It has since been the subject of various documentary films, but “Birthday” sees it adapted in a feature film for the first time, or at least used as a backdrop to the story. The 2014 Sewol Ferry disaster is arguably the most tragic event in recent South Korean history. You can read the synopsis and watch the trailer here.īirthday (Lee Jong-eon) Sol Kyung-gu and Jeon Do-yeon suffer and cope with loss in “Birthday” The film had its premiere at the Berlin Film Festival this month and is expected to release next month domestically. “Han Gong-ju” star Chun Woo-hee also plays an important role. With “Idol”, he pits Han Suk-kyu against Sol Kyung-gu in a thriller that promises intrigue and twists galore. Idol (Lee Su-jin) Han Suk-kyu and Sol Kyung-gu face off in “Idol”ĭirector Lee Su-jin broke out with his hard-hitting and tragic debut film “Han Gong-ju” six years ago. Telling the story of a bad cop standing up against an even worse society, this is the earliest releasing film on the list and one that should be on every action/thriller fan’s must-watch list. Six years after the action packed “No Tears for the Dead”, the director of the iconic “The Man from Nowhere” is back with “Jo Pil-ho: The Dawning Rage”.
Jo Pil-ho: The Dawning Rage (Lee Jeong-beom) It’s Lee Sun-kyun vs the world in “Jo Pil-ho: The Dawning Rage”
Here’s a list of some films we can look forward to with much anticipation in the remainder of the year.
2019 has begun very strongly, with “Extreme Job” going on to become the 2nd highest grossing South Korean film of all time on the domestic box-office. Where critics darling Lee Chang-dong returned to the scene after an eight-year hiatus to much fanfare and applause with “Burning”, small films like “Little Forest” and “Intimate Strangers” ended up being more well received than tentpole blockbusters like Kim Jee-woon’s “Illang: The Wolf Brigade”, for example. 2018 was, by most accounts, a mixed bag of a year for South Korean cinema.