Suing for reinstatement, he lost his case after a series of what he believed were highly biased rulings by the judge. Kim had been fired by his university for pointing out an error committed by his colleagues on the school's entrance exam. One day in 2007, a math professor named Kim Myung-ho took a crossbow and confronted a judge as he was returning home to his apartment. Market share: Korean 58.8%, Imports 41.2% (nationwide)Įxports to other countries: US$20,174,950 (Japan: 48.0%)Īverage budget: 2.0bn won including 0.7bn p&a spend Reviewed below: Unbowed(Jan 18) - Pacemaker(Jan 18) - Howling(Feb 16) - Talking Architect(Mar 8) - Helpless(Mar 8) - Gabi(Mar 15) - Architecture 101(Mar 22) - In Another Country(Mar 31) - As One(May 3) - Two Weddings and a Funeral(Jun 21) - Dangerously Excited(Jul 12) - Two Moons(Jul 12) - Horror Stories(Jul 25) - The Thieves(Jul 25) - The Neighbors(Aug 22) - Pieta(Sep 6) - Ghost Sweepers(Oct 3) - A Werewolf Boy(Oct 31) - White Night(Nov 15) - The Winter of the Year Was Warm(Nov 15) - Juvenile Offender(Nov 22) - National Security(Nov 22) - Watcha Wearin'?(Dec 6).

Maverick director Kim Ki-duk returns with Pieta, and a large number of works by somewhat less famous directors will hope to catch a hold of public interest just as the films of the first half of the year did so effectively. Looking ahead to the rest of the year, Choi Dong-hoon's The Thieves, firefighting drama The Tower and Soar into the Sun starring Rain will hope to reverse the recent poor performances of big-budget films at the box office. Korean director Hur Jin-ho and star Jang Dong-gun also were invited to Directors Fortnight with the Chinese language film Dangerous Liaisons. At Cannes, both Im Sang-soo's The Taste of Money and Hong Sang-soo's In Another Country screened in competition, while independent animated feature The King of Pigs was selected for Directors Fortnight. Although no Korean films were selected for Berlin's competition section, a large number of works including Punch and From Seoul to Varanasi screened in other sections of the festival. The news on the festival front was also positive. The diversity in the subject matters and styles of these films was also cause for optimism. Significantly, none of these works qualified as big budget productions, so their dominance at the box office was not only a positive sign for Korean cinema as a whole, but also an indication that midsized commercial films were enjoying a comeback.

From the Lunar New Year in January until the middle of April, a string of local films held the top spot at the box office, including Dancing Queen, Unbowed, Nameless Gangster, Love Fiction, Helpless, and Architecture 101.

Korean cinema opened the year 2012 with a remarkable show of strength. 'Architecture 101', 'In Another Country', 'The Taste of Money', 'The Thieves'

Korean movies 2012