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The Park Chan-wook film Oldboy is enjoying something of a resurgence of late. The gruesome thriller screened this weekend at the Music Box, and starting Wednesday the remake directed by Spike Lee (yes, Spike Lee) hits theaters nationwide. The original work, a likeable if lightweight piece of neo-noir pulp, is a hallmark film of the Korean New Wave, a period that still exists in some form today but enjoyed its most prolific stretch from roughly 1998 to 2007. Films in the Korean New Wave are often extreme—take the ultraviolent exploitation films of Kim Ki-duk and Kim Jee-woon, for example—but others are much more nuanced, noted for their irreverent approach to genre, characterization, and political commentary. The diverse nature of the movement occasionally makes for tough sledding theory-wise, but the stylistic autonomy shown by each director—autonomy from convention, from authority (e.g., the neighbor to the north), and even from one another—binds even the most disparate of Korean New Wave films. You can catch my five favorite after the jump.
- Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter . . . and Spring (dir. Kim Ki-duk, 2003) Over the years, Kim has gained something of a sour reputation among film lovers thanks to the extreme and unforgiving nature of his films, which are often overtly violent, sexually aggressive, and brazenly confrontational. (The veritable dog pile that took place at Cinema Scope is the stuff of legend.) I’m no Kim apologist, but I do genuinely love this film. It’s the subtlest thing he’s ever made, a (seemingly) heartfelt drama that demonstrates the symbiotic aspects of spirituality and humanism.
