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Asian cinema: Korean films

Kim Woo-bin in a still from Officer Black Belt. Photo: Soyun Jeon/Seowoo Jung/Netflix

Review | Officer Black Belt: Kim Woo-bin stars in fun Netflix action comedy

Kim Woo-bin plays a martial artist who finds some much-needed purpose in new Netflix action comedy Officer Black Belt, directed by Jason Kim.

Kim Woo-bin plays a martial artist who finds some much-needed purpose in new Netflix action comedy Officer Black Belt, directed by Jason Kim

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Giant panda and her South Korean keeper focus of ‘heartwarming’ film

Profile | Meet Park Ju-hyun, feisty star of new K-drama Perfect Family

Review | Pilot is a Korean cross-dressing comedy that takes on gender imbalance

Jo Jung-suk stars as a disgraced pilot working for a rival airline as a woman in this cross-dressing comedy – less a tale of deception than one that highlights gender imbalance in today’s world.

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Jo Jung-suk in a still from Pilot.

5 of the best things to do this weekend, August 9-11, in Hong Kong

A neon signs exhibition, a K-pop girl group pop-up store, a boozy night out and more awaits those looking for entertainment in Hong Kong this weekend.

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Film recalls the resilience of Korean factory girls in Japan

A Song of Korean Factory Girls tells the story of 30,000 Korean women, mostly teenagers, who faced discrimination while working in textile mills in Japan during the colonial era.

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Review | Mission: Cross, Korean spy caper on Netflix, is an action-packed romp

In Netflix action comedy Mission: Cross, Yum Jung-ah shines as a top detective who discovers her husband (Hwang Jung-min) is a retired special forces operative.

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Hwang Jung-min (left) and Yum Jung-ah in a still from Mission: Cross. Photo: Netflix

5 of the best things to do this weekend August 3-4 in Hong Kong

There is plenty to do this weekend – feline fans can hit the Cat Expo in Wan Chai, MTR enthusiasts an exhibition in Wong Chuk Hang, and those looking to escape the heat an ice rink in Discovery Bay.

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5 movies or shows to watch this weekend August 3-4 in Hong Kong

The weekend’s viewing highlights include recent Godzilla and Planet of the Apes films, a ‘reverse heist’ caper, and from Korea, a historical hijack story and a mystery manhunt thriller.

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Review | Hijack 1971 tells true story of Korean Air Lines jet hijacked to North Korea

First-time director Kim Sung-han ably conjures an era of high tension between North and South Korea, the context in which the events of Hijack 1971, inspired by true events, take place.

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Ha Jung-woo in a still from Hijack 1971.

Kurosawa, Godzilla and girlishness: Choi Jinhee on themes in East Asian cinema

Professor of film studies at King’s College, London, Choi has created a course that uses the films as a gateway to explore the societies that produced them

The movie Miss Granny uses the body-switch plot device. Photos: Handout

K-pop singer and actress Lee Hye-ri on her ‘intense’ role in Victory

Lee Hye-ri went from K-pop success to a household K-drama name. She talks about playing a cheerleader for her first lead movie role in Victory, and winning an award at the New York Asian Film Festival.

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Profile | Meet Go Min-si, rising K-drama star back for Netflix’s Sweet Home 3

Korean actress Go Min-si, seen in Sweet Home on Netflix, is a rising K-drama star. We recall her roles, consider her versatility and look at what’s next.

Are AI-generated films the future? Festival launches competition for them

The first competition in Korea for AI-generated films has been launched by the Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival, where experts debated AI’s impact on content creation and the film industry.

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A still from AI-generated feature film Who Said Death Is Beautiful? Photo: Rain Trail Pictures

Review | The Plot: showy Korean remake of Soi Cheang’s Accident falls flat

The story of a group of assassins who disguise their hits as accidents, and their increasingly paranoid leader, is needlessly complicated in this remake. If there is some social commentary, it is obscured by chaos.

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Gang Dong-won in a still from The Plot.

Profile | Meet Lee Je-hoon, K-drama star of Taxi Driver and Chief Detective 1958

South Korean actor Lee Je-hoon, best known for his role in K-drama Taxi Driver, endeared himself to viewers with his fearless approach to acting and his willingness to challenge himself in a variety of roles.

The top 10 Korean films of all time, including Parasite and The Housemaid

Park Chan-wook and Bong Joon-ho dominate the top 10 films ranked by the Korean Film Archive, with two entries each. Also there are Lee Chang-dong’s Poetry, and influential 1960 movie The Housemaid.

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Review | I, the Executioner: Korean action hit Veteran gets superior sequel

Rough-edged detective Do-cheol (Hwang Jung-min) returns in I, The Executioner, in which he and his team, including Jung Hae-in’s new recruit, must protect a paroled thug from a vigilante justice warrior.

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Hwang Jung-min as detective Do-cheol in a still from I, the Executioner.

Profile | Meet Chun Woo-hee, K-drama star of The Atypical Family and The 8 Show

Korean actress Chun Woo-hee, currently on screens in Netflix’s The Atypical Family and The 8 Show, has been appearing in films and on TV in Korea for two decades. We look back over her acting career.

Can’t wait for Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga? 5 post-apocalyptic movies from Asia

While you wait to see Anya Taylor-Joy battle Chris Hemsworth, how about treating yourself to some of the best Asian films depicting an uninhabitable future, from Akira to Snowpiercer.

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The making of 12.12: The Day – how it dramatises South Korea’s 1979 coup

South Korea’s 1979 coup d’état is brought to the big screen in 12.12: The Day. The film’s director, producer, and lead actor Jung Woo-sung talk about dramatising an event whose details were secret for decades.

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Jung Woo-sung (centre) in a still from 12.12: The Day.

Review | The Sin: Korean horror with Kim Yoon-hye is stylish but incoherent

Korean horror film The Sin, by Han Dong-seok, sees the shooting of an experimental movie break down when a series of bizarre events occur. The film shows glimpses of promise but is ultimately underwhelming.

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Kim Yoon-hye in a still from The Sin (category IIB, Korean), directed by Han Dong-seok. Song Yi-jae and Park Ji-hoon co-star.

Festival to show 7 films from the 50s that shaped Korean cinema

Seven classic 1950s Korean movies are being shown at this year’s Udine Far East Film Festival in collaboration with the Korean Film Archive. Those who can’t make the event can watch them on YouTube.

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5 movies to watch instead of Rebel Moon – Part Two: The Scargiver

If Zack Snyder’s Rebel Moon – Part Two: The Scargiver holds little appeal to you, try these five related movies instead - they’re all amazing.

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Review | 12.12: The Day – South Korea’s darkest day faithfully recounted

Kim Sung-su’s political blockbuster faithfully recounts the 1979 coup d’état that plunged South Korea into its darkest period to date, in a film full of grandstanding machismo and intimidation.

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Jung Woo-sung in a still from 12.12: The Day. Photo: Plus M Entertainment and Hive Media Corp.

Review | The Sympathizer: Park Chan-wook adapts Pulitzer Prize winner

Thrilling HBO Vietnam war drama, directed by The Handmaiden’s Park Chan-wook, stars Robert Downey Jnr as various characters and Hao Xuande as a Viet Cong spy working for the chief of the secret police.

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Hoa Xuande (left) and Robert Downey Jr in a still from The Sympathizer. Photo: Hopper Stone/SMPSP

Review | Exhuma: Choi Min-sik and Kim Go-eun outstanding in supernatural thriller

Oldboy’s Choi Min-sik stars as a paranormal investigator who, with shaman Hwa-rim (played by Kim Go-eun) and others, performs a ritual cleansing on the grave of a property tycoon’s ancestor.

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How does the food in K-dramas look so good? Thank this food stylist

Ko Young-ok, South Korea’s first ‘full-time’ food stylist for K-dramas and films, recalls a mad dash around Macau for a scene in K-drama Princess Hours, and reveals the advice she gives her students.

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Asian cinema: Korean films
From the stylish blockbusters of Park Chan-wook and Bong Joon-ho to art-house gems by Hong Sang-soo and Kim Ki-duk, this is the place to go for reviews, interviews and features about movies both classic and new from South Korea.  
last updated:
9 September, 2024
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