Modern Boy

Oct 2, 2008

2h 1m

★ 6.8

What's Harder than Fighting Imperialism? Try Finding Lost Love.

Overview

During the Japanese occupation, a Korean modern boy, who wants to fit in with the Japanese, falls in love with a Korean freedom fighter.

Genres

War

Romance

Drama

Production Companies

CJ Entertainment

Cinema Service

Modern Boy Trailers

Cast

Lee Hae-myung

Park Hae-il

Cho Nan-sil

Kim Hye-soo

Hidaka Shinsuke

Kim Nam-gil

Baek Sang-heo

Kim Joon-bae

Ogai

Kim Young-jae

Hae-myung's Father

Shin Gu

Detective in a beret

Ju Seok-tae

Yoko Ishida

Lim Seo-yeon

Cheol-kwon

Hong Seung-jin

Mr. Lee

Hwang Sang-kyung

Yukiko

Lee Seung-bi

Park Ka-song

Kim Kwang-kyu

Jong-bun, in her eighties, is one of the last surviving 'Comfort Women' victims forced into sexual slavery by the Japanese Army during World War II. Back in 1944, at the end of the Japanese occupation in Korea, Jong-bun was a poor but energetic girl while Young-ae was the smart rich clerk's daughter. One day, Jong-bun gets abducted and finds herself on a train for Manchuria. To her surprise, she also finds Young-ae on the train facing the same fate to become a comfort woman. Jong-bun and Young-ae help each other go through the living hell and as the war comes to an end, they finally escape from the comfort women camp, only to face two different paths of life. Decades later, Jong-bun helps out a teenaged girl who is disoriented in life, reminded of her own painful past.

7.1

Fighter in the Wind

Aug 12, 2004

An account of karate competitor Choi Yeung-Eui who went to Japan after World War II to become a fighter pilot but found a very different path instead. He changed his name to Masutatsu Oyama and went across the country, defeating martial artists one after another. This film concentrates on the period when he is still young, and developing his famous karate style, Kyokushin.

5.2

The Bell Tower

Aug 30, 1958

An elderly bell maker reminisces about his life filled with tragedy.

0.0

Flame

Dec 15, 1975

A man wanders around the mountains with a bleeding leg, holding a rifle in his hand. Seemingly a fugitive, he runs from as-yet unknown pursuers, but he also seems to be following somebody who has already walked the same path. As he hides in a secluded cave, past memories sweep through his exhausted mind, memories of lifelong cowardice and evasion. And this recollection leads to a reconstruction of early 20th century Korean history. Winner of Best Picture (Nam-a Pictures Co., Ltd.), Best Actor (Ha Myung-joong), Best Art Direction (Kim Yoo-joon), Best Lighting (Son Young-cheol) at the 14th Grand Bell Awards. (source: Jiro Hong, koreanfilm.org)

7.3

Minari

Feb 12, 2021

A Korean American family moves to an Arkansas farm in search of its own American dream. Amidst the challenges of this new life in the strange and rugged Ozarks, they discover the undeniable resilience of family and what really makes a home.

7.0

The Host

Jul 27, 2006

A teenage girl is captured by a giant mutated squid-like creature that appears from Seoul's Han River after toxic waste was dumped in it, prompting her family into a frantic search for her.

7.8

Joint Security Area

Sep 9, 2000

Two North Korean soldiers are killed in the border area between North and South Korea, prompting an investigation by a neutral body. The sergeant is the shooter, but the lead investigator, a Swiss-Korean woman, receives differing accounts from the two sides.

6.0

When Acacias Bloom

Jun 6, 1962

A man assists a woman in danger, but through her actions, she unintentionally causes his death. Everyone in the village knows that she visits his tomb every spring, but no one knows the details of her story.

4.0

Yu Gwan-Sun

May 21, 1959

This film is about of the life of the young patriotic martyr Yu Gwan-sun, who fought for the liberation of her country during the Independence Movement in 1919. As the Independence Movement becomes more and more intense among Korean students, the Japanese authorities order schools closed temporarily. Yu Gwan-sun (Do Geum-bong) persuades her neighbors to join the national movement, and continues her aggressive struggle against Japanese rule. An independent campaign at Aunae, a market site, is successful with the passionate participation of many people. She is arrested by the Japanese police for leading the campaign and has to endure horrible tortures. But she never gives up her fight, encouraging her cell mates to participate in the movement. She is finally taken to an underground room by the Japanese police and murdered.

7.2

The Battleship Island

Jul 26, 2017

During the Japanese colonial era, roughly 400 Korean people, who were forced onto Battleship Island 'Hashima Island' to mine for coal, attempt to escape.

8.0

A Taxi Driver

Aug 2, 2017

May, 1980. Man-seob is a taxi driver in Seoul who lives from hand to mouth, raising his young daughter alone. One day, he hears that there is a foreigner who will pay big money for a drive down to Gwangju city. Not knowing that he’s a German journalist with a hidden agenda, Man-seob takes the job.

7.4

Anarchist from Colony

Jun 28, 2017

Based on the life of the Korean anarchist Park Yeol, the film shows his struggle to counter the massacre of Koreans by the government during the 1923 great Kanto earthquake, focusing on his activities as the leader of the anti-Japanese organization Bulryeongsa and his relationship with Japanese comrade Fumiko Kaneko.

0.0

Manhae Han Yong-un's Silence

Jun 29, 2023

Donghak Rebellion (Donghak Peasant Movement) takes place in Hongjuseong (now Hongseong). Manhae, a boy who participates in the Donghak Rebellion as a 16-year-old, steals 1,000 nyang and sends it to military funds. At the age of 55, at Simujang in Seongbuk-dong, Manhae remarried while staying in a boarding house. While making a living by sewing his wife's wages, Manhae continues to resist Japanese imperialism by participating in the movement against the name change of the Chang clan and against the dispatch of Korean student soldiers along with writing. He takes over the military funds from Madam Baekhwa of Myeongwol in Yongjing. Lee Hwa-yeong hands over the military funds with Man-hae. In 1944, Manhae passed away at the age of 66. As the poem "Your Silence" flows, Manhae's achievements are introduced as highlights, and his subtitles flow.

6.2

Claire's Camera

Mar 7, 2018

On a business trip to the Cannes Film Festival, Manhee is accused of being dishonest, and fired. A teacher named Claire goes around taking photos with a Polaroid camera. She gets to know Manhee and sympathizes with her. Claire is like a person who can see Manhee's possible future or past selves, through the mysterious power of the beach tunnel. Through taking photos, Claire has acquired the ability to look slowly at things, and to transform objects. Now, Claire goes with Manhee to the café where she was fired. We look forward to seeing Claire's power at work.

7.5

Harbin

Dec 24, 2024

In 1909, several years after Korea is forced into becoming a Japanese colony, freedom fighters plot the daring assassination of Japan's prime minister during their quest for independence.

4.0

Ah! Baekbeom Kim Ku

May 24, 1960

Kim Chang-su, who participated in the Donghak Movement, escapes to Manchuria after being chased by the Japanese army, finally making his way home. Angered by the assassination of Empress Myeong-seong, he murders a Japanese lieutenant and is sent to jail. He escapes from prison turns his focus on the democratic movement by teaching civilians and organizing Sinminheo (a democratic organization), even changing his name to 'Kim Gu.' After he is imprisoned again, he gets out on parole and goes to China, where he participates in establishing a provisional government from which he can direct the anti-Japanese struggle. Kim Gu goes on to play a part in Yun Bong-gil's deeds in Shanghai, the events at Hongkou Park, the encounter with Jiang Jish, and the establishment of the Korean National Army, and leads the struggle for Korea's independence with warm fraternal love and clear national spirit. When Korea is liberated in August 15, 1945, he returns back to his native land.

6.6

Hill of Freedom

Sep 4, 2014

Kwon returns to Seoul from a restorative stay in the mountains. She is given a packet of letters left by Mori, who has come back from Japan to propose to her. Kwon drops and scatters the letters, all of which are undated. When she reads them, she has to make sense of the chronology.

7.3

Assassination

Jul 22, 2015

In Japanese-occupied Korea, three freedom fighters are assigned a mission to assassinate a genocidal military leader and his top collaborator. But the plan goes completely awry amidst double-crossings, counter-assassinations, and a shocking revelation about one of the assassins' past.