Top Korean Movies to Look Out for in 2011

Since 2001, the overall market share of Korean movies has been on the rise in the country reaching its peak in 2006 at 64 percent but falling to 46 last year.
But experts say that the number is only going to decrease slightly this year to around 44 percent.
This is mainly due to large Hollywood commercial sequels such as Mission Impossible 4 and Transformers 3 set to hit theaters in 2011.

[Reporter : Kim Han-ul, [email protected]] "But the good news is, this year, more large-scale Korean blockbusters that can attract larger audiences are in store for the summer and towards the end of the year".

In the summer, you can expect Korean blockbusters such as 'Sector 7' directed by Kim Ji-hoon.. and the war epic 'Battle of Highlands by up-and-coming director Jang Hoon who wowed moviegoers with "Secret Reunion" last yearstarring Kang Dong-won and Song Kang-ho.
And hit-making director Kang Jae-gyu returns with his ambitious film "My Way" scheduled for release in December which is a joint-production between Korea, China and Japan.
Last year, Korean movies dealt with heavier topics such as murder and revenge influenced by the unexpected popularity of crime thrillers in 2008, but this year you can expect to see more diversity.

[Interview : Kim Bo-yeon, Director Film Research & Development Center] "In terms of genre, there will be a number of war movies such as "My Way", "The Front Line", "All Quiet on the Western Front", and "In Love and the War" and in terms of film technology there are Korean-made 3D films coming up such as "Hype Nation", "Trap" and "Sector 7"".

Meanwhile, both movie critics and experts agree that Korea needs emphasize creativity by investing more in professional screenwriters.

[Interview : Darcy Paquet, Film Critic] "Typically directors feel some kind of obligation, in some ways, to write their own scripts, but I think we should really encourage professional screenwriters in the industry and that will help the overall level of storytelling I think for the future".

Although Korean films will be outnumbered by imports this year, the blockbusters on tap are sure to boost ticket sales and compete with the Hollywood machine.

Kim Han-ul, Arirang News.