KOFA
Due to censorship and a variety of other reasons and interruptions, Korean cinema as we know it didn't really take off until the late 1990s. But that's not to say there weren't a lot of really interesting films made before that. The Korean Film Archive is aimed at preserving and restoring those films, including many that were banned in Korea or thought to have been lost or destroyed.
This is a list of the films that KOFA have released on blu-ray. These blu-ray releases are all English-subtitled, region-free, and include booklets and special features that are also English-friendly, unlike just about any other Korean imports I've come across. They are every bit the same quality of a "Criterion Collection" release.
Many of them are also available on KOFA's YouTube channel for free, as I've linked below, albeit not always in their restored form.
This is a list of the films that KOFA have released on blu-ray. These blu-ray releases are all English-subtitled, region-free, and include booklets and special features that are also English-friendly, unlike just about any other Korean imports I've come across. They are every bit the same quality of a "Criterion Collection" release.
Many of them are also available on KOFA's YouTube channel for free, as I've linked below, albeit not always in their restored form.
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- 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.
- DirectorHa Gil-jongStarsNam-hyeon ChoiKim Hee-raHa Jae-YoungThe story is set in the 1970s during the period of military dictatorship. Schools were frequently closed down and society seemed to face bleak prospects on all fronts. Nonetheless, Byung Tae, a college student, enjoys pursuing romance at group "meetings" or blins dates. It is during one of these ventures that he meets Young-ja, a French Literature student.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4PvzT5WnNrA
- DirectorLee Jang-hoStarsIn-suk AhnShin Seong-ilIl-bong YunA man and a woman fall for one another, but she is haunted by her troubled history with men.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9cTDLnc3D30
- DirectorPark Kwang-suStarsBae Jong-okPark Joong-hoonKang Shin-ilA painter quits his job and looks to an old acquaintance for work and a place to stay.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6cmtZ4XYz7E
- DirectorLee Myung-seStarsAhn Sung-kiHwang Sin-hyeBae Chang-hoLee Jong-se is a third-rate comedian who believes himself to be a creative genius. He desires nothing more than to be a movie director. When he befriends barber, Mun Do-seok who has hopes to become an actor, it seems like a match made in heaven and the two set off to make a filmhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NvNK9Cn4Lmk
- 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.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LfxIfK8ThFc
- DirectorLee Doo-yongStarsHa Myeong-jungYun Jeong-hieBool-am ChoiA detective investigating a murder follows a convoluted trail littered with treachery, ruined lives, and tragedy.
- DirectorBae Chang-hoStarsKim Bo-yeonAhn Sung-kiKim Hee-raMosaic portrait of people living in an impoverished neighborhood in Seoul.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bqo7KL2DrMY
- 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).https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sdjwD4jW4XY
- DirectorJang Sun-wooStarsPark Joong-hoonSeo Kap-sookDae-kun LeeSituated in the small poverty stricken town of Woomukbaemi, South Korea, this film centers on a clothes factory manager and the triangular relationship between himself, his insatiably jealous and violent wife, and one of his employees.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eloiWNPkdFg
- 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.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FMrDC6lM9j8
- DirectorIm Kwon-taekStarsKim Hee-raYun-seok ChoiHie BangTwo ruined, old adversaries meet in a rehab center and reassess the conflict that dominated their lives since the Korean War. One man is a former cop and the other is a former communist guerrilla. The film flashes back to their tragic pasts to explain how they arrived where they are.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TfEuV43YTcI
- DirectorLee Jang-hoStarsAhn Sung-kiSeong-chan KimYeong-ho LeeThis is a film about the coming of age of three men.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wskvXnTdSn8
- DirectorLee Man-heeLee Man-Hee-IStarsKim Eun-OkAn Eun-SukKim Gyeong-RaTwo lovers face a bleak future in 1960s Seoul.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2f6eLMTooaM
- DirectorJeong Ji-yeongStarsAhn Sung-kiLee Kyoung-youngShim Hye-jinSouth Korea, 1979. Han Kiju is an alcoholic novelist who has never recovered from his year long tour as a volunteer soldier in Vietnam. When he's asked to write a book about the Korean soldiers who fought in Vietnam he's battered by flashbacks that remind him of the brutality and lies that destroyed his innocence. The serialized novel brings him back in contact with a former soldier who served under him, PFC Pyon Chinsu, the one-time company clown driven mad by the violence of the war and who now looks to Han for some sort of emotional rescue.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IQTNZgVTKlM
- DirectorLee Man-heeStarsJeong-suk MoonKim Jin-kyuSeong-ja BangA man wants to leave his mistress so he can marry the daughter of the director of the hospital. However, complications ensue and the devil in this man is released.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VnvRpQFsgrY&t=2s
- DirectorKim Ki-youngStarsKim Jin-kyuJeung-nyeo JuYe-chun LeePrior to the adoption of Confucianism, it was the tradition to abandon one's parents on a mountainside if they were over 70 years of age. In the ancient kingdom of Goryeo, now modern Korea, a nobleman defies this tradition when he refuses to leave his mother to starve to death.
- DirectorShin Sang-okStarsChoi Eun-hieShin Yeong-gyunYeong-seon JeonOk-hui lives with her grandmother, her mother and the maid. People refer to their house as the "Widow House" because all three adult women who live there are widows. One day, a teacher named Mr. Han moves into the house as a lodger.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c_bWx5n0n8Y
- DirectorJung Jin-wooStarsShin Seong-ilHie MunHan-seob KimCheol, an auto mechanic, and Yeong-hui, a maid meet. Cheol lies and tells Yeong-hui that he is the son of a businessman. Cheol pretends to be the French ambassador's daughter. They meet only on rainy days.
- DirectorJeong Ji-yeongStarsAhn Sung-kiLee Hye-yeongJin-shil ChoiSouth Korean production exploring a North Korean perspective of the long, grueling account of the Korean War based on memoirs of Lee Tae, former news agency correspondent who fought for North Korean partisans.
- DirectorShin Sang-okStarsHak KimChoi Eun-hieHae-won JoA country bumpkin (Dong-shik) goes to Seoul in order to bring his older brother (Young-shik)back to the country. Little does he know Young-shik is a petty crook involved with a prostitute (Sonia) who is servicing American GIs. Then Sonia comes onto Dong-shik...https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CP5-eOOSCog
- DirectorBae Chang-hoStarsAhn Sung-kiLee Mi-sookSu-chol KimA disillusioned student meets a eccentric beggar and a mute prostitute he falls in love with. Together, without money, they cross South Korea to help the girl go home.
- DirectorKang Dae-jinStarsSeung-ho KimShin Yeong-gyunJeong-sun HwangA man tries to raise his two sons and two daughters under some of the most adverse conditions known to man. The father operates a horse-drawn cart, but in a city that is modernizing after the destruction of the Korean War, automobiles are making carts obsolete. The children are experiencing difficulties as well. The eldest son has flunked the bar exam twice and is not hopeful of passing it a third time to become a lawyer. The eldest daughter is mute and married to an abusive husband. The younger daughter tries to pose as a rich university student to move up in life. The youngest son has a penchant for petty theft.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UqqB0HUFmUU
- DirectorLee Man-heeStarsBaek Il-seobKim Jin-kyuSuk MunGoing through a jail and a site of construction, a young laborer Young-Dal meets middle aged Mr. Jeong on his way to his hometown Sampo after ten years' absence. They become to know a waitress Baek-Hwa who runs away from a restaurant and then, they travel together. Arriving at the destination Kangcheon Station, Mr. Jeong is disappointed at the changes of the old village by building a hotel. Young-Datl and Mr. Jeong stay at Sampo not as the hometown but as the site of living. Baek-Hwa leaves Sampo with a ticket Young-Dal buys her with his last money.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Drz_bK4GkTE
- DirectorJong-chan YunStarsJin-young JangKim Myung-minJo AnA 30 year old mystery resurfaces and takes over the lives of the people living in an eerie apartment complex.
- DirectorKim Soo-yongStarsShin Seong-ilGye-hyeon JeonA war breaks out and all the men in a village are taken away to fight. Gyu-bok has run from the battle, ending up at the village where Jum-rye helps him to hide. Romance develops between them and a rumor spreads of a man in the village. Sa-wol follows Jum-rye and threatens to expose Gyu-bok unless she can sleep with him. Will Gyu-bok agree to her conditions or surrender? And what will come of the forest fire started to oust the guerrilla fighters?https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XMyBmK8enLg
- DirectorLee Doo-yongStarsJi-in YuWon NamkungJeong-sun HwangAn attractive young woman has been called on to help rid a haunted family of its demons - the male heirs all die young, and one is now in a coma - she has to clear the environment where several exorcists have failed before her.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xp-5r9y_KNM
- DirectorLee Jang-hoStarsLee Bo-heeKim Myung-gonHie-seong LeeThis is a film which ridicules the weaknesses of South Korean society.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K4djhhewVJg
- DirectorYong-min LeeStarsYe-chun LeeKum-Bong DoAe-ran JeongA jealous mother kills her daughter-in-law with the maid's help. But the murdered woman's spirit takes the form of a cat to seek revenge.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rVVtAPh2M9Q
- DirectorYong-Gyu YoonStarsKi-jong ByeonHeon-yong OhSeung-min NamDo-seong is a child monk who lives at a small mountain temple with the head monk, learning the teachings of Buddha. He becomes attached to a young widow who comes to pray at the temple, and the childless widow entreats the head monk to let her raise Do-seong as her own son.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jw4WFDq-uUg
- DirectorPark Kwang-suStarsShim Hye-jinPark Joong-hoonJin-hui KimIn the winter of 1980s coal mining town, Ki-young runs away from the police due to his student protest and hides into the town. Then, Ki-young meets an unhappy waitress Young-sook who falls for him, and two people decide to leave together.
- DirectorShin Dong-heonStarsKim Soo-IlA special boy is born on a day where hurricanes and wicked spirits struck medieval Korea. The citizens and family learn that the infant has super human strength and cunning intelligence. As the boy grows up, he vows to his family, the emperor of Korea and the high deities to rid Korea of chaos and disorder caused by wicked beings.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wcXignso3pk
- DirectorShin Dong-heonStarsKim Soo-IlWangho (Big Tiger) who always wears tiger skin and Chadol Bawi (Hard Rock) fight against corrupt public officials and wicked bandits.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QvJo-Tny6eQ
- DirectorLee Man-heeStarsJock MahoneyPat YiYoungson ChonA division of marines survive a battle with the Chinese army but find themselves stranded without contact on the wrong side of the front.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8rrBUUWRlwc
- DirectorGang Tae-ungThis film whose main characters are marionettes deals with the old Korean folktale 'Heungbu and Nolbu.' Greedy elder brother Nolbu kicks his good-natured brother Heungbu out of home and takes all the inheritance from their father. Poor but good man Heungbu one day cures a swallow's broken leg and frees it to fly away. Next year, the swallow comes to Heungbu's and gives him a gourd seed. He plants the seed and split it in fall. A huge amount of gold, silver and gems come out of the gourd, and he becomes rich over a night. Nolbu gets green with envy of him.
- DirectorGang Tae-unghttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=toDMRs8tKIs