20 Amazing South Korean Movies You Must See Before You Die

Next to newly crowned Oscar star Bong Joon-ho, Park Chan-wook is probably the other big name director of contemporary Korean cinema.

Park made his name with a trio of ultra-violent twisted revenge stories, so this eccentric romantic comedy coming out in 2006 directly after the savagery of his so-called "Vengeance Trilogy" was definitely a surprising change of pace.

I'm A Cyborg is set inside a mental institution with a cast of interesting oddballs. K-pop superstar Rain plays against type as a kleptomaniac schizophrenic who believes that he can steal people's personality traits. He forms a bond with a woman that believes she is a cyborg and was institutionalised after cutting her wrist to insert a power cable. Together they just might be what each other needs.

Vibrant, energetic and full of wild flights of cyborg-infused fantasy, Park's movie is yet another Korean film which melds multiple genres and is hard to pin down or to predict. It's too dark and weird to feel like a traditional western romance, but ultimately still comes out as an optimistic film about the power of love and people helping each other through a shared connection.

I'm A Cyborg's story is as quirky and unpredictable as its characters, making it a movie like few others.