Marvellously Mental: South Korean Cinema.

For those whose knowledge of Korean popular art is limited to the guilty pleasures of television Dramas and K-pop I can't quite emphasize enough how worthwhile a dabble into the wonderfully weird world of Korean cinema can be.

Now most of you will have seen Old boy (about to be pointlessly and cynically re-hashed by Spike Lee) but there are plenty more, non live Octopus gobbling, gems on offer...

Where television shows and the pop music can be irksome and formulaic (at least to an outsider) the creativity on show in Korean cinema is labyrinthine and as inventive as any you are likely to come across. The positively bonkers and completely unpredictable story lines of some of the more independent films are often much more rewarding than your average piece of Hollywood drivel and I genuinely believe watching these movies will help to relieve some of the bafflement we feel when confronted with mainstream Korea popular culture.

To be honest, the vast majority of mainstream pop culture here can be a little brash and far from subtle. This is what makes the movie industry here so refreshing. And it's not just the idiosyncratic art house films that excite. The big budget family friendly action adventure stuff and, dare I say, the Romantic comedies are often ridiculously charming. Above all, as always from an outsiders perspective, Korean cinema does a lot to tweek the curtain and invite the outside in to take a peek at a different side of the creative psyche.

Here is a little run down of some that have stood out for me over the last few years. Please post some of your own recommendations in the comment section!:

Shiri (쉬리), Je-kyu kang (1999)

Shiri is about two spies from either side of the border. It's a sort of slick, intelligent action thriller that stars Yunjin kim (Sun from lost to you and me) Suk kyu han and Min-sik-choi. It has a pretty excellent if ludicrous final scene set during an international football match between the two countries.Some big players in the Korean movie industry.

Trailer:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RPL0vM71vrc

Spring, summer, fall, winter and spring (봄 여름 가을 겨울 그리고 봄) Ki-duk Kim (2003)

Ki-duk Kim is a great director. All of his films are unique but each clearly has his stamp on it. They are generally brooding and unpredictable with a lot of intense, contemplative glancing.This is a stunning little film. It requires a bit of patience but your patience will be rewarded. It's about this little lad who lives on a floating island with a Buddhist monk on a Lake in the countryside. It is sort of about love, lust and naughty old temptation (admittedly the female characters in this movie doesn't come across too well) but ultimately about constancy and other such elaborate thematic nonsense. The main thing is that it's just really bloody pretty and very well performed.

Trailer:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gXyxi-jnKxw

3-iron (빈집-'Vacant') Ki-duk Kim (2004)

Another from Ki-duk Kim 3 Iron or 'vacant' (original Korean title) is a barmy little genre-bending film about a young chap who rides around on his bike taping those irritating advert posters to doors and breaking into the homes of Seouls' more affluent residents. In one of these homes he locks eyes with a gorgeous abused young wife, when he sees her being beaten by her husband he decided to attract his attention by driving gold balls at him.. I won't reveal any more but it is highly original, completely nuts and very charming.

Trailer:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S-S5n0JniDw

The Host (괴물) Joon-ho bong (2006)

The host is a (hopefully) tongue in cheek, utterly bananas, big budget movie. The basic plot is that a huge monster emerges from the Han river in Seoul and goes on a city wide rampage. The interesting thing is that the heroes are far from conventional. It's one of those 'I can turn my brain off and enjoy' movies.

Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6bBsLzknLQI

Brotherhood/Taegukgi (태극기 휘날리며) Kang Je-gyu (2004)

Brotherhood or Taegukgi (the name of the Korean flag) starts before the Korean war and is basically the story of two brothers who end up on either side of the literal and ideological line. I won't give too much away for this one but will go as far as making the bold claim that it is one of the best war films out there. It's a proper big, explodey tear jerker kind of cut from the 'Saving Private Ryan' cloth but, in my opinion, significantly better.

So, there are but a few of my favourites. Please feel free to recommend more (I need to be brought up to speed on the last few years releases.) Enjoy!