Always Korean

So Ji Sub (Rough Cut) plays the role he does best, the tortured hero who is tough yet sensitive, in the highly anticipated melodrama Always. The popular actor impresses with his formidable physique and fighting scenes as a boxer, but the film's strongest moments lie in his pairing with Han Hyo Ju, who returns to the silver screen after vaulting to fame through the television dramas Dong Yi and Brilliant Legacy. Known more for introspective indies like Magicians and Flower Island, director Song Il Gon ventures into commercial cinema with Always, adding his own distinct touch and details into the heartrending love story.

Soo-Jin is a hard-nosed reporter with a flair for the dramatics. Jae-hyuk is a detective with a phobia of sharp edges. One day, as Soo-Jin is enjoying a skewered tempura from a street vendor, she sees her car being towed. But as she runs to catch up with her car, she accidentally sticks the skewer into Jae-hyuk’s side. From that point on, they seem to always run into each other at the most awkward times. Yet through it all, they begin to form an interest in each other.

Cheol-Min (So Ji-Sub), a man with a dark, mysterious past, picks up a part-time night job as a parking lot attendant. He sits in the tiny pay booth in the parking lot and stares at the small television. A woman named Jung-Hwa (Han Hyo-Joo) walks into the booth. She offers something to Cheol-Min and sits next to him. Cheol-Min realizes the woman is blind and she is confusing him for the parking attendant who worked their previously.

Director: Ki-hyeon Oh
An Chang-jin is a barber, a third-generation barber, in fact. He chats with customers, cuts their hair, shaves them. His everyday life is so ordinary and dull at the peaceful barbershop, except that his wife is young and beautiful. Then, one day a strange customer, Kim Yang-gil, visits the barbershop. He has “HATE” tattooed upon each finger joint. He gets a shave, a haircut and demands money three times a week. The intimidator takes double money each time he visits. The barber gradually is driven into a corner and he wants to escape from the bully but it is beyond his capacity because he is smart, minute, violent, mean and sly. Moreover, the intimidator casts an amorous glance at the barber’s wife and the barber, who can’t bear this anymore, hires a detective. The appearance of the detective seems to bring him peace but it’s just for a while. On the contrary, the curious detective watches for a chance to catch the barber unawares plus his riddling wife complicates this affair. The odd encounter with the barber, the stranger, the detective and the barber’s wife comes to an unexpected end.

By "Fist of Fury", Kim Hyun-Soo (Sang-Woo Kwone) addicted to Bruce Lee. Year 1978. Hyun-Soo moved to KangNam, Seoul. Hyun-Soo transferred to JungMoon High, Maljuk Street, Kangnam, Seoul. He goes schooling by No.78 Bus. First day a senior male took Hyun-Soo's collar and made Hyun-Soo being punished inside JungMoon playground because of forgetting collar Hyun-Soo made friends with Kim Woo-Sik (Bruce Lee fan) and Hamburger. Hamburger always bring adult magazines to school and was always being found by the school soldiers. Hyun-Soo father had his own TaeKwonDo Dojo - his wish is to see Hyun-Soo being the top 5 in his JungMoon High class, and got himself promoted to University. One day inside #78 bus, Hamburger and Hyun-Soo met Kang Eun-Ju (EunYang Female High), a female Bruce Lee fan who looks like "Olivia Hussey", whose music favorites are Agaetha (ABBA) and Celsia Chan…

Hak-kyu (Jung) is a university professor who's gradually losing his eyesight. In a vulnerable state, he begins to fall for an irresistible, insistent young woman (Lee). It turns into a torrid affair, and Hak-kyu throws all caution aside, but when he commits an act that she takes as the worst form of betrayal, her feelings turn. Scarlet Innocence is a contemporary retelling of a classic Korean tale, The Story of Simcheong, which was elevated to timeless art when adapted to the Korean musical storytelling form pansori. But Yim takes radical liberties with the story, changing what was always a father-daughter dynamic into an account of two strangers who first become lovers, then adversaries…..

Gangnam Style… Squid Games…K-Pop. South Korea is one of those places that's always somewhere in our consciousness, but most people know little about this extraordinary country. Divided into the distinct countries of North and South since 1953, the course of Korean history has been strongly influenced by the country's location between its two mighty neighbours - China and Japan. But despite this, unique Korean culture has retained a distinctive quality of its own. Alexander heads off to one of the most dynamic nations on earth to find out more. South Korea is a nation of contrasts, smaller than England but can feel like another planet entirely.

Seong Han-mo (Song Kang-ho) is a barber and owns a shop in the president's neighborhood, the Blue House. Politically not very well-versed he always joins his acquaintances' opinions and at first also isn't aware what consequences result from president Rhee's resignation in 1960 after several student demonstrations. Rhee leaves a power vacuum that is soon filled by a military regime led by General Park Chung-hee (Jo Yeong-jin) who puts himself at the top of the government in 1963. Han-mo, however, has different concerns as his wife Min-ja (Moon So-ri) brings a son into this world of politically turbulent times. Fortunately, Han-mo's barber shop is running well and he has no need to concern himself about how to feed his family anymore when KCIA-Chef Jang (Son Byung-ho) enters his shop and orders him to the president. From that day on simple-minded Han-mo is the president's barber and at least for his neighbors one of the most important people in the country.

A master of intensely emotional human dramas, director Lee Chang-dong is a luminary of contemporary Korean cinema, and his place on the international stage was cemented by this stirring and unpredictable work examining grief and deliverance. An effortless mix of lightness and uncompromising darkness, Secret Sunshine (Miryang) stars Cannes best actress winner Jeon Do-yeon as a widowed piano teacher who moves with her young son from Seoul to her late husband’s provincial hometown for a fresh start. Quietly expressive, supple filmmaking and sublime, subtle performances distinguish this remarkable portrayal of the search for grace amid tragedy.

Kyung-Soo (Kim Sang-Kyung) is an actor, but his last movie was a failure and he has just missed out on a new role. Disappointed and disgusted, he takes a trip to visit a friend and meets two very different women, Myung-Suk (Ye Ji-Won) and Sun-Young (Chu Sang-Mi).