Some of the best and most exciting cinema in the last two-and-a-half decades has come South Korea. Films like Bong Joon-ho’s The Host, Kim Jee-woon’s I Saw the Devil, and Park Chan-wook’s The Handmaiden are full of such unexpected imagination and subversive spirit. Film at Lincoln Center is hosting a survey of some of the best Korean films that kicked off this new generation of inventive cinema.
Relentless Invention: New Korean Cinema, 1996–2003 will showcase 21 films that kicked off this wave of great Korean filmmaking. In addition to films by Bong, Park, and Kim, there will also be movies by arthouse favorite Hong Sang-soo, blockbusters by Kang Je-gyu and Kwak Jae-yong, and Jang Joon-hwan’s wonderful cult favorite Save the Green Planet! I have such a sentimental fondness for Save the Green Planet! I caught it on DVD in 2004, and it was the movie that kicked off my interest in Korean cinema.
You can get ticket and showtime information for Relentless Invention: New Korean Cinema, 1996–2003 by visiting Film at Lincoln Center. Below is the trailer for Relentless Invention and the day-by-day schedule of films.
Friday, November 22
The Gingko Bed (Kang Je-gyu, 1996)
The Day a Pig Fell into the Well (Hong Sang-soo, 1996)
Christmas in August (Hur Jin-ho, 1998)
Save the Green Planet! (Jang Joon-hwan, 2003)
Saturday, November 23
The Quiet Family (Kim Jee-woon, 1998)
Attack the Gas Station (Kim Sang-jin, 1999)
Sunday, November 24
Joint Security Area (Park Chan-wook, 2000)
The Foul King (Kim Jee-woon, 2000)
Memories of Murder (Bong Joon-ho, 2003)
Barking Dogs Never Bite (Bong Joon-ho, 2000)
Monday, November 25
Nowhere to Hide (Lee Myung-se, 1999)
Tuesday, November 26
Art Museum by the Zoo (Lee Jeong-hyang, 1998)
Die Bad (Ryoo Seung-wan, 2000)
Oldboy (Park Chan-wook, 2003)
The Gingko Bed (Kang Je-gyu, 1996)
Wednesday, November 27
The Quiet Family (Kim Jee-woon, 1998)
Take Care of My Cat (Jeong Jae-eun, 2001)
Rainbow Trout (Park Jong-won, 1999)
The Day a Pig Fell into the Well (Hong Sang-soo, 1996)
Thursday, November 28
Memories of Murder (Bong Joon-ho, 2003)
Attack the Gas Station (Kim Sang-jin, 1999)
Joint Security Area (Park Chan-wook, 2000)
Christmas in August (Hur Jin-ho, 1998)
Friday, November 29
Rainbow Trout (Park Jong-won, 1999)
Barking Dogs Never Bite (Bong Joon-ho, 2000)
Art Museum by the Zoo (Lee Jeong-hyang, 1998)
Resurrection of the Little Match Girl (Jang Sun-woo, 2002)
Saturday, November 30
Untold Scandal (E J-yong, 2003)
Die Bad (Ryoo Seung-wan, 2000)
Nowhere to Hide (Lee Myung-se, 1999)
The Foul King (Kim Jee-woon, 2000)
Sunday, December 1
Take Care of My Cat (Jeong Jae-eun, 2001)
My Sassy Girl (Kwak Jae-yong, 2001)
Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance (Park Chan-wook, 2002)
No. 3 (Song Neung-han, 1997)
Monday, December 2
No films scheduled.
This would be a great day to see Bong Joon-ho’s Parasite, if you have not done so already. Hell, see it again if you have already. Bong’s latest is a stylish thriller that examines class resentment and the trappings of late capitalism that turns all of us into pests to one another. There are twists, there are turns, and yet for all its strangeness, there is also a real (and so metaphorical) examination of the desperation and indignity of poverty.
For all the talk about cinema and theme park spectacles and what should be considered proper art, to me Parasite merges the best elements of cinema and theme park excitement. Parasite is one of the most humane, intelligent, and uproarious films I have seen in a while.
Parasite is one my favorite movies of 2019, and will likely make my list for the 50 best movies of the decade.
Tuesday, December 3
Memories of Murder (Bong Joon-ho, 2003)
Resurrection of the Little Match Girl (Jang Sun-woo, 2002)
Save the Green Planet! (Jang Joon-hwan, 2003)
Untold Scandal (E J-yong, 2003)
Wednesday, December 4
My Sassy Girl (Kwak Jae-yong, 2001)
Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance (Park Chan-wook, 2002)
No. 3 (Song Neung-han, 1997)
Oldboy (Park Chan-wook, 2003)
