First!

I came to Korea because of (a) burnout from being in charge of three A-level courses at my London college (b) Korean cinema. Unfortunately for me the 'Korean Wave' of new cinema broke and rolled back shortly after I arrived in Korea (about 2005). I also found that, ironically, it was easier for me to watch new Korean films in London because, over here, there are no subtitles in the 'movie theatre'. So far, so fail.

However, I found that DVD rooms, despite their seedy reputation over here (a result of the various nefarious uses which young couples and single men put them to), were a great alternative. When I lived in Jinju I used to go with a list of hangeulised films from Koreanfilm.org and ask the ajjuma behind the counter to check her library of DVD's. It was good fun taking a group of people along and introducing the other students on the TESOL course to extreme Korean cinema.

The next step was the film festival circuit in Korea. PIFF (Pusan International Film Festival) is well known. I think the Jeonju Film Festival is probably the most pleasant- lots of great films in a comfortable small town setting.

Nowadays I (have heard that you can) download films from wedisk. The charges are minimal, but you may need a Korean helper and ID to set up the account.

If you live in Pusan, you must visit the Busan Cinematheque . They show world cinema, often with English subtitles, though if you get a month of Japanese or Chinese cinema you may be shit out of luck. They do try to provide information for English speakers and they have a small library with some excellent books on cinema.

Here, in no particular order, are ten of my top Korean films, old and new. The films from the 60's, 70's and 80's are just as deranged and genre hopping as the films from this century.

1. Kim Ki Duk- Samaria

2. Kim Ki Young- The Housemaid

3. Jang Jun Hwan- Save The Green Planet

4. Bang Dae Hun- Madame Freedom


5. Park Chan Wook- Oldboy

6. Bong Joon Ho- Mother

7. Won Shin Yeon- A Bloody Aria

8. Kim Ji Woon- A Bittersweet Life

9. Yu Hyun Mok- Aimless Bullet

10.Im Kwon Taek- Seopyonje