I’ve seen so many excellent movies in the past few months that it’s easy to forget what a dreadful year it’s been for the Korean film industry. I thought I’d take a breather from a review I’m preparing of The Housemaid to compile a list of favorites. The “best of” & “worst of” lists refer to films I saw for the first time this year at the theater or on DVD, not to their original release dates. The listings are in no particular order of preference.

Best Korean Films

The Good, The Bad and the Weird, Kim Ji-woon
Night and Day, Hong Sang-soo
My Dear Enemy, Lee Yoon-ki
The Housemaid, Kim Ki-young

Worst Korean Films

How to Live on Earth, Ahn Seul-Ki
Dream, Kim Ki-duk
Ban Geum-ryeon, Kim Ki-young
Sagwa, Kang Yi-kwon
If You Were Me 4, omnibus

Best Korean DVDs

Kim Ki-young Collection
With a Girl of Black Soil, Jeon Soo-il
Hyazgar (Desert Dream), Zhang Lu
Woman on the Beach, Hong Sang-soo
Our Town, Jeong Gil-yeong
Independant Film Collection (No Regrets, The Railroad, Boys of Tomorrow), Leesong Hee-il, Park Heung-sik, Noh Dong-seok
Short Films, Long Feelings (Collection, 7 shorts)
The Old Garden, Im Sang-soo
Coréen 2495 (documentary), Ha Jun-soo

Worst DVDs

The Texture of Skin, Lee Seong-kang
The Chaser, Na Hong-jin
Seven Days, Won Shin-yeon
Gagman, Lee Myeong-Se

All-Time Top Ten

Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance, Park Chan-wook
The President’s Last Bang, Im Sang-soo
Save the Green Planet, Jang Joon-hwan
Family Ties,  Kim Tae-yong
The Housemaid, Kim Ki-young
Peppermint Candy, Lee Chang-dong
Deaf Sam-ryong, Shin Sang-ok
Woman on the Beach, Hong Sang-soo
Sandglass (TV Drama), Kim Jong-hak, Song Ji-na
Hyazgar (Desert Dream), Zhang Lu
Our Town, Jeong Gil-yeong
The Big Swindle, Choi Dong-hoon

Offbeat

Like a Virgin, Lee Hae-joon,  Lee Hae-yeong
Rules of Dating, Han Jae-rim
My Scary Girl, Son Jae-gon
Midnight Ballad for Ghost Theater, Jeon Gye-soo
The Customer is Always Right, Oh Ki-hyeon

Wow! No ‘OldBoy’ or ‘Sympathy For Lady Vengeance’? I thought these two should be on everyone’s list

what is wrong with The Chaser DVD.  Apart from the fact that you didn’t like the movie?

I’m a huge fan of THE KING AND THE CLOWN, and M is pretty solid.  I also think Sympathy for Lady Vengeance is the best of the three. 

The big surprise on that list is that there is no MEMORIES OF MURDER.  That And PRESIDENTS LAST BANG are probably my favourites.  Although I dig anything from Kim Ji Woon and Hong Sang Soo.

Did you catch With a Girl of Black Soil, JP

DeCSS—I’m guessing most people already own Oldboy, and I hope that by including some lesser-known films, readers will be encouraged to seek them out and discover some real gems. I think the trio of Shin Ha-gyoon, Bae Doona and Song Kang-ho (Sympathy for Mr Vengeance) is hard to beat, and I prefer the (more restrained?) script and elegant cinematography of SFMV over the other two films in the trilogy. But I realize I’m probably alone in thinking this.
Kurt—I had pretty much lost interest in Hong Sang-soo after The Turning Gate, believing that French director Eric Rohmer had already done this sort of thing better. But Woman on the Beach and Night and Day really impressed me, and I’m eager to see what Hong comes up with next. As for Bong Joon-ho, I respect the man more than I love his films.
BtoFu—Thanks for the recommendation—though the comparisons with Kim Ki-duk’s The Isle trouble me. I’ll see if I can find a copy of With a Girl of Black Soil over the weekend.

I see your point. But I must say that you are probably alone in preferring the photographic style of SFMV as opposed to OldBoy and SFLV

DeCSS - October 23, 2008, 9:05pm

I see your point. But I must say that you are probably alone in preferring the photographic style of SFMV as opposed to OldBoy and SFLV :)

“Alone, alone, all, all alone,
Alone on a wide wide sea !”