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Starring: Kang-Ho Song, Jin-Young Chang
Year: 2000
Time: 112 min
Dae-Ho, a shy banker, is perpetually bullied by his manic boss, ridiculed by street hooligans, neglected by his female co-workers, and given up on by his father. Hoping to find a way of breaking his boss’s headlock, he seeks in wrestling a way ofescaping from his reality. Behind the invented fearsome image of the masked foul king, he slowly finds his self-confidence to deal with his life.
This film fully utilizes the dramatic and comic potential of pro-wrestling matches, and yet it is more than a comedy, delivering touching stories bounded by real life.
There are no silver linings in The Foul King. There are no last minute victories, there is no conquering of impossible odds, and the movie never moves beyond the realm of believability. But, even bound by the rules of the reality, it successfully describes imaginations, delivering Elvis in the ring! The rebirth of Ultra Tiger Mask!
Director’s note:
“I try to create a situation that is hilarious yet still heart-breaking. I wanted to expose the ridiculous side of the world through an everyday citizen, and as which is more fabricated and violent: the foul-play of the world, of the foul-play in the ring??br>
Winner of Audience Award at Udine Far East Film Festival, Italy
Starring: Young-Jin Lee, Yeh-Jin Park
Year: 1999
Time: 97 min
In the morning, Min-Ah finds a strange diary, which is capable of arousing her hallucinations. The diary was kept by two other girls in her class, Hyo-Shin and Shi-Eun. They were known for their oddly close relationship in the school. In the afternoon, Hyo-Shin, one of the narrators in the diary commits suicide. While the reason for her suicide is unknown, the incident leaves the entire school puzzled. Min-Ah, however, starts to feel unusual that she is somehow possessed by the dead girl.
Memento Mori is based on the intensive research focusing on a teenage girl's irresistible sensibility suppressed and hidden beneath the institutional systems. As the content in the diary is unveiled the horrific mood of the movie slowly rises. This film tells the tale of what it is to be a student in the high school in Korea, of being 17 year old woman in a man-oriented society and of what it is to fall in love and to experience coming-of-age.
Winner of Vision Award for Best Cinematography in Slamdance Film Festival, L.A, USA
Starring: Sung-Jae Lee, O-Sung Yoo
Year: 1999
Time: 113 min
Four friends decide to rob a gas station just for fun. Once there, they find a tightward owner and three part-time workers. The three happen to learn an entirely different vision through the young crooks, who caused a series of events. They beat up a Chinese food delivery boy for arguing with them and this incident caused a war between them and the group of delivery boys later in the film. In the meantime, a gang of local thugs come to rescue their captive friends, leading up to a chaotic final confrontation against each other.
No one expected anything from this movie when it came out in 1999. The director was considered strictly genre, the cast was young and mostly unclaimed, and the whole thing was set in agas station in the middle of a city in the middle of the night. However it turned out to be a huge success ranking #2 in the box office in 1999 followed by Shiri (this film drew more than 6 million people ranking 2nd most popular film in Korean film history). This film satirizes how the rigid social strata of modern Korea has contributed to the country’s recent turmoil.
Winner of Audience Award (Comedy) at Montreal Fantasia Film Festival, 2000
Director’s note:
“My priority was making the film funny rather than focusing on narrative or style. I thought a comedy depicting rebellion against society should be somewhat raw and extreme instead of refined?/td>
Starring: Byung-Hyun Lee, Eun-Joo Lee
Year: 2001
Time: 101 min
The summer of 1983, a college student, In-Woo falls in love with Tae-Hee. However farewell comes unexpectedly just like The way his love came. In-woo is waiting for Tae-Hee at the platform where he is supposed to leave for his military service. Unfortunately Tae-Hee doesn’t make it to the farewell. After 17 years, In-Woo senses Tae-Hee from another person.
Bungee Jumping of Their Own was a big hit in Korea when it was released a year ago. While it may be a little too attenuated for Western audiences,it's certainly an intelligent, well-crafted piece which rewards the patient viewers.
Considering a strong tradition of Buddhism in a certain vein of Korean film history, this movie certainly gives a new spin to the genre. The issue of homosexuality in this film then can be interpreted from the belief of reincarnation, this may be a totally different way of viewing the narrative of the film which could be somewhat fresh to the viewers in the Western culture.
Winner of Audience Award Hambourg Film, Germany, 2001
Starring: Kyung-Gu Seul, Soo-Ri Moon
Year: 2000
Time: 127 min
Peppermint Candy depicts a man's life in seven separate chapters, covering a span of twenty years and going backwardin time. Young-Ho is a crazed forty-year-old man who shows up unexpectedly at a reunion party of a group of former factory workers. He climbs onto a railroad bridge, and as he is about to jump into the path of an approaching train, cries, “I want to go back,?In seven parts, in reverse-chronology order from 1999 to 1979, the film shows the most significant moments of his life.
At the time when Korean cinema was drifting into more commercial waters, Peppermint Candy seemed like a gamble. But the movie was highly acclaimed both by critics and general public, and performed well at the domestic Box office.
Director’s note:
“Political history did not leave personal history along, rather political history brought it on to the battleground of this disturbed time period. I don’t go back in time for nostalgic reasons, nor do I place more importance on the past than the present. Rather, I see this as the chance for young people today to identify with the young of the past, and perhaps gain some wisdom from their predecessors?br>
Winner of Special Jury Prize, FICC (Federation of International Cine Club), NETPAC (Network of Promoting for Asian) at Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, 2000
Selected for Director’s Fortnight at Cannes Film Festival, 2000
Selected among 10 best foreign films by Kinema Junbo, 2001