7 Korean films to explore, showcasing Lee Chang Dong’s directorial brilliance

One of today’s most talented directors, Lee Chang Dong, has a penchant for exploring the issues of psychological trauma in more detail. Each and every admirer should view these films by Lee Chang Dong in order to comprehend his style and psychology.

In his films, Lee Chang Dong delves deeply into realism while emphasizing the significant social and political context of South Korea.

7 exceptional films by Lee Chang Dong  

1. Burning 

This gripping Korean movie is full with drama and psychological suspense. The film was adapted on Haruki Murakami’s short tale, “Barn Burning.”

It features the gripping tale of a young guy named Lee Jong Su is followed. In order to support himself, he works at several odd jobs in hopes of becoming a novelist. He runs into Shin Hae Mi, a buddy from his youth, one day and becomes involved.

The plot thickens with the introduction of an unidentified man who appears wealthy but conceals his true occupation—burning greenhouses—a peculiar pastime.

2. Oasis

Oasis is a poignant love story from Korean cinema that will get you to reflect deeply on how people view one another and the power that perception has to alter someone’s course in life.

It is the tale of the romance between a woman with cerebral palsy and an ex-convict who is a man with mild mental instability.

The narrative walks the spectator through the challenging love and passion between these two physically and mentally challenged individuals.

3. Green Fish

The film, which is a noir crime picture, is packed with action and profanity. Seen through the eyes of a man who finds himself suddenly entangled in a web of criminality that proves to be his downfall, the film functions as a satire of South Korean society.

After being released from the military, Mak Dong has a deep desire to see his family happy and together, which drives him to make decisions that bring him into contact with an unpleasant environment.

4. Peppermint Candy

The movie opens with Kim Yong Ho appearing to commit suicide by going onto a train track and remaining there. One thinks, “I want to go back again,” after hearing his final words.After that, Peppermint Candy tells us what happened to get him to where he is now by going back in time in reverse chronological order.

5. Secret Sunshine

Secret Sunshine is a poignant account of a widow’s struggle with sadness and how she overcame it. In order to start again with her child in his birthplace after losing her husband, Lee Shin Ae is the main character of the film. She struggles with religion, bereavement, and verging on insanity throughout the entire film.

6. Poetry

Poetry is a film that was written by Lee Chang Dong, just like other of his best works. The narrative centers on a 60-year-old grandmother who is experiencing the early stages of Alzheimer’s disease, which is made worse by her grandson’s careless and deplorable actions. Poetry provides her comfort, and she attempts to express in her poem what she forgets or is unable to say aloud.

7. Heartbeat

Heartbeat is the most recent film in Lee Chang Dong’s directorial assemblage. The eight-year-old child who escapes from his school after lying to his teacher about going to the bathroom is the main character in the short film Heartbeat. In addition to his anxiousness, he fears that his father has been abruptly fired from his job and that his melancholy mother back home may attempt suicide.