Few other Korean directors have achieved as much fame outside of South Korea as Park Chan-wook and with good reason. He burst onto the international movie scene with 2003's Oldboy, a haunting film about revenge and redemption that has been remade in every major film industry around the globe. But Oldboy is far from the acclaimed auteur's only significant work.
Here are his best internationally known films, according to their Rotten Tomatoes rating.
10 Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance (54%)
Ryu is a differently-abled man who has made his peace with his low-income job at a factory. Unfortunately, an urgent kidney transplant needed for his sister forces Ryu onto a path of crime. He kidnaps his boss's daughter in a bid to get ransom money, and that is when things begin to unravel.
One of the first films that saw Chan-wook in the process of perfecting his trademark mix of despair and style, Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance tells a story that sometimes feels all over the place in terms of the plot and characters. The violence can seem excessive at times, while the central theme of revenge-gone-wrong can get muddied in the stylized treatment of the actual crime. Nevertheless, it is still an interesting addition to the director's filmography.
9 Stoker (69%)
When India's father dies, her Uncle Charlie comes to lend support to her and her emotionally unstable mother. But this new addition to her life may have his own sinister ulterior motives. That doesn't stop the lonely young girl from becoming increasingly infatuated with the man who may not be entirely what he seems.
A bit of a departure from Chan-wook's previous works, Stoker was his first foray into English-language filmmaking with a distinguished multi-national cast including Nicole Kidman and Mia Wasikowska. This British-American psychological thriller can often feel like the director was prevented from exercising his full creative might on the final product, but deft handling of the suspense and tension shows a filmmaker in complete control of his craft.
8 Sympathy for Lady Vengeance (76%)
This is the third part of a trilogy of films by Chan-wook all exploring the theme of revenge. This time, we follow a woman who was put in prison after being falsely convicted for the murder of a child. She vows to get even with the people who put her in jail, and uses the help of the friends she makes while serving time.
Once again, the moral arc of the storyline very nearly gets overwhelmed by the director's pronounced stylish aesthetic in depicting violence and bloodshed. The backstories can often feel tacked on and prolong the runtime more than necessary, but the performances and Chan-wook's glee in unfolding the story before the audience, in the genre he feels most comfortable with, elevates this film to new genre heights.
7 JSA: Joint Security Area (Gongdong gyeongbi guyeok JSA) (77%)
In a rare film from the director that takes on current political tensions, JSA: Joint Security Area explores a battle between North and South Korean forces after a soldier is shot in the line of duty. The investigation behind the crime forms the rest of the plot, which moves forward as a straightforward whodunit with a humanist theme at its core.
Based on a best-selling Korean novel, the movie can be an interesting gateway to exploring South Korea's place in the existing political landscape, something that few other Chan-wook movies attempt to do. But there are more than enough thrills, suspense, and even comic moments to prevent the film from becoming a boring political treatise.
6 Bakjwi (Thirst) (81%)
A horror film that raises questions about faith and morality, Thirst follows a priest is part of an experiment to find a cure for a deadly disease. Then, just as the priest's life begins to turn upside down, the movie morphs into a hilarious splatter sex comedy.
The unexpected twists and turns are guided by Chan-wook's capable hands, giving audiences a highly-diverting new take on the vampire romance genre that bears the quirky and distinct filmmaking mark of its auteur creator.
5 Oldboy (82%)
The film that put Chan-wook on the map, both in Korea and the rest of the world. Choi Min-sik stars as Oh Dae-su in a career-defining performance as a man who has been imprisoned with no explanation as to why. Left with nothing but a desire to escape and take revenge, Dae-su finds himself miraculously released one day and must unravel the mystery behind his imprisonment.
Every filmmaking trick and narrative flourish that Chan-wook is known for is polished and perfected in this staggering piece of revenge-action cinema. Watch it as one of those rare pieces of filmmaking where the acting, writing, direction, and music all come together to create perfection.
4 Three...Extremes (Saam gaang yi) (84%)
Three...Extremes is a horror omnibus in which Chan-wook directs the short Cut. A popular filmmaker comes home to find an intruder in his house, who has tied his wife to the grand piano. The man threatens to cut off her fingers one by one if the filmmaker does not strangle the child tied to a couch.
Once again, Chan-wook explores the theme of impossible choices that the protagonist must make in the face of terrible consequences. You'll find yourself wishing the director had fashioned his part of the anthology as a full-length feature instead to better explore the situation his characters find themselves in.
3 I'm a Cyborg, But That's OK (Saibogujiman kwenchana) (92%)
A marked departure from the filmmaker's other works, I'm a Cyborg is a tender and arresting romance-dramedy that centers around the lives of the inmates of a mental institution. One of them believes she is a robot, while another thinks he will soon fade away to a dot. We follow the two characters on their strange journey through their less-than-normal day-to-day lives and their own delusions.
For the first time, Chan-wook directs a film where he does not seem quite as sure of his bearings. Despite the weaknesses in the plot that sometimes engenders, this is an honest, heartfelt film that shows a different side to the auteur.
2 The Handmaiden (Ah-ga-ssi) (95%)
A crime drama based on the British novel Fingersmith. The Handmaiden takes place in colonial-era Korea, where a rich Japanese lady lives in secluded comfort until she hires a new Korean handmaiden. Unknown to her mistress, the handmaiden is involved in a plot to defraud her out of her large inheritance.
Chan-wook trades in his well-worn techniques of bloody shock-and-awe for a slow-burn thriller that takes its time setting up the atmosphere and relationships before bringing the whole delicate house of cards built on schemes and intrigue crashing down around its characters.
1 Snowpiercer (95%)
Although this movie only lists Chan-wook as a producer, his production company also had a hand in getting the rights of the original french story to director Bong Joon Ho and putting together the international star cast for the movie.
After a failed global-warming experiment decimates the world's population, the survivors live on-board a constantly moving train where society exists in deeply stratified circles built on class and wealth. Crumbling infrastructure, simmering tensions, and open rebellion stoke the fires and drive the plot of this high-concept actioner.