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: "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: 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.

Top 101 Korean movies

Read the article here: http://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/news/article/Article.aspx?aid=2983571

The top 101 Korean movies of all time (2014):

http://www.koreafilm.org/feature/100_2014.asp

Watch full movies on this YouTube channel:

http://www.youtube.com/user/KoreanFilm?feature=watch#sthash.pk0XjEMM.dpuf

The Korean Film Archive released a list of the top 101 Korean movies of all time. The list was made by 62 of the top film experts.

There was a 3 way tie for first place: "The Housemaid" (1960), "Aimless Bullet" (1961) and "The March of Fools" (1975). Only one movie in the top 10 was released after the year 2000. The oldest movie was released in 1934. The newest movie came out in 2012.

Top 10:

1. "The Housemaid" (1960), "Aimless Bullet" (1961), "The March of Fools" (1975)
2. "Madame Freedom" (1956)
3. "A Coachman" (1961)
4. "Heavenly Homecoming to Stars" (1974)
5. "Good Windy Day" (1980)
6. "Memories of Murder" (2003)
7. "Mother and a Guest" (1961)
8. "Young Ja's Heydays" (1975)
9. "Declaration of Idiot" (1983)
10. "Sopyonje" (1993)



I think I need to check out some of these movies!