Mark Kermode’s ‘Kudos to Korea’! (2 Films in his Top 5 of 2023…)

“… Kermode’s Kudos to Korea (KKK /ㅋㅋㅋ)”

There was a sad end to December and therefore 2023 itself in the world of Korean film and international cinema in general.

If any readers weren’t already aware, “Parasite” actor Lee Sun-kyun (이선균) died at the tail end of 2023 and was so young to leave this planet… in fact, you can read a small article dedicated to this subject and also dedicated to the man himself, here: https://miniminimovie.com/2023/12/29/lee-sun-kyun-1975-2023/

For this particular article you’re [hopefully still] reading through, I wanted to focus on a less than sad situation, relating to Korean films or at least Korean-related movies and/or indeed the Korean diaspora.

Something popped up on one of my recent YouTube feeds – although hardly surprising as I do follow these people, Mark Kermode and Simon Mayo and their show, “Kermode and Mayo’s Take“.

What was it? It was this ‘short list’ from this podcasting duo – or rather Mark’s own rundown [although Simon does include one of these 2 Korean-related films in his own little run-downs] – made up of the 5 best films of 2023.

That 5 film list in itself though wasn’t a shock, as they have done something similar each year, be it on their current platform or back when they were on at the BBC… BUT, perhaps something which did make me feel warm and give an inner smile, was what TWO Korean-related FILMS were included in that short run-down.

In fact, to use that phrase of ‘hardly surprising’ could be handy here and used again… as Mark Kermode has often praised Korean/Korean-related films themselves, be it Sympathy for Mr Vengeance, Oldboy, Lady Vengeance, Snowpiercer, The Handmaiden, Okja, Minari or of course Parasite.

With all that said, his rundown really made me emotional yet again – but perhaps not quite as weepy as I was with Parasite’s various Oscar-winning news and indeed Youn Yuh Jung’s Oscar win [for her role in Minari]. I really wasn’t ready for this, or really expecting this, Mr Kermode!

Firstly, I’ll let you watch the video – and these videos which are published on YouTube from Mr Kermode & Mr Mayo are essentially a visual version of the podcast of theirs:

So…

Did you see and hear which 5 films he chose? Do you know which one is at the top of his list?

Or… Did you guess correctly anyway, whether you watched that YouTube video or not?

Well, I’ll reveal below, but as I don’t want to spoil the fun of finding out first-hand, I’ll leave a ‘Scrolling Space’ – please Don’t Look Down, unless…

Alright… that’s enough!

The answer is…

The films are:

“PAST LIVES”
“RETURN TO SEOUL“

Yep. The HUGE clue – or clues – appear/s in this very article in the form of its IMAGE or Thumbnail.

If you’ve seen both of these award-winning Korean-diaspora related movies, you’ll hopefully agree with Mark Kermode’s choice to include both of them in his Top 5 films of 2023.

If you don’t agree, that’s fine too, of course. Although, please feel free to write below or contact us with your thoughts. They are always welcome!

Oh and speaking of one of those films in particular, feel free to ‘return’ to my very own Not So Korean Podcast podcasts or other articles on this MMM site: https://miniminimovie.com/2023/07/17/return-to-seoul-review-by-korean-adoptee-aline-giordano-pics-from-biff/

I’ll leave you with the final paragraph from MMM’s recent Lee Sun-kyun article:

“Rather than talk more about his work and indeed the reasons behind his death, I want to simply leave this article with a huge thanks for all that he did for cinema and TV and to extend my heartfelt sympathy to those he was close to and anyone who worked with him or knew him on a personal level and professional one.”

RIP L S-K.