Looking for some Korean comedy? Don’t worry, we’ve compiled a list of the best Korean comedy films. We’ve also added streaming links to make it easier for you to view these comedies.
We at Cinema Escapist have compiled a list of the best Korean comedies that are not just amusing and entertaining, but also deeply profound.
1. Barking Dogs Never Bite
Bong Joon-ho directed a dark comedy called Barking Dogs Never Bite before directing Snowpiercer, The Host, and Memories of Murder.
Barking Dogs Never Bite is a film about an unemployed professor (Lee Sung-jae) who becomes irritated by incessantly yapping dogs and attempts to kill them in return. Meanwhile, a maintenance worker (Bae Doona in one of her first appearances) smells his deeds and tries to stop the dogs from being slaughtered.
This isn’t the film for you if you’re a die-hard animal rights fighter.
2. Miss Granny
Miss Granny, one of South Korea’s top comedies, stars Na Moon-hee of I Can Speak and Shim Eun-kyung of Sunny.
Miss Granny focuses on Oh Mal-soon, an elderly woman (Na Moon-hee). Oh, who is strong-willed but lonely, visits a picture studio for a self-portrait one day. She’s suddenly changed into her 20-year-old self in the process (Shim Eun-kyung). Oh, renames herself Oh Doo-ri after her childhood idol Audrey Hepburn as a result of her newfound youth. She then pursues her passion for music, accidentally running across her grandson.
3. I Can Speak
I Can Speak is another comedy with a significant focus on Korean women, and it exploits the genre to highlight the problem of comfort women (sex slaves to the Japanese military during World War II).
The film begins on a light note. Kim Min-jae, a youthful public servant, is given a new position processing citizen complaint. He encounters “Goblin Granny,” an old woman named Na Ok-bun who is known for submitting many and hostile complaints about minor issues.
Kim ends up teaching “Goblin Granny” English as a result of a sequence of funny coincidences. When he probes further into why she wants to learn English, he learns that she needs to testify before the US Congress about her experiences as a comfort woman during World War II.
4. The President’s Last Bang
Look no further than The President’s Last Bang if you enjoy political comedy. This excellent film not only entertains, but also demonstrates South Korea’s reconciliation with its totalitarian past.
In a nutshell, The President’s Last Bang is a dramatisation of South Korean President Park Chung-assassination hee’s in 1979. Park, although helping South Korea’s economy thrive, nevertheless ruled with an iron fist, leaving a complicated legacy that still divides conservatives and liberals.
The President’s Last Bang created a lot of talk when it came out because it was about such a contentious figure. While Park’s only son was unable to stop the film’s distribution, he was able to force the production firm to pay US$105,000 in restitution.
5. Miracle in Cell #7
Another Korean comedy that mixes laughter and sadness is Miracle in Cell #7.
Lee Yong-gu is a mentally challenged guy who is wrongfully imprisoned for the murder and rape of a police commissioner’s daughter.
Lee’s pure and childish character earns him the admiration of his other cellmates—and the prison warden. Lee’s cellmates end up assisting him in smuggling in his daughter Ye-sung on a regular basis, which adds to the film’s hilarity.
6. Scandal Makers
Kang Hyeong-cheol directed another hugely successful comedy, Scandal Makers, before Sunny. Despite the word “scandal” in the title, Scandal Makers is a film that you can easily watch with your family or significant other.
Cha Tae-hyun (of My Sassy Girl fame) plays Nam Hyeon-soo, a playboy DJ who discovers that a single teenage mother (Park Bo-young in her breakout performance) who phones into his programme is actually his daughter in Scandal Makers. Nam, who enjoys the bachelor lifestyle, now has to deal with his dual roles as father and grandfather, which is hilarious.
