Forbes' Top 30 Korean Films... 'Parasite' Wins Cannes & Oscars, Ranked 2nd, Who's 1st?

'Oldboy over Parasite.'

The American economic media Forbes recently released a list of 30 Korean films that must be watched. Surpassing Bong Joon-ho's film Parasite, which stunned the global film industry by sweeping the 2019 Cannes Film Festival Palme d'Or, and the 2020 Academy Awards for Best Picture, Director, Screenplay, and International Feature Film, Park Chan-wook's 2003 film Oldboy was selected as the best Korean film. Oldboy won the Grand Prix at the 2004 Cannes Film Festival.

Forbes praised Oldboy as a film emotionally rich beyond expectations for an action movie, famous for its hammer fight scene in a narrow corridor.

Regarding Parasite, Forbes introduced its dazzling award history and noted that director Bong Joon-ho was inspired by director Kim Ki-young's 1960 film The Housemaid. The classic The Housemaid was ranked highly at 4th place.

The 3rd place went to director Lee Chang-dong's 2018 film Burning. Based on Japanese novelist Haruki Murakami's short story "Barn Burning," this film competed at the Cannes Film Festival and was shortlisted for the Academy Awards' Best Foreign Language Film.

Among the 30 selected films, Park Chan-wook's works were the most numerous. Besides Oldboy, five films were selected: The Handmaiden (6th), Decision to Leave (13th), Thirst (16th), and Sympathy for Lady Vengeance (27th).

Director Lee Chang-dong had three films selected, the second most after Park Chan-wook. In addition to Burning, Peppermint Candy (9th) and Poetry (19th) were included.

For Bong Joon-ho, two films were selected: Parasite and Memories of Murder, which ranked 5th. Bong Joon-ho's 2006 film The Host, which attracted 13 million viewers domestically, was not included in the ranking.

Several classics in Korean film history were also included besides The Housemaid. The oldest film was Freedom Wife, directed by Han Hyung-mo in 1956, ranked 17th. Forbes described Freedom Wife as a film about the scandal of a university professor's wife mingling with the upper class in the 1950s, reflecting the new lifestyle and moral issues in postwar Korean society influenced by Western civilization. It added that the film was a huge box office success at the time.

Yu Hyun-mok's 1961 film Obaltan was ranked 14th. Forbes noted that Obaltan, based on a novel by Lee Beom-seon, features an accountant struggling to support a large family in difficult postwar circumstances and praised it as a very well-made film.

Park Kwang-su's 1988 film Chilsu and Mansu, starring Ahn Sung-ki and Park Joong-hoon, and Im Kwon-taek's 1993 film Seopyeonje, the first Korean film to attract one million viewers in Seoul, were also included in the top 30.

Forbes explained that selecting the number one film was a very difficult task due to the abundance of iconic Korean films and the growing film industry. It added that Korean cinema has a bit of everything needed for films and that more audiences should watch these films.