My picks for entertainment ~ suggested movies, TV shows, music, and books ~ so you can enjoy some quality ME time! (ATTN Korean drama addicts! This blog has lots of K-drama love.)
The criminal underworld believes in equal opportunity. If anyone wants to participate in organized criminal activity, the door is open.
In the case of The Berlin File, the door that opened is now closed because of secrecy needed to conduct an illegal arms exchange taking place between a North
Korean, a Russian, and an Arab, in a hotel room in Berlin, Germany.
Before the transaction can be completed, agents from the Mossad
(Israeli intelligence) burst into the room. They tell the North
Korean he can leave; they only want the Arab and the Russian guys.
The North Korean spy tries to leave the scene but a South Korean NIS
agent chases after him. He manages to escape but the NIS
agent still plans to pursue him. South Korea needs to find a bank
account that belonged to the late Korean leader Kim Jung-il. The
funds will be used by other countries that aid North Korea. NIS
believes the North Korean spy has information about the money.
Unfortunately, the spy is being betrayed by his own countrymen. They
also want to gain access to Kim Jung-il's bank account for their own
political agenda and plan to frame him as a traitor. He needs to try
to escape from his North Korean comrades. the South Korean
NIS, and the other international spy agencies like the Israeli Mossad
and the American CIA who are thrown into the “mix”.
He wants to escape with the woman he loves.
Can
he escape? Where will he go?
Main
Characters:
North
Korean spy Pyo Jong-Sung (played by Ha Jung-Woo, “Narco
Saints”)
South
Korean NIS agent Jung Jin-Soo (played by Han Suk-Kyu, “Tree
With Deep Roots”).
The
list below is 5 Korean movies I have already watched or are on my
watchlist. The “H” means the film is historical.
Castaway on the Moon (2009)
I Saw the Devil (2010)
Swordbrothers: The Showdown (2011)-H
Nameless Gangster (2012)
Perfect Number (2012)
♦
1)
Castaway on the Moon (2009)
Kim
Seung-Keun (played by Jung Jae-Young) goes to a bridge over the
Han River because he is contemplating suicide. He jumps but instead
of dying he ends up stranded on a deserted island in the middle of
Seoul. Looks like it just wasn't his day to die. Once he gets
adjusted to his new life, he decides living a solitary life is not so
bad, even though he still wrote out a message in the sand “HELP”,
just in case.
Kim
Jung-Yeon (played by Jung Ryeo-Won) also lives a solitary life
and never leaves her apartment. Her hobby is taking photos of the
moon. But one night she happened to see “HELP” written in the
sand and a figure of a man walking on the shore of the deserted
island.
It's
a very unusual way for two solitary people to connect.
This
is a Korean historical period drama and the setting is Manchuria,
China, 1619. Heon-myung (played by Park Hee-soon, “The
Bequeathed”); Do-young (played by Jin Goo, “Shadow
Detective”); and
Du-soo (played by Ko Chang-seok) are
three swordsman from Joseon who are forced to come to China by the
Ming Dynasty. They
tried to take refuge in a tavern but found themselves cornered by
Manchu forces.
Do
you love intense sword fighting scenes in historical K-dramas? Then
you'll love this movie.
♦
4)
Nameless Gangster: Rules of the
Time (2012)
Set
in the 1980s, this gritty crime drama follows a corrupt customs
officer who rises to power in the criminal underworld. Choi
Ik-Hyun (played by Choi Min-Sik, “In
Our Prime”) is caught accepting bribes. He
wasn't the only dirty officer but he is the one who took the blame.
One night while still being employed as a customs office he discovers
a stash of illegal drugs in a warehouse. Since he had to leave his
honest job where he was dishonest, he makes up his mind to become
completely dishonest. It turns out he's related to a crime boss,
Choi Hyung-Bae (played by Ha Jung-Woo, “Narco
Saints”), so they become partners in crime and
take over the Busan underworld.
♦
5)
Perfect Number (2012)This film is a mystery thriller. Suk-Go (played by Ryoo Seung-Bum, “The Berlin File”) is a math genius. That's the highlight of his life. He's good with numbers, but not much else and lives as a recluse. Hwa-Sun (played by Lee Yo-Won, “The Great Queen Seondeok”) is his neighbor. He makes no effort to establish any kind of neighborly bond. She moved there because she was trying to escape her abusive violent boyfriend, only he found her.
Suk-Go hears sounds coming from his neighbor's house which are obviously the noises made when people are having a violent fight. Hwa-Sun manages to kill her ex-boyfriend. Suk-Go knocked on the door to ask if there was a problem and when he entered the house, he saw the dead body.
Hwa-Sun does not try to stop him from calling the police but she asked him if he would listen to her side of the story before making the call. Suk-Go decides to help her cover up what happened.
Hwa-Sun accepts his help but later she starts wondering “what's his angle”? She starts adding things up in her mind. Why did he help her? Does he have dark secrets? Is he a psycho who is worse than her ex-boyfriend? I mean … she didn't even know him and he volunteered to . Things don't seem to quite add up. It's not just math!
This movie is based on the 2005 novel "Yogisha X no Kenshin" ("The Devotion of Suspect X").
Treathyl Fox aka Cmoneyspinner – Home Business Entrepreneur. Think. Dream. Focus. Believe in yourself? Hire yourself! Be your own boss! Do it! Self-employed and loving it! ♦ DISCLOSURE: In compliance with FTC rules and guidelines, be advised that some links shared via this websites might contain affiliate referral links which means commissions might be earned if product sales resulted from your click-through to the vendor’s website.
