What Japanese & Korean Films Should You Watch This Christmas?
Hello, there! 👋
Merry Christmas! 🎄
Today is the 24th of December: decorations and bright fairy lights are everywhere, the oven is warming up, and Christmas songs are blasting from the speakers.
“Oh no! We’ve run out of butter!”, someone shouts from the kitchen. And so, we rush to the supermarket for the forgotten items and to the shops for the forgotten presents.
Of course, once we get back home, the telly is on — probably playing all the same old shows and films we watch every year.
Isn’t it awfully predictable? Just a repetition of the same yearly routines.
The same stories from your uncle, the same jokes from your cousin.
But isn’t it also wonderfully comforting? Aren’t all these little moments precious? We’re so wrapped up in this routine that we fail to realise how lucky we are.
How lucky we are to be holding our loved ones in our arms.
How lucky we are to be eating good food in a warm home.
How lucky we are to be sharing presents, no matter how big or small.
I believe that every Christmas we get to share with the ones we love in a safe and warm place is a Christmas miracle. I can only hope this Christmas miracle will happen in your home today (and for many years to come) — and in billions of other homes around the globe.
But not everything needs to stay the same, right? How about changing your TV routine a little bit this Christmas?
For instance, instead of Love Actually, you could try Motoki Katsuhide’s It All Began When I Met You, a collection of six love stories taking place at Tokyo Station. The film not only celebrates Christmas but also the 100th anniversary of Japan’s most iconic station.
If you like love stories and are looking for something adorable and a bit silly, you could also give Hatano Takafumi’s My Long Awaited Love Story a shot. With Tabe Mikako and Takahashi Issei as the lead actors, My Long Awaited Love Story is a cute rom-com to warm up your Christmas.
If you’re not up for anything too cheerful, I can recommend Hur Jin-ho’s Christmas in August. While not a proper Christmas film per se, Christmas in August offers a gentle mix of joy and sorrow that has become a staple of Korean melodrama. It does capture the spirit of Christmas quite clearly though: Christmas in August is about the magic of cherishing even the simplest moments with our loved ones. Jake Cunningham writes in Film Korea: The Ghibliotheque Guide to the World of Korean Cinema (2023):
Although built around a shop and a romance that wouldn’t exist in a digital age, Christmas in August is timeless, its wisdom rich and welcoming, its artistic expertise unfaded.
Another melancholic yet touching Christmas tale is Lim Dae-hyung’s Merry Christmas Mr. Mo. A tragicomedy about a terminally ill man whose last wish is to make a Chaplin-inspired short film with his son, Merry Christmas Mr. Mo is as heartwarming as it is heartwrenching.
For a much happier tale of self-discovery that (quite literally) explores the magic of Christmas, try Kim Kyung-hyung’s Woo-joo’s Christmas. A whimsical story beautifully shot and fantastically led by the talented Kim Jee-soo, Woo-joo’s Christmas follows a 38-year-old woman who decides to start afresh and open her own little café.
Last but definitely not least, we have to mention Satoshi Kon’s classic, Tokyo Godfathers. A heartfelt tale of kindness and love, Tokyo Godfathers follows the bittersweet adventures of three homeless people who find an abandoned baby on Christmas Eve. An absolute must-watch.
What will you be watching this Christmas? Let me know about your favourite Christmas movies (extra cookie points if they’re Japanese or Korean)!
For some Korean New Year films, make sure to stop by The Blossom Review on Friday! 😉
Have a wonderful Christmas! ✨
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What You Should Know/Read This Week:
This was another quiet week as we approach the end of the year. Here is some good news you should know about and some articles worth reading!
The excellent Good Partner won seven awards at the 2024 SBS Drama Awards last Saturday. SBS Drama of the Year went to Connection, Ji Sung and Jeon Mi-do’s latest adventure on the small screen. You can check a complete list of winners on Soompi — just click here! Congratulations to all the winners! 🎉
Kim Go-eun and Steve Noh’s Love in the Big City is coming to Viki! According to Deadline, the film will be available in North America from today, December 24th. Hopefully, it’ll receive wider international distribution soon.
Good news for Korean cinema! Despite the challenges, Kwak Kyung-taek’s Firefighters has held the top spot at the box office even after three weeks of its release. According to The Korea Times, BY4M Studio has said:
'Firefighters’ has joined the ranks of successful films like ‘Exhuma,’ ‘The Roundup: Punishment,’ ‘I, the Executioner’ and ‘Pilot,’ in line with this year’s box office trend that features professional occupations (…) At this rate, ‘Firefighters’ could become the first film to reach 3 million viewers since ‘I, the Executioner’ in the sluggish Korean film market.
The article also mentions that BY4M Studio has been donating “119 won per viewer — 119 being the emergency number for fire and medical services in Korea — to support firefighters. The funds raised will go toward the National Fire Hospital, set to open next year.” If you are in South Korea, make sure to watch Firefighters on the big screen!
Here are my weekly recommendations for you:
Once again, the 2024 Japanese box office was dominated by domestic releases — isn’t that wonderful? From Detective Conan topping the box office to a Godzilla Oscar win, 2024 was a curious year for Japanese cinema. Mark Schilling’s “A year of Oscar wins and a quiet push for diversity” for The Japan Times is a great article if you’re looking for a retrospective of Japanese cinema in 2024.
The Korea Times has released several interesting interviews in the past week, including Hyun Bin (who is currently promoting Harbin), Song Joong-ki (who is currently promoting Bogota: City of the Lost) and Ju Ji-hoon (who has just finished Disney+’s Light Shop). If you’re a fan, here are the links:
Meanwhile, on The Blossom Review:
Last week, we discussed Fuji TV’s The Beginning of the Sea. You can read our review on The Blossom Review by clicking here, and you can watch our video essay on YouTube by clicking here.
This week, we’re talking about new Korean and Japanese dramas coming out in January — so make sure to stop by The Blossom Review tomorrow! And on Friday, we’re reviewing two perfect Korean films for this period of the year.
I hope you have a marvellous week with your loved ones! Take good care of yourself and I’ll see you next Tuesday (for our last newsletter of the year)! 😊
Thank you for your always excellent indications, your serious work to inform well with true content. Their well written reviews and attentive to observe the quality of work that each one develops within is function, as well as respect by mentioning the weak points that must be observed and improved. Amazing your technical analysis of all the works. I am learning a lot and been better observer appreciating more. I , as a big fan of K and J dramas and literature, would like to continue following yor fantastic work in 2025. Thank you for everything I received this year and know that I am your big fan. Go ahead, we have a lot of content in the media, but few with the quality, seriouness and respecti it provides us. May your 2025 be full of beautiful content. See you!