2010 was a great year for Korean cinema and as here at Modern Korean Cinema I'm going back through Korean film to get a sense of what were the best and most important films through the years. I'm thrilled to present my top 10 for the year to coincide with the
Korean Cinema Blogathon. I have seen a lot of films from 2010 and the only major omission is
Cafe Noir which has yet to find a DVD release, here's hoping there'll be one!
This follows on from January's
Top 10 Films of 2011 and I hope to make my way back through to the 90s.
Without further ado, the top 10, followed by some honourable mentions and the year's biggest turkeys:
TOP 10
10. Secret Reunion
Jang Hoon followed one of Korea's best debut films, the exceptional
Rough Cut (2008), with a big tale of intrigue chronicling agents and spies from both sides of Korea's DMZ. Established star Song Kang-ho and up and coming heartthrob Kang Dong-won electrify the screen in this surprising tale of unexpected camaraderie which explores many big questions of Korean identity and separation anxiety.
Secret Reunion is at the same time an engaging thriller, a buddy comedy and a weighty drama and true to Korean style, the combination of its many elements is very successful. Jang, a former Kim Ki-duk protege once again crafts an intense and fascinating exploration of the male id in contemporary South Korea.
9. Rolling Home With a Bull
One of the year's most surprising efforts, Lim Soon-rye's fifth feature is an extraordinary road movie with a concept that comes dangerously close to being labeled as quirky but instead winds up being heartfelt and meditative. Kim Young-pil and Kong Hyo-jin excel in
Rolling Home With a Bull, their performances throughout are fresh and natural. The low-budget film offers a unique view of Korea, far from the concrete jungle of Seoul or the vibrant harbor of Busan. Instead we wind through roads, regions and mountains as we contemplate how notions of family and responsibility have changed in the modern era. A great antidote to the sometimes overly familiar terrain of commercial modern Korean cinema.
8. Oki's Movie
Hong Sang-soo's 11th feature is one of his slightest not to mention quickest at a brief 80 minutes.
Oki's Movie demonstrates Hong's growing skill wringing naturalistic humor out of common occurrences. As with his other films, structure and repetition are key as we follow a woman's dalliances with two men, a student and a professor, as they frequent the same locations. The return to black and white photography adds another element to the proceedings as it reinforces and further questions notions of nostalgia and selective (and often duplicitous) memory. One for the fans and for uninitiated viewers,
Oki's Movie may be short but it is another big entry into Hong's ever-fascinating oeuvre.
7. The Servant
Korean period dramas are often a mixed bag but every so often the genre yields an excellent film and such is the case with
The Servant, an erotic period drama from first time director Kim Dae-woo who previously penned
Untold Scandal (2003) and
Forbidden Quest (2006). The film is a twist on the famous Korean pansori tale Chunhyang, charging the classic story with eroticism and intrigue. One of the most beautifully shot Korean films of recent years and featuring some great performances, including a superb supporting turn from Ryoo Seung-beom,
The Servant is everything a period drama should be, wonderfully crafted and engaging. Not to be missed for any fan of the genre.
6. I Saw the Devil
A controversial film from Kim Jee-woon which polarized filmgoers,
I Saw the Devil is a deliberate attempt to make a streamlined and yet subversive revenge thriller. The concept, which pits a federal agent (Lee Byung-hun) on a hunt for the psychopath (Choi Min-sik) who killed his fiance, is exceedingly simple and yet turns the genre over on its head. Lee Mo-gae's cinematography is beautiful and the script by Park Hoon-jung (also behind
The Unjust) is clever, macabre and darkly humorous.
I Saw the Devil is brutal, relentless, and can come off as simplistic and just as easily be viewed as pointless, but scratch beneath the veneer and you will come away with something more. Let's hope that Kim Jee-woon still makes them like this soon to be cult classic when his first Hollywood offering, the Arnold Schwarzenegger vehicle
The Last Stand, will be released early next year.
5. HaHaHa
The first of Hong Sang-soo's 2010 films may be his funniest as well as his most accessible. Anyone looking for a way into Hong's oeuvre should look no further. Besides its humour throughout,
HaHaHa also exhibits all of the traits that Hong has become known and loved for. Once again reveling in repetition and everyday minutiae, the film carefully lays bare two intellectuals' neurosis during a trip to a small town. As with many of his other films it employs a fascinating structure that is at once prosaic and inspired.
HaHaHa cleverly leads us to doubt the protagonists accounts of their sojourn in the seaside town and this coupled with some
La Jetee-style scenes bring to mind some larger questions of the authenticity of our own memory. One of Hong's best and a good second chance for anyone who has not previously connected with his work.
4. The Yellow Sea
Na Hong-jin burst onto the scene in 2008 with
The Chaser, one of Korean cinema's most vital films of the past few years. All eyes were on him and his new film
The Yellow Sea, which reunited his debut's stars Kim Yun-suk and Ha Jug-woo (though their roles as protagonist and antagonist are swapped), when it opened in December. A big film with a large scope, Na's second feature is a slow-burning crime film that builds into a heart-pounding action vehicle. I did not see the original, lengthier cut, which many had reservations about but I was mightily impressed by the pacing with sucked me more and more into the film as it progressed. One of the most exciting cinema releases of 2010,
The Yellow Sea cemented Na Hong-jin as a major international talent, not to mention its excellent stars Ha and Kim, who keep going from strength to strength.
3. The Unjust
One of the enduring themes in Korean cinema is the representation of the corruption and ineptness of authority, namely the police departments. There have been many great films that have expounded almost exclusively on the phenomenon such as Jang Jin's uproarious
Going By the Book (2007). However, Ryoo Seung-wan's latest feature is perhaps the most blunt and vicious attack on the system yet.
The Unjust takes a step back from Ryoo's previous action films but harnesses the same energy as it seeks to attack authority. Worlds collide, egos clash, collateral damage abounds and the constant tension keeps the heart racing. Ryoo outdoes himself by showing us that he is much more versatile than his previous films hinted at while still playing to his strengths. A breathlessly paced film with big performances from Hwang Jeong-min, Ryoo Seung-beom and Yu Hae-jin,
The Unjust is a thriller not to be missed.
2. Poetry
People talk about event pictures like a summer blockbuster or an adaptation of a very popular book but for me when a new Lee Chang-dong film comes along this is a real cause for celebration as I know it will likely shake me to my foundation and challenge the way I look at the world. His latest
Poetry is no exception and has been cited by many as his finest work. Besides the film's magnificent script and its fascinating musings on life and certain philosophical concepts, it has also been singled out for the performance of Yun Jeong-hee. Absent from the screen for 20 years, Yun's return is nothing short of a marvel and for my money's worth the best performance by any actor worldwide in 2010. Lee has surpassed himself yet again.
1. Bedevilled
A good genre film is one of the greatest joys that cinema has to offer. Completely immersed in the medium it seeks to provide raw entertainment, its purpose is solely to please. So what happens when a genre film transcends its limitations ? You end with a film like Jang Cheol-min's
Bedevilled, a film so unique and so vital that it sent a chill down my spine, while at the same time being remarkably astute in its understanding of generic coding. Beautiful, austere, intimate and harrowing all at the same time, Jang crafts a microcosm on an island with scant characters that is teeming with crises and conflict, far mo so than the vast majority of films set in some of the world's most populous metropolises.
Bedevilled works because it is founded on solid ideas and though it is incendiary and brutal in its climax, it is remarkably layered and convincing in its buildup.
Honourable Mentions
There were so many great film in 2010, here are a few more and to be honest there are still some strong features beyond this:
71: Into the Fire
Cyrano Agency
Eighteen
Harmony
Hello Ghost
My Dear Desperado
Passerby #3
I love Korean cinema but I'll be the first to admit that the industry can put out some atrocious films, here are 2010's worst:
1. A Little Pond
2. Yosul (aka Magic)
3. Natalie
4. Hero
The Rest
In case you're curious, here's the rest of what I saw in 2010:
0.201
A Barefoot Dream
A Better Tomorrow
A Long Visit
Attack the Gas Station 2
Bad Couple
Banga? Banga!
Bestseller
Blades of Blood
Come, Closer
Dart
Death Bell 2: A Bloody Camp
Dogs and Flowers
Enemy at the Dead End
Finding Mr. Destiny
Foxy Festival
July 32nd
Lady Daddy
Le Grand Chef 2: Kimchi Battle
Man of Vendetta
Metamorpheses
Midnight FM
Moss
No Doubt
No Mercy
Parallel Life
Petty Romance
Secret Love
Short! Short! Short!
Space Radio
The Fair Love
The Haunted House Project
The Housemaid
The Influence
The Neighbor Zombie
The Recipe
Troubleshooter
Twilight Gangsters
Villain and Widow
Wedding Dress
Reviews and features on Korean film appear regularly on Modern Korean Cinema. For film news, external reviews, and box office analysis, take a look at the Korean Box Office Update, Korean Cinema News and the Weekly Review Round-up, which appear weekly on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday mornings (GMT+1).
To keep up with the best in Korean film you can sign up to our RSS Feed, like us on Facebook, or follow us on Twitter.
.jpg)
.jpg)
I adore much Korean movies too. Hope to watch all of these too.
ReplyDelete