Having watched Parasite, you know that Korean films are a tad bit better than most of the films in mainstream. But, did you know that there are equally good films, and some, even better movies than Parasite?
Yes, yes, there are numerous award winning Korean films you can watch in Vivamax. Here are my top five favorites!
The Handmaiden
You can classify this movie as thriller or romance or period film or bloody brilliant. The Handmaiden took my breath away, and perhaps all other millions of people too, when I watched this. It’s a slow burn type of drama, you might think that it’s taking too long, or you would get bored in the middle due to lack of action. But everything about this film is a masterpiece.
The film was set in the Japanese occupied Korea was based on the movie Fingersmith by Sarah Waters. This film won numerous awards including the 71st British Academy Film Awards for Best Film Not in the English Language, Best Production Design and Best Costume Design from the Seattle Film Critics Society, Best Foreign Language Film both from the Houston Film Critics Society and New York Film Critics Online, Grand Prize at the Baeksang Arts Awards, Best Production Design from the Apolo Awards, among many others. It was also selected to compete for the prestigious Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival.
A Hard Day
Another action thriller film, A Hard Day is one film you should definitely watch! story, revolves around two police officer and a criminal who brough them together. Detective Ko (played by Lee Sun Kyun) us a corrupt officer who “accidentally” killed a homeless man on the day of his mother’s funeral. Instead of reporting it, he placed the body inside his own mothers’ coffin and tried to cover up the crime. This action triggered Lieutenant Park (played by Cho Jin woong) as he was incharge of hunting the criminal, who Detective Ko thought to be a homeless man.
This cat and mouse chase led to a lot of unnecessary events that ended in a lot of hard cold cash. This film has competed in the Directors’ Fortnight section at the Cannes Film Festival in 2014 and won numerous awards such as the Best Actor and Best Director at the 51st Baeksang Arts Awards, Best Director for the 6th KOFRA Film Awards, the 20th Chunsa Film Art Awards, 1st Korean Film Producers Association Awards, 51st Grand Bell Awards.
The Housemaid
Another erotic thriller film, The Housemaid is one of the films you should not miss. The film tells the story of a poor woman who was forced to take a job as a domestic helper due to her unfortunate circumstances. In the family and household that she serves, power and opulence is the law. She gets seduced by the master of the household and struggles to deal with the consequences.
This films ends in an unforgettable manner, something that you’d never predict. This masterpiece won numerous awards for Youn Yuh-jung which includes Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress from the 8th Max Movie Awards, 5th Asian Film Awards, 11th Busan Film Critics Awards, 8th Korean Film Awards, 31st Blue Dragon Film Awards among others. It also won the Georges Delerue Award from the Film Fest Gent festival in France.
Assassination
Of course, this list would not be complete without mentioning Assassination. This 2015 film is the highest grossing South Korean film of that year and is the eight highest grossing movie in Korean film history.
To summarize, this film is set during Japan’s rule over Korea. There is a group of Korean resistance fighter who are working in China, with the plans of killing a high ranking Japanese official. The complicated plan includes breaking a sniper out of prison and dealing with a traitor among them.
The all-star ensemble includes Jun Ji Hyun, Lee Jung Jae, Ha Jung Woo and Oh Dal su. Jun Ji Hyun won the Best Actress awards from the 11th Max Movie Awards and 52nd Grand Bell Awards, while being nominated in others. This film also won the Best Actor Award for Lee Jung Jae and Best Art Direction at the 24th Buil Film Awards. In the 35th Korean Association of Film Critics Awards it won the Best Cinematography, Technical Award and Top 10 Films of the Year. Assassination was also the Best Film and won the Technical at the 36th Blue Dragon Film Awards.
The Last Princess
This film is honestly too long to watch, yet too good to miss out. The Last Princess is the high grossing film of 2016 that tells the story of Princess Deokhye, the last princess of the Joseon Dynasty. Played by the talented and stunning actor, Son Ye Jin, she gave life and feelings to the challenges, obstacles and fight if Princess Deokhye who only wanted the best for her family and her own country.
The film also stars Park Hae Il, Yoon Je Moon and Ra Mi Ran. This film won the Best Music Award, Best Actress Award, Best Supporting Actress award, Best Costume Design at the Grand Bell Awards. Son Ye Jin won Best Actress Awards from the Baeksang Arts Awards, Korean Film Producers Association Awards and KOFRA Film Awards.
So what do you think of my list? Have you seen some of this? Please, I urge you to watch these as these are literally masterpieces of their own kind. Let me know in the comments section which are our favorites! Enjoy!
