21st Century Seoul

Korean Cinema, 2000–2003

2003 marked a turning point in Korean Cinema. The release of acclaimed films like Memories of Murder, Oldboy, and A Tale of Two Sisters announced Korean cinema to global audiences, establishing 2003 as the year the world began paying attention. Yet this triumph was built on foundations laid in the years before.

This program revisits those foundations through Take Care of My Cat, Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance, Oasis, and Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter… and Spring. Regardless of their failure to earn domestic attention, these films established the critical and aesthetic foundations that made the rise of Korean Cinema in 2003 possible.

Co-curated by Matt Choi and presented in partnership with the Film and Media Studies Program at Washington University in St. Louis.