I'm trying to find more non-genre oriented stuff. The quality horror and ganster films are somewhat easy to find. I saw a light hearted comedy called A GOOD DAY FOR AN AFFAIR and would like to see more films in this vein. Any suggestions?

Thanks in advance.

I haven't seen A Good Day For An Affair but give one of all of the below a try:-

Everybody Has Secrets
Singles
S Diary (this is not as good but an entertaining time killer)

Try these:

HI, DHARMA!
SAVING MY HUBBY
JUNGLE JUICE
MY SASSY GIRL

I've watched:

MY WIFE IS A GANGSTER (it is Jopok, but it's a comedy)
ATTACK THE GAS STATION
MY SCARY GIRL (not as good as I had hoped, but not bad by any stretch)

and both are worthwhile. I second MY SASSY GIRL.

I've heard good things about WELCOME TO DONGMAKGOL and WELCOME TO THE GREEN PLANET.

Is this a different film than SAVE THE GREEN PLANET?

Yea. Sure. It's the prequel...that's the ticket :ph43r:

It's been a while since I saw SAVE THE GREEN PLANET, but I thought of it as a genre (Horror) film myself. I do have a fuzzy memory, though. :wacko:

Welcome to Dongmakgol is as synthetic a piece of hack work as Japan's Always - Sunset on Third Street . Very disappointing.

I am not a fan of Sassy Girl -- except for its excellent lead performance by JUN Ji-hyun. But I'm just part of the minority report on this.

I strongly recommend Take Care of My Cat and Barking Dogs Never Bite (both starring BAE Doo-na). Also Art Museum by the Zoo (my pick for best Korean romantic comedy).

If you like Rohmer's films, I'd recommend you give the work of HONG Sang-soo a chance (I love all his films) . His recent Woman on the Beach is as good a place to start as any.

You should check out the (not comic) work of HUR Jin-ho -- especially Christmas in August and One Fine Spring Day . Also the work LEE Chang-dong, especially Peppermint candy and [/I]Oasis[/I]. (His latest Secret Sunshine is also great and has a subbed Korean DVD).

If you want political black humor, take a look at IM Sang-soo's President's Last Bang. If you want political drama, theres PARK Kwang-su's Black Republic and A Single Spark.

Being a genre film junkie I may not be the best person to give advice here however having said that I do believe my favorite Korean film director is Lee Chang-Dong and therefore second Mr. Kepan’s recommendation of PEPPERMINT CANDY & OASIS. I stupidly managed to miss SECRET SUNSHINE twice but hear it’s terrific too.

I also very much admired three of director Im Sang-Soo’s films: PRESIDENT’S LAST BANG, A GOOD LAWYER’S WIFE, and THE OLD GARDEN

The following are solid entertainers: Hur Jin-Ho’s HAPPINESS, & ONE FINE SPRING DAY, as well as Im Kwon-Taek’s CHUNHYANG, & CHIWASEON.

And for two very dark, non-genre experiences check out ROAD MOVIE and NABI (THE BUTTERFLY).

A bit more commercial but well worth a look are:

Kim Ki-Duk’s: 3 IRON, SAMARITAN GIRL, & SPRING, SUMMER, FALL, WINTER.. AND SPRING

Park Chan-Wook’s: SYMPATHY FOR MR VENGEANCE, I’M A CYBORG BUT THAT’S OK, & the not to be missed JSA.

Yes, yes and yes!

I also like Kim's TIME, ADDRESS UNKNOWN, THE ISLE and COAST GUARD, but wasn't crazy about THE BOW. I also have his BAD GUY on DVD, but haven't watched it yet.

Jennifer -- given your admiration of LCD's work, do check out PARK Kwang-su's 1990s films (assuming you haven't yet done so). Both LCD and Hur got their start working with Park.

I probably should have mentioned Im San-soo's Old Garden myself... ;~}

A few more:

ARAHAN
DANCE WITH THE WIND
DITTO
JAIL BREAKERS
TOO BEAUTIFUL TO LIE

I can't believe I forgot to mention BARKING DOGS NEVER BITE, which is definitely my favorite Korean black comedy, a film that I felt compelled to watch more than once, and reveals deeper nuances upon subsequent viewings. A brilliant film, IMO. I wholeheartedly second the recommendation. I was in the minority on the director's 2nd film, MEMORIES OF MURDER, which I thought was a half-baked mess. I did like his third, though, THE HOST.

Michael - long ago I saw and recall not being very impressed by THE UPRISING. I did however like Park's segment in IF YOU WERE ME. Can you recommend any titles? Thanks for the heads up.

I can't believe I forgot to mention Bong Joon-Ho either! I don't know about half-baked but I too was unimpressed with MEMORIES OF MURDER. Maybe I was expecting too much after hearing how people loved it or maybe I was just expecting something other than what the film is. However Mr. Bong is truly a talented, provocative, articulate, and observant filmmaker. BARKING DOGS and THE HOST are both absolutely brilliant, not to be missed. THE HOST WAS the 7th favorite film in the unofficial Mobius poll for 2007 and placed 6th in the same poll for 2006. If all Mobians had seen it in the same year it would have placed 3rd in 2007 or would have been the number one film here in 2006!

Dan, I wouldn't recommend Dance With The Wind to anyone, to me it was a dissapointment all over and one of the few purchases I regret.

Jennifer, I didn't like The Uprising either, in fact I couldn't finish it -but plan to someday- and I love LCD and HJH so please be so kind to remember what you think of the films Michael will recommend (if you don't mind)

Art Museum By The Zoo is a great film, not my all time fave rom com but still very high up there.

Any of you guys have films to recommend in the vein the original poster asks? Especially from the recent ones since I too like this type of film and want to see more of it.

A matter of taste I guess, as the friends I've screened it for have all enjoyed it too. As both a clever parody of the kung fu training genre, and a deeply ironic masculinized inversion of THE RED SHOES, I find it sticks in my mind much better than 90 percent of the Korean comedies I've seen.

In fact, that's where I find it really difficult to make recommendations along these lines, as while I've enjoyed nearly all the four dozen or so Korean comedies in my collection, they're also so lightweight that their memory slips out of my mind within days. BEAST AND THE BEAUTY? EVERYBODY HAS SECRETS? BET ON MY DISCO? WOLF RETURNS? I'm sure I liked them...but...what were they about, again?

The Uprising DVD seems to have slipped out of print before I could get around to it -- I want to watch it because of Shim Eun-ha, however (unless people tell me she didn't have an important role).

The two Park films I've seen (and been deeply impressed by) are Black Republic and A Single Spark -- I am dying to see his To the Starry Island as well. Ths Spark DVD was gorgeous, the Black Repuiblic one was pretty "basic" (pictures and comments)"

http://rozmon.blogspot.com/2007/11/watched...ber-4-2007.html

While Barking Dogs remains my favorite film by Bong, I'd have to say Memories of Murder comes in a close second (perhaps because my father is a retired police detective?). The only problem is that I find this so overwhelmingly sad that I haven't been able to re-watch it yet (going on several years).

I ordered the first Korean DVD release of Secret Sunshine -- despite its price -- because I knew it would never make it to the screen in Boston (or to DVD in the US). It was worth it -- but is another emotionally devastating film.

I'm not a big fan of fluffy Korean romantic comedies -- unless they star BAE Doo-na (yay, Spring Bear Love). Looking forward to the release (at last) of her famed TV series, Country Princess.

HAPPY END!

Comedies
MY SCARY GIRL (SOHN Jae-Gon, 2006)
BREAKOUT (JANG Hang-Joon, 2002)
LIKE A VIRGIN (LEE Hae-Young & LEE Hae-Joon, 2006)
NO.3 (SONG Neung-Han, 1997): THE FIRST AND THE BEST JOPOK COMEDY. THE FILM WITHIN WHICH SONG KANG-HO (MEMORIES OF MURDER, THE HOST, SYMPATHY FOR MR. VENGEANCE, JSA) GOT AUDIENCE'S ATTENTION.

Among JANG Jin's films (KOREAN ANSWER TO WOODY ALLEN AND NEIL SIMON)
GUNS AND TALKS (2001)
SOMEONE SPECIAL (2004)

Among KIM Ji-Woon's films
THE QUIET FAMILY (1998)
FOUL KING (2000): THE FIRST FILM THAT SONG KANG-HO TOOK THE TITLE ROLE!!!
TALE OF TWO SISTERS (2003)
BITTERSWEET LIFE (2005)

Among YU Ha's films (YU HA IS ONE OF THE MOST UNDERRATED TALENTED FILMMAKERS)
MARRIAGE IS A CRAZY THING (2002)
ONCE UPON A HIGH SCHOOL: THE SPIRIT OF JEET KUN DO (2004)
A DIRTY CARNIVAL (2006)

IF you life heist/crime films,

CHOI Dong-Hoon's
THE BIG SWINDLE (2004)
TAZZA: A HIGH ROLLER (2006)

If you like artistic films,

SONG Il-Gon's films
GIT: FEATHER IN THE WIND (2006)
SPIDER FORREST (2004)
THE MAGICIANS (2006)

IF you like costume/historical dramas,

Among LEE Jun-Ik's
HWANGSANBEOL: ONCE UPON A TIME IN A BATTLEFIELD (2003)
KING AND THE CLOWN (2006)

LEE Jae-Yong's UNTOLD SCANDAL (2003)
KIM Dae-Woo's FORBIDDEN QUEST (2005)

So you like it as a clever parody of kung fu training genre (I don't even see that as a genre) and how do you find it as any, let alone deeply ironic masculinized, inversion of THE RED SHOES (a far far better film) is puzzling to me. Is it possible that you are seeing 'irony' whereas I see 'incompetence' - It may be due to my inadequacy of understanding so I'd appreciate if you could open that up a bit.

Michael I can send The Uprising you - pm me if you are interested.

there is similar code between DANCE IN THE WIND and kung fu training genre films. especially samurai road movies like MIYAMOTO MUSASHI.
the big difference is the main character's motif - one for revenge or other for the completion of his art.
though, I rather recognized the process of 'learning' in Western 'volume dance films' such as STRICTLY VOLUME! (1993?)

Hmmm, THE RED SHOES, you mean Michael Powell's film ?..... I didn't think about it, either. PARK Poong-Shik (Lee Sung-Jae) was just hooked to volume dance and devoted himself to it, while a ballerina just wore a pair of cursed red shoes.

Don't get me wrong. I enjoyed this film, too. But I had expected more because the director PARK Jeong-Woo was the screenwriter of ATTACK THE GAS STATION, KICK THE MOON, BREAK OUT, and JAIL BREAKERS. PARK Jeong-Woo is a kind of king of Korean populist comedy.

The problem I had with DANCE IN THE WIND was that it was edited to approximate similarly themed films made in the West, including the excessive use of dance montages, rather than accentuating the quality of the dancing. All too often it's a watered down version of an already watered down genre.

On the positive side, I would highly recommend CHRISTMAS IN AUGUST and DITTO, both of which were mentioned elsewhere in this tread.

In THE RED SHOES, the dancer's art stood in the way of her relationships, and eventually killed her. In DANCE WITH THE WIND, the dancer's art provoked his relationships, and nearly killed his partners.

Having caught a few films which shamelessly riffed on Powell's original (TAAL comes to mind), it was a pleasure seeing a variation of this sort.

Dan thanks for replying but in this case we will have to disagree since I didn't even care for the character enough to get interested in his experiences.

The problem were not in the actors but in the script and direction.

I still love Attack the Gas Station and enjoyed Kick The Moon (though not as much)