The highest grossing movies of 2022
1º The Roundup (범죄도시2)
In ‘The Roundup’, the second part of ‘The Outlaws’, the invincible and muscular cop Ma Seokdo -played by Ma Dong Seok (Don Lee)- faces a new villain, a more ruthless psychopath than the bad guy from the first one. delivery. Who plays this role is the actor Son Suk Ku, who with this film and the simultaneous success of a television series in which he played the lead, became one of the actors with the most mentions in the press and on social networks in the first half of 2022.
It premiered in May and attracted 12,693,322 viewers.
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2nd Hansan: The Rising Dragon (한산: 용의 출현)
‘Hansan: The Rising Dragon’ succeeds ‘Myeongryang (Roaring Stream)’ and revolves around another battle led by Admiral Yi Sun Shin during the Japanese invasion in the mid-Joseon Dynasty. An interesting point is that despite dealing with the same historical character, ‘Hansan’ was starred by a different actor than the one who led the cast of ‘Myeongryang’. In this second installment, Park Hae Il gave life to Admiral Yi Sun Shin after Choi Min Sik did the first part.
It premiered in July and attracted 7,264,648 viewers.
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3rd Confidential Mission 2: International ( 공조2: 인터내셔날)
In ‘Confidential Mission 2: International’, Hyun Bin and Yoo Hae Jin returned to the cast, respectively representing a North Korean agent and a South Korean policeman who must collaborate in an investigation. However, this “dynamic duo” formed a triangle this time as an American agent, played by Daniel Henney, joined the case. The special chemistry that is created between these three men is the main attraction of this film, while the likeable presence of Yoona, a member of the k-pop group Sonyeosidae, adds spark to the plot.
It premiered in September and attracted 6,982,842 viewers.
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4th Hunt (헌트)
‘Hunt’ marked the directorial debut of Lee Jung Jae, now known worldwide as the lead of ‘Squid Game’. The box office success of ‘Hunt’, as well as the very positive reviews that this work received, corroborated the talent of Lee Jung Jae not only as an actor, but also as a director. In fact, several renowned Korean critics included this spy film in their list of “The Best of Korean Cinema in 2022”, highlighting, for example, the excellent action design, which here goes beyond being an entertainment resource, and it becomes an almost graphic representation of the characters’ psychological reaction to certain events.
It premiered in August and attracted 4,352,407 viewers.
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5th The Night Owl (올빼미)
The central event of the plot of ‘The Night Owl’ is the death of crown prince Sohyeon, son of King Injo, a fact of real life where the cause of death remained unknown, with well-founded suspicions that the prince he may have been poisoned, instead of dying of malaria as historical records indicate. Furthermore, the Royal Annals of the Joseon Dynasty explicitly allude to the doubts that arose at the same time when verifying the condition of the corpse, since it presented elements very similar to those of a person killed by poisoning. Starting from that fact, the film expands the imagination to enrich the plot by inserting a fictional character: an acupuncturist who suffers from day blindness and who appears as the only witness to the death of the crown prince.
It premiered in November and attracted 3,118,346 viewers.
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The best rated movies of 2022
Decision to leave (헤어질 결심), by Park Chan Wook
‘Decision to leave’ is a beautiful film, endowed with a meticulously woven narrative, dialogues and monologues as intense and poetic as they are intriguing, as well as a sublime staging. Furthermore, it is the strongest proof of the level reached by Park Chan Wook as a director and as an artist. As for the love story between its characters -Haejun and Seorae-, and especially for those who still can’t erase the question marks in their heads because they can’t fully understand it, one explanation could be that the unfinished state of love between Haejun and Seorae in the tape, is actually an answer to all those questions about eternal love. Since perhaps the only way to make love never end is not to put an end to that love.
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Apartment with two women (같은 속옷을 입는 두 여자)
‘Apartment with Two Women’ is an independent production directed by Kim Se In, a young filmmaker who chose the mother-daughter relationship as a theme for her debut film, portraying it very carefully, but also with great insight and above all frankness. In particular, she crudely exposes the conflicts that can exist in that relationship without forcing a reconciliation or an understanding, because in real life harmonious endings don’t come so easily.
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A Novelist’s Movie (소설가의 영화)
‘A Novelist’s Movie’ is Hong Sang Soo’s twenty-seventh feature film and the work was filmed in black and white. At this year’s Berlin International Film Festival it won the Silver Bear-Jury Award. The work apparently has artistic frustration as its central theme, the kind that can discourage a writer creatively, inhibit an actor, or lead an established film director to reconsider his vocation. But it also alludes to the possibility of being inspired to embark on a creative renewal in unexpected places, or in unforeseen encounters with acquaintances and strangers, to learn to embrace – rather than resist – the beautiful meandering flow of life.
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