Queer Korean Cinema: An Introduction

South Korea has yet to sanction gay marriage. But you wouldn't know that necessarily from watching their movies. Repeatedly as an American fan of this country's cinema, I've been startled by how often queer characters are portrayed sympathetically. Gay, lesbian, and trans alike. Don't believe me? Below is a list of a dozen films that I've watched which reveal a spirit of inclusion. Some have won major awards (The King and the Clown, A Frozen Flower, The Handmaiden); others date back over 50 years (Seashore Village, Starting Point). All are worth watching. And in case you think I'm scraping the barrel, I promise you there's plenty more beside the ones listed below. I just figured you've gotta start somewhere.

1. Seashore Village (1965): A pair of cohabitating lesbians in a fishing village may not be the focus of Kim Soo-yong's black-and-white classic but their acceptance by the larger community defies expectations of Korean culture of the day. The real scandal -- and cause of shame -- is adultery.
2. Starting Point (1969): The homoerotic tensions between a Japanese officer and his Korean subordinates are so perverse. Which isn't to say Lee Man-hee's strange war pic condemns the gays. It's highlighting how homophobia twists familial and military relationships. Box office sensation Shin Seong-il stars.
3. Like a Virgin (2006): In this enchanting dramedy, Madonna serves as a secular icon for a trans youth struggling to maintain their dignity while pursuing a sex change operation. (Not sure how well it's aged since I first saw it over a decade ago but I liked it then.)
4. Voice (2005): The fourth installment in the famed Whispering Corridor series of horror flicks more than hints at a lesbian romance. And that's not what makes it scary!
5. The King and the Clown (2005): A tragic romance involving queer clowns sounds absurd, I know, but I promise you Lee Joon-ik's Chosun Dynasty drama will have you weeping real tears.
6. A Frozen Flower (2008): Whether the sex scene involves the king and his male lover or the queen and that same side piece, the action is hot as hell. How many movies make that claim that while decked out in period garb? Bisexuals unite!
7. Two Weddings and a Funeral (2012): Prefer a romcom? Part fluff, part fire, this one features a marriage of convenience between a gay man and a lesbian, while addressing the political realities of oppression.
8. White Night (2012): Can you have a list of queer movies that doesn't include this classic trope: Two cute guys -- one moneyed; one working class. E. M. Forster did his own spin with Maurice, in case you forgot.
9. Man on High Heels (2014): Admittedly, this one if over the top but there's pleasure to be found in Cha Seung-won's turn as a trans cop who'd like to retire so he can fully transition.
10. A Distant Place (2020): Park Kun-young's quiet, melancholic indie flick concerns a gay, small-town romance that starts out strong then falters. It's a slow burn with honest heat.
11. Pumpkin Time (2021): An overeager fairy turns a young boy into a young girl proving that love is love is love, regardless of gender. This movie is full of surprises!
12. The Handmaiden (2016): Park Chan-wook has consistently delivered complex female characters so don't skip this lesbian erotic thriller based on Sarah Waters' novel Fingersmith.

Top Ten Korean Movies of 2014 (Sort of)

Many of the usual suspects are back: Auteurs Hong Sang-soo, Kim Ki-duk, Park Chan-wook, even the "less well-known stateside" Kang Woo-suk who's been on these lists a few times before with his Public Enemy movies. What's missing this year is a mob movie! Hopefully, 2015 will deliver on that front. As to 2014, I'm alphabetizing instead of ranking because it's tough enough to pare down to ten.

1. Arirang because Kim Ki-duk is the only guy who would think of having his own shadow interview himself as a way to heal.

2. Camp 14: Total Control Zone because you can be artsy and still deliver the most disturbing documentary about North Korea out there.

3. Fatal because a movie about rape shouldn't look good or feel good.

4. Glove because baseball movies like this one by Kang Woo-suk can reunite a family on Saturday afternoons.

5. Hahaha because of the three Hong Sang-soo feature films I saw this year, this was the most inventive (and the most satisfying).

6. Head because it's a wacky thriller with a strong female lead, typifying what I love about Korean movies.

7. Judgement because Park Chan-wook's early short set in a morgue contains all the brilliance he sustained in the Vengeance trilogy and beyond.

8. Pirates because now I won't ever have to watch those Pirates of the Caribbean movies with Johnny Depp.

9. The Story of Mr. Sorry because the animated life of an ear-cleaner deserves some respect.

10. Two Weddings and a Funeral because it only looks like gay fluff but actually delivers a powerful message.

Click here for top ten lists from previous years.

Two Weddings and a Funeral: To Have and to Hold and to Hurt and to Heal

Anyone who says that being gay or straight is a private affair and is actually nobody's business doesn't realize what a public thing love inevitably is. Imagine never being able to state who you were with last night or why you have to leave work early or having to jump through extra hoops to adopt a kid or having to pretend that you are what you're not because saying who you are is making something private public and that's not where this private thing belongs. In short the privacy of sexuality is a cockamamie idea that really has to do with keeping people in the closet.

This hypocrisy is exactly what's being exposed by Kim Jho-kwang-su's alternately fluffy and fired-up Two Weddings and a Funeral, a gay romcom that isn't overly concerned with political correctness so much as it is with the political realities that are the core of homophobic oppression. Gay doctor Min-soo (Kim Dong-yoon) and lesbian doctor Hyo-jin (Ryu Hyeon-kyeong) marry so he can please his parents and she can adopt a baby. But the minute he gets a boyfriend (Jin Song-yong), life gets complicated because said lover doesn't want to live a life of duplicity but wants to be out in the open, join a rock band, sing in the gay chorus, etc. There's a weird mix of eroticism and shame underlying their clandestine public flirtations. For Hyo-jin and her fashionably butch wife (Jeong Ae-yeon), post-marital bliss is constantly interrupted as Hyo-jin must play house to please Min-soo's parents. But the couples' problems are nothing when compared to that of their queeny friend Tina (Park Jung-pyo), who seems to know only longing and self-loathing. What's available to a queer femme not cute enough to snag a lover nor masculine enough to pass for straight. Hard times ahead!

Endearing and enlightening, Two Weddings and a Funeral is also surprising. An animated coda especially will blow your mind as it shows the lives of the main characters not in the future so much as in an alternate universe. The world is too hard to change. Sometimes, you just have to leave what you know completely to start something new.