Movies Similar to Spirit of Korean Celadon

The Wheels on the Bus(2017)

A bus breaks down in the North Korean countryside. The two drivers must put their differences aside and overcome a series of setbacks to get their bus back up and running and cargo delivered on time.

Strike Night(2017)

This atmospheric French independent film tells the story of a man who has traveled nearly 10,000 miles to find the woman he can’t forget.

Moranbong(1960)

At the beginning of the Korean war, the love story, in a remote village, between a young worker and the daughter of a traditional musician.

Crossing(2008)

Yong-soo is an ex-soccer player who lives in a small coal-mine village in North Korea with his wife and young son, Joon. Although living in extreme poverty like many other families in North Korea, the family is happy just to be with each other. Then one day, Yong-soo's pregnant wife becomes critically ill. Let alone medicine, Yong-soo can't even find food for her in North Korea. So he decides to secretly cross the border to China hoping to find the medicine for his wife.

Dooman River(2010)

Chang-ho, 12, becomes friends with a North-Korean immigrant about the same age who just crossed the Dooman river, border between North-Korea and China. His mute sister and his wise grandfather accompany him through a series of misfortunes.

Swing Kids(2018)

Rebellious Ki-soo from North Korea is mesmerized by tap dance in prison camps. Ki-soo joins as a team member of a dance team named 'Swing Kids'. Yet suddenly, their dreams about dancing in prison camps are put in danger.

Winter Butterfly(2011)

Head of the household, 11 year-old Jin-ho lives with his sick mother who gathers and sells fire wood. The one thing Jin-ho is most scared about is his mother dying and being left alone in this world. One day he has an argument with her about his friend and goes to the mountains alone to gather wood. However, he has an accident and loses his way. His mother looks for him everywhere but can't find him. Jin-ho wanders around cold and hunger for several days and manages to come down from the mountains safely. He thought of his loving mother who would be waiting for him at home. But Jin-ho didn't know that everything that happened was just the beginning of unhappiness.

The Namesake(2017)

An Unattached Unit(1993)

Set in 1951 at the height of the Korean War it tells the story of a group of soldiers who are being replaced in the front line after serving their rotation. But on the way home they find enemy troops are about to make a breakthrough and it is up to them to pull together to save the country.

Secretly, Greatly(2013)

Three elite North Korean sleeper agents live under cover for so long that they believe their cover stories are their real identities. They are shocked when they are ordered to kill one another or face death at the hands of an elite hit team.

The Gift of Love(2019)

Birds(1992)

Dr. Yun, an elder ornithologist in North Korea, lost his eldest son in the war and lives with his grandchildren. Myeong-oh, the second son of Dr. Yoon, showed an unusual interest in birds from an early age. One day, he went to South Korea to observe black starlings, but he could not return and became a separated family. Yoon Myeong-oh, who became a famous ornithologist in South Korea, thinks that the North Korean ibis, which disappeared from South Korea during the study, marks it on the bird's ankle and sends it to North Korea, and asks a Japanese scholar for help. One day, while observing a black starling, his father, Dr. Yun, sees a dog tag on a bird's ankle and learns that it was put on by his son in South Korea.

Commitment(2013)

The son of a North Korean spy decides to follow in his father's footsteps to protect his little sister.

Over the Border(2006)

After learning that his grandfather is alive and living in Seoul, a North Korean musician must leave his fiancee behind and accompany his family to South Korea.

Apostle(2014)

In a small North Korean village near the border of China, there are believers who get together in an underground church, away from the eyes of the persecuting government. When the missionary from China, their only support route, is cut off, things begin to get very tense. Chulho, who had been arrested along with his wife, returns. After losing his wife in the interrogations, Chulho had been released and unseen for 2 years before coming back to his home, claiming that he had been commanded by God to lead the believers across the border and into South Korea. The brothers wonder if Chulho is trustworthy, and whether it is the right thing to do to leave their homeland.

Lighthouse(1983)

The hero of this film toiled was a lighthouse keeper before Korea's liberation in World War II. He suffered many indignities and mistreatment by the Japanese, who were then occupying Korea. After the liberation, he leads a better life, and despite his advanced age, he keeps the lighthouse in full working order, in devotion to his country and doesn't rely on recognition or praise. Lighthouse is a quiet revolution drama, which makes it clear that a meritorious fate can also stand behind an unassuming person.

Assassins(2021)

True crime meets global spy thriller in this gripping account of the assassination of Kim Jong-nam, the half brother of the North Korean leader. The film follows the trial of the two female assassins, probing the question: were the women trained killers or innocent pawns of North Korea?

North Korean Guys(2003)

Two friends accidentally drift from North Korea into South Korea after falling asleep during a fishing trip. Broke and unable to get home, they enter a singing contest whose grand prize is a trip to North Korea!

North Korea: A Day in the Life(2004)

If the cityscapes and patriotic anthems of this film seem a far cry from the bleak landscape of Seoul Train, that's no accident. Dutch filmmaker Pieter Fleury, with the full permission and cooperation of the North Korean government, created this propaganda film that gives us a glimpse of a day in the life of one of the world's most enigmatic societies. A Day in the Life, largely dictated by the North Korean film bureau, follows a typical North Korean family through their daily duties, largely dedicated to the pride in the North Korean nation of comrades and the glory of General Kim Jong Il. The film is meant to extol the success of modern North Korea. But does it? With straight footage and a total absence of narration, viewers may interpret Fleury's film in a slightly different manner than intended

Typhoon(2005)

A vengeful refugee-turned-pirate steals nuclear materials to attack and obliterate the Koreas in a Nuclear Typhoon. A top South Korean naval officer is assigned the task to stop his plans and execute him.