Five Korean Comedies You Don't Know, but Should

Over the past year or so I've gotten a lot of opportunities to watch some older Korean movies. While I know Park Chan Wook's movies, like 'Oldboy' and various action movies such as 'The Host' have become international sensations, personally, I'm into more lighthearted films. I've compiled a list of the top five comedies that I've seen recently, most of which are older, never really hit the international scene and are not very well known. They may not be the easiest to track down, but if you can find them, they will be well worth watching!

웰컴 투 동막골: Welcome to Dongmakgol

Year: 2005
Directed by : 박광현 Park Kwang Hyeon
Actors: 정재영 (Jeong Jae-Yeong), 신하균 (Sin Ha-Gyoon), 강혜정(Kang Hye-Jeong)   

 Rewind to the Korean war. While war rages on around the Korean peninsula, one idyllic town in the mountains still remains untouched and oblivious to the chaos that surrounds them. That is, until a mysterious machine (an airplane) drops from the sky, carrying a strange man with blue eyes and blonde hair (an American GI). The townfolk are baffled by this mysterious man and his odd metal contraption, but soon the war is brought to them when two South Korean soldiers and three North Korean soldiers wander in and create a stand off in the middle of the village. In the end, the only victim of the stand-off is the village's food supply which was accidentally blown up by a grenade. 

Feeling responsible (and trapped with allied forces closing in on all sides), the North Korean solders offer to stay and help the villagers to restock their food supply, and the South Korean solders are also guilted into helping as well. As one would expect, comedy ensues. However, the little magic spell that has been cast over this town seems to take hold of the soldiers as well and allow for reconciliation.

I really love this movie. It reminds us that North Koreans and South Koreans are just humans after all. They are enemies because of what their governments have told them. In this little idyllic town of Dongmakgol, those problems between them cease to matter and the soldiers just become human beings again.

나의 결혼원정기: Wedding Campaign

Year: 2006
Directed by: Hwang Byung-kook
Actors: 수애 (Soo Ae), 정재영 (Jeong Jae-young), 유준상 (Yoo Jun-Sang)

This comedy, which premiered in 2006,  lightheartedly touches upon some really serious issues in Korea today. The story revolves around two men from the country who are in their late 30's and come to the realization that they still aren't married. Parents and grandparents are starting to put pressure on them to find someone to help run their house. Some other folks in town have started to bring home wives from a country they can't pronounce, but sounds something like Uz-u-be-ku. They can't find it on a map, but they decide that they will go there to find a young, pretty bride to bring home.

The country is in fact Uzbekistan, and on upon arriving, they find themselves amidst a corrupt buisness of selling Uzbek brides to South Korean men. It takes them a while to realize it, too, but their translator is a North Korean defector who has adopted a South Korean accent and is trapped in her miserable job until she can afford to buy fake South Korean passports from her boss so she can finally stop running from the law.

This is really a hidden gem of a movie. It touches on many current issues; such as North Korean defectors, wedding culture in South Korea and the issue of international marriages; in a comedic way. 

영어완전정복: Please Teach Me English

Year: 2003
Directed By: 김성수 (Kim Seong-Su)
Actors: 장혁 (Jang Hyeok), 이나영 (Lee Na Young)

This is the story of a man and woman who sign up for a class at an English hagwon (language institute) in Seoul. The girl, whose English name is  "Candy" works in a government office and often needs to deal with foreigners who have problems. The man, called "Elvis" in English, will soon meet his sister who was put up for adoption as a baby and grew up in America. Both want to speak English badly, but both struggle something terrible with the language. Their native speaker teacher isn't much help to them either and quickly gets frustrated with their lack of progress.

Elvis is a bit obsessed with the beautiful English teacher, but Candy has eyes only for Elvis. Unfortunately, Candy is a very awkward, geeky gal with no coordination or tact... her every effort to catch the attention of Elvis goes unrewarded. However, they become friends and the two of them try to learn English and deal with their personal problems together.

This movie is an oldie but goodie. It's worth tracking down and watching if you can. If you've got some basic Korean skills, you may not even need subtitles since the characters spend most of the movie trying to speak English (however, sometimes being able to read the Korean subtitles is useful to figure out what they are trying to say). Anyone who has taught English in Korea will definitely relate to this story and probably get a good kick out of this movie. 

육혈포 강도단: Revolver Gangsters' Gang


Year: 2010
Directed by: 강효진 (Kang Hyo-Jin)
Actors: 나문희 (Na Moon-Hee), 김수미 (Kim Soo-Mi), 김혜옥 (Kim Hye-Ok)


Three halmonis (grandmothers) are fed up with their life of just meerly scraping by and making ends meat. They decide to have one last adventure in their life and take a VIP trip to Hawaii. The halmonis work together to save their money in some very creative but not very legal ways. Finally, after years of scrimping and saving their money they have finally saved up the exact amount of money required for three VIP all-inclusive tours to Hawaii. They try to pay in cash, but, well, this is Korea. It's got to be sent through a bank wire. When they bring their hard-earned money to the bank, disaster strikes. The bank is robbed and their money is taken before it could be deposited into the bank. 

The three halmonis don't take lightly to this offense and track down the robber and demand their money back. He doesn't have it, but he does offer to train them to rob the bank again themselves and get their money back. Comedy ensues as the halmonis try their hardest to rob a bank and get the vacation they feel they deserve. 

This is a great movie for many reasons. For those who have lived in Korea and seen the strength of many older Korean women, it's not entirely unbelievable that three halmonis actually could rob a bank in revenge for the money that they lost. While the story is fairly predictable, there are enough plot twists and turns to keep you interested until the end. These three are definitely not your scarf-knitting, rocking-chair-loving grandmas! 

김씨 표류기: Castaway on the Moon

Year: 2009
Directed by: 이해준 Lee Hae-Jun
Actors: 정재영 (Jeong Jae-Young), 정려원 (Jeong Ryeo-Won)



Somewhat along the same lines as the Hollywood movie, Castaway (2000), Castaway on the Moon (2009) is a Korean take on being castaway on a deserted island. However, don't let this turn you off, this Korean adaptation is pure genius.

Mr. Kim, giving up on life after many failures, decides to take his own life by jumping off a bridge into the Han River in Seoul. However, his attempt at taking his on life fails, and he finds himself washed up on a "무인도" (literally "no person island") in the middle of the Han River. As one would expect, he tries with all his might to escape... at first. But after many failed attempts, he finally comes to enjoy his new freedom. He starts to make full use of all the trash that has accumulated on the island to make himself at home. 

No one knows he is there, save for one person: a neurotic shut-in girl in her early twenties who has an obsession with taking close up photos of the moon. From her apartment window across the river, she only allows herself to look at the moon with her telephoto lens camera, but one night she accidentally scans her camera past the island where she sees a message: HELP. In English. She becomes intrigued, and rather than taking photos of the moon, she changes her focus to following the life of Mr. Kim.

This Korean take on Castaway is, in my humble opinion, better than the Hollywood version. The plot is intriguing and the irony that he is alone in the middle of a metropolis is what makes this movie great. He learns to survive using the trash that we think nothing of. This plot line by itself would make for an interesting enough story, but then, the intrigue of the second character, a castaway of a different sort, holed up in her bedroom, afraid of being seen by the rest of the world really makes this movie. The idea that wanting to escape from the world can actually bring two people together is quite moving. Don't worry though, this is no tearjerker, the irony of the entire situation is enough to keep you chuckling throughout the entire movie. 

Watching this with subtitles is, of course, best for those who don't speak Korean, but there is very little dialogue since both characters are alone in their own worlds. So, if you happen to pass this while flipping through channels, it may be worth watching even without subtitles. Most situations are pretty self explanatory, especially on the island, and so you may be able to follow the movie quite easily if you have just basic Korean skills.

How to watch: 
For those who are in Korea and who have the correct region DVD player, I highly recommend shopping for used DVDs. Why? Well, it tends to be hard to find new DVDs in this city that aren't pirated, but generally used DVDs are actually legitimate copies. Perhaps you don't care about buying pirated DVDs, but the great thing about legitimate DVDs is that they generally come with English subtitles! The best places to shop for used DVDs are in the Technomart in Gangbyeon, or any used flea market. 

For those who are outside of Korea, it should be easy to find subtitled videos to stream online by a simple Google search. However, most of the sites are blocked in Korea. 

How do you get access to Korean movies?

Movie Review: 김씨 표류기 (Castaway on the Moon)

Somewhat along the same lines as the Hollywood movie, Castaway (2000), Castaway on the Moon (2009) is a Korean take on being castaway on a deserted island. However, don't let this turn you off, this Korean adaptation is pure genius.

Mr. Kim, giving up on life after many failures, decides to take his own life by jumping off a bridge into the Han River in Seoul. However, his attempt at taking his on life fails, and he finds himself washed up on a "무인도" (literally "no person island") in the middle of the Han River. As one would expect, he tries with all his might to escape... at first. But after many failed attempts, he finally comes to enjoy his new freedom. He starts to make full use of all the trash that has accumulated on the island to make himself at home. 

No one knows he is there, save for one person: a neurotic shut-in girl in her early twenties who has an obsession with taking close up photos of the moon. From her apartment window across the river, she only allows herself to look at the moon with her telephoto lens camera, but one night she accidentally scans her camera past the island where she sees a message: HELP. In English. She becomes intrigued, and rather than taking photos of the moon, she changes her focus to following the life of Mr. Kim.

This Korean take on Castaway is, in my humble opinion, better than the Hollywood version. The plot is intriguing and the irony that he is alone in the middle of a metropolis is what makes this movie great. He learns to survive using the trash that we think nothing of. This plot line by itself would make for an interesting enough story, but then, the intrigue of the second character, a castaway of a different sort, holed up in her bedroom, afraid of being seen by the rest of the world really makes this movie. The idea that wanting to escape from the world can actually bring two people together is quite moving. Don't worry though, this is no tearjerker, the irony of the entire situation is enough to keep you chuckling throughout the entire movie.

Watching this with subtitles is, of course, best for those who don't speak Korean, but there is very little dialogue since both characters are alone in their own worlds. So, if you happen to pass this while flipping through channels, it may be worth watching even without subtitles. Most situations are pretty self explanatory, especially on the island, and so you may be able to follow the movie quite easily if you have just basic Korean skills.

IMBd Castaway on the Moon

Movie Review: Please Teach Me English

I was recently lucky enough to catch the 2003 Korean film called "Please Teach Me English" (영어완전정복) on TV several days ago. It's definitely a must see for every English teacher working in Korea. It gives a little insight into how Korean adults feel as they attempt to conquer the English language.


It's the story of a Korean man and woman who sign up for an English class at a hagwon (actually filmed at YBM Jongno). The girl, named "Candy" works in a government office and often needs to deal with foreigners who have problems. The man, named "Elvis", will soon meet his sister who was put up for adoption as a baby and grew up in America. Both want to speak English badly, but both struggle something terrible with the language. Their native speaker teacher isn't much help to them either and quickly gets frustrated with their lack of progress.

Elvis is a bit obsessed with the beautiful English teacher, but Candy has eyes only for Elvis. Unfortunately, Candy is a very awkward, geeky gal with no coordination or tact... her every effort to catch the attention of Elvis goes unrewarded. However, he does discover that while he's totally unattracted to her, he can actually think of her as a friend. The two of them try to learn English and deal with their own personal problems together.

This movie is an oldie but goodie. It's worth tracking down and watching if you can. If you've got some basic Korean skills, you may not even need subtitles since the characters spend most of the movie trying to speak English (however, sometimes being able to read the Korean subtitles is useful to figure out what they are trying to say). Anyone who has taught English in Korea will definitely relate to the characters, particularly one side character who has a problem with his electricity bill.

A Movie Review of 광해 (Masquerade) and Updates on Subtitled Movie Screenings in Seoul

Korea's hit movie this fall is 광해 (Gwanghae), or in English, Masquerade. It's a movie based on Gwanghae, a king in the Joseon dynasty who was never given a proper king's name in history because the Confucian scholars of the time rejected his leadership, and eventually overthrew him in a coup. However, that's not the premise of the movie. The movie begins with Gwanghae suffering from the plots of government officials surrounding him. He finds himself a double (played by the same actor, Lee Byung-Hun, a name and face hallyu fans will certainly recognize), a court actor who turns out to be able to act quite kingly... at times. Of course, allowing a commoner to take the place of the king will lead to plenty of awkward mistakes and trouble making. All this is made worse when the actual king is drugged and the double needs to take Gwanghae's place for real. This is a great historical comedy/drama for anyone as it has elements anyone can enjoy from several great comedic moments, to intense drama, to somewhat of a love story. See below for the English trailer: 

 It's becoming much easier these days for English speakers to watch subtitled movie screenings. I recently stumbled across http://www.koreanfilm.or.kr, which has all sorts of Korean movie information, but most useful to me is their page which is updated weekly with subtitled Korean films in Seoul: http://www.koreanfilm.or.kr/jsp/schedule/subtitSchedule.jsp. I will definitely be linking to this site on the sidebar of the blog for future reference!

Welcome to Dongmakgol: Korean Movie Review

Another movie I saw last week was called Welcome to Dongmakgol or 웰컴 투 동막골. It is a comedy from 2005 that takes place during the Korean war. Dongmakgol is a village so high and isolated in the mountains that inhabitants rarely come down and the villagers have no idea that the Korean war is going on.

Their first visitor drops from the sky in an odd machine. A man with blond hair and blue eyes who can't speak a word of Korean. His plane inexplicably crashed, or was it caused by some kind of magic that protects the village? The town doctor, the only man who can read or speak any English, helps him and tries to talk to him. "How... are... you?" he asks, reading from an English text book. The American soldier is rather angered by this question as he's covered in bandages and has a number of broken bones. The doctor doesn't understand why he doesn't respond as the text book suggests: "Fine, thanks, and you?"

But, then, as they are attending to the American soldier, two South Korean soldiers wander into the village. They make small talk with the villagers and explain that there is a war going on. "With Japan? With China?" they ask. No... with Korea itself. The villagers are quite confused by this. The South Korean soldiers are busy explaining all the terrible things the North has done when three North Korean soldiers then walk into the village and the soldiers of both sides jump up and brace themselves for a stand off. The villagers look on rather amused, wondering what is so scary about the sticks they carry and the strange potato-shaped metal apparatuses in their hands. They face each other down for a whole day, no one moving, scared the other one would move first. Finally a grenade is accidentally thrown and the village's food store house is blown to bits.

The North Korean soldiers feel responsible (plus, they have no where to go as the allied forces are now regaining the South and they have been separated from the main army) so they offer to stay until they can fill the storehouse again. The South Korean soldiers don't want to look bad next to the North Koreans who have so generously offered to stay, and so they decide to stay, too. After a series of strange events, they start to befriend each other, and the American soldier, too. Something about the town just seems to have that effect on everyone.

I really love this movie. It reminds us that North Koreans and South Koreans are just humans after all. They are enemies because of what their governments have told them. In this little idyllic town of Dongmakgol, those problems between them cease to matter and the soldiers just become human beings again. Again, this, like Wedding Campaign, is an older movie and a bit off the radar now, but certainly worth hunting down and watching.

Wedding Campaign: Korean Movie Review

Since there aren't any Korean movies set to be subtitled this year so far, we've been working on expanding our DVD collection. We usually pick up movies when we see them on sale for 1 for 1,000 won either at Technomart or at the Dongmyo market. Rarely does a movie make such a good impression on me that I feel that I need to write a review, but in the past week I've seen two noteworthy movies the first of which was a movie called Wedding Campaign or 나의 결혼원정기. 

This comedy, which premiered in 2006,  lightheartedly touches upon some really serious issues in Korea today. The story revolves around two men from the country who have been unable to find wives until now they realize that they are in their late 30's and have no one. Parents and grandparents are starting to put on the pressure on them to find someone to help run the house. Some other folks in town have started to bring home wives from a country they can't pronounce, but sounds something like Uzubeku. They can't find it on a map, but they decide that they will go there to find a young, pretty bride to bring home.


Upon arriving in Uzbekistan, they find themselves amidst a corrupt buisness of selling Uzbek brides to South Korean men. It takes them a while to realize it, too, but their translator is a North Korean defector who has adopted a South Korean accent and is trapped in her miserable job until she can afford to buy fake South Korean passports from her boss so she can finally stop running from the law.

This is really a hidden gem of a movie. It touches on all these topics that I find so interesting in a comedic way. I highly recommend watching this movie if you happen to find it next time you're out shopping for DVDs or browsing movies online.

Korean Movie Review: GLove

Friday night I went to see the Korean movie 글러브 or GLove. It's a typical sports movie where a new coach comes in and turns a riffraff team of misfits into winners.

Here the story revolves around the coach, a washed up baseball star who is no longer allowed to play in the Korean baseball league. To get back into the league's good graces he decides to do some community service by coaching a baseball team at a school for the deaf. While the coach has attitude problems at first, and thinks he's too good to be a coach for these kids who can't even hear the crack of the bat, he soon finds the passion for the sport that he lost long ago.

The main character on the team is the pitcher who lost his hearing only in middle school. He doesn't fit in with the other team members and doesn't want to join the team. But, because of his incredible skill, the coach convinces him to play for the team, and he gives the other boys confidence to improve and play better.

The team goes into the national tournament, up against the best teams in the country with only a 10 man team (there are only 21 boys in the whole school). No replacements for injuries and no subs during the course of the game. Will the boys have what it takes to compete against the best of the best? Watch and find out!

This movie was formulaic at best, but as all these sport movies tend to be, it was heartwarming and humorous at times. At the moment it's playing in Seoul, subtitled, at certain CGVs such as Myongdong. Look for the (영문자막) next to the title. Yea, they don't have write in English that there is an English subtitled movie. Great marketing as ever. As usual, catching their targeted audience and whatnot... I wish I worked in the marketing department for CGV... oh what I would do with their English language marketing....

Movie Review 포화속으로: 71- Into the Fire

Yup, two movie reviews in one weekend. Amazing, huh? Tonight I went to Myongdong CGV to see 포화속으로, or 71- Into the Fire. This is a movie that takes place during the Korean War. It is fitting that this movie has come out this summer because June 25, 2010 was the 60th anniversary of the start of the Korean War.

The movie is the true story of 71 "student soldiers" who were recruited and, without training, were put on guard as human sheilds to protect the city of Pohang in the south of Korea while all the trained soldiers were sent to the front lines. The movie is a grave reminder of how desperate the South was for troops at the time. High school students had to be recruited to fight against the North who was rapidly advancing towards Busan.

This movie was certainly entertaining, but it had a certain Holywood feel to it. Things were over dramatized and the final battle scene didn't feel realistic at all. What these 71 boys did in real life, was pretty amazing. They actually held of advancing North Korean troops for 11 hours before reinforcements came. During the credits, they actually had short interviews with two survivors of the battle, which is known as the Battle of Pohang Girl's Middle School, because they held off the North Korean soldiers from the inside of the school. I don't feel, though, that the movie did much justice to the actual event.

Anyway, do I recommend it? Sure, it was fun to watch, and an interesting war movie. Just, be sure you go in knowing that it's Hollywood drama here.

You can still catch this movie showing at CGV in Myeongdong or Yongsan with English subtitles, but go soon, because I don't know for how much longer.

Korean Movie Review: 마더: Mother

Last night, too sick to go out, I decided to watch a DVD I picked up a while ago called Mother. I had meant to see this when it was in theaters last year, but never got around to it. I recall that it was top in the box office for a while.

The movie revolves around the mother of a young man who is a bit slow. The son is accused of a murder and tricked into signing a confession, though he does not recall committing the crime. The mother makes it her personal mission to discover the truth and have her son's name cleared.

I really enjoyed this movie. There were many unexpected plot twists and I thought the ending was surprising, yet perfectly fitting for the movie. I recommend this movie to anyone who enjoys thrillers, or anyone looking for a good taste of Korean culture. I think this is an excellent movie, and a fair representation of small town life in South Korea.


incidentally, I just organized all my movie posts into one category here, if you're interested in reading more about movies I've seen in Korea.

A-Team and an A-Game

Tonight I went to see The A-Team at Wangsimni CGV. The A-Team was always a favorite TV show as a kid but I didn't have very high expectations going into the movie, since these sort of films are generally of terrible quality. But, they pulled the movie together fabulosly. I felt like I was back in middle school watching re-runs on cable again. It was action-packed and hilarious, in just the combination the show always provided. The new members of the A-Team meshed so well I thought I was watching the original cast at times. Though, it's a shame Mr. T couldn't have played B.A. I guess he's getting old now though. I highly recomend seeing this movie, especially if you were a fan of the show when you were younger.


Now, tomorrow night is the big game: Korea vs. Uruguay. South Korea made it through to the round of 16 in the World Cup. Game is on at 11, and you better believe I'll be wearing my red shirt I finally bought in the subway on Wednesday (a little late, I know) watching the game out somewhere, probably at a bar for my friend's going away party.

And you know what else? If Korea can beat Uruguay and if the USA can pull through to the next match, guess who will face each other? Yup, that's right, USA vs Korea. Now, who to cheer for is the question. One friend suggested wearing no shirt, but If I could somehow get two flags onto one shirt I think that would be ideal. Or, carry two flags, so I could wave either at the appropriate moments. Well, we'll face that problem if and when we get there. :-)

Two Movie Reviews: 하녀 (Hanyo) and 앤티크 (Antique Bakery)

하녀 (Hanyeo or Hanyo)

*Warning! Spoiler Alert!*

This movie was based on the 1960 movie called The Housemaid. Basically it's the story of a woman who picks up a job working in a house as a nanny and maid for an extremely wealthy family. Totally unexpectedly (note sarcasm) she starts to have an affair with the husband and the movie mostly pertains to the results of this affair, and what happened when the wife and the wife's mother found out. In the end, to get her revenge on the family for putting her through hell, she kills herself in a very graphic way in front of the children.

I was told great things about this movie from some Korean girlfriends of mine, though no one told me what it was about. I went in expecting some sort of chick flick comedy and instead I got this gruesome upstairs/downstairs story. I was not impressed at all with the story. The movie was quite predictable and I was quite disgusted by the fact that suicide is considered a good way to get revenge in the end. The characters all felt very flat and one dimensional. I'm no movie critic, but when I watch a movie, I like to be able to connect or at least like one of the characters. But here, I felt no empathy for anyone involved and I really hated every single character.

This movie is another example of Korean movies that have been made (somewhat) accessible to the English speaking ex-pat community in Korea. This year, Cinus is no longer running the subtitled movies, but there are still subtitled movies in the CGV in Yongsan and Myongdong. It still seems as though movie information in English is difficult to access for non-Korean speakers. I did find a section on CGV's website that allows you to sign up for regular updates by entering your ARC and name into their system, but for some reason it didn't recognize my number and or name. If anyone else figures out this, let me know what the secret is.


앤티크 or Antique Bakery

After doing some research on this film, I discovered that it was based on a Japanese manga of the same name. This movie is about four men running a bakery together. There's the owner with a strange past which makes him throw up if he eats cake, the gay master chef who hates women, the ex-boxing champion apprentice and the slightly off bodyguard/adopted brother who makes a mess of everything in the shop. It's a slightly odd situation which makes much more sense now that I know it was based on a manga. The movie is mostly light hearted and fun to watch. There is a mystery that needs to be solved as well which makes it more than just your average comedy. It's also one of the first major movies to portray a gay character in Korea, although I can think of some others that have come out in the past few years as well.

As Korean TV and film are still in the early days of portraying homosexual characters I think they still have some problems with stereotyping and strange assumptions about gay culture, but hopefully these movies are a step in the right direction towards bringing homosexuality into the light for average Koreans who still honestly believe that there are no gay Koreans. I'm sorry to break the news to them, but I've met quite a few homosexual people in this country and they really are real Koreans, not some strange foreign import.

This movie is definitely worth watching, and you can find it very well subtitled on mysoju.com.

7급 공무원: My Girlfriend Is An Agent

I wanted to quickly post about the latest Korean movie I've seen with English subtitles. This one is called My Girlfriend Is An Agent. It's a comedy strangely reminiscent of Mr. and Mrs. Smith. They are both secret agents working for the same organization but in two different sectors and they both think the other is mixed up in some nefarious business while they both try to catch a common enemy.

I highly recommend checking this movie out. You can watch Korean movies with English subtitles at Cinus in Myeongdong and Gangnam.

I'm still peeved at Cinus's poor advertisement for English subtitled movies. In fact, they even write IN KOREAN the fact that there are English subtitles for the movie. They don't provide any English title and it appears they don't even have much in the way of movie times. They've made this resource almost inaccessible. But, now that you know, please head down to Gangnam and Myeongdong to check out awesome Korean movies!

신기전: Shingijeon or The Divine Weapon, and seeing Korean movies with English subtitles in Seoul

Tonight I headed over to Yongsan Station to see a movie with English subtitles. As far as I know, this is the only theater in the city that shows English subtitled movies. We didn't really know what we were going to see, or any movie times, but we just showed up and hoped for the best. We picked the first movie we saw, and it was called The Divine Weapon. It sounded interesting at least. Well we made a good choice. It was an action movie, which is always fun, but the real reason why I loved it so much was that it took place in the 1400's under the rule of King Sejong who is the most well renown of all the Korean kings. Without spoiling the plot, it is about the development of a powerful weapon that saw no parallel in Europe for another 300 years.


Oh, another great thing about this movie is the fact that you can see Gyeongbokgung palace... which I recognized right away. It's so interesting to see what the palace might have looked like with soldiers and royalty instead of tourists milling around all over the place. And I loved all the traditional Korean costumes and seeing traditional Korean houses. I mean, it's only a movie, but it's interesting to think about.


Anyway.. The movie is awsome... Long.. around 3 hours... but well worth it. Action, comedy, romance basically everything you could want in a film. For more info, check out the Han Cinema website.

Here is the trailer for the movie... sorry, no English subs though....

The Host

I just finished watching a great movie. It's called The Host (괴물). I'm generally not a fan of monster movies, but this one was pretty decent. I especially like how the Americans are to blame for the whole mess. Particularly the American military. Check out: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Host_(film) for more info about the movie!