105 Years of Korean Cinema, 100 Most Memorable Quotes
Korean Film Archive Korean Film Museum 'Daesajeukjang' Exhibition
A single movie can contain up to 1,000 lines of dialogue. The lines in films, reflecting contemporary language habits and recording the unconscious, clearly point to the desires of the public. Countless lines throughout over 100 years of Korean film history have served as a map revealing aspects of the public psyche of their times.
Recently, with the rise of K-movies loved worldwide such as Parasite (2019) and Decision to Leave (2022), the screenplays of these films have also appeared on the comprehensive bestseller lists of major bookstores, indicating changes in how films are consumed.
The Korean Film Archive’s Korean Film Museum has reflected this trend by presenting a special exhibition titled “Dialogue Theater,” which gathers 100 great lines from Korean films. Visitors can see Dialogue Theater at the Film Museum located in Sangam-dong, Mapo-gu, Seoul until May. Excluding the silent film era, these 100 iconic lines from about 80 years of Korean film history have been etched into the minds of the entire nation. They remain in memory longer than outstanding acting performances, become catchphrases, and lead us back to those times and scenes with their brilliant sentences that defined an era.
The Archive’s curatorial research team initially collected 1,000 lines from Korean films, then selected 100 lines with the help of eight film critics and the exhibition planning team for “Dialogue Theater” to present to the public. Film critic Heo Nam-woong, who participated in the selection, cited the line “Have you been eating?” spoken by Detective Park Du-man (played by Song Kang-ho) in the film Memories of Murder as the most memorable. Heo explained, “This line was born as an ad-lib by actor Song Kang-ho on set, but it reflects the harsh and difficult times well, suggesting many things.”
He added that he was also impressed by the hypocrisy of intellectuals in the line “What is the ideology behind your behavior?” from The Road to Racetrack, the character of Madame Jeong made clearer through the line “I am a woman who graduated from Ewha Womans University” in Tazza, and the refreshing defiance against excessive interference and concern from others in the line “Mind your own business” from Sympathy for Lady Vengeance.
Especially, Heo noted about the line “We may be poor, but do we lack pride?” from Veteran, “This line was taken directly from what actress Kang Soo-yeon said during a private meeting with director Ryu Seung-wan. It was interesting how the line worked with completely different nuances depending on who said it.” Including these five sentences, the 100 iconic Korean film lines featured in this exhibition are as follows.
Korean Film Archive 'Dialogue Theater' 100 Iconic Korean Film Lines
Fate’s Hand
"You, sir, have fallen under my magic."
Free Woman
"Please give me the best quality of everything... Is it the best quality?"
Hellfire
"Mr. Dong-sik, do you think someone like me could live in the countryside?"
The Housemaid
"The man of this house gets the baby, the woman of this house weans the baby, and my body is like a toy?can you do whatever you want?"
Mr. Park
"Kid, even if you’re a dog, bark! Are you a child of a prestigious family too?"
Obal-tan
"Let’s go... let’s go!"
The Coachman
"There are people in this world who help others silently? Oh, you came well. Oh, Yong-ah! I won’t let you go now."
Guest in the Sarangbang and Mother
"Sir, please don’t set fire to the dry tree. What will happen if it burns uncontrollably? Just thinking about it is scary. I only have Ok-hee."
Female Judge
"As a woman participating in social activities, I know that family life, which can easily be neglected, must also be treated importantly."
Ttosuni: Birth of Happiness
"Sir, shall we cooperate and buy a new car for the new country?"
The Marine Who Does Not Return
"If I’m not here, who will make you laugh? When I laugh... like this."
Black Hair
"Evil is not what I chose. It was given to me."
Seaside Village
"I want to live here, with the elders, I want to live here."
Mare’s Bride
"If possible, we want to take the initiative to have daughters."
Forest Fire
"On the day I go to the bamboo grove, Jeom-rye, you stay home, okay?"
The General’s Beard
"I saw the culprit. He can’t be handcuffed or seated in the defendant’s chair in court. Loneliness. That guy suddenly pulls out a weapon and stabs people."
Holiday
"... Soon the day will break, dawn will come, should I go out on the street? Meet people? Drink coffee? No, I should go to the barber, get my hair cut first, get my hair cut first."
The Woman in the Painting
"31st floor? It would be convenient to fall and die."
Home of the Stars
"It’s been a while since we lay down together."
March of Fools
"We will now begin the school broadcast. One, two, three, four, can you hear me? Can you hear me? Can you hear me! Can you hear me!"
Robot Taekwon V
"We’re not developing robots to start a revolution!"
High School Rebel
"Waiting for you, waiting for you, dundee-date!"
The Woman Chasing the Murder Butterfly
"I won’t die. I won’t die. It’s willpower. Willpower! It’s willpower!"
Lady Empress
"Please divorce me."
Declaration of Idiots
"Everyone was only interested in sports. The film director died alone."
Whale Hunting
"The whale was in my heart."
Deep and Blue Night
"You will be my last husband."
Lee Jang-ho’s Foreign Legion
"I do anything that makes me happy."
Our Happy Young Days
"What do you like so much?" "Everything."
Chilsu and Mansu
"You shouldn’t know people by looking. You should know by seeing."
Comedian
"... I could forgive selling my only younger sister Ok-hee to the red-light district. But I could never forgive betraying a man’s firm loyalty. Shanghai Park! Draw your sword quickly!"
Young-gu and Ddaeng-chil
"Children, let’s all call Young-gu. One, two, three, Young-gu!"
Happiness Is Not Based on Grades
"Happiness is never based on grades, right?"
The Road to Racetrack
"What is the ideology behind your behavior?"
Two Cops
"If you have lived your life without a single shameful moment, then hit me."
Real Man
"I am like steel, harder and hotter than a volcano, absolutely, absolutely the last chief who does not belong to this land. Real man."
Number 3
"Whatever you do from now on, don’t do it."
Beat
"I had no dreams."
Green Fish
"Do you remember Geunseong? Do you remember then?"
Christmas in August
"Why do you smile whenever you see me, sir?"
Virgin’s Dinner
"Since when have detectives and prosecutors been managing my private parts?"
No Mercy for the Rude
"Judgment is made by the judge, excuses by the lawyer, forgiveness by the pastor, and the detective just catches them no matter what."
Oh! Soo-jung
"You even took off your underwear. You could have taken off your underwear but didn’t. Got it?"
Joint Security Area (JSA)
"Hey, hey, hey... The shadow has crossed over. Be careful."
Peppermint Candy
"I want to go back!"
Die Bad or Die
"No matter how much I try to fit the world, it doesn’t work. It’s easier to make the world fit me."
Take Care of My Cat
"Just because someone leaves you doesn’t mean they don’t like you."
One Fine Spring Day
"How can love change?"
Friend
"You go to Hawaii."
Waikiki Brothers
"Are you happy? Among us, you’re the only one doing what you want."
Public Enemy
"... Some bastard has a face that annoys me, so I beat him, and the kids who got hit by the cop sit in four rows in the parade ground twice by number... So just quietly wash up and leave."
Discovery of Life
"Kyung-soo, it’s hard to be a human. It’s hard, but let’s not become monsters."
Jealousy Is My Strength
"Noona, don’t sleep with that guy. If you must, sleep with me. I’m good too."
Save the Green Planet!
"If the maleic acid chloropheniramine inside here penetrates the body, it will constrict the neurotransmitter transcrisantemate, and transcrisantemate is destroyed by traltrin and methmetrin, these two substances. Then, that guy won’t be able to do anything."
Memories of Murder
"Have you been eating?"
Janghwa, Hongryeon
"You... do you know what’s really scary? When there’s something you want to forget, something you want to erase cleanly, but you can’t forget or erase it. And it sticks with you for life. Like a ghost."
Oldboy
"Who are you?"
Once Upon a Time in High School
"Screw Korean schools!"
A Bittersweet Life
"You insulted me."
Those People Back Then
"How about that person? Does he look like a revolutionary democratic fighter? Or was he a Don Quixote lost in delusions? There is a theory that his final statement in court, filled with a desire for democracy, is even moving. Well, those interested should look it up and read it."
Sympathy for Lady Vengeance
"Mind your own business."
The King and the Clown
"This harsh world. If we have a good time once, that’s it. Let’s meet again as clowns and settle it properly!"
Friendship
"It’s not the strong who last long, but the ones who last long are strong."
The Birth of a Family
"Is being promiscuous bad?"
Tazza
"I am a woman who graduated from Ewha Womans University!"
Champion Madonna
"I know. I will definitely become a very ugly woman."
I’m a Cyborg, But That’s OK
"Give up hope. And be strong."
Miryang
"That person has already been forgiven by God. So he has found peace of mind... I am suffering like this, but that person was forgiven and saved by God’s love. How can that be? Why, why!"
The Chaser
"Hey 4885, is that you?"
Miss Hongdangmu
"When a person acts irrationally, there must be a reason. Yangyang is human too!"
Thirst
"Is it a sin for a fox to eat a chicken?"
Poetry
"How is that place? How silent is it..."
Ok-hee’s Movie
"I’m not fun. I don’t like things that seem gathered with a funnel like that."
My Gangster-like Lover
"French unemployed kids break everything asking for jobs and make a fuss, but Korean unemployed kids think it’s all their fault."
Unfair Trade
"If kindness continues, people think it’s a right."
Festival
"Gibong, let’s go to hell."
The Villain on the Second Floor
"Korean men get old and become uncles, and then get some kind of license from the government to give advice and warnings to anyone, right?"
Nameless Gangster: Rules of the Time
"Hey man, I had dinner with your chief yesterday, huh? We even went to fight together, huh! Damn it. It’s all done."
The Attorney
"Sovereignty of the Republic of Korea resides in the people, and all power comes from the people. The nation is the people."
Cart
"I’m out here to earn living expenses, not side dish money."
Veteran
"We may be poor, but do we lack pride?"
Inside Men
"The masses are pigs anyway. Why bother caring about pigs? They’ll bark a bit and then quiet down on their own."
The Wailing
"What’s important? What’s important?"
The Handmaiden
"My savior who came to ruin my life, my Tamako, my Sook-hee."
A Dirty Carnival
"Hey, even bruises look pretty on you."
Us
"Yeon-oh hits, I hit, Yeon-oh hits, then when do we play? I just want to play."
No Secrets
"I said you’re stupid. Mom said you’re stupid... So she said she has to protect you."
Taxi Driver
"Dad... left the customer behind."
The Actress Is Also
"There’s only one mother-in-law, one child, and I only do one or two projects a year, so why should I cut back?"
Microhabitat
"Let’s do it in spring."
Burning
"Don’t think there are tangerines here, just forget that there aren’t any."
Catfish
"When we fall into a pit, what we must do is not dig the pit deeper but get out of it quickly."
To Yoon-hee
"P.S. I dream too."
Parasite
"Connecting through a trusted person, this seems to be the best. A kind of... belt of trust?"
Lucky Chan-sil
"I live today doing only what I want. But I do it diligently."
The Day I Died
"You have to save yourself. Life is much longer than you think."
Three Sisters
"Why the hell can’t adults apologize?"
The Mathematician in the Strange Land
"Wow, this problem is really hard. Hey, I should try solving it again tomorrow morning with a relaxed mind. That is mathematical courage."
Decision to Leave
"To Ga-in... I had a hard time because of you, but honestly, if it weren’t for you, my life would have been empty. Please tell her this."
Next So-hee
"It would be nice if hard work was respected, but people look down on you more for doing that kind of work. Nobody cares."
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