A scene from director Kim Ki-young's "The Housemaid" / Courtesy of the Korean Film Archive

Director Kim Ki-young's 1960 psychological thriller, 'The Housemaid" (Korean title "Hanyeo") has been selected by 240 film industry professionals as the greatest Korean film of all time by Korean filmmakers, the Korean Film Archive said Friday.

Bong Joon-ho's "Memories of Murder" (2003) and "Parasite" (2019) ranked second and third, respectively.

This is the third time the archive has compiled the "100 Best Korean Films," following editions in 2006 and 2014.

The latest selection was to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the archive's establishment. In the 2014 edition, "The Housemaid" shared the top spot with Yu Hyun-mok's 1961 film "Aimless Bullet" ("Obaltan" in Korean) and Ha Gil-jong's "The March of Fools" (1975).

Director Bong Joon-ho's "Memories of Murder" / Courtesy of CJ ENM

The selection process was divided into 69 creators and 171 viewers. Creators included directors, cinematographers, producers and theater staff, while viewers consisted of scholars, critics and film festival organizers.

The selection covered all Korean feature films, from the oldest surviving film, "Crossroads of Youth" (1934), to films made in 2022.

Among the creators, the top film was "Memories of Murder," followed by "The Housemaid" in second place.

Hur Jin-ho's "Christmas in August" (1998) and "Parasite" tied for third.

Lee Chang-dong's "Secret Sunshine" (2007), Park Chan-wook's "Oldboy" (2003) and "Decision to Leave" (2022) tied for fifth.

Director Hur Jin-ho's 'Christmas in August' / Courtesy of Sidus FNH

Among the viewers, "The Housemaid" was chosen as the best Korean film. "Memories of Murder" and "Parasite" tied for second place, while "Aimless Bullet" and "Parasite" ranked fourth and fifth, respectively.

In the combined overall rankings of creators and viewers, "The Housemaid" secured the top spot, "Memories of Murder" came in second, and "Parasite" was third.

"Aimless Bullet" ranked fourth, and "Oldboy" was fifth. "The March of Fools" and Lee Chang-dong's "Poetry" (2010) ranked sixth and seventh.

"Christmas in August" and "Decision to Leave" tied for eighth, while Hong Sang-soo's "The Day a Pig Fell into the Well" (1996) was 10th.

Park Chan-wook had the most films on the list with seven entries, followed by Im Kwon-taek with six, and Lee Man-hee and Lee Chang-dong with five each.

Directors Kim Ki-young, Bae Chang-ho, and Bong Joon-ho each had four films included. Among male actors, Song Kang-ho and Ahn Sung-ki appeared in the most films, with 10 each, while Bae Doona led the women actors with four films.

A scene from "The Widow," directed by Park Nam-ok, Korea's first woman director, which made the 100 Best Korean Films list for the first time / Korea Times file photo

More films by female directors included

Unlike the 2014 selection, this year's list of the 100 Best Korean Films includes a significant number of films directed by women.

Ten years ago, only Byun Young-joo's documentary "The Murmuring" (1995) was selected. This time, nine films by women directors made the list: Park Nam-ok's "The Widow" (1955), Lim Soon-rye's "Waikiki Brothers" (2001), Jeong Jae-eun's "Take Care of My Cat" (2001), Kim Il-ran and Hong Ji-you's "Two Doors" (2011).

The remainder are Jeong Joo-ri's "A Girl at My Door" (2013), Lee Kyoung-mi's "The Truth Beneath" (2015), Yoon Ga-eun's "The World of Us" (2016), and Kim Bo-ra's "House of Hummingbird" (2018).

The Korean Film Archive interpreted this as a sign of changing perceptions in Korean society regarding films directed by women.

This article from the Hankook Ilbo, sister publication of The Korea times, is translated by generative AI and edited by staff of The Korea Times.