1960s Korean Movies

A piano composer's family moves into a new house; when his pregnant wife collapses from working to support the family, he hires a housemaid to help with housework.

While under the effects of anasthesia in a dentist's office, a young man and woman fantasize a romantic triangle between themselves and the dentist.

An omnibus of the story of three women. In the first, a ghost takes revenge on the man who killed her sister. In story two, a woman decides it's payback time for a sexual predator. The final story tells the tale of a woman's opium addiction leading to a gruesome death.

The film based on the true story of Kim Gwang-seon, a mineworker who survived a collapse of Gubong Mine in August 22, 1967. The story focuses on the importance of saving a life, and the survivors' will to live.

Earthquakes in central Korea turn out to be the work of Yongary, a prehistoric gasoline-eating reptile that soon goes on a rampage through Seoul.

Iljimae's parents were killed due to a conspiracy when he was young. Many years later he became a chivalrous robber, robbing corrupt officials and helping the poor. He eventually manages in taking revenge for his parents' deaths. But the police start to chase him, and he hides himself at a gisaeng's house. The gisaeng was his ex-fiancee. She also lost her parents to a conspiracy. She begs Iljimae to stay with her, but he leaves to do what he has to.

South Korean Air Force pilots engage in perilous missions against Communist North Koreans during the Korean War.

A 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.

The illegitimate son of a nobleman, banished from his family due to the predictions of a fake prophecy, witnesses firsthand the injustices of society. Along with his sidekick, Chadol Bawi, he defeats a corrupt magistrate and returns stolen money to the poor. But when the magistrate brings in more forces, Hong Gil-dong must retreat to the mountains and train under a wise wizard. His sanity is put to the test through vigorous training, but years later he emerges to rally the local rebels in an attempt to unseat the corrupt aristocrats. However, with the magistrate having grown even more powerful, will Hong Gil-dong and his band of merry men be able to save his father and all of Korea?

Kind-hearted country bumpkin O-bok leads a simple life working as a long-time farmhand for the rich landlord Soon-young. When Soon-young discovers that his son Jae-seok has fallen for local girl Soon-yi, he protests the relationship and arranges for Soon-yi to be wed to O-bok instead. Despite the initial heartbreak, Soon-yi grows fond of O-bok over time and they have a daughter together named Sook-hee. However, when Jae-seok returns into Soon-yi’s life, she cannot resist his charms and runs away with him, leaving Jae-seok to raise Sook-hee on his own. Years later, Sook-hee is now a grown woman working in the city and in close contact with her father. However, a series of coincidences threaten to forcibly reunite O-bok and Sook-hee with Jae-seok and Soon-young in the most dramatic way possible.

Father An is locked up in a basement by retreating North Korean soldiers while reconstructing his church ruined during the Korean War (1950-1953). The North Koreans hide in the basement with Father An and tries to escape the church by using him as a shield. Captain Choe Dong-ho of the South Korean Army has been chasing the remnants, but he cannot annihilate them because of the safety of Father An. However, thanks to the clever strategy of Captain Choe, the North Koreans are killed and Father An is safely saved.

During the Japanese occupation of Korea, the daughter of a British diplomat is kidnapped by bandits. A Japanese commander offers to free some Korean prisoners of war if the Korean Independence Army rescues the woman.

Kkoedol and the Bear play in the stars and end up on a crescent moon sailboat that takes them to a glass castle where rabbits live. While enjoying a festival in the castle, they meet the Golden Iron Man, who emits a mysterious light, and set out to save the Star of Hope, which has been captured by Satan.

After an aggressive man lets his anger get the better of him, his wife takes her own life and he is forced to go on the run. The son he leaves behind grows up to have 4 daughters, but there is rumored to be a curse on his family. As the daughters find their way into relationships the curse seems to be true. Allegations of child murder, infidelity, forced into marriages with raging psychopaths.

Two brothers—Cheol-ho, an accountant with a toothache and a pregnant wife, and Yong-ho, an unemployed ex-soldier wounded in battle—navigate life in post-war Korea.

A young man who was fired from his job for being unmanly decides to dress as a woman and work as a gisaeng. He gets proposals from several of his male clients including his former boss, Heo. He earns enough money to clear his gisaeng life and opens his own business with his friend Jeong-hui. Meanwhile his sister tells him that she is getting married. Later he finds out that her future brother in-law is the son of Heo. He doesn't know how to react. But Heo takes the man back to his company.

An aged snake turns to a beautiful woman after the devil's order, and tempts a young Buddhist monk. The two marries, and gives birth to a son. The snake tries to kill her husband to obey the devil's order, but she can't because of the love she built with the man. The devil turns the snake into a stone. But with the help of a Buddha, she turns back to a human, living happily after with the monk.

Mr. Park raises his children by repairing charcoal pits. Although ignorant and stubborn, Mr. Park has a good heart. He is displeased, however, with his eldest daughter, Yong-sun (Jo Mi-ryeong), because of her close relationship with Jae-cheon (Hwang hae), who is a scamp in his eyes. He is also unsatisfied with his second daughter, Myeong-sun (Eom Aeng-ran), for liking Ju-sik (Bang Su-il). Only his eldest son, Yong-beom (Kim Jin-gyu), is the apple of his eye, as he approves of his son's wife, Jeom-rye (Kim Hye-jeong). When Yong-beom is sent to a foreign branch office, Mr. Park is against it at first but approves of it, as he knows what it means for his son's future. Eventually, too, he begins to approve of his two daughters' relationships.

The widow of a nobleman bears a son after having an affair with her servant. The servant and the baby are driven from the home by the woman's irate in-laws when the truth is discovered. Even after the child is grown, no contact is allowed between he and his mother who now denies the events of her past.

In director Won-shik Lim's rousing martial arts adventure, sightless orphan Elaine (Mi-ja Sa) embarks on an impassioned journey when she learns that her mother -- who abandoned Elaine years earlier -- may still be alive. On her quest, Elaine, who is a skilled swordswoman, unexpectedly finds herself pitted against a cathouse madam and a brutal crime lord.

A doctor is shocked to learn that his girlfriend had formerly been the mistress of a married man.

A Manchurian Action movie modeled on George Stevens' "Shane."

A film picturing the lives and adversities of fishermen who live and die in the sea.

A Korean man, forced into service in the Japanese army during WWII, marries his Japanese girlfriend despite everyone's objections. Later, he becomes the sole survivor when the Americans attack.

A poor boarder inherits 30 million dollars from an American soldier whose life he saved during the Korean War. The stingy landlady instantly turns into a completely different person, women swarm around him, and charities ask him for donations. Gangsters come forward and try to kill him...

This melodrama follows the trials and tribulations of a single mother who dares to love. Hyun Hee (Mun Jeong Suk) makes a living running a coffee house. She has to support her illegitimate daughter and mother, and bear the scorn of those who look down on her. Hyun Hee falls in love with a married writer (Kim Jin Kyu), while another customer (Choi Mu Ryong) holds a torch for her. The romantic triangles that unfold lead to tragic consequences.

Six-year-old Ok Hee is glad when Mr. Han comes to board at her house full of women. She plays messenger for Mr. Han and her widowed mother as they quietly fall in love, but is her support enough to guard their love?

A middle-aged man is laid off from work but is too proud to tell his family. His children, however, learn of the situation and take jobs of their own to help him save face.

Jo Doo-soo, a member of a gang, comes across and helps Joanna, a college student who is about to have her handbag robbed by the bullies on her way home. Joanna is a diplomat's daughter and living the life of the upper class; whereas, Jo Doo-soo wastes his days serving the gang. Attracted to one another because of their opposite lives, Doo-soo and Joanna quickly fall in love. Being a devout Christian, Joanna believes that if only Doo-soo changed his thoughts about the way he lives, he could be a new person...

His parents captured by the Baekje armies, prince Eo-jin infiltrates the enemy castle alone to seek revenge. His plot is ruined when he falls in love with a princess there and is forced to choose between betraying his parents and nation or the woman he loves.

When King Heon-kong falls ill, a power struggle erupts over who will inherit the throne. Tired of all the infighting, the ministers arrange for a branch of the king's family, which had lost all its wealth and was living on remote Ganghwa Island, to inherit. But the heir to the throne is reluctant to leave his island home.

When King Cheol-jang dies, the throne passes to his son King Ko-jang but, because he is considered to be too inexperienced, his ambitious uncle rules as regent. The rightful king's wife, the politically brilliant Queen Min, refuses to accept this situation and brings about the uncle's exile in order to secure the throne.

Lee, Yun-bok in his fourth grade lives in a poor family. His father is indulged in gambling, and his mother, who can no longer tolerate the cruelty of her husband, leaves home. Yet, Yun-bok comforts his younger brothers, makes a poor living by shining shoes, and keeps his journal everyday.

Kisaeng Wol-ha marries Kim Han-su, but soon dies because of a false accusation made up by her mother-in-law and very own servant. Now, the ghost of Wol-ha wants revenge!

Yeong-mi swears that she will revenge herself against Ku Yeon-su after he ruins her family. First she gains his trust and eventually moves in with him. Then she sets her plans of his destruction in motion.

A historical drama about Prince Yeon-san of Joseon as a prince trying to restore the status of his mother, the deposed and executed Queen Yun.

Patriotic university student Youngwoo and his friends, led by their teacher Lee Sung, along with a British friend bid farewell to their families and become freedom fighters in Manchuria fighting against the Japanese occupation around the Tumen River.

Captain Kim is grievously wounded in the first days of the war. When the northern troops continue their advance, his wife and small daughters flee south to Taegu, dragging him along in a two-wheel handcart. His wife struggles to keep herself and their surviving daughter alive. Working as a market trader, she meets a kind young man -- who happens to be tall, dark and handsome.

King Kong-min tried to govern the country wisely but, after the death of his wife, he neglects hs state duties. Most of the important decisions to be made fall to the king's retainer Shin Dong, who is more interested in women than politics and the kingdom soon falls into chaos.

Summaries An architecture student and a daughter of a bank branch manager are in love with each other. The love cools down as she gets to know his family ancestors were butchers. He spends his life in obscurity cursing his destiny of being born as a child of butchers. One day his father tells him a moving story of himself, describing how he overcame the handicap of being a butcher and has built up his business to a success. Then, he realizes his stupidity, decides to forget her and harbor a hope in his mind.