Last year, I took a deep dive into 1960s cinema from Korea. I wasn't consciously looking to escape the present. I didn't even realize I was focusing so much on a single decade. You'd think all that black-and-white footage would've clued me in! Yet here I am, mid-December, surprising myself with the data: Nearly 20 of the 52 films viewed in 2022 premiered in the '60s. Inevitably, perhaps, directors Im Kwon-taek and Lee Man-hui are both well-represented in my year-end list, reminding me they don't make 'em them like they used to. Not that they should. But boy am I glad that they did when they did.
1. Mandala (1981): Im Kwon-taek's profound buddy pic recounts the relationship of a nomadic ascetic and his excommunicated mentor.2. The Road to Sampo (1975): Lee Man-hui's magical road flick — about a love triangle of outcasts — celebrates friendship, not passion.
3. The Bell Tower (1958): By keeping it simple, In Yang Jun-nam's folk tale about a bell-maker's life resonates in soul-stirring ways.
4. The Coachman (1961): Neo-realism with a happy ending? I didn't know it was possible 'til Kang Dae-jin's Silver Bear winner.
5. Deliver Us From Evil (2020): Who's the hero of Hong Wan-cho's neo-noir? The career assassin or his trans sidekick?
6. Sopyonje (1993): A fading artform can't quite hold the family together in another career highlight for Im.
7. The Devil's Stairway (1964): Lee's pulpy K-horror goes to wonderful extremes when a doctor wants his nurse-lover...gone.
8. Homebound (1967): Douglas Sirk would've loved Lee's women's pic about a military wife with her own PTSD. So do I!
9. The Water Mill (1966): In Lee's filmed fable, a peasant gives his all for the love of his life then ends up with basically nothing.
10. Bloodline (1963): The havenots have a roughgoing in Kim Soo-yong's group portrait of North Korean defectors.
Honorable Mentions: Kongjul & Patchul (1978), The Outlaws 2 (2022), Whistle Blower (2014), and Dream (1955).
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