10 best South Korean films of the 1990s with captivating storyline and aesthetics

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

Back in the 1990s, South Korean cinematographers were able to surprise audiences and critics with their achievements, and the Oscar for Best Film won in 2020 with the film Parasites sparked renewed interest in the masterpieces from South Korean directors. Today we invite our readers to get acquainted with the best films of South Korean filmmakers, whose films are distinguished by a fascinating plot and special aesthetics.

Parasites, 2019, directed by Bong Joon-ho

Despite the fact that Donald Trump was outraged by the Oscars for a South Korean-made film, this picture undoubtedly deserves attention. Through the biography of a poor family, the director tries to achieve a shift in the thinking of every person who has watched Parasites. Here drama and satire go hand in hand, anger is replaced by an all-consuming indifference, and acute social problems are covered naturally and unobtrusively.

Train to Busan, 2016, directed by Yong Sang-ho

Not quite your typical horror movie deserves the highest marks. From the first frame, the skill of the creators of the picture is felt, all the scenes seem so thoughtful and accurate. Detailed drawing, thoughtfulness of dialogues and actions, and most importantly - the plot. It would seem that already thousands of times filmmakers have shot films dedicated to the zombie apocalypse, but this time the focus is not on overwhelming fear, but on the inner transformation of the personality.

Oldboy, 2003, directed by Park Chang-wok

How does a person who is trapped in a room without windows for 15 years feel? How does he feel when he again finds himself in the familiar, but already forgotten world? This picture makes you empathize with both the main character and the one who turned out to be the cause of his misfortune. Quentin Tarantino described the film most accurately, calling it an absolute masterpiece.

Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter … and Spring Again, 2003, director Kim Ki Duk

The filmmakers managed to acquaint the viewer with the subtleties of Buddhist philosophy, to draw an invisible line between wisdom and acceptance of the imperfection of this world. And to realize, finally, that some things cannot be changed with the wave of a magic wand, just like you cannot turn back time.

Memories of a Murder, 2003, directed by Bong Joon-ho

The director filmed the tense and sometimes terrifying crime thriller based on real events that took place in the Korean city of Hwaseong. Then two women were brutally killed, and the police had to work almost around the clock to find and neutralize a sophisticated criminal. It's amazing how the filmmakers manage to either plunge the viewer into a state of intense fear, or make him laugh homerically.

Mint Candy, 1999, directed by Lee Chang-dong

The reverse chronology of the narrative covers twenty years of a person's life, whose drama is shown at the very beginning. But this is not a show of his path from the end, but a look at the events taking place, taking into account the disparate facts of the past. Emotional sincerity here side by side with the categorical position of the author, and each of the episodes presented can become a separate short film.

The Maid, 2010, directed by Lim Sang-su

The adaptation of the novel "Fine Work" by British writer Sarah Waters, which takes place from 19th century Britain to 1930s Korea, is dark and rather heavy. There are many gloomy scenes in it, an abundance of eroticism and the thought about the reasons that lead people to moral deformity passes through as a red line.

38th Parallel, 2004, directed by Kang Jae-gyu

A war drama from South Korean filmmakers about the war and all its horrors. In this tough film, there is no military romance, there is only an acute misunderstanding of the reasons that can force brothers to kill each other, mothers - to lose their sons. How did the director, filming his film about the war, manage to avoid being categorical and divide the characters into positive and negative? It is simply impossible to tell about it, you just need to look at "38 parallel".

"Empty House", 2004, directed by Kim Ki Duk

About love and aesthetics of feelings, about tenderness and fear, about trust and again about love. Kim Ki Duk's incredible film cannot be judged objectively, but it can be felt and accepted. In it, silence seems more eloquent than words, and the fear of silence turns out to be nothing more than an inability to accept one's own inner emptiness.

United Security Zone, 2000, directed by Park Chang-wok

Is there a chance to unite the country, which, as a result of the struggle of ideologies, was divided into two parts? The filmmakers tried to find an answer to this difficult question. But even at the end of the picture, the viewer will not hear an answer, because he himself is given the right to decide whether it is possible, starting small, to unite those who were once divided by the war.

Quentin Tarantino, who praised the film "Oldboy", everyone knows as a talented actor and genius director, capable of creating real masterpieces. He is also the owner of the New Beverley Cinema in Los Angeles, on the website of which he uploads his reviews of films. Quentin Tarantino carefully looks at the paintings, and then shares his impressions of them with the audience.