considering divorce. After they have been apart Tae-gyu tells Ji-hye that he still loves her and wants to start over. Ji-hye doesn't want to start over because the memories are too painful for her. Tae-gyu sends a letter of apology to the radio show where Ji-hye works. She reads it and tries to find him. They run into each other at a cemetary.

Music Video: John Park "Childlike" (OST "A Werewolf Boy"

Press the CC button for English subtitles!

John Park was on American Idol and he also was the runner up of Superstar K2.

The song "Childlike" will be on the OST of the movie "Wolf Boy". I've also seen the movie title written as "A Werewolf Boy". The movie will come out in South Korea on October 31, 2012.

The basic plot is: a young girl finds a feral boy in her yard, she tries to "civilize" him and they fall in love.

Wikipedia page about the movie: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Werewolf_Boy

Movie Trailer: R2B:리턴투베이스 (R2B: Return To Base)

R2B:Return to Base is a Korean movie that will be released on August 15, 2012. I like Rain (bi) and he stars in the film. The movie is a remake of Red Scarf (1963). The main roles are played by Rain (Jung Ji hoon) and Shin Se-Kyung. Jung Ji Hoon plays the role of  Tae-Yoon (fighter pilot). Shin Se-Kyung plays the role of Se-Young (mechanic). Other actors in the movie are: Yu Jun-Sang, Lee Ha-Na, Kim Sung-Su, Lee Jong-Suk, and Jung Suk-Won.



Plot:

Tae-hun is an Air Force pilot who is transferred to a combat flying unit after a dangerous air show demonstration. On the first day he meets Cheol-hui, the unit's top gun. Cheol-hui follows the rules, but Tae-hun is more free-spirited which causes conflict between them. Tae-hun becomes friends with his other colleagues. He falls in love with Se-young who is a mechanic. Tae-hun continues to be free-spirited and gets suspended. During a mission Dae-seo dies and Seok-hyeon disappears. Tae-hun blames Cheol-hui for the tragedy, but they eventually come to an understanding. Then they try to stop the war and rescue their missing comrade.

UPDATE March 31, 2013: The DVD was released in the USA under the name "Black Eagle" in March of 2013. The DVD has English subtitles. (I've added this to my Netflix list, but it hasn't been released on Netflix yet)

Black Eagle Trailer:

Korean Movie: 싸이보그지만 괜찮아 (I'm a Cyborg, But That's OK)

You can watch it here with English subtitles: I'm a Cyborg, but that's OK

I only watched this movie because Rain was in it. It's an okay movie, but it's kinda weird. (Rain plays the role of a guy in a mental hospital).The movie came out in December of 2006. It was the number one movie on opening weekend. The movie fell by 76% the 2nd weekend and was pulled from most screens shortly after.

Rain was nominated for and won Best New Actor at the 43rd Baeksang Awards.I'm a Cyborg, But That's OK won the Alfred Bauer Award at the 57th Berlin International Film Festival

Plot:

Convinced that she is not entirely human but in fact part android, Young-goon's health begins to deteriorate as she gives up eating food and instead decides to "charge her batteries" by administering electric shocks to herself via a small transistor radio. As her mental state continues to deteriorate, the troubled young woman takes to donning her grandmother's dentures and carrying on extended conversations with various machines around the mental health facility. Of course Young-goon isn't the only person suffering from a mental malady in this hospital, and it's not long before Il-soon, a young man with a penchant for wearing masks and a reputation for being anti-social, is admitted as well. A good-looking young man who sets about convincing his fellow patients that he has the power to absorb their personality traits, Il-soon gradually begins to develop a tender romance with the troubled Young-goon. Later, when hospital officials determine that the only way to save Young-goon is to administer electro-shock therapy, the treatment has the unusual side-effect of convincing the would-be android that she has been fully recharged and possesses the ability to fire bullets from her fingers. In reality, Young-goon's physical deterioration has become truly alarming. With little time to lose before the love of his life slides beyond the point of no return, Il-soon enlists the aid of his concerned fellow patients in getting Young-goon back on the path to good health

Cast:

Im Su-jeong as Cha Young-goon
Rain as Park Il-soon
Choi Hie-jin as Choi Seul-gi
Lee Yong-nyeo as Young-goon's mother
Yu Ho-jeong as Il-soon's mother
Kim Byeong-ok as Judge

Korean Movie: 1번가의 기적 (Miracle on First Street)

You can watch the movie here with English subtitles: Miracle on First Street

I liked this movie. I wanted to see it because I met one of the actors, but I'd never seen anything that he acted in. I was curious about his acting ability. Its funny when you meet a celebrity but you don't have a clue who they are!!

The movie was released in 2007. It was the 2nd most popular movie in the 1st quarter of 2007.

Plot Summary:

Pil-je (Lim Chang-jung) is a gangster who is sent to evict residents from a poor neighborhood so that luxury apartments can be built. He has a change of heart after he befriends some of the locals.

Cast:

Lim Chang-jung as Pil-je

Ha Ji-won as Myung-ran

Joo Hyun

Jeong Doo-hong

Lee Hoon<-----I met him

Kang Ye-won

Park Chang-ik

Park Yoo-seon

Ko Tae-ho

Seo Ji-hee

Korean Movie: 미스터 로빈 꼬시기

Seducing Mr. Perfect
released on December 7, 2006

I watched this movie a few weeks ago. I really enjoyed it. The main actor (Daniel Henney) is a Korean American. He's very handsome! I remember seeing him in a Biotherm ad in South Korea, but I didn't know who he was until now.



I was surprised to hear so much English in the movie. I watched it with English subtitles, but I actually understood probably 50% of the movie!

Plot summary:

Min-joon (Uhm Jung-hwa) believes in true love and always very dedicated to her boyfriend. Men always end up breaking up with her. Her latest boyfriend ends the relationship on his birthday.  She is distracted by the latest break-up and she bumps into a car. A man steps out. He turns out to be her new boss, Robin Heiden, played by Daniel Henney. Heiden believes that love and relationships are a game of power. Min-Joon asks Robin for dating advice because she doesn't want to get dumped again. She starts to treat men the way that Robin treats women. She realizes she prefers her own way even if it means she will get dumped again. She believes isn't about who has the power. Heiden is also dealing with his own heartbreak..He eventually falls in love with her and both get into a real relationship and a happy ending of their own.

There is something unique about this movie. Robin Heiden only speaks in English because Korean is too hard to speak. Min-Joon speaks mostly in Korean. They understand each other without needing a translation. This style was new for a Korean film and was part of the reason why the movie was so successful.