Reviews

Most of the articles below are reviews and many of them feature a little more critical analysis than your average write-up but a few are longer pieces or essays which are more academic in their style.  The main area of focus is 'modern' Korean cinema (from 1998 on) but occasionally, older films are covered also.  There is also a section for non-Korean features below.

Features also appear regularly on Modern Korean Cinema.  For film news, external reviews, and box office analysis, take a look at the Korean Box Office UpdateKorean Cinema News and the Weekly Review Round-up, which appear weekly on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday mornings (GMT+1).

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Korean Cinema

BY YEAR

1960s

The Devil's Stairway (1964) • The Seaside Village (1965) • Early Rain (1966)

1970s

Woman of Fire (1971) • Pollen (1972) • Flame (1975) • The Road to Sampo (1975) • Yeongja's Heyday (1975) • Wang Sib Ri, My Hometown (1976) • Iodo (1977) • Night Journey (1977) • Splendid Outing (1978) • A Woman Chasing a Killer Butterfly (1978) • The Divine Bow (1979) • Rainy Days (1979) • The Shower (1979)

1980s

Does Cuckoo Cry at Night (1980) • The Ball Shot by a Midget (1981) • Suddenly in Dark Night (1981) • The Oldest Son (1984) • The Man With Three Coffins (1987) • Chilsu and Mansu (1988)

1990s

The General's Son (1990) • The General's Son 2 (1991) • The General's Son 3 (1992) • Born to Kill (1996) • Beat (1997) • The Contact (1997) • Green Fish (1997) • No. 3 (1997) • Whispering Corridors (1998) • Happy End (1999)

2000s

The Foul King (2000) • The Isle (2000) • Waikiki Brothers (2001) • Memories of Murder (2003) • Save the Green Planet (2003) • Cut (2004) • Mr. Gam's Victory (2004) • Taegukgi (2004) • This Charming Girl (2004) • The Bow (2005) • Diary of June (2005) • The King and the Clown (2005) • Murder, Take One (2005) • Typhoon (2005) • Welcome to Dongmakgol (2005) • Ad-lib Night (2006) • Cinderella (2006) • Family Ties (2006) • The Old Garden (2006) • The Restless (2006) • To Sir, with Love (2006) • For Eternal Hearts (2007) • The Show Must Go On (2007) • Small Town Rivals (2007) • Beautiful (2008) • Death Bell (2008) • A Frozen Flower (2008) • My Dear Enemy (2008) • Take Off (2008) • A Brand New Life (2009) • CafĂ© Noir (2009) • Eighteen (2009) • A Good Rain Knows (2009) • Haeundae (Tidal Wave) (2009) • Mother (2009) • Possessed (2009) • Running Turtle (2009) • Woochi (2009)

2010


Always • The Apprehenders aka Officer of the Year • Battlefield Heroes • Bleak Night • Blind • Bloody Fight in Iron-Rock Valley • The Cat • Champ • Children... • Clash of the Families aka Meet the In-Laws • The Client • Countdown  • Couples • The Day He Arrives • Fighting Spirit • A Fish • The Front Line • Ghastly • GLove • Head • Hindsight • I Am a Dad • In Love and the War • King of Pigs • Late Autumn • Late Blossom • Little Black Dress • Mama • Marrying the Mafia IV • Moby Dick • Pain • Penny Pinchers • Perfect Partner • Pink • Poongsan • Punch • Quick • Romantic Heaven • Sector 7 • Shotgun Love • Silenced • Suicide Forecast • Sunny • Unbowed • U.F.O. • War of the Arrows • White: The Melody of the Curse

2012

26 Years • 90 Minutes • All About My Wife • Architecture 101 • Azooma • Barbie • B·E·D • Behind the Camera • The Boxes of Death, The Live • Cheer Up Mr. Lee • A Company Man • Confession of Murder • The Crucible • Dancing Queen • Dangerously Excited • Dirty Blood • Don't Cry Mommy • Doomsday Book • El Condor Pasa • Eungyo • Fatal • Ghost Sweepers • The Grand Heist • Grape Candy • Horror Stories • Howling • In Another Country • Jiseul • Juvenile Offender • Mai Ratima • Masquerade • Miss Conspirator • Mr. XXX-Kisser • Nameless Gangster • National Security • Neighbors • Over My Dead Body • Pacemaker • Padak • Perfect Number • Pieta • Pluto • R2B: Return to Base • Romance Joe • The Russian Novel • Sleepless Night • Super Virgin • The Thieves • The Tower • Traffickers • Tumbleweed • Two Moons • Virgin Forest • A Werewolf Boy • When Winter Screams • White Night • Young Gun in the Time • Your Time Is Up

2013

11:00 AM • The Attorney • The Berlin File • Boomerang Family • Cold Eyes • Commitment • Dear Dolphin • December • The Dinner • Echo of Dragon • Emergency Exit • An Ethics Lesson • The Face Reader • The Fake • The Fives • The Flu • Friend: The Great Legacy • Genome Hazard • Groggy Summer • Han Gong-ju • Hide and Seek • Hope • Horror Stories 2 • How to Use Guys with Secret Tips • Hwayi: A Monster Boy • Ingtoogi: The Battle of Internet Trolls • Killer Toon • The King of Jogku • Koala • Lebanon Emotion • Man on the Edge • Manshin: Ten Thousand Spirits • Miracle in Cell No. 7 • Moebius • Montage • Mot • Mr. Go • New World • Nobody's Daughter Haewon • Non-Fiction Diary • Nora Noh • Our Sunhi • Pascha • Red Family • Secretly Greatly • Snowpiercer • South Bound • The Spy: Undercover Operation • Steel Cold Winter • Stoker • Sunshine Love • The Suspect • The Terror Live • Thuy • Very Ordinary Couple • Way Back Home • A Wedding Invitation

2014

Alive • The Avian Kind • Cart • The Con Artists • Daughter • Dear Dictator • A Dream of Iron • End of Winter • Entangled • Factory Complex • The Fatal Encounter • Futureless Things • Gifted • A Girl at My Door • Gyeongju • Haemoo • Han River • A Hard Day • Hill of Freedom • Hot Young Bloods • The Huntresses • I Am Trash • Kundo: Age of the Rampant • Live TV • Man in Love (aka When a Man Loves a Woman) • A Matter of Interpretation • Memories of the Sword • A Midsummer's Fantasia • Miss Granny • Monster • Mourning Grave • My Ordinary Love Story • Night Flight • No Tears for the Dead • Ode to My Father • One on One • Parallel • The Pirates • Plan Man • Pohang Harbor • Revivre • Roaring Currents • The Royal Tailor • The Satellite Girl and Milk Cow • Scarlet Innocence • Socialphobia • Sprout • The Target • Timing • The Truth Shall Not Sink With Sewol • Venus Talk • We Will Be OK • Wild Flowers

2015

Alone • Angry Painter Assassination • Bad Guys Always Die • The Beauty Inside • Casa Amor: Exclusive for Ladies • C'est si bon • Chronicle of a Blood Merchant • Coin Locker Girl  Collective Invention  A Copy of My Mind The Deal • Detective K: Secret of the Lost Island • Gangnam Blues • The Himalayas • Inside Men • Intimate Enemies • Island • Madonna • Northern Limit Line • Office Ordinary People • Ownerless Flower Uhwudong • The Piper Reach for the SKY • Recording Right Now, Wrong Then  The Shameless  Special Annie  Steel Flower Three Summer Night • The Tiger • The Treacherous Unwanted Brother • Veteran

2016

The Age of Shadows  Asura: The City of Madness  The Bacchus Lady  Dongju: The Portrait of a Poet  The Handmaiden  Insane  Karaoke Crazies  Missing  The Net  Operation Chromite • Our Love Story • Pandora  The Table Train to Busan • The Truth Beneath  Tunnel  The Wailing  The World of Us  Yourself and Yours

2017

1987: When the Day Comes  After My Death  Along with the Gods: The Two Worlds  Anarchist from Colony  Bamseom Pirates Seoul Inferno  The Battleship Island  Behind the Dark Night  Bluebeard  Butterfly Sleep  The Chase  Claire's Camera  Coffee Noir: Black Brown  Confidential Assignment  The Day After  Ecology in Concrete  Fabricated City  The First Lap  Forgotten  The Fortress  Glass Garden  Heart Blackened  Hit the Night  Home  I Can Speak  The King  Last Child  Memoir of a Murderer  The Merciless  Mermaid Unlimited  Method  Microhabitat  Midnight Runners  The Mimic  Okja  Old Love  On the Beach Alone at Night  The Outlaws  Park Hwa-young  The Prison  Real  Romans 8:37  Room No. 7  The Running Actress  Ryeohaeng  A Single Rider  A Special Lady  Steel Rain  The Swindlers  Taklamakan  A Taxi Driver  A Tiger in Winter  The Tooth and the Nail  The Villainess  V.I.P.

2018

Along with the Gods: The Last 49 Days  Believer  Beautiful Vampire  Be With You  Burning  Gonjiam: Haunted Asylum  A Good Business  Graduation  Hello Dayoung  Herstory  Hotel by the River  Human, Space, Time and Human  Little Forest  The Spy Gone North • Winter's Night

2020


2021


2023


2024



ALPHABETICAL

11:00 AM (2013)
1987: When the Day Comes (1987)
26 Years (2012)
90 Minutes (2012)
Ad-lib Night (2006)
After My Death (2017)
The Age of Shadows (2016)
Alive (2014)
All About My Wife (2012)
Alone (2015)
Along with the Gods: The Last 49 Days (2018)
Along with the Gods: The Two Worlds (2017)
Always (2011)
Anarchist from Colony (2017)
Angry Painter (2015)
The Apprehenders aka Officer of the Year (2011)
Architecture 101 (2012)
A Single Rider (2017)
Asura: The City of Madness (2016)
Assassination (2015)
The Attorney (2013)
The Avian Kind (2014)
Azooma (2012)
The Bacchus Lady (2016)
Bad Guys Always Die (2015)
The Ball Shot by a Midget (1981)
Bamseom Pirates Seoul Inferno (2017)
Barbie (2012)
Battlefield Heroes (2011)
The Battleship Island (2017)
Beat (1997)
Beautiful (2008)
Beautiful Vampire (2018)
The Beauty Inside (2015)
B·E·D (2012)
Bedevilled (2010)
Behind the Camera (2012)
Behind the Dark Night (2017)
Believer (2018)
The Berlin File (2013)
Bestseller (2010)
A Better Tomorrow (2010)
Be With You (2018)
Blades of Blood (2010)
Bleak Night (2011)
Blind (2011)
Bloody Fight in Iron-Rock Valley (2011)
Bluebeard (2017)
Boomerang Family (2013)
Born to Kill (1996)
The Bow (2005)
The Boxes of Death, The Live (2012)
A Brand New Life (2009)
Burning (2018)
Butterfly Sleep (2017)
Café Noir (2009)
Cart (2014)
Casa Amor: Exclusive for Ladies (2015)
The Cat (2011)
C'est si bon (2015)
Champ (2011)
The Chase (2017)
Cheer Up Mr. Lee (2012)
Children... (2011)
Chilsu and Mansu (1988)
Chronicle of a Blood Merchant (2015)
Cinderella (2006)
Claire's Camera (2017)
Clash of the Families aka Meet the In-Laws (2011)
The Client (2011)
Coffee Noir: Black Brown (2017)
Coin Locker Girl (2015)
Cold Eyes (2013)
Collective Invention (2015)
Commitment (2013)
A Company Man (2012)
The Con Artists (2014)
Confession of Murder (2012)
Confidential Assignment (2017)
The Contact (1997)
A Copy of My Mind (2015)
Countdown (2011)
Couples (2011)
The Crucible (2012)
Cut (2004)
Dancing Queen (2012)
Dangerously Excited (2012)
Daughter (2014)
The Day After (2017)
The Day He Arrives (2011)
The Deal (2015)
Dear Dictator (2014)
Dear Dolphin (2013)
Death Bell (2008)
December (2013)
Exhuma (2024)
Fabricated City (2017)
The Face Reader (2013)
Factory Complex (2014)
The Fake (2013)
Family Ties (2006)
Fatal (2012)
The Fatal Encounter (2014)
Fighter (2020)
Fighting Spirit (2011)
The First Lap (2017)
A Fish (2011)
The Fives (2013)
Flame (1975)
The Flu (2013)
For Eternal Hearts (2007)
Forgotten (2017)
The Fortress (2017)
The Foul King (2000)
Friend: The Great Legacy (2013)
The Front Line (2011)
A Frozen Flower (2008)
Futureless Things (2014)
Gangnam Blues (2015)
The General's Son (1990)
The General's Son 2 (1991)
The General's Son 3 (1992)
Genome Hazard (2013)
Ghastly (2011)
Ghost Sweepers (2012)
Gifted (2014)
A Girl at My Door (2014)
Glass Garden (2017)
GLove (2011)
Gonjiam: Haunted Asylum (2018)
A Good Business (2018)
A Good Rain Knows (2009)
The Grand Heist (2012)
Grand Prix (2010)
Graduation (2018)
Grape Candy (2012)
Green Fish (1997)
Groggy Summer (2013)
Gyeongju (2014)
Haemoo (2014)
Haeundae (Tidal Wave) (2009)
The Handmaiden (2016)
Han Gong-ju (2013)
Han River (2014)
Happy End (1999)
A Hard Day (2014)
Haunters (2010)
Head (2011)
Heart Blackened (2017)
Hello Dayoung (2018)
Hero (2010)
Herstory (2018)
Hide and Seek (2013)
Hill of Freedom (2014)
The Himalayas (2015)
Hindsight (2011)
Hit the Night (2017)
Home (2017)
Hope (2013)
Horror Stories (2012)
Horror Stories 2 (2013)
Hotel by the River (2018)
How to Use Guys with Secret Tips (2013)
Hot Young Bloods (2014)
Howling (2012)
Human, Space, Time and Human (2018)
The Huntresses (2014)
Hwayi: A Monster Boy (2013)
I Am a Dad (2011)
I Am Trash (2014)
I Can Speak (2017)
In Another Country (2012)
Ingtoogi: The Battle of Internet Trolls (2013)
In Love and the War (2011)
Insane (2016)
Inside Men (2015)
Iodo (1977)
I Saw the Devil (2010)
Island (2015)
The Isle (2000)
Jiseul (2012)
Juvenile Offender (2012)
Karaoke Crazies (2016)
Killer Toon (2013)
Memories of Murder (2003)
Memories of the Sword (2014)
The Merciless (2017)
Mermaid Unlimited (2017)
Metamorpheses (2010)
Method (2017)
Microhabitat (2017)
Midnight Runners (2017)
A Midsummer's Fantasia (2014)
The Mimic (2017)
Miracle in Cell No. 7 (2013)
Miss Conspirator (2012)
Missing (2016)
Miss Granny (2014)
Moby Dick (2011)
Moebius (2013)
Monster (2014)
Montage (2013)
Mot (2013)
Mother (2009)
Mourning Grave (2014)
My Name Is Loh Kiwan (2024)
My Ordinary Love Story (2014)
Nameless Gangster (2012)
National Security (2012)
Neighbors (2012)
The Net (2016)
New World (2013)
Night Flight (2014)
Night Journey (1977)
No. 3 (1997)
Nobody's Daughter Haewon (2013)
Non-Fiction Diary (2013)
No Mercy (2010)
Nora Noh (2013)
Northern Limit Line (2015)
No Tears for the Dead (2014)
Ode to My Father (2014)
Office (2015)
Oki's Movie (2010)
Okja (2017)
The Oldest Son (1984)
The Old Garden (2006)
Old Love (2017)
One on One (2014)
On the Beach Alone at Night (2017)
Operation Chromite (2016)
Ordinary People (2015)
Our Love Story (2016)
Our Sunhi (2013)
The Outlaws (2017)
Over My Dead Body (2012)
Ownerless Flower Uhwudong (2015)
Pacemaker (2012)
Padak (2012)
Pain (2011)
Pandora (2016)
Parallel (2014)
Park Hwa-young (2017)
Pascha (2013)
Penny Pinchers (2011)
Perfect Number (2012)
Perfect Partner (2011)
Petty Romance (2010)
Pieta (2012)
Pink (2011)
The Piper (2015)
The Pirates (2014)
Plan Man (2014)
Pluto (2012)
Pohang Harbor (2014)
Pollen (1972)
Poongsan (2011)
Possessed (2009)
The Prison (2017)
Punch (2011)
Quick (2011)
The Quiz Show Scandal (2010)
R2B: Return to Base (2012)
Rainy Days (1979)
Reach for the SKY (2015)
Real (2017)
Recording (2015)
Red Family (2013)
Re-encounter (2010)
The Restless (2006)
Revivre (2014)
Right Now, Wrong Then (2015)
The Road to Sampo (1975)
Roaring Currents (2014)
Romance Joe (2012)
Romans 8:37 (2017)
The Royal Tailor (2014)
Romantic Heaven (2011)
Room No. 7 (2017)
Seire (2021)
Snowball (2020)
Snowpiercer (2013)
Sleepless Night (2012)
Socialphobia (2014)
South Bound (2013)
Special Annie (2015)
A Special Lady (2017)
Steel Rain 2: Summit (2020)
Stoker (2013)
Suddenly in Dark Night (1981)
Suicide Forecast (2011)
Sunny (2011)
Super Virgin (2012)
Sunshine Love (2013)
The Suspect (2013)
The Swindlers (2017)
The Table (2016)
Taegukgi (2004)
Take Off (2008)
Taklamakan (2017)
The Target (2014)
A Taxi Driver (2017)
The Terror Live (2013)
The Tiger (2015)
A Tiger in Winter (2017)
Timing (2014)
The Thieves (2012)
Thuy (2013)
This Charming Girl (2004)
To Sir, with Love (2006)
The Tooth and the Nail (2017)
The Tower (2012)
Three Summer Night (2015)
Train to Busan (2016)
Traffickers (2012)
The Treacherous (2015)
Troubleshooter (2010)
The Truth Beneath (2016)
The Truth Shall Not Sink With Sewol (2014)
Tumbleweed (2012)
Tunnel (2016)
Two Moons (2012)
Typhoon (2005)
U.F.O. (2011)
Unbowed (2011)
The Unjust (2010)
Unwanted Brother (2015)
Venus Talk (2014)
Very Ordinary Couple (2013)
Young Adult Matters (2020)
Young Gun in the Time (2012)
Yourself and Yours (2016)
Your Time Is Up (2012)


World Cinema

11 Flowers (China, 2011)
Abba (Taiwan, 2011)
Afro Tanaka (Japan, 2012)
Antonio das Mortes (Brazil, 1969)
Asmaa (Egypt, 2011)
The Bounty (Hong Kong, 2012)
Cold War (Hong Kong, 2012)
Cuchera (Philippines, 2011)
Cut (Japan, 2011)
Egg and Stone (China, 2012)
Fable of the Fish (Philippines, 2011)
Gainsbourg by Gainsbourg (France, 2012)
Golden Slumbers (Cambodia, 2011)
Guerilla (Bangladesh, 2011)
Hawking (UK, 2013)
The Heineken Kidnapping (Holland, 2011)
Historias Que So Existem Quando Lembradas (Brazil, 2011)
At Home Among Strangers, Strangers at Home (Russia, 1974)
Honey Pupu (Taiwan, 2011)
I Catch a Terrible Cat (Japan, 2012)
In the Open (Argentina, 2011)
It's Never Too Late (Israel, 2011)
Jason Becker: Not Dead Yet (USA, 2012)
La Desintegration (France, 2011)
The Last Christeros (Mexico, 2011)
The Last Elvis (Argentina, 2012)
The Last Friday (Jordan, 2011)
Lilou's Adventure (Japan, 2012)
Love in a Puff (Hong Kong, 2010)
Lucky (South Africa, 2011)
Monpura (Bangladesh, 2009)
The Moon (Thailand, 2011)
Morente (Spain, 2011)
One Mile Above (China, 2011)
One Two One (Iran, 2011)
Osaka Violence (Japan, 2012)
Punk's Not Dead (Macedonia, 2011)
The Raid (Indonesia, 2011)
Romance (Switzerland, 2011)
Romancing in Thin Air (Hong Kong, 2011)
Runway (Bangladesh, 2010)
Salt (Chile, 2011)
Sex and Zen: Extreme Ecstasy 3D (Hong Kong, 2011)
Sita Sings the Blues (USA, 2008)
The Suicide Shop 3D (France, 2012)
Sukiyaki (Japan, 2011)
Tatsumi (Singapore, 2011)
The Zebra (Mexico, 2011)
This Is Not a Film (Iran, 2011)
Tilai (Burkina Faso, 1990)
Tropicalia (Brazil, 2012)
Vulgaria (Hong Kong, 2012)
Where Do We Go Now? (Lebanon, 2011)
The Woman in the Septic Tank (Philippines, 2011)
The Woodsman and the Rain (Japan, 2011)
Yaaba (Burkina Faso, 1989)
Zombie 108 (Taiwan, 2012)