Best South Korean films (pre-2000)
25 best South Korean films released before 2000 ordered by IMDb rating counting at least 250 votes. As of 19/01/2020.
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25 titles
- DirectorLee Chang-dongStarsSol Kyung-guKim Yeo-jinMoon So-riFollowing a man's suicide, time traverses back to reveal six chapters of his life on why he committed suicide.
- DirectorIm Kwon-taekStarsKim Myung-gonJung-hae OhKim Kyu-chulDespite its falling popularity, a father teaches his two children the Korean musical tradition of Pansori (one singer accompanied by one drummer).
- DirectorHur Jin-hoStarsHan Suk-kyuShim Eun-haShin GooHahn Suk-Kyu suffers from a fatal disease. He meets Shim Eun-Ha and falls in love with her. Will their love story have a tragic ending?
- DirectorYong-Kyun BaeStarsYi Pan-YongSin Won-SopHae-Jin HuangAbout three monks in a remote monastery; an aging master, a small orphan and a young man who left his city life to seek Enlightenment.
- DirectorYoung-jae LeeStarsLee Byung-hunLee Dae-yeonJeon Do-yeonHong-yun is a high school girl in a little mountain village who falls head-over-heels for a handsome new school teacher, Mr Kang. What with taking care of her youngest baby brother for her widowed mother and the impossible age difference, it is a roller-coaster ride for her as she tries to become someone special for Mr. Kang while he seems interested in the other new teacher at the school, Miss Yang.
- DirectorKim Ki-youngStarsKim Jin-kyuJeung-nyeo JuEun-shim LeeA composer and his wife are thrown into turmoil when a housemaid becomes more than they bargained for.
- DirectorYu Hyun-mokStarsMu-ryong ChoiKim Jin-kyuJeong-suk MoonA pressured accountant, his war veteran brother and their dysfunctional family struggle with integrating into post-War Korean society.
- DirectorPark Chan-wookStarsHak-rak ChoiGi Ju-bongIn-bae KoTwo different families claim the body of a woman killed in a catastrophe.
- DirectorHong Sang-sooStarsJong-hak BaekOh Yun-hongKim Yu-seokHelmed by one of Korea's leading directors, Hong Sang-soo, Jisook joins two of her girlfriends for a holiday in Korea's Kangwon Province. But in an eerie twist of fate, her former lover, Sangkwon, plans a getaway for the same destination, where tragedy brings them together once again.
- DirectorJeong-hyang LeeStarsShim Eun-haLee Sung-jaeAhn Sung-kiTwo strangers with very little in common, find themselves forced to live together.
- DirectorSang-Jin KimStarsLee Sung-jaeYu Oh-seongKang Seong-jinFour disaffected youths rob a gas station but find their plans complicated and sidetracked before the night is through.
- DirectorJe-yong LeeStarsLee Jung-jaeLee Mi-sookMin KimA lonely housewife begins falling in love with her sister's fiancé.
- DirectorKim Ki-dukStarsJi-eun LeeHye Eun LeeAhn Jae-moStreetwise Jin-a moves into a boarding house run by a small, close-knit family. But her unacceptable behavior threatens to destroy them all.
- DirectorJee-woon KimStarsPark In-hwanNa Moon-heeSong Kang-hoA family opens a mountain inn where their first guest commits suicide. Suddenly all their guests befall horrible fates.
- DirectorKim Sung-suStarsJung Woo-sungKo So-youngChang Jung LimThis movie follows the story of three friends in Korea, all three of whom drop out of school. The main character is Min, a tough guy whose widowed mother is a drunk. The story traces his journey from high school to the underworld as one of his friends introduces him to life in the mob. Complicating Min's life further is his romance with Romi, a girl from an upper-class family with dreams of going to a prestigious college.
- DirectorLee Chang-dongStarsHan Suk-kyuShim Hye-jinMoon Sung-KeunReturning home and finding his town drastically changed, a former soldier falls in with gangsters.
- DirectorIm Kwon-taekStarsKang Soo-younGu-sun LeeYang-ha YunShin, a nobleman, had been trying to conceive a male heir to pass his family name. Unable to provide a male heir, Shin's wife gives her husband permission to search for a surrogate wife to bear a male heir. On the way to finding a surrogate wife, Shin runs into a 17 year old girl, Ok-nyo (Kang Soo-yeon). She was a poor feisty girl who stated she would do anything for money.
- DirectorJung Ji-wooStarsChoi Min-sikJeon Do-yeonJu Jin-moWhen a wife becomes the breadwinner of her family after her husband loses his job, adultery becomes part of her life.
- DirectorJang Sun-wooStarsLee Jung-hyunMoon Sung-KeunYeong-ran LeeA young girl is caught up in the 1980 Gwangju massacre, where Korean soldiers killed hundreds, if not thousands, of protesters who opposed the country's takeover by the military the year before. Flashbacks show the girl seeing her mother shot to death in the massacre. The film spurred the Korean public to demand the truth behind the incident, and their government eventually opened previously classified files on the massacre.
- DirectorYun-hyeon JangStarsHan Suk-kyuJeon Do-yeonChoo Sang-miThe male radio presenter Donghyun and the female TV home shopping phone operator Soohyun are both lonely. While Donghyun is focused on getting back to his ex-girl-friend Younghae who has sent him a special LP, Soohyun is crazy for her friend's boy-friend. Via Internet and music Soohyun and Donghyun get together in a special way.
- DirectorKim Ki-youngStarsHwa-shi LeeJeong-cheol KimYun-seok ChoiAn investor planning on developing a tourist resort begins an investigation into the legends of the mysterious Io Island in the hope of exploiting its unspoiled beauty.
- DirectorHong Sang-sooStarsPark Choong-seonKim Eui-sungJo Eun SookAbout desires and lives of four characters in diverse circumstances. A poor novelist, a cheating wife, a mysophobic husband and a ticket girl.
- DirectorJeong-il ChoiKi-bong DuPatrick LeungStarsChien-Lien WuChing Wan LauHan Jae-seokA mysterious and highly skilled hit-woman in Hong Kong is paid to assassinate top-level crime bosses.
- DirectorKim Ki-dukStarsCho Jae-hyunJae-Hong AhnJeon Moo-songA woman forms a twisted bond with a homeless violent thug who prevented her suicide.
- DirectorKang Je-kyuStarsHan Suk-kyuChoi Min-sikYunjin KimSouth Korean agents Ryu and Lee are tracking a female assassin from North Korea who has mysteriously disappeared. With new killings and the theft of a deadly bomb, time is running out to catch her.