Top 100 South Korean films of all time
by mysteriouspopcorn | created - 20 Feb 2020 | updated - 20 Feb 2020 | Public- Instant Watch Options
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1. Parasite (2019)
R | 132 min | Drama, Thriller
Greed and class discrimination threaten the newly-formed symbiotic relationship between the wealthy Park family and the destitute Kim clan.
Director: Bong Joon Ho | Stars: Song Kang-ho, Lee Sun-kyun, Cho Yeo-jeong, Choi Woo-sik
Votes: 956,171 | Gross: $53.37M
Parasite won a leading four awards at the 92nd Academy Awards: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Original Screenplay, and Best International Feature Film. It became the first South Korean film to receive Academy Award recognition, as well as the first non-English-language film to win Best Picture. It also won the Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Language Film, the BAFTA Award for Best Film Not in the English Language, and became the first non-English-language film to win the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture.
2. Oldboy (2003)
R | 120 min | Action, Drama, Mystery
After being kidnapped and imprisoned for fifteen years, Oh Dae-Su is released, only to find that he must track down his captor in five days.
Director: Park Chan-wook | Stars: Choi Min-sik, Yoo Ji-tae, Kang Hye-jeong, Kim Byeong-Ok
Votes: 634,589 | Gross: $0.71M
The film won the Grand Prix at the 2004 Cannes Film Festival and high praise from the President of the Jury, director Quentin Tarantino. The film has been well received by critics in the United States, with film critic Roger Ebert stating that Oldboy is a "powerful film not because of what it depicts, but because of the depths of the human heart which it strips bare". It has been listed among the best films of the 2000s in several publications.
3. Memories of Murder (2003)
Not Rated | 132 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
In a small Korean province in 1986, two detectives struggle with the case of multiple young women being found raped and murdered by an unknown culprit.
Director: Bong Joon Ho | Stars: Song Kang-ho, Kim Sang-kyung, Kim Roe-ha, Song Jae-ho
Votes: 215,768 | Gross: $0.01M
The film's earned praise for cinematography, as well as Song Kang-ho's performance. It is considered as one of the best South Korean films of all time. Memories of Murder was well received by both critics and audiences. On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 90% based on 40 reviews, with an average rating of 7.75/10. The site's critics consensus reads, "Memories of Murder blends the familiar crime genre with social satire and comedy, capturing the all-too human desperation of its key characters."
4. The Wailing (2016)
TV-MA | 156 min | Drama, Horror, Mystery
Soon after a stranger arrives in a little village, a mysterious sickness starts spreading. A policeman, drawn into the incident, is forced to solve the mystery in order to save his daughter.
Director: Na Hong-jin | Stars: Jun Kunimura, Hwang Jung-min, Kwak Do-won, Chun Woo-hee
Votes: 81,714
The Wailing won best film at the 53rd Baeksang Arts Awards. The Wailing received widespread critical acclaim. On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 99% and an average rating of 7.92/10, based on 79 critical reviews.
5. Miracle in Cell No. 7 (2013)
127 min | Comedy, Drama
A story about the love between a mentally-ill father and his lovingly adorable daughter.
Director: Hwan-kyung Lee | Stars: Ryu Seung-ryong, Kal So-won, Oh Dal-su, Jeong Man-sik
Votes: 23,922
The film exceeded 12 million viewers 46 days after its release. On March 15, 2013, 52 days after its release, ticket sales reached 12.32 million, making it the fifth highest grossing Korean film of all time.
6. 3-Iron (2004)
R | 88 min | Crime, Drama, Romance
A transient young man breaks into empty homes to partake of the vacationing residents' lives for a few days.
Director: Kim Ki-duk | Stars: Lee Seung-yun, Jae Hee, Hyuk-ho Kwon, Joo Jin-mo
Votes: 58,220 | Gross: $0.24M
3-Iron premiered in competition at the 61st Venice International Film Festival in September 2004, where it was nominated for the Golden Lion and won Kim the Silver Lion for Best Direction. It was released in South Korea on April 29, 2005, and received generally positive reviews and numerous accolades, including the FIPRESCI Grand Prix award at the San Sebastián Film Festival.
7. Train to Busan (2016)
Not Rated | 118 min | Action, Horror, Thriller
While a zombie virus breaks out in South Korea, passengers struggle to survive on the train from Seoul to Busan.
Director: Yeon Sang-ho | Stars: Gong Yoo, Jung Yu-mi, Ma Dong-seok, Kim Su-an
Votes: 257,855 | Gross: $2.13M
The film premiered in the Midnight Screenings section of the 2016 Cannes Film Festival on 13 May. On 7 August, the film set a record as the first Korean film of 2016 to break the audience record of over 10 million theatergoers.
8. Joint Security Area (2000)
Not Rated | 110 min | Action, Drama, Thriller
After a shooting incident at the North-South Korean border DMZ leaves two North Korean soldiers dead, a neutral Swiss and Swedish team investigates what actually happened.
Director: Park Chan-wook | Stars: Lee Yeong-ae, Lee Byung-hun, Song Kang-ho, Kim Tae-woo
Votes: 34,136
It was the highest-grossing film in Korean film history at the time and won Best Film at the 2000 Blue Dragon Film Awards and the 2001 Grand Bell Awards.
9. The Handmaiden (2016)
Not Rated | 145 min | Drama, Romance, Thriller
A woman is hired as a handmaiden to a Japanese heiress, but secretly she is involved in a plot to defraud her.
Director: Park Chan-wook | Stars: Kim Min-hee, Ha Jung-woo, Cho Jin-woong, Moon So-ri
Votes: 172,107 | Gross: $2.01M
The film was selected to compete for the Palme d'Or at the 2016 Cannes Film Festival. It was released in South Korea on 1 June 2016, to critical acclaim. It grossed over $37 million worldwide. At the 71st British Academy Film Awards, the film won the category of Best Film Not in the English Language.
10. The Man from Nowhere (2010)
R | 119 min | Action, Crime, Drama
A quiet pawnshop keeper with a violent past takes on a drug-and-organ trafficking ring in hope of saving the child who is his only friend.
Director: Lee Jeong-beom | Stars: Won Bin, Kim Sae-ron, Kim Tae-hoon, Kim Hee-won
Votes: 74,776 | Gross: $0.01M
The Man from Nowhere has received positive reviews from English-language critics, holding a score of 100% on Rotten Tomatoes. As of August 2013, six of six critics gave 'Fresh' reviews, according to Rotten Tomatoes.
11. Oasis (2002)
133 min | Drama, Romance
An irresponsible and childish ex-con befriends a girl with cerebral palsy and develops a progressively stronger bond with her.
Director: Lee Chang-dong | Stars: Sol Kyung-gu, Moon So-ri, Ahn Nae-sang, Ryu Seung-wan
Votes: 10,377
The film was a critical success, earning prizes in numerous film festivals. Among the most important were Silver Lion for Best Direction and the Special Director's prize given to Lee Chang-dong at the 2002 Venice Film Festival and the Marcello Mastroianni Award for Emerging Actor or Actress given to Moon So-ri at the same event.
12. Poetry (2010)
TV-PG | 139 min | Drama
A sixty-something woman, faced with the discovery of a heinous family crime and in the early stages of Alzheimer's disease, finds strength and purpose when she enrolls in a poetry class.
Director: Lee Chang-dong | Stars: Yun Jeong-hie, Lee Da-wit, Kim Hee-ra, Ahn Nae-sang
Votes: 13,512 | Gross: $0.36M
The film was selected for the main competition at the 2010 Cannes Film Festival, where it won the Best Screenplay Award. Other accolades include the Grand Bell Awards for Best Picture and Best Actress, the Blue Dragon Film Awards for Best Actress, the Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best Actress, and the Asia Pacific Screen Award for Achievement in Directing and Best Performance by an Actress.
13. A Moment to Remember (2004)
PG-13 | 117 min | Drama, Romance
A young couple's enduring love is tested when 27-year-old Su-jin is diagnosed with a rare form of Alzheimer's disease.
Directors: Park Kyung-Jin, John H. Lee, Kim Tae-Won | Stars: Jung Woo-sung, Son Ye-jin, Jong-hak Baek, Lee Seon-jin
Votes: 25,538
The film was released on November 5, 2004 in South Korea. It was a major success domestically, topping the box office for two consecutive weeks to become the 5th highest-grossing film of 2004 at 2,565,078 admissions. The film was also a hit in Japan, breaking previous records of Korean films released there; it was the 19th highest-grossing film at the 2005 Japanese box office.
14. Burning (2018)
Not Rated | 148 min | Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Jong-su bumps into a girl who used to live in the same neighborhood, who asks him to look after her cat while she's on a trip to Africa. When back, she introduces Ben, a mysterious guy she met there, who confesses his secret hobby.
Director: Lee Chang-dong | Stars: Yoo Ah-in, Steven Yeun, Jeon Jong-seo, Kim Soo-Kyung
Votes: 76,158 | Gross: $0.72M
It received almost universal critical acclaim, particularly for its sense of unease and ambiguous narrative and performances. It was selected as the South Korean entry for Best Foreign Language Film at the 91st Academy Awards; although it was not nominated, it became the first Korean film to make it to the final nine-film shortlist. It received numerous other accolades, and was included on several critics' "top ten" lists for the year 2018, notably those of The New York Times, LA Times, and the Associated Press; it was also included on some lists of the greatest films of the decade.
15. Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter... and Spring (2003)
R | 103 min | Drama, Romance
A boy is raised by a Buddhist monk in an isolated floating temple where the years pass like the seasons.
Director: Kim Ki-duk | Stars: Kim Ki-duk, Oh Yeong-su, Jong-ho Kim, Kim Young-min
Votes: 86,733 | Gross: $2.38M
Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter... and Spring was acclaimed by film critics, holding a 95% "Fresh" rating on review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes and an 85 out of 100 on Metacritic. Peter Rainer of New York praised the film's "tranquil beauty" and argued, "Kim exalts nature--life’s passage--without stooping to sentimentality.
16. Hope (2013)
Not Rated | 122 min | Drama
Story of an 8-year-old girl who faces a horrible rape that damages her internally and affects her emotionally, trying to overcome all the obstacles following the incident with the good support of those around her.
Director: Joon-ik Lee | Stars: Lee Re, Sol Kyung-gu, Uhm Ji-won, Kim Hae-sook
Votes: 9,621
The film is based on a true story, the infamous Nayoung Case in 2008, in which an 8-year-old girl, named "Na-young" in the Korean press, was raped and beaten by a drunk 57-year-old man in a public toilet. It won Best Film at the 34th Blue Dragon Film Awards.
17. Peppermint Candy (1999)
Not Rated | 129 min | Drama
Following a man's suicide, time traverses back to reveal six chapters of his life on why he committed suicide.
Director: Lee Chang-dong | Stars: Sol Kyung-gu, Kim Yeo-jin, Moon So-ri, Se-beom Park
Votes: 10,793
It was received well, especially in film festivals. Spurred by the success of Lee Chang-dong's directorial debut, Green Fish, Peppermint Candy was chosen as the opening film for the Busan International Film Festival in its first showing in 1999. It won multiple awards at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival and won the South Korean cinema industry's Grand Bell Awards for best film of 2000.
18. I Saw the Devil (2010)
Not Rated | 144 min | Action, Crime, Thriller
A secret agent exacts revenge on a serial killer through a series of captures and releases.
Director: Jee-woon Kim | Stars: Lee Byung-hun, Choi Min-sik, Jeon Gook-hwan, Chun Ho-jin
Votes: 145,945 | Gross: $0.13M
The review-aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes gives the film a score of 80 percent, with a weighted average of 7.13 out of 10, based on 82 reviews from critics. The website's "Critics Consensus" says the film is "Never flinching during its descent into depravity, a pulverizing thriller that will give bloody satisfaction to audiences who like their revenge served with fiery rage". On Metacritic the film received "Generally favorable reviews", with a weighted average of 67 out of 100, based on 19 reviews.
19. Castaway on the Moon (2009)
PG-13 | 116 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
A failed suicide attempt leads a heartbroken man to live a life in the wilderness.
Director: Lee Hae-jun | Stars: Jeong Jae-yeong, Jung Ryeo-won, Yeong-seo Park, Yang Mi-kyeong
Votes: 19,697
Castaway on the Moon won the NETPAC Award at the 29th Hawaii International Film Festival. Jung Jae-young won best actor at the 32nd Golden Cinematography Awards. It won the Black Dragon Audience Award at the 12th Udine Far East Film Festival.
20. Ode to My Father (2014)
Not Rated | 126 min | Drama, War
Amid the time of Korean War, a young boy's vow to take care of his family marked the beginning of a lifelong promise spanning 60 years.
Director: JK Youn | Stars: Hwang Jung-min, Yunjin Kim, Oh Dal-su, Jung Jin-young
Votes: 6,095 | Gross: $2.30M
Ode to My Father won 10 awards at the 52nd Grand Bell Awards, including Best Film, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Supporting Actor, Best Screenplay, Best Cinematography, Best Editing, High Technology Special Award, Best Sound Recording, and Best Planning.
21. My Sassy Girl (2001)
Not Rated | 137 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
A young man sees a drunk, cute woman standing too close to the tracks at a metro station in Seoul and pulls her back. She ends up getting him into trouble repeatedly after that, starting on the train.
Director: Jae-young Kwak | Stars: Cha Tae-hyun, Jun Ji-hyun, In-mun Kim, Song Wok-suk
Votes: 50,444
The film was very successful in South Korea, where it was the highest-grossing comedy of all time, and one of the top five highest-grossing films ever at the time. When My Sassy Girl was released across East Asia, it became a blockbuster in the region, becoming a hit in Japan, Taiwan and Hong Kong. Its DVD release also drew a large international cult following, particularly in China, Southeast Asia, and parts of South Asia. The film's success in Asia drew comparisons to Titanic. My Sassy Girl sparked an international breakthrough for Korean cinema, and it played a key role in the spread of the Korean Wave.
22. 1987: When the Day Comes (2017)
Not Rated | 129 min | Drama, History, Thriller
In 1987 Korea under an oppressive military regime, the unlawful interrogation and death of a college student ignite ordinary citizens to fight for the truth and bring about justice.
Directors: Jung Sung Ho, Joon-Hwan Jang | Stars: Kim Tae-ri, Yeo Jin-goo, Ha Jung-woo, Park Hee-soon
Votes: 6,791
1987 won Best film, Best actor, Best Cinematography and Lightning, and Technical Award (Costume) at the 39th Blue Dragon Film Awards. It won the Grand Prize (Daesang), Best Actor, Best Supporting Actor, and Best Screenplay at the 54th Baeksang Arts Awards
23. A Werewolf Boy (2012)
Not Rated | 127 min | Drama, Fantasy, Romance
Summoned by an unexpected phone call, an elderly woman visits the country cottage she lived in as a child. Memories of an orphan boy she knew 47 years ago come flooding back to her.
Director: Sung-hee Jo | Stars: Song Joong-ki, Park Bo-young, Yeong-ran Lee, Jang Young-nam
Votes: 8,881 | Gross: $0.34M
After premiering at number one in the South Korean box office with more than 100,000 admissions, A Werewolf Boy broke the 1 million mark after five days, 2 million after nine days, and 3.6 million in twelve days. Not only were these numbers remarkably high for November, considered a slow season for moviegoing in Korea, but it was also a rare feat for its melodrama genre.
24. Silenced (2011)
Not Rated | 125 min | Drama
Based on real events, this film depicts the story of a school for the hearing-impaired where young deaf students were sexually assaulted by the faculty members over a long period of time.
Director: Hwang Dong-hyuk | Stars: Gong Yoo, Jung Yu-mi, Kim Hyeon-soo, Kim Jee-young
Votes: 21,583
In Korea the film ranked #1 for three consecutive weeks and grossed ₩7.8 billion in its first week of release and grossed a total of ₩35 billion after ten weeks of screening. It received the Audience Award at the 2012 Udine Far East Film Festival in Italy.
25. Tae Guk Gi: The Brotherhood of War (2004)
R | 140 min | Action, Drama, War
When two brothers are forced to fight in the Korean War, the elder decides to take the riskiest missions if it will help shield the younger from battle.
Director: Kang Je-kyu | Stars: Jang Dong-Gun, Won Bin, Eun-ju Lee, Kong Hyeong-jin
Votes: 41,054 | Gross: $1.11M
At the 50th Asia Pacific Film Festival, Taegukgi won the "Best Film" award, while Kang Je-gyu was awarded the "Best Director". It was one of four Korean movies screened at the 2006 International Fajr Film Festival in Iran. At the 2004 Grand Bell Awards, the main awards for film in South Korea, Taegukgi won three technical awards, for art direction, cinematography and sound effects.
26. Mother (2009)
R | 129 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
A mother desperately searches for the killer who framed her son for a girl's horrific murder.
Director: Bong Joon Ho | Stars: Kim Hye-ja, Won Bin, Jin Goo, Yun Je-mun
Votes: 71,522 | Gross: $0.55M
Mother received widespread acclaim from critics, who praised the director and Kim Hye-ja's performance. On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 96% based on 114 reviews, with an average rating of 7.88/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "As fleshy as it is funny, Bong Joon-Ho's Mother straddles family drama, horror and comedy with a deft grasp of tone and plenty of eerie visuals."
27. The Classic (2003)
127 min | Drama, Romance
A college student finds a diary detailing a long-ago love triangle involving her mother, her future father, and his best friend.
Director: Jae-young Kwak | Stars: Son Ye-jin, Zo In-sung, Cho Seung-woo, Lee Ki-woo
Votes: 10,119
Son Ye-jin won Best New Actress at 39th Baeksang Arts Awards and 40th Grand Bell Awards. It won Best Music at 2nd Korean Film Awards. Son Ye-jin won Popular Star Award at 24th Blue Dragon Film Awards. Cho Seung-woo and Son Ye-jin won Best Couple at the 9th Moscow International Love Movie Awards. The Classic won Outstanding Translated Foreign Film at the Huabiao Awards.
28. The Way Home (2002)
PG | 80 min | Drama
This is the story of a 7-year-old boy, Sang-woo, born and raised in the big city, and his mute grandmother, who has spent her whole life in a small rural village.
Director: Jeong-hyang Lee | Stars: Yoo Seung-ho, Eul-boon Kim, Hyo-hee Dong, Kyung-hyun Min
Votes: 5,885 | Gross: $0.44M
Many critics praised the style of the movie as well as the acting of the inexperienced Kim Eul-boon who at 78, had not only never acted before, but never even seen a film. The film went on to win the Best Film and Best screenplay awards at the Grand Bell Awards, the Oscar's equivalent in South Korea. It was also nominated for Best Asian Film at the 22nd Hong Kong Film Awards, but lost to My Sassy Girl, another South Korean film.
29. The Host (2006)
R | 120 min | Drama, Horror, Sci-Fi
A monster emerges from Seoul's Han River and begins attacking people. One victim's loving family does what it can to rescue her from its clutches.
Director: Bong Joon Ho | Stars: Song Kang-ho, Byun Hee-Bong, Park Hae-il, Bae Doona
Votes: 132,521 | Gross: $2.20M
Following the success of the director's work Memories of Murder, The Host was highly anticipated. It was released on a record number of screens in its home country on July 27, 2006. By the end of its run on November 8, 13 million tickets had been sold, making it (at the time) the highest-grossing South Korean film of all time. It won several awards including Best Film at the Asian Film Awards and at the Blue Dragon Film Awards.
30. Veteran (2015)
Not Rated | 123 min | Action, Comedy, Crime
A honest cop seeks justice for a common man against all odds. A rich boy seeks revenge on the cop.
Director: Ryu Seung-wan | Stars: Hwang Jung-min, Yoo Ah-in, Yoo Hae-jin, Oh Dal-su
Votes: 7,740 | Gross: $1.20M
It drew 13.4 million admissions, making it the 4th all-time highest-grossing film in South Korean cinema history. Veteran also won the Casa Asia Award at the Sitges Film Festival.
31. A Bittersweet Life (2005)
Not Rated | 119 min | Action, Crime, Drama
Things go wrong for a high ranking mobster when he doesn't follow his boss's orders.
Directors: Jung Doo Hong, Jee-woon Kim | Stars: Lee Byung-hun, Shin Min-a, Kim Yeong-cheol, Hwang Jung-min
Votes: 42,887
Critical reception was highly positive, with critics describing it as "organic, essential, beautifully staged and refreshingly realistic."Derek Elley from Variety magazine described the film as "a tour de force of noirish style and Korean ultra-violence that will have genre fans nailed to their seats."
32. Sunny (2011)
PG-13 | 124 min | Comedy, Drama
Seven girls become good friends in high school, then events pull them apart for 25 years. When one of the friends lies dying in a hospital, she wishes to see each of them one last time.
Director: Kang Hyeong-cheol | Stars: Yoo Ho-jeong, Shim Eun-kyung, Jin Hee-kyung, Kim Min-yeong
Votes: 6,548
Kang Hyeong-cheol and Nam Na-yeong won Best Director and Best Editing, respectively, at the Grand Bell Awards. Actress Kang So-ra won several awards for her role as the teenage Ha Chun-hwa
33. The Housemaid (1960)
Not Rated | 109 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
A composer and his wife are thrown into turmoil when a housemaid becomes more than they bargained for.
Director: Kim Ki-young | Stars: Jin Kyu Kim, Jeung-nyeo Ju, Eun-shim Lee, Aeng-ran Eom
Votes: 5,688
It has been described in Koreanfilm.org as a "consensus pick as one of the top three Korean films of all time". This was the first film in Kim's Housemaid trilogy followed by Woman of Fire and Woman of Fire '82. The film was remade in 2010 by director Im Sang-soo.
34. Lady Vengeance (2005)
R | 115 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
After being wrongfully imprisoned for thirteen years and having her child taken away from her, a woman seeks revenge through increasingly brutal means.
Director: Park Chan-wook | Stars: Nam-mi Kang, Jeong-nam Choi, Hye-Sook Go, Bok-hwa Baek
Votes: 85,977 | Gross: $0.21M
It won the award for Best Film at the 26th Blue Dragon Film Awards. The film had its US premiere on 30 September 2005 at the New York Film Festival. It began its limited release in North American theatres on 5 May 2006, to favorable reviews from critics.
35. My Way (2011)
R | 137 min | Action, Drama, War
In World War II-era Korea, rival runners, one Korean (Jang Dong-gun) and one Japanese (Joe Odagiri), go to war together against the Soviets.
Director: Kang Je-kyu | Stars: Jang Dong-Gun, Joe Odagiri, Bingbing Fan, Kim In-kwon
Votes: 12,610 | Gross: $0.07M
The film was nominated in the category of "Best International Film" for the 39th Saturn Awards but lost against Headhunters.
36. Always (2011)
108 min | Action, Drama, Romance
A love story centered on ex-boxer Chul-min and a blind telemarketer Jung-hwa.
Director: Song Il-gon | Stars: So Ji-seob, Han Hyo-joo, Kang Shin-il, Park Chul-min
Votes: 11,205
With online tickets selling out a 2,000-seat outdoor movie theater in a record seven seconds,Always was the opening film of the 2011 Busan International Film Festival. It was released in theaters on October 20, 2011. In South Korea, the film had a total of 1,027,614 admissions nationwide.
37. Along With the Gods: The Last 49 Days (2018)
Not Rated | 142 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
In the afterlife, one guardian helps a man through his trials, while his two colleagues help a former guardian on earth.
Director: Yong-hwa Kim | Stars: Ha Jung-woo, Ju Ji-hoon, Kim Hyang-gi, Ma Dong-seok
Votes: 9,084 | Gross: $1.20M
The film also broke the opening day record in South Korea by attracting 1,263,788 viewers on the first day of its release, which is more than twice the amount of Along with the Gods: The Two Worlds (422,339 viewers).
38. Hamoni (2010)
Not Rated | 115 min | Drama
Jeong-hye gives a birth to a baby boy in the prison. Her and other inmates create a women's choir to compete in the national choir contest, to meet and greet their families and loving ones.
Director: Dae-gyu Kang | Stars: Yunjin Kim, Na Moon-hee, Kang Ye-won, Park Joon-myeon
Votes: 870
It sold 3,045,009 tickets, making it the 5th best selling film of the year in Korea.
39. Il Mare (2000)
105 min | Drama, Fantasy, Romance
In 1999, a voice actor moves from Il Mare, a seaside house, and leaves a Christmas card in its (magical) mailbox. An architecture student receives it in 1997, and a friendship separated by 2 years begins.
Director: Hyun-seung Lee | Stars: Lee Jung-jae, Jun Ji-hyun, Mu-saeng Kim, Jo Seung-yeon
Votes: 9,453
This time-travel romance was not a popular success in 2000, selling less than a quarter million tickets in Seoul (upstaged by not only the similar-themed Ditto, but also the controversial Lies), but since then it has developed a loyal fan base a la Somewhere in Time and attained the status of a minor classic among Korean cinema fans.
40. Memoir of a Murderer (2017)
Not Rated | 118 min | Action, Crime, Mystery
A former serial killer with Alzheimer's fights to protect his daughter from her psychotic boyfriend.
Director: Won Shin-yeon | Stars: Sol Kyung-gu, Kim Nam-gil, Kim Seol-hyun, Oh Dal-su
Votes: 12,598 | Gross: $0.09M
The film reached over 1 million admissions in just 5 days of its release (6–10 September) topping the Korean box office and grossing US$8.6 million.[1] As of 17 September, the film marked 2.06 million admissions grossing US$14.7 million nationwide, the first South Korean thriller film to reach 2 million ticket sales in 2017.
41. Ditto (2000)
110 min | Drama, Romance, Sci-Fi
Two students, separated in time, are somehow able to talk to each other using amateur radio, one in 1979 and the other in 2000.
Director: Jeong-kwon Kim | Stars: Yoo Ji-tae, Kim Ha-neul, Ha Ji-Won, Do-Yoon Kim
Votes: 2,225
The film won two awards in at the 21st Blue Dragon Film Awards including Best Supporting Actress Ha Ji-Won and Popular Star Award Yoo Ji-tae. Kim Jung-kwon won best new director and Yoo Ji-tae won best new actor at the 8th Chunsa Film Art Awards.
42. The Age of Shadows (2016)
TV-MA | 140 min | Action, History, Thriller
Korean resistance fighters smuggle explosives to destroy facilities controlled by Japanese forces in this period action thriller.
Director: Jee-woon Kim | Stars: Lee Byung-hun, Song Kang-ho, Gong Yoo, Jeon Yeo-been
Votes: 11,023 | Gross: $0.54M
It was selected as the South Korean entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 89th Academy Awards, but it was not nominated. The film won the Best Picture award in the Action Features category at the 2016 Fantastic Fest held in Austin, Texas. The film has received critical acclaim. On Rotten Tomatoes, it holds an approval rating of 100%, based on 41 reviews with an average rating of 7.3/10. On Metacritic, it holds a weighted average score of 78/100, based on 14 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews".
43. The Chaser (2008)
Not Rated | 125 min | Action, Crime, Drama