Best movies like Dongju: The Portrait of a Poet

In 1947, Lord Mountbatten assumes the post of last Viceroy, charged with handing India back to its people, living upstairs at the house which was the home of British rulers, whilst 500 Hindu, Muslim and Sikh servants lived downstairs.

Hurrah! For Freedom (aka Viva Freedom) is a 1946 Korean film directed by Choi In-kyu. It was the first film made in the country after achieving independence from Japan. During the country's occupation Choi was only allowed to make Japan-friendly films, but the plot of Hurrah! For Freedom is distinctly different, telling the story of a Korean resistance fighter in 1945.

A renowned professor is forced to reassess her life when she is diagnosed with terminal ovarian cancer.

On September 4, 1984, democracy movement leader Kim Jong Tae is arrested and taken to an infamous interrogation facility in Namyeong-dong. For the next 22 days, he would be cruelly and continuously tortured in all manners by interrogators intent on forcing him to confess to communist collaboration.

A heart-stirring meditation on time, memory and mortality, “Of Time and the City” is Terence Davies’ poetic, conflicted ode to his birthplace of Liverpool, England. The visual content of the film consists largely of archival clips of the city from the 1940s to the 1960s, their nostalgic charm darkened by accompanying music and the counterpoint of Davies’ dry, at times dyspeptic, voice-over narration. His voice thickens with emotion as he recalls the delights of juvenile movie-going or the ritual of a holiday trip to New Brighton, across the River Mersey, and hardens with contempt when he turns his gaze on the hoopla surrounding Queen Elizabeth’s coronation in 1953. The film is a powerful evocation of the director's youth in post-war Britain and a reflection on how his home city has changed over the years.

The film is a heist comedy set in 1940s Korea, and stars Park Yong-woo and Lee Bo-young as a con artist and jazz singer who each plot to steal a valuable diamond from the Japanese authorities.

In the spring of 1992 documentary filmmaker Dong-won Kim met Cho Chang-son and Kim Seak-hyoung, two North Koreans arrested by South Korean authorities years before. Convicted of spying for the North, they were incarcerated and spent thirty years as political prisoners. These men, and many others like them, underwent conversion schemes in prison that involved torture: those who renounced their communist beliefs were released from prison early. The others, known as "the unconverted," served their full terms. None could return home to the North, however, until the turn of this century, when tensions between North and South eased significantly. Director Dong-won Kim followed these men for ten years, documenting how they survived -both physically and psychologically, the dehumanizing time spent in prison, and their quest, once released, to finally go home.

A long and thoughtful look at those desperate days of October 1970, when Montréal awaited the outcome of FLQ terrorist acts. This film puts the October Crisis in the long perspective of history. Compiled from news and other films, it shows independence movements past and present, and their leaders; it reflects the mingled relief, dismay, defiance, when the Canadian army came to Montréal; and it shows how political leaders viewed the intervention.

Set in the late 1920s, The Age of Shadows follows the cat-and-mouse game that unfolds between a group of resistance fighters trying to bring in explosives from Shanghai to destroy key Japanese facilities in Seoul, and Japanese agents trying to stop them.

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.

Over a 4 day period, a fierce battle takes place between Korean independence militias and imperialist Japanese forces in Manchuria, China. The militia includes a master swordsman and an expert marksman.

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

A documentary recounting the kidnappings of British Trade Commissioner James Cross and Quebec Vice-Premier & Minister of Labour Pierre Laporte by the FLQ on October 5, 1970 in Quebec.

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.

7 episodes in the life of a middle-aged South Korean man who commits suicide in the spring of 1999.

In 1933, when Korea was under Japanese occupation, five people in Gyeongseong are suspected to be “Phantom” spies of the anti-Japanese organization.

When plastic surgeon and mad scientist Don Brandon loses his pinup model wife Anitra in a tragic accident, he and his faithful humpbacked assistant Greg busy themselves experimenting with re-animation. Once ready, the good doctor begins luring young women back to the lab using hypnosis in order to gather select parts to create his wife anew.

Young Kim Chang-Soo is placed behind bars, charged with murdering a Japanese person who took part in Empress Myeongseong's assassination. In prison, Kim Chang-Soo sees how Koreans are persecuted and grows into a fighter for Korean independence.

At the end of the Joseon Dynasty, shortly after the Eulsa Treaty has been forced to be concluded by Ito Hirobumi and the pro-Japanese courtiers, Japan pressures King Gojong to step down from the throne. Meanwhile, An Jung-geun, who is cultivating men of ability at Samheung school, is deeply impressed by a speech made by An Chang-ho, and heads for Russia to volunteer the army fighting for independence of the country. As both a lieutenant general of the Korean militia and a commander of the Korean expeditionary force in Manchuria, he carries on the independence movement in defiance of Japanese coercion.

Patriotic university student Youngwoo and his friends, led by their teacher Lee Sung, along with a British friend bid farewell to their families and become freedom fighters in Manchuria fighting against the Japanese occupation around the Tumen River.

In Manchuria during the 1940's, a karate master named Sazaki and hapkido champion Wang make plans to rob the Korean Independence Army of its funds. However, unknown to them, the money is guarded by one Mr Lee--a grand master of taekwondo.

Ahn Jung-geun, a commander in the Korean Independence Army, leaves behind his country, his family and his mother Cho Maria. Ahn Jung-geun and his comrades cut off the last segment of their ring fingers as a symbol of their dedication to liberate their nation, and as a solemn oath to kill Ito Hirobumi, a man at the center of Japan’s occupation of Korea, within three years. To keep his oath, Ahn Jung-geun arrives in Vladivostok. Meanwhile, Seol-hee, the independence fighters’ informant, disguises herself to get close to Ito Hirobumi. She finds out that Ito Hirobumi will be heading to Harbin to meet with a Russian delegation, and urgently informs the independence fighters. The fateful day of October 26, 1909 arrives. Ahn Jung-geun, who has been yearning for this day does not hesitate to fire his gun at Ito Hirobumi at Harbin Station. Arrested on site, he is charged with murder and tried not in a court of Joseon but in that of Japan…

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.

This film offers unprecedented access to the life, work and mesmerizing performances of renowned poet and activist Sonia Sanchez who describes herself as "a woman with razor blades between my teeth." A leading figure in the Black Arts Movement and inspiration to today's hip hop spoken word artists, Sanchez for over 60 years has helped to redefine American culture and politics as an activist in the Black, women's and peace movements.

During the Japanese occupation of Korea, the Japanese Empire seeks to eradicate the Korean language and identity. In retaliation, a small group of Korean patriots try to protect their language by compiling the first Korean language dictionary.

In a small town in Incheon, there is a thirty years old man 'Won-June' who works at a small civic group. For him, the normal life which is having a career, getting married, and having a relationship is the difficult thing. One day, a bioengineering doctor comes to him and suggests being a subject for a medical experiment on a living body. Finally, Won-Jun who is full with a sense of inferiority, takes the offer without self-esteem.

As some traceless and clueless serial murders continue to happen, Jae-hwan no longer hides his hatred toward the murderer and throws himself into the chase when his family becomes the target. One day, Jae-hwan opens his eyes in the hospital room after a pursuit of the murderer, Jin-hyuk, and he realizes his body is swapped with this murderer for an unknown reason.

A taxi driver is found dead, and Hyun-woo, the only witness, charged with a murder and serves 10 years in prison. While offering pro bono services, a lawyer Junyoung meets Hyun-woo, and they begin their journey to prove his innocence.

After a few months of social adjustment training, the North Korean refugee Jina moves to a small studio in Seoul and starts her new life. To bring her father to South Korea, she needs money but no matter how hard she works, the discrimination doesn’t let her save enough money.

When her son gets critically injured in a car accident, a mother discovers that there’s more to his relationship with his friend than she had thought.

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.

Desire makes human a different existence / This is a movie with a new concept of mystery. What choice would you make if death of others can bring success in your life?

Sung-Bum (Uhm Tae-Woong) is a hot-tempered detective who relies on his intuition to crack cases. He rarely comes across a case that he cannot solve. The body of a police officer is then discovered in a burned out car near an abandoned building. Drugs are also found near the dead officer. To catch the killer the police department sets up a special investigation unit for the case. Sung-Bum takes part in the investigation. Ho-Ryong (Joo Won) is a young, confident man who works as a criminal profiler. He trained with the F.B.I. in the United States. Ho-Ryong is also assigned to the special investigation unit. Ho-Ryong relies on evidence rather than instinct. Detective Sung-Bum takes an immediate dislike for Ho-Ryong.

A female teacher gives shelter to an escaped convict, but her husband, misconstruing her intentions, reacts violently and accidentally stabs himself to death in the process. The teacher is charged with her husband's murder, but fortunately the prosecutor on the case is a former student of hers, of whom she had taken painstaking care when she was working at an elementary school.

A film based on the 1939 Dong-A Ilbo's New Year's Literature. The female protagonist loves a handsome young man who lives in the same village and is a musician. However, her parents plan to marry her by arrangement. Around that time, the young man leaves to study in Japan, and she decides to get married at the behest of her parents. The day the young man returned from studying abroad was her wedding day. The young man ran to her wedding hall to no avail. Lost in despair, she wanders and decides to have a concert in her home country, persuaded by her friends. And in the back seat of the presentation, there was a woman in tears.