A friend posted a link to the 25 best films of the South Korean new wave (whatever the hell that is). I was surprised that I’d only seen six of them.  So I set out tonight to add a seventh–a 1999 movie called Peppermint Candy.

I’m no reviewer but you can get the backstory at the link above.  It was emotionally powerful and hard to watch in places.  Korean movies are often overwrought, but I’m glad I sat through this one.  Some historical events from Korea’s recent past (the Gwangju massacre for example) and how they shaped the life of the movie’s protagonist were particularly interesting to me,

Another enjoyable feature was how the movie started out showing one fucked up individual and then went back in time to show how he became such a fucked up douche-bag.  A train was utilized as a recurring theme throughout the movie and served as a makeshift time machine to carry the story backwards as it were.

Anyway, it was well-made, powerful, and sad.  Which is what a Korean movie ought to be. Give it a watch and see for yourself.  (It’s not on Netflix for some reason, but I was able to stream it on Amazon Prime.  I reckon you scofflaws can do an illegal download if you are so inclined..