Top 10 from Korean Cinema

A Top 10 list of my personal favorites in case anyone wants to get into SK Cinema.

1. Memories of Murder (2003)
An expertly crafted thriller right up there with the world’s best and bong’s masterpiece.

2. Burning (2018)
The film that will be held up the highest in the future from this list. The ultimate mystery if there ever was one. Is one person dead or missing? Is an animal real or imaginary? Are there barns burning or wells flowing? Does it even matter? Just sit back and enjoy a ride that can go one way or the other and no film has done it better.

3. Oldboy (2003)
The most famous one on this list and a gateway to SK cinema for a lot of people including myself. Laugh and the world laughs with you, cry and you cry alone.

4. Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter … and Spring (2003)
Beautiful and meditative, Kim Ki-Duk is a true artist and this film is an art form in the highest sense.

5. The Chaser (2008)
Na Hong-jin is my favorite director on this list. To make such a great film on your debut showcases enormous talent and skill that very few can rival. Tense and riveting, the finale is a definite gut punch. His follow up films The Yellow Sea (2010) and The Wailing (2016) [One of the best horror films from SK] definitely deserve an honorable mention.

6. My Sassy Girl (2001)
We all get our hearts broken sometime.

7. The Man From Nowhere (2010)
It’s been 12 years and still waiting for Won Bin to make a comeback. Tense and thrilling with enough emotion to melt the hardest person’s heart.

8. New World (2013)
A gangster film done right. Filled with interesting characters and double crosses to last a lifetime.

9. Friend (2001)
The most underrated/under watched film on this list. An epic tale of friendship and loyalty from high school to adulthood.

10. Train to Busan (2016)
Trains v/s Zombies. That’s all the reason you need to see this flick.