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| ▲ Posters of films "The Housemaid," "Memories of Murder" and "Parasite," provided by Korea Film Archive. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap) |
SEOUL, May 31 (Yonhap) -- Director Kim Ki-young's 1960 film "The Housemaid" has been named the greatest Korean film of all time by a panel of film industry professionals. According to the "Korean Cinema 100" list released by the Korean Film Archive on the 31st, "The Housemaid" retained its top position, just as it did in the survey conducted a decade ago.
A panel of 260 professionals from academia, media, and film participated in the voting process, which took place between June and August last year. This marks the third time the Korean Film Archive has conducted such a survey, following previous ones in 2006 and 2013.
Bong Joon-ho's "Memories of Murder" (2003), which ranked seventh in 2013, jumped to second place. His critically acclaimed "Parasite" (2019), the first Korean film to win the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival and the Academy Award for Best Picture, secured the third position. Bong Joon-ho thus has two films in the top ten.
Director Park Chan-wook also placed two films in the top ten: "Oldboy" (2003) at fifth and "Decision to Leave" (2022) tied for eighth. Park emerged as the director with the most films (seven) in the top 100, including "Joint Security Area" (2000), "Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance" (2002), "Lady Vengeance" (2005), "Thirst" (2009), and "The Handmaiden" (2016).
Other notable directors include Im Kwon-taek with six films, Lee Man-hee and Lee Chang-dong with five films each, and Kim Ki-young, Bae Chang-ho, and Bong Joon-ho with four films each in the top 100.
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| ▲ Posters of films "Old Boy" and "Decision to Leave," provided by CJ ENM. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap) |
The actors with the most appearances in the top 100 films were Song Kang-ho and Ahn Sung-ki, each with ten films. Among actresses, Bae Doona led with four films.
Compared to previous surveys, there has been a noticeable increase in recognition for films made in the 2000s and later. A total of 39 films from the 21st century made the list, including 24 from the 2000s, 14 from the 2010s, and one from the 2020s. In contrast, the number of films from the 1940s to 1960s decreased from 34 in the 2013 survey to 16 this time.
The survey also highlighted the progress of female directors. In 2013, the only film by a female director on the list was Byun Young-joo's documentary "The Murmuring" (1995). This year, nine films by female directors were included, such as Park Nam-ok's "The Widow" (1955), Lim Soon-rye's "Waikiki Brothers" (2001), and Jung Joo-ri's "A Girl at My Door" (2013).
The Korean Film Archive plans to publish a special book next month, featuring reviews and interpretations of the selected films.
Here are the top 10 films from the "Korean Cinema 100" list:
Kim Ki-young's "The Housemaid" (1960)
Bong Joon-ho's "Memories of Murder" (2003)
Bong Joon-ho's "Parasite" (2019)
Yoo Hyun-mok's "The Aimless Bullet" (1961)
Park Chan-wook's "Oldboy" (2003)
Ha Gil-jong's "The March of Fools" (1975)
Lee Chang-dong's "Poetry" (2010)
Park Chan-wook's "Decision to Leave" (2022) (tie)
Hur Jin-ho's "Christmas in August" (1998) (tie)
Hong Sang-soo's "The Day a Pig Fell into the Well" (1996)
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