There Are 16 Great Korean Movies To Watch Right Now:
There aren’t any big surprises at the top of this list. However, 2019 was a very bad year for Korean movies in general, not just the clear choice for best film of the year. Since the last year or two, there have been a lot of blockbusters. As the industry has attempted to fix its course, a lot of good but not great mid-level films have come out.
The same thing is happening in the independent film business, which has become dull because so many good films with the identical social themes keep showing up at festivals. Very few of them are truly exciting.
As Bong Joon-ho’s “Parasite” continues to amaze viewers and looks like a strong contender for the upcoming Academy Awards, one can’t help but think about the amazing growth of Korean cinema and the great movies it has produced over the years.
My First Client:
In “My First Client,” based on an actual event, there is a horrible murder and the sad events that follow. The story starts with Jeong-yeop, a lawyer, taking on the investigation of a young girl who said she killed her brother.
https://youtu.be/ZKfDdo0Anlg?si=nJcaQK99nhJhaJRL
A terrible truth is revealed by Jeong-yeop as he looks into the family history, the siblings’ relationship, and where they live. The movie lets its imagination run wild, but keeps true to its narrative as well as the feelings it wants to share.
The Bad Guys: Reign Of Chaos:
These are the best Korean movies of 2019. The Bad Guys: Reign of Chaos is at the top of the list. When it came out, this action movie ruled the Korean movie theaters, but it’s not a classic.
Based on the same-named TV show, The Bad Guys stars A-listers like Ma Dong-seok as well as Kim Ah-joong as a group of crooks hired to help catch a yakuza boss.
There are exciting fight scenes and awkward times of humor in the movie. Korean moviegoers probably liked the movie because it had both exciting fight scenes and awkwardly funny bits, as well as an anti-Japanese tone that was just right.
Parasite:
Bong Joon-ho’s Parasite is becoming one of the best movies of all time, forget about being the best Korean movie of 2019. It’s already made history by being the first Korean movies to win the Palme d’Or as well as being nominated for a Golden Globe. It will likely also be the first film to be nominated to and win an Academy Award.
Parasite is the most famous movie ever made by one of the best directors of our time. It perfectly balances art and business while weaving a gripping web of fear, joy, and surprise between different levels of society.
Parasite is a beautiful movie alongside some of the finest production design, photography, and cutting of the year. Its cast is led through the great Song Kang-ho and features standouts like Lee Jung-eun’s sweet and surprising maid.
Exit:
This disaster tale is about a man who has to accept how flawed he is in order to save the day. One of the main characters was a man named Yong-nam. He showed a lot of promise as a rock climber in college. But when it came to building a job, he did terribly. He still lives with his parents even though it’s been a long time since his best days.
In honor of his mother’s 70th birthday, he plans a party at the place where the woman he loves works. But shortly, a great day changes into a terrible one when a white gas fills the area. Now is a good time for him to put to use his rock climbing skills.
The Gangster, The Cop, The Devil:
People who like action movies might also like The Gangster, The Cop, as well as The Devil. The unique plot of the movie is that a big gang boss teams up with a tired police officer to find a crazy serial killer.
There is tension between the thug, the police officer, and the devil. The main character thug and the police officer both want to do the same thing, but they do it in very different ways.
It’s not clear who might win until the very end. Ma Dong-seok lives up to his image as a strong action star by throwing a lot of hard punches that maintain the movie moving forward.
People all over the world also saw The Gangster, the Cop, as well as the Devil. At the 2019 Cannes Film Festival, it was shown. Sylvester Stallone wants to make a Hollywood version of it.
Kim Ji-young, Born 1982:
The most controversial movie in Korea that year was Kim Ji-young, Born within 1982. It may have also been the most important movie that year. Based on Cho Nam-ju’s popular book of the identical name, the film caused a huge stir in the country’s gender gap when it first came out.
For weeks, women flocked to see it, while a vocal group of men screamed and whined like giant baby boys, calling it “feminist trash,” which only served to emphasize the story’s relevant themes.
https://youtu.be/QLid-DolSro?si=hTOVgmc0AlhAiJzI
The movie brings up important issues, and I’m glad that the film Kim Ji-young, Born 1982, was a great version that stays away from the unnecessary drama that a lot of Korean social issue movies have.
Jung Yu-mi does a great job in the lead part, and Kim Do-young, who is making his directorial debut, pulls out both subtle as well as powerful drama from the text.
A Diamond In The Rough:
“You’ll grasp when you have kids of your own,” our parents often tell us. What do you understand? That’s the question we ask. In this case, though, parents are right. There is no way to get ready for having kids, raising them, as well as watching them make or break their own lives.
They are always hopeful, yet kids don’t always get it. “A Diamond in the Rough” is about a man who has been a criminal all his life. But when he gets caught and goes to jail, he sees how much pain he has caused his mother. This makes him wonder if she would continue to adore him like she did before, despite the fact he isn’t fond of himself anymore.
Innocent Witness:
A supposed crime is where an innocent witness starts. She is charged with murder after the death of her sad senior client. Her name is Mi-ran. Only Ji-woo, a 15-year-old girl upon the autism spectrum, is said to have seen this alleged act.
Heartthrob star Jung Woo-sung steps in as Sun-ho, Mi-ran’s lawyer. Sun-ho used to be a human rights lawyer but turned his back on the cause for big money. He now protects Mi-ran for free to make his boss happy.
Sun-ho tries to become friends with Ji-woo after understanding that she might be able to help him prove Mi-ran’s innocence. During this, he learns what it means to be a “good person.”
It’s nice to see Jung Woo-sung within a part that isn’t romantic, and Kim Hyang-gi does an excellent job playing an autistic character with sensitivity.
When it comes to Korean movies that mix developmental problems with justice, Innocent Witness might not be as well-known as Miracle in Cell No. 7, but it has the same warm feeling.
Another Child:
This year, superstar Kim Yun-seok finally took the helm as a director. The film version of the stage play Another Child is a lesson for all the actors and, besides Parasite, likely the most tightly written movie of the year.
This strange affair/family drama was full of heart, empathy, as well as humor, and it shines the spotlight on four amazing actors. Kim Yun-seok plays the bad guy on the run in the background.
Inseparable Bros:
When it comes to building good connections, blood doesn’t matter. Even if two people have the same last name, you might not feel connected to each other. Sometimes you’d treat someone like family even though you had nothing to do with them. Even though Se-Ha as well as Dong-Goo are not related by blood, they act like they are.
They’ve been through all of life’s ups and downs together and still help each other get ahead, even though they both have flaws. Even when Se-Ha’s body fails him, his mind always comes through.
Dong-Goo might not be the smartest person in the world, but he is in great health. When these two people meet Mi-Hyun, they understand they need to see more of the world.
Birthday:
In 2014, the ship MV Sewol sank close to the coast of South Korea. 304 people died, and 250 of them were students. The tragedy made South Korea do a lot of deep soul-searching because it brought up problems of corruption and bad government.
There have been many films made in Korea about the Sewol accident, but 2019’s Birthday was the first theatrical movie to look into it.
Birthday is a movie directed by the great Lee Chang-dong that is about a family whose oldest son Su-ho died in the Sewol disaster. As Su-ho’s birthday gets closer, his father Jung-il as well as mother Soon-nam find it hard to raise their daughter Ye-sol without thinking about their son.
In contrast to the films about Sewol, Birthday is more about how people felt after the accident. This movie is very sad because it shows the tragedy from the point of view of one family. Birthday has value for people who want a slower-paced, more emotional look at death.
Moving On:
Even though there were a lot of good films at the Busan International Film Festival this year, Moving On was the big finding. It is the impressive first film by director Yoon Dan-bi. In Korean movies, divorce has grown into a bigger issue. This year, three well-reviewed independent films came out that are about the kids of divorce.
I didn’t like Yoon Ga-eun’s new movie The House of Us, and I still haven’t seen Scattered Night, which won the Jeonju Grand Prize. But in this short but moving story, Yoon Dan-bi does a great job of mixing adult themes alongside child views and confusion.
Cheer Up, Mr Lee:
At some point or another, everyone has a hard time. And each person deals with it in their own way. When Cheol-Soo’s daughter gets really sick, things get hard for him.
He loves her more than anyone else in the world. He takes a big hit from her worsening health, and he starts to lose control of his senses. His daughter was the only person who could have helped him get through that hard time.
Then one day she shows up in front of him, healthy and fine. What does this mean and how did it happen? It’s decided that Cheol-Soo won’t waste time trying to find an answer. He goes upon a trip alongside his daughter instead.
Money:
If you loved the American film Wall Street, you might enjoy the 2019 Korean movie Money. In this story about high-class Korean finance, a young trader called Jo Il-hyun becomes involved with a strange plan to trade on inside information.
Han Ji-chul, a tough stocks inspector, finds out about this plan, and a fun game of mouse and cat starts. The movie Money is a lot like Martin Scorsese as well as Leonardo DiCaprio’s Wolf of Wall Street. It uses fun and tension to tell a story about arrogance and showy wealth.
Money also moves forward thanks to Ryu Jun-yeol’s strong performance as a young boy from the country who has something to show. Money, along with Default from last year, shows that Korea can make finance-themed movies that are just as good as Hollywood ones.
Forbidden Dream:
After being let down by the extremely comparable The King’s Letters this summer, I was almost done with the year’s last big release, which is also about King Sejong’s close friendship with an inventor/scholar.
Forbidden Dream could be the greatest film that famous dramatic master Hur Jin-ho produced since One Fine Spring Day. It goes from a light and slightly corny first half to a strong ending without a hitch. The relationship between Han Suk-kyu as well as Choi Min-sik is without a doubt the best Korean relationship of the year.
Tune In For Love:
It is still thought that the economic crisis of the 1990s was the worst financial disaster the country has ever seen. People who run businesses and are in charge of economies in other nations could learn a lot from looking into what caused it.
To sum up, Korea’s small businesses went out of business when the owners proved they couldn’t pay back the loans they took out to run their businesses. Foreign interests were taken back, and the government didn’t have the money to bail itself out. It had to turn to the IMF for help, and they gave it $58 billion.
People often say that the only way is up after hitting rock bottom. That’s what happened alongside South Korea, as well as the country not only got back on track, but it also went beyond the IMF’s basic requirements for its growth.
A smart man who said, “You just learned a few f***ing history.” The aim of this lecture was to teach. In the middle of the problems listed above, this movie tells a love story. Even though the country was poor and unemployed, love tried to rise beyond it.