Hangul Celluloid: Reviews (Korean Films)

The Hangul Celluloid Korean reviews section contains reviews of new and existing DVD releases of South Korean films. Click any of the links below to read the relevant review or use the links above to browse the site.

REVIEWS (KOREAN FILMS)

	Addicted: Each of the characters becomes an unwilling victim of the love that they choose and each has to question whether to pay the high price which that love requires...
	April Snow: A melancholy tale of love and betrayal, April Snow may not be as instantly accessible as some of Hur Jin-ho's other films, but is a worthy addition to his CV, nonetheless...
	Bedevilled: A slow burning film which racks up the tension incrementally, Bedevilled builds to unleash violent, bloody retribution within a tale which is ultimately powerful, poignant and deeply moving...
	Bleak Night: A multi-layered, multi-themed dissection of adolescence, Bleak Night delves into issues of peer pressure, bullying, guilt, blame and culpability within a brooding, yet gripping, tale of the intricacies and difficulties of relationships...
	Blue Swallow: An epic film in every sense, Blue Swallow bravely tells the controversial story of pioneering Korean female aviator, Park Kyung-won. How much of the film's narrative is historical fact, and how much is simply a cinematic flight of fancy, is certainly open for debate but, nonetheless, Blue Swallow boldly states that Park Kyung-won was a woman to be greatly admired, rather than vilified...
	Breathless: Breathless is a visceral discussion of the legacy which violence can create and the ease with which it can span generations, infecting everything and everyone in its path. An outstanding film which truly packs a punch, Breathless will take your breath away...
	The Chaser: If Old Boy and Memories of Murder had an illegitimate love child it would be The Chaser. That said, the plot still grippingly supplants expectations...
	Christmas in August: One of Hur Jin-ho's most accessible films, Christmas in August is a heartfelt, poignant and affecting story of love and loss, in which the words "I love you" never need to be said...
	The Classic: When all is said and done, The Classic still manages to be better as a whole than as the sum of its component parts should allow but it really is a pity that a film as gorgeous as this is prevented, by the contrivances and problems present, from being as truly memorable as it could, so easily, have been...
	Crazy First Love: In other hands, Crazy First Love could, perhaps, have been an engaging romantic comedy with some poignant moments but, sadly, what we end up with here is simply a collection of borrowed ideas from other superior movies, nailed together by annoying characters and illogical character motivations...
	Daisy: Daisy would be an stunningly beautiful, engaging love story and suspenseful thriller if not for the lapses in logic and the fact that the narration pushes itself too far and takes itself a little bit too seriously...
	Daytime Drinking: Daytime Drinking is such a gently paced, deeply eccentric and genuinely funny road movie that once you've had even a tiny taste of it, you'll want to drink it to the very last drop...
	Death Bell: While Death Bell is unlikely to cause viewers to alter their list of the best ever South Korean horror films, its old-school feel combined with elements from more recent visceral horror fare, alongside numerous references to the incredible pressures that Korea’s school system can place on pupils, parents and teachers alike, ensure that it is nonetheless a welcome addition to the horror genre...
	Diary of June: Though certainly not a perfect film (if such a thing exists), Diary of June still has much more to offer than standard serial killer fare, detailing, within its story, a fairly taut critique of the school system, bullying and the pressures placed on children by parents, and vice versa...
	Double Agent: Though flawed, Double Agent resolutely shows that it doesn't need CGI pyrotechnics or secret agent gadgets to be an engaging spy thriller throughout...
	Failan: In every aspect Failan is a ground breaking film, imaginatively conceived and expertly executed. Hollywood could never succeed in making a film which breaks your heart the way Failan does and let's hope it never tries...
	The Fox Family: At the same time, a horror film, a black comedy, a musical extravaganza and a love story, The Fox Family asks whether humanity is reserved for, and often wasted on, humans. A genuinely funny and engaging film which, like its characters, has more to it than initially meets the eye...
	The Fox with Nine Tails: With the age-old Korean folklore of a fox spirit attempting to become human at its core, The Fox with Nine Tails merges fantasy, horror, romance and melodrama to create a tale with a moral worthy of the legend on which it’s based...
	The Front Line: While it could be said that the characterisations in The Front Line would have benefitted from having more depth and being slightly less obvious, the film nonetheless remains a far more worthy cinematic offering than any war film about a horse, Oscar nomination or not...
	Ghost Theatre: Regardless of your particular preference within Korean Cinema, there are times when we all just want to be warmly entertained, and if that's what your hankering for, Ghost Theatre really is something to make a song and dance about...
	The Good, The Bad, The Weird : Ok, the plot isn't multi-layered, there's no real "good will triumph over evil" but if that's what you're looking for you're missing the point...
	A Good Lawyer's Wife: On the surface, A Good Lawyer's Wife positively pulsates with explicitness while, at its heart, beats a deeply intelligent critique of family and the scars that familial bonds can create...
	Green Chair: Tackling the taboo subject of a love affair frowned upon by society, Green Chair exquisitely, and explicitly, gives an insight into the minds, and opinions, of those both inside and outside the risqué relationship...
	Hansel & Gretel: Yim Phil-sung has produced a stunningly beautiful dark fantasy which rewrites, or more exactly, extends the Grimm fairy tale we all know...
	Happy End: Happy End is an uncompromising look at the human heart and how its desires, if unchecked, can rule the head with cataclysmic results. A cautionary tale which is both explicit and unmissable...
	The Harmonium In My Memory: At the same time sad, funny, moving and uplifting, The Harmonium In My Memory is what everyone's first love should be...
	Harmony: Attempting to be a poignant melodrama containing both humorous and uplifting elements, Harmony largely fails due to the disparity of its constituent parts - each detracting from the others' effectiveness, with none truly mixing harmoniously...
	The Housemaid (1960): A claustrophobic, yet gripping, morality tale, The Housemaid is as vital today as it was on its release fifty years ago. No wonder that both Bong Joon-ho and Park Chan-wook have cited it as a major influence on their work...
	The Housemaid (2010): Though not as subtly stated, socially accurate, or downright claustrophobic and creepy as its illustrious predecessor, The Housemaid still stands its ground as a well realised and gripping thriller which deftly shows that power can easily become as addictive as a drug...
	The Humanist: Though somewhat flawed and erratically paced, The Humanist still has a lot to offer fans of wilfully tasteless, yet genuinely funny, humour. Just don't let your local nun watch it...
	Il Mare: Il Mare is unashamedly romantic through and through but never resorts to being sappy. Warmth exudes from the characters, the dialogue and the screen imagery and the whole films feels like it could be real - quite something considering the other-worldliness of the story...
	I'm A Cyborg: If you were to cross One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest with Amelie and add a healthy dose of Terminator you would come pretty close to getting I'm A Cyborg...
	In Between Days: A meditative and thought-provoking film which charts the inner turmoil of a girl struggling to come to terms with a new life and changing feelings, In Between Days is beautifully filmed, superbly acted and expertly realised...
	I Saw The Devil: A visceral, brutal, yet at times beautiful, film, I Saw The Devil deftly shows that no closure, appeasement or fulfillment is to be found in the act of revenge, with only emptiness and the unforeseen consequences of vengeful actions ultimately resulting from it...
	July 32nd: There is no happiness whatsoever in July 32nd, and a bleaker film would be quite an effort to find, but a story this poignantly satisfying and deftly executed cannot fail to grip like a vice, breaking the heart and remaining in the mind long after the credits roll. Astounding...
	Kill Me: While the concept of a hardened hitman gradually falling in love with his intended target is certainly nothing new, director Yang Jong-hyeon brings a freshness to the idea by turning it completely (and literally) on its head, allowing the film to successfully step away from predictability to become something much more original and memorable...
	Leafie: A Hen into the Wild: Disney once asked viewers to believe that an elephant can fly. With Leafie: A Hen into the Wild, you'll believe that a hen has a heart, and a beautiful one at that...
	Lies: Despite the use of numerous contrived plot devices throughout, Lovers' Concerto is, nonetheless, an extremely engaging, deeply moving tale of heartbreak, love and loss...
	Lovers' Concerto: Despite the use of numerous contrived plot devices throughout, Lovers' Concerto is, nonetheless, an extremely engaging, deeply moving tale of heartbreak, love and loss...
	Man of Vendetta: While “race against time” thrillers are two-a-penny in almost any culture, not least South Korean cinema, Man of Vendetta nonetheless manages to supplant expectations on several occasions and, thankfully, steers clear of any forced upbeat moments and saccharine segments to allow for some genuine unpredictability and gravitas to be displayed...
	A Man Who Was Superman: A Man Who Was Superman is a moving character study showing the frailties of the human mind and the resultant effects of both physical and emotional trauma. A film which ultimately reminds us that though the past can't be changed the future has not yet been written...
	Memories of Murder: Based on the true story of South Korea's first serial-killer case, Memories of Murder is a masterpiece which seemlessly blends drama, tension and even black humour...
	Metamorphoses: Initially appearing as a gently humorous story of one man's unrequited love for a beautiful woman, Metamorphoses mirrors its theme of "nothing is as it first appears", to ultimately become a brutal, menacing, bloody, and extremely funny, "careful what you wish for" cautionary tale...
	Missing: Though largely predictable and unevenly paced, Missing still manages to be unsettling and even moving at times, and while it may not be the best example of its genre, it stands its ground fairly well, all the same...
	A Moment: 'A Moment' is easily as topical today as it was when it was made in 2010, and considering recent news stories from China, perhaps even more so. A dark and twisted tale which resolutely shows that an action taken in a single moment can ultimately change the lives of all concerned, irrevocably...
	A Moment to Remember: While the plot of A Moment To Remember is contrived and manipulative, it still, somehow, manages to be affecting - with Son Ye-jin's astounding performance selling every line - and as the credits roll, you'll find yourself thinking that you should have (and did) know better, but a part of you will secretly be glad you didn't listen...
	Moss: Based on an internet comic of the same name, Moss’ underlying references to power; corruption; revenge and guilt, as well as sin and redemption, create a veritable labyrinth of elements within the narrative, ultimately allowing the film to be far more worthy than one might initially imagine...
	Mother: In, perhaps, his most accomplished film to date, Bong Joon-ho successfully shows us how fine the line, between being a mother and becoming a monster, really can be...
	Mother is a Whore: With its intelligently written and deftly executed narrative, Mother is a Whore serves not only as a searing, bleak and unsettling tale but also as an in-depth critique of the concept of family...
	My Dear Enemy: Initially appearing to be a quirky "road movie", My Dear Enemy ultimately proves itself to be an uplifting and multi-layered character study. An engaging and gently gripping film from beginning to end...
	My Mother The Mermaid: My Mother The Mermaid is a simple story, beautifully conceived, realised and acted throughout. Dedicated "To mother", it, in fact, stands as a dedication to motherhood itself...
	My Sassy Girl: With engaging characters, witty dialogue and some truly laugh out loud moments My Sassy Girl makes watching a sociopath beat up her boyfriend more fun than you could ever imagine...
	My Wife Got Married: On the surface, a discussion of monogamy vs. polygamy, My Wife Got Married also serves as a critique, and subversion, of stereotypical male/female roles in relationships, all wrapped up within a gently humourous (albeit, erratically paced) romantic tale...
	Natali: If you're in need of a film with an engaging, heartfelt storyline, then watch an insightful drama; if you're looking for a sex film, watch a sex film. Despite its marketing, Natali fits into neither of these categories, and the most positive thing that can be said is that it's in 3D...
	Night Fishing: Take the fact that Night Fishing was made using the iPhone4 and completely set it aside, for even if you took all the best elements from Park Chan-wook's previous films, wrapped them up within a gripping narrative and added the beyond exemplary cast performances seen here, you still wouldn't come even close to creating a film as astounding as this, regardless of what technology was used...
	Oasis: Lee Chang-dong has created a masterpiece in Oasis. It is both a love story and a story about the human condition and the mirror it holds up for viewers to look at themselves in stays long after the credits role...
	Open City: Though visually accomplished, Open City is sadly hampered by a predictable, unimaginative plot and a set of characters that are little more than caricatures...
	Paju: A melancholy, yet darkly beautiful, film, Paju asks whether ignorance really is bliss, or if it simply brings a different set of heartaches to those brought by knowledge. A film which not only needs to be seen, but deserves to be seen more than once...
	Peppermint Candy: A compelling film which shows how innocence, hopes and dreams can so easily be lost before the heart even realises what is happening...
	Petty Romance: Live action and graphic novel imagery combine within this genuinely funny and warmly romantic tale to ensure that Petty Romance both touches the heart and tickles the funny bone throughout, though not necessarily in that order...
	Poetry: Poetry is the story of one woman's search for meaning, beauty and expression in a life peppered with pain and long lost dreams, and by the time the credits roll, viewers will be in no doubt that they have witnessed an utterly unforgettable, gentle yet gripping and poetic story which is equally as uplifting as it is poignant. In short, life is Poetry...
	Portrait of a Beauty: Sexually explicit in both narrative content and imagery, Portrait of a Beauty asks what dictates whether visual depictions of the sexual act are deemed as art or seen simply as pornography, deftly critiquing Joseon-era Korea, in the process...
	Re-encounter: A dark and beautifully bleak affair, Re-encounter is a dissection of grief, guilt and regret that ultimately asks if it really is darkest before the dawn...
	Sad Movie: Initially succeeding as an engaging romantic drama with genuinely funny comedic elements, Sad Movie ultimately pushes too many heartbreaks too far...
	Sa-kwa: A constantly twisting plot detailing the intricacies of human deceit, betrayal, anger and regret, Sa-kwa is an astounding film, and there's no deception whatsoever in that statement...
	Save The Green Planet!: Save The Green Planet is utterly bonkers. It's incredibly funny, viciously brutal, genuinely moving and completely nuts...
	The Scarlet Letter: The Scarlet Letter is an utterly gripping work showing the darker side of love and the consequences of surrendering completely to lust and temptation. It also serves as a tribute to the talent of the late Lee Eun-joo...
	Secret Love: Elements of thriller and suspense drama, sadly, cannot save Secret Love from essentially being a melodrama with little heart, and an all too familiar, overly contrived, and clumsily executed, plot simply begs the question of whether Secret Love should, perhaps, have remained secret, after all...
	Secret Sunshine: Secret Sunshine is both a study of grief and a dissection of faith and religion. Like director Lee Chang-dong's previous work the film doesn't shy away from showing the disintegration of a human being as a result of uncontrollable events and the actions those events illicit...
	The Servant: Billed as an "erotic rom-com", The Servant serves its purpose as a sensual and funny romance relatively well, but character depth and audience empathy suffer as the myriad of layers begin to build, and even the sumptuous visuals cannot rescue The Servant from ultimately failing to live up to its early promise..
	Sopyonje: A masterpiece of Korean Cinema, Sopyonje details the trials and tribulations of both the film’s characters and historical Korea itself, with the words mournful and hypnotic serving to describe both Sopyonje, the pansori music, and Sopyonje, the film...
	Sorum: With its slow, brooding and genuinely unsettling narrative, Sorum isn't a film which everyone will savour, but its uncompromisingly bleak depiction of the vicious depths to which human beings are capable of sinking certainly allows it to stand out from standard horror movie fare...
	Spider Forest: A combination of thriller, horror story and ghostly tale, Spider Forest details one man's attempts to uncover his forgotten memories, and serves as a thought provoking study of loss, betrayal, regret and self-destruction...
	Summer Time: Summer Time dissects and discusses the events surrounding, and subsequent to, the Kwangju uprising of 1980 within a deeply erotic and highly sexually charged narrative, and its ultimate success is largely dependent on whether or not individual viewers get overly bogged down (or caught up) by the sheer volume of sex and eroticism on show...
	Sunny: In Sunny, director Kang Hyeong-cheol takes what could easily have been a clichéd and predictable storyline and brings a freshness and vitality to proceedings at every single turn. While it could never be considered deep, Sunny, frankly, never tries to be, and instead successfully concentrates its efforts on mixing genuinely funny humour with truly moving drama, within an altogether incredibly engaging tale...
	A Tale of Two Sisters: A lot of horror films are described in dark, brooding terms but very few could be described as beautiful. A Tale of Two Sisters is a sumptuously beautiful film...
	Teenage Hooker Became A Killing Machine: Teenage Hooker Became A Killing Machine sadly squanders the opportunity presented by one of the most evocative titles in recent memory; stretching a ten minute music video plot out to a laboured sixty minutes...
	Thirst: Thirst truly is a sumptuous film and the sum of its many parts utterly redefines the concept of beauty and the beast...
	This Charming Girl: This Charming Girl peels away the layers of an ordinary, everyday woman to reveal a character much more interesting and complex than she appears on the surface. An incredible film with astounding realism, This Charming Girl deftly shows that everyone has a story worth telling...
	Time: More a discussion of perception than a depiction of the increasing trend for plastic surgery, Time ably shows that a physical change in appearance only scratches the surface, literally, of who a person is and the mental issues they have...
	Treeless Mountain: A quietly gripping, sometimes painfully heart-breaking, and ultimately life affirming drama, Treeless Mountain provides an unmissable view of the world of the main characters, from three feet off the ground...
	The Trip: An utterly beautiful film, in both its story and setting, The Trip fully deserves every accolade beginning with "heart" that you could possibly think of...
	Untold Scandal: Untold Scandal is easily the most sensual and sumptuous of all of the adaptations of Les Liaisons Dangereuses. A tour-de-force from beginning to end, Untold Scandal is a film which everyone should be told about...
	The Uprising: A seemingly endless pre-occupation with forced exposition combined with a lack of character depth and, resultantly, next to no possible character empathy whatsoever, all adds up to The Uprising being interminably dull from start to finish. Not only a waste of the talents of Shim Eun-ha and Lee Jung-jae but, ultimately, also rather a waste of viewers' time...
	Vegetarian: A dark, and at times even bleak, story of mental illness, eating disorders, love, sex and betrayal, Vegetarian will give those who appreciate brooding drama something to really chew over...
	Welcome To Dongmakgol: An uplifting and gently funny tale, told with genuine affection and served up with copious amounts of popcorn (watch the film and you'll understand what I mean), Welcome To Dongmakgol reminds us that, whatever our beliefs and whatever the causes for which we fight, we should never forget our humanity...
	Wet Dreams: Close to laugh-out-loud funny in places, Wet Dreams is a nostalgic trip through the memories of adolescence...
	White Night: White Night is an utterly superlative film which repeatedly reminds fans of Korean films of the reasons they fell in love with South Korean cinema in the first place. Film of the year!
	Windstruck: A rather lackluster script and jolting switches between genres diminish what would otherwise be an engaging story, and the constant mirroring of elements from My Sassy Girl are a constant reminder of all the things that Windstruck would have liked to have been...
	Woochi: The Demon Slayer: Numerous film genres blending seemlessly with top notch action, well-realised special effects and genuinely likeable characters add up to Woochi: The Demon Slayer being out and out spectacular entertainment from beginning to end...
	The World of Silence: Though flawed by the use of unlikely coincidences to move major plot points forward, worthy underlying theme discussion combined with engaging characterisation and some superb acting make The World of Silence a welcome addition to the serial killer/thriller genre...
	Yellow Hair: While Yellow Hair could never be described as subtle, and though its narrative depth is less involved than it could perhaps have been, this dark and twisted tale is nonetheless far more worthy of merit and discussion than the description "adult thriller" would suggest...
	The Yellow Sea: The Yellow Sea is a fast-paced, violent and bloody rollercoaster ride which details its numerous narrative threads in such a heart-pounding manner that it virtually guarantees audiences will be left exhilarated and perhaps even breathless...
	71 - Into The Fire: Based on a true story, '71 - Into The Fire' tells its tale with gusto throughout, using breathtaking visuals within epic battle scenes to show the chaos and carnage of war and the ultimate price it demands, albeit in a slightly predictable manner in places...