
Known for
6.5A story that follows the lives and interactions of two Buddhist monks living in South Korea.
Mandala
1981
NRWith the outbreak of the Korean War, Su-ji and Oh-mok lose their parents. Along with their brother Su-cheol, they go live with their mother's parents. As they go to take refuge, Su-ji loses Oh-mok by accident. Time passes and with her older brother Su-cheol's success, Su-ji enters the high society. But due to the guilt of losing her younger sister Oh-mok, she does a lot of charity work constantly looking for Oh-mok. When Su-ji finally finds Oh-mok in an orphanage, she turns coldly away from Oh-mok for not having any evidence to prove that she is her sister. Oh-mok marries Il-hwan whom she has met at the orphanage and they live a hard life. Finally, Su-ji is convinced that Oh-mok is her sister but after living through such hardship, Oh-mok breathes her last.
Warm It Was That Winter
1984
4.0June 25, 1950. When second lieutenant Jang has a date with his girl friend during weekend, numerous North Korean jet fighters make sudden air raids to the skies of Seoul. It is the beginning of Korean War. In spite of Korean Army's brave defense, North Korean army reddens South Korea with their state-of-the-art weapons. This movie describes the progress of war from the invasion in June 25, 1950 to the reclamation of territory on the basis of Sun-A's personal experience. Also this film reminds hard lessons from tragic history.
The Testimony
1974
7.4Yeong-shin and Dong-hyuk graduate from college with a cause. They plan to bring education and modernization to farmers living in the rural area of their hometown. When they arrive, the pair immediately get to work, Dong-hyuk builds a village hall and starts aiding the farmers while Yeong-shin tries to gather the children to form a school. However, the villagers at first resent and resist the pair. It is not until one child, Ok-bun, takes the initiative and and learns to read under Yeong-shin’s care that the villages trust the pair and allow their children to be taken from the fields and taught reading, writing and math.
The Evergreen
1961
7.0Schoolgirl Sun Nyog suffers from pain and hardships, life and the world around her confuse the girl. Her father, a Buddhist monk, left them, the mother has totally neglected her daughter while her lover harasses the girl. One winter day Sun Nyog goes to the temple. She decides to study Buddhism and is ordained as a nun. In 1989 the film participated in the MIFF competition and won the Bronze St. George for Best Actress.
Come, Come, Come Upward
1989
NRA beleaguered cabbie accompanies a mysterious and moody woman on an eventful journey across South Korea to find her long-lost lover.
Crying in a Butterfly's Embrace
1983
Film credits
1980s · 12 titles
6.5A story that follows the lives and interactions of two Buddhist monks living in South Korea.
Mandala
1981
NRWith the outbreak of the Korean War, Su-ji and Oh-mok lose their parents. Along with their brother Su-cheol, they go live with their mother's parents. As they go to take refuge, Su-ji loses Oh-mok by accident. Time passes and with her older brother Su-cheol's success, Su-ji enters the high society. But due to the guilt of losing her younger sister Oh-mok, she does a lot of charity work constantly looking for Oh-mok. When Su-ji finally finds Oh-mok in an orphanage, she turns coldly away from Oh-mok for not having any evidence to prove that she is her sister. Oh-mok marries Il-hwan whom she has met at the orphanage and they live a hard life. Finally, Su-ji is convinced that Oh-mok is her sister but after living through such hardship, Oh-mok breathes her last.
Warm It Was That Winter
1984
7.0Schoolgirl Sun Nyog suffers from pain and hardships, life and the world around her confuse the girl. Her father, a Buddhist monk, left them, the mother has totally neglected her daughter while her lover harasses the girl. One winter day Sun Nyog goes to the temple. She decides to study Buddhism and is ordained as a nun. In 1989 the film participated in the MIFF competition and won the Bronze St. George for Best Actress.
Come, Come, Come Upward
1989
NRA beleaguered cabbie accompanies a mysterious and moody woman on an eventful journey across South Korea to find her long-lost lover.
Crying in a Butterfly's Embrace
1983
7.2In 1980s South Korea, a former cop, now in destitution, is placed in a rehabilitation center, where, by chance, he finds the Communist guerilla who had eluded his capture more than 30 years ago.
Jagko
1983
NRJong Sil, a sound effects director, is awarded a carte blanche for his ingenious invention of a coke bottle opener sound used in a commercial film for an Arab client. Ecstatic, drunk, he heads home to his wife and kids, only to end up spending the night in an apartment unit one floor above which belongs to a single woman. The preposterous one-night-stand snowballs into a major event, for which he is reported gone missing on TV. Lost, Jong Sil becomes more involved with the woman, discovering things about her, as their relationship takes an unexpected turn.
Three Times Each for Short and Long Ways
1981
NRBun-nyeo, a girl in a mountain village loses her virginity to Myong-jun, the village vagabond. After both of her suitors die before they can wed Bun-nyeo, she moves to the city to work in a factory. Myong-jun persuades her to return to the village, but he is arrested for murder. As the film ends, Bun-nyeo is waiting for Myong-jun's release.
Mountain Strawberries
1982
8.0Lee Mun-hi works as a bus conductor. She is tormented by the fact that she is subject to body searches, but tries to treat her co-workers nicely and live an honest life. She is kind to people who are less fortunate than her and falls in love with Kwang-seok, a traveling salesman. She helps Kwang-seok become a crewman of the ship and promises to marry him. When she is subjected to another body search, she protests against the humiliation and jumps from the roof of her company building. She is critically injured and is embraced by Kwang-seok.
Girl Going to the City
1981
NRNo synopsis available yet.
Woman Who Grabbed the Rod
1984
7.5Forced to leave their home because of the construction of a new dam which will flood their village, the eldest son in the family prepares land and money to construct a new house in Seoul for his family. However, he shirks his duty shortly after and leaves overseeing the construction of the house to his younger brother while he goes to live separately.
The Oldest Son
1984
6.6A young and beautiful woman born in the Korean countryside has to go through the many hardships arising from jealousy, lust and overbearing social control.
The Cruel Story of a Woman Who Spins and Spins the Wheel
1984
A man dreams that his wife from a past life has returned to haunt him.
The Night of Burning Flesh
1985
1970s · 20 titles
4.0June 25, 1950. When second lieutenant Jang has a date with his girl friend during weekend, numerous North Korean jet fighters make sudden air raids to the skies of Seoul. It is the beginning of Korean War. In spite of Korean Army's brave defense, North Korean army reddens South Korea with their state-of-the-art weapons. This movie describes the progress of war from the invasion in June 25, 1950 to the reclamation of territory on the basis of Sun-A's personal experience. Also this film reminds hard lessons from tragic history.
The Testimony
1974
6.0During the Japanese occupation of South Korea, a Japanese bureaucrat is ordered to persuade an influential Korean patriarch into obeying the law of changing his Korean surname to a Japanese one.
Genealogy
1979
7.3An overworked female executive is haunted by strange dreams. She is compelled to travel to a remote fishing village where she is inexplicably kidnapped and sold to a peasant farmer on a remote island.
Splendid Outing
1978
9.0Eul-hwa discovers that she has a talent for shamanism. She sends her son away to be raised by monks while she delves into shamanistic rituals and spells. Eventually she becomes a powerful shaman. However, with Christianity taking hold in Korea, Eul-hwa finds her way of life threatened and herself at odds with her religious son.
Eulhwa
1979
8.0No synopsis available yet.
Yeonhwa
1975
7.0After 14 years in Japan, a gangster returns to the Seoul neighborhood where he grew up and is forced to confront some difficult truths.
My Hometown
1976
8.0No synopsis available yet.
Don't Torture Me Anymore
1971
NRA sequel to Yeong-ja's Heydays follows the career of Yeong-ja’s first love, Chang-su, and his faithful love for her.
Chang-Su's Heydays
1975
5.8A newlywed wife, Ji-sun moves to her husband's village in a rural area called Sambatgol where it is customary to have glossy charades, incompetence is prolific, and thus poverty is endemic. She starts to endeavor to break down all these vices. Her family and neighbors point accusing fingers at her first, but soon they are influenced by her to combine forces with her. In the meantime, longtime absent father of Gang-du returns to hids wife, who is Ji-sun's strong supporter and the chairperson of the village women's association. Gang-du's father, however, turns out to be an espionage agent sent from North Korea. He makes his mind up to denounce himself by persuasion of his wife, but he and his wife get killed by other espionage agents. At the funeral of these two, Ji-sun and the village people march in resolution of succeeding her will to make more endeavors in the developmental plan of the village.
Wives on Parade
1974
5.8Two Korean college graduates arouse the suspicions of Japanese authorities after modernizing a rural community with a school and a youth hall.
The Evergreen Tree
1978
8.0No synopsis available yet.
A Widow
1978
9.0Mo-Hwa is a famous shaman. When the Christianity is introduced to this small fishing village, Mo-Hwa's divine power is declining. Mo-Hwa is furious when she happened to know that her own son Wuk has studied theology. She performs an exorcism to throw away evil spirits from her son and tears up the bible. The conflict between mother and son breaks up the family. Mo-Hwa decides to show which spirit is stronger when she is asked to perform an exorcism for a drowned lady. Even though she performs shaman, the body doesn't come up to the surface. Mo-Hwa doesn't stop to perform and gradually she is going down into the water and never comes back.
A Shaman's Story
1972
8.0No synopsis available yet.
Cattle
1975
9.0While working on a case with farmers, lawyer Heo Seung comes to believe that the rural development movement is the only lasting way to preserve the identity of the country. With conviction, Seung throws himself into the rural area. However, this position is against the Japanese occupation policies and eventually, even his wife, Yun Jung-sun, ends up leaving him. The Japanese judge Masaki Hiroshi determines that Seung's rural development activities are actually a rebellion against Japan. He has Seung imprisoned as an ideology criminal. After spending five years in jail, Seung returns to the country to see his wife, Jung-sun, continuing her husband's work and waiting for him.
Soil
1978
NRDeok-bo intends to fight his Eun-swi for the love of Bon-hie, but he is impressed by his rival's manly strength upon meeting. They become very close friends. Bun-hie, who was hoping to make Eun-swi an upstanding citizen is furious that he now spends all of his time Deok-bo. She decides to murder her former admirer-turned-rival.
The Story of Yellow Village
1979
7.0No synopsis available yet.
A Story of Crazy Painter: Gwanghwasa
1974
6.5Best friends Dae-gyu and Dal-su fight over Ok-hi. When Ok-hui marries and goes to Seoul the fight ends. After many years, Ok-hi is widowed and brings her daughter Ji-hyang to her home village, and the fight between Dae-gyu and Dal-su begins again. Ok-hui borrows some money from Dal-su when she is short of money while building a reservoir for the village. Dal-su lends money on the condition that she marry him if she cannot pay him back until the ground-breaking ceremony. And Dal-su's wife leaves. As Ok-hui fails to return the money, she tries to run away with Dae-gyu, but they run into Min, Dal-su's son, who demands them to pay back his father's money. Finally Dae-gyu and Dal-su meet and have a fight, but at last Dal-su sends him to Ok-hi, and he is happy to do so.
A Bout in 30 Years
1971
10.0No synopsis available yet.
The Life of Ok-rye
1977
NRNo synopsis available yet.
Myonyeo
1974
9.0No synopsis available yet.
A Sword Under the Moon
1970
1960s · 4 titles
7.4Yeong-shin and Dong-hyuk graduate from college with a cause. They plan to bring education and modernization to farmers living in the rural area of their hometown. When they arrive, the pair immediately get to work, Dong-hyuk builds a village hall and starts aiding the farmers while Yeong-shin tries to gather the children to form a school. However, the villagers at first resent and resist the pair. It is not until one child, Ok-bun, takes the initiative and and learns to read under Yeong-shin’s care that the villages trust the pair and allow their children to be taken from the fields and taught reading, writing and math.
The Evergreen
1961
9.0No synopsis available yet.
Lost People
1967
8.0No synopsis available yet.
Affection
1966
NRSeong-chun, who just arrived from the countryside, wonders around the Seoul streets, and meets his old friend, Bong-su. He moves into Bong-su's house, where he stays on rent. But the landlord is very nosy. Bong-su lies that Seong-chun is his wife. Seong-chun dressed as a woman and pretends to act as his wife. But one day, Seong-chun falls in love with a girl next door and proposes her.
Mines are Better
1969
