Top Korean Films of 2013

8. New World

I’ve always been partial to Korean gangster films even though they have been a mixed bag with only a few truly standing out over the years. But the last two years have produced a few excellent ones: Nameless Gangster in 2012 and last year’s New World. Choi Min-sik, who stars in both, was terrific in the former but in the latter it’s his co-star Hwang Jung-min who steals the show with a charismatic turn.

As a film about the power struggle in a crime syndicate following its president’s premature demise, New World puts itself in the same territory as Johnny To’s Election films, Coppola’s Godfathers and a great many Japanese yakuza films. It’s a well plotted and terrifically shot film that announces Park Hoon-jung as a director to watch following his disappointing debut The Showdown (2011).

MKC Review

Intro - 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 - Best of the Rest

Top 10 Lists

Year   2013 - 2012 - 2011 - 2010 - All Time (Top 25)

Genre   Gangster - Revenge

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