8 Greatest South Korean Films

Movie viewers that are not real familiar with foreign movies probably believe that Japan produces the best Asian movies. It is easy to see why. Most known Asian films are martial arts, which are usually associated with Japan, Akira Kurosawa is one of the most well known Asian filmmakers. All Anime and some video games are made in Japan. Japan does make a lot of great films but recently South Korea has made an argument for producing the best Asian films. These are just a few of the good films belonging to South Korea.

"Brotherhood of War"
Most American movie goers have only seen the Korean War from the perspective of the United States. This film shows the Korean War from the eyes of two Korean brothers. Although ultimately the movie is less about the Korean War and more about how the Korean War affected friends and families.

"Memories of Murder"
This film starring Song Kang-Ho is based on a true story that took place in the 1980s. During the 1980s South Korea's first serial killer arose. These grisly murders were so unusual to cops in South Korea that they were not trained or equipped to deal with the serial killer. The sophisticated, by-the-book police officer has to get help from an unsophisticated, break-the-rules country cop in order to try and catch the serial killer.

"The Chaser"
"The Chaser" tells the story of a former detective named Joong-Ho that has now become a pimp. One day his girls begin to disappear. When Joong-Ho tells the police they don't care much about helping a pimp, especially not a former detective. Joong-Ho decides to use his own skills as a former detective to find out what happened instead.

"The Good, The Bad, the Weird"
For the most part Westerns are an American genre, but this Korean Western is one of the best Asian films of the last decade. There is rumor of a treasure map that leads to a secret treasure. Everyone is searching for the treasure including one bounty hunter, a dangerous bandit and one very weird little thief.

"My Sassy Girl"
If you've ever seen the 2008 American remake of "My Sassy Girl" then do yourself a favor and beat your head against the computer screen until you've forgotten it. Then go see the original instead. Kyun-woo meets an unnamed girl and helps the drunk girl onto a train. The other passengers mistakenly think they are a couple so Kyun-woo continues to help her because everyone thinks he is responsible for her. Kyun-woo is not really fond of the girl but the more he feels responsible for her the more he learns to like her.

"A Tale of Two Sisters"
"A Tale of Two Sisters" is a 2003 Asian horror film. In "A Tale of Two Sisters" Soo-Mi and Soo-Yeon are sisters returning home from the hospital. The elder sister begins to believe that their step-mother is abusing the younger of the two sisters. The elder sister then decides to get revenge on step-mother.

"Musa"
"Musa' is an epic about Ming Princess and to this date is the most expensive South Korean film ever made. The Ming Princess is kidnapped but she is strong because of the experience and grows into an even better woman. The Ming Princess is played by Zhang Ziyi, star of "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon".

"Old Boy"
"Old Boy' tells the story of Oh Dae-Su, a man that is abducted one day and is locked away in a hotel room with no escape. Oh Dae-Sue is imprisoned there for 15 years without any sort of explanation as to why he has been locked away or who is responsible. One day Oh Dae-Su wakes up and the door is open, he is allowed to leave. Oh Dae-Su decides he can't return home and explain his 15-year disappearance so he decides to track down the person that imprisoned him instead.