(Asian Drama/Romance) e.g.: 140+ movies
Personal recommendations for South East Asian films with strong Drama &/or Romance themes. (not strictly ordered)
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145 titles
- DirectorEdward YangStarsNien-Jen WuElaine JinIssei OgataEach member of a middle-class Taipei family seeks to reconcile past and present relationships within their daily lives.
- DirectorLee Joon-ikStarsLee ReSol Kyung-guUhm Ji-wonStory of an 8-year-old girl who faces a horrible rape that damages her internally and affects her emotionally, trying to overcome all the obstacles following the incident with the good support of those around her.
- DirectorShunji IwaiStarsHayato IchiharaShûgo OshinariAyumi ItoThe problematic lives of teenager students for whom the singer Lily Chou-Chou's dreamy music is the only way to escape an alienating, violent and insensitive society.
- DirectorPen-Ek RatanaruangStarsTadanobu AsanoSinitta BoonyasakTakashi MiikeA suicidal, obsessively compulsive Japanese librarian is forced to lie low in Thailand with a pot-smoking woman coping with the recent loss of her sister.
- DirectorLee Chang-dongStarsSol Kyung-guMoon So-riAhn Nae-sangAn irresponsible and childish ex-con befriends a girl with cerebral palsy and develops a progressively stronger bond with her.
- DirectorKar-Wai WongStarsTony Leung Chiu-waiMaggie CheungSiu Ping-LamTwo neighbors form a strong bond after both suspect extramarital activities of their spouses. However, they agree to keep their bond platonic so as not to commit similar wrongs.
- DirectorShinji AoyamaStarsKoji YakushoAoi MiyazakiMasaru MiyazakiThe traumatized survivors of a murderous bus hijacking come together and take a road trip to attempt to overcome their damaged selves. Meanwhile a serial killer is on the loose.
- DirectorKore-eda HirokazuStarsLily FrankySakura AndôKirin KikiOn the margins of Tokyo, a dysfunctional band of outsiders are united by loyalty, a penchant for petty theft and playful grifting. When the young son is arrested, secrets are exposed that upend their tenuous, below-the-radar existence.
- DirectorHur Jin-hoStarsHan Suk-kyuShim Eun-haShin GooHahn Suk-Kyu suffers from a fatal disease. He meets Shim Eun-Ha and falls in love with her. Will their love story have a tragic ending?
- DirectorYimou ZhangStarsZiyi ZhangHonglei SunHao ZhengPrompted by the death of his father and the grief of his mother, a man recalls the story of how they met in flashback.
- DirectorLee Chang-dongStarsSol Kyung-guKim Yeo-jinMoon So-riFollowing a man's suicide, time traverses back to reveal six chapters of his life on why he committed suicide.
- DirectorKar-Wai WongStarsBrigitte LinTakeshi KaneshiroTony Leung Chiu-waiTwo melancholic Hong Kong policemen fall in love: one with a mysterious female underworld figure, the other with a beautiful and ethereal waitress at a late-night restaurant he frequents.
- DirectorNobuhiro DoiStarsYûko TakeuchiShidô NakamuraAkashi TakeiA young woman returns from the dead to her guilt-ridden husband and son, but she cannot remember them.
- DirectorPark Chan-wookStarsSong Kang-hoShin Ha-kyunBae DoonaA recently laid off factory worker kidnaps his former boss' friend's daughter, hoping to use the ransom money to pay for his sister's kidney transplant.
- DirectorLee Chang-dongStarsYoo Ah-inSteven YeunJeon Jong-seoJong-su bumps into a girl who used to live in the same neighborhood, who asks him to look after her cat while she's on a trip to Africa. When back, she introduces Ben, a mysterious guy she met there, who confesses his secret hobby.
- DirectorKore-eda HirokazuStarsYûya YagiraAyu KitauraHiei KimuraIn a small Tokyo apartment, twelve-year-old Akira must care for his younger siblings after their mother leaves them and shows no sign of returning.
- DirectorHiroshi IshikawaStarsYuka ItayaHaruka IgawaShôzô EndôSix women attempt to make it in current day Tokyo, living their everyday lives the best and worst they can. For them, every little moment becomes a ritual of the ordinary and the exciting, a balancing act for their dreams and hopes as the days perpetually tug on their heartstrings.
- DirectorJae-eun JeongStarsBae DoonaLee Yo-wonOk Ji-youngIn the port city of Icheon, five female friends struggle to stay close while forging a life for themselves after high school. When one of the group, upwardly-mobile Hae-ju, moves to Seoul, the other girls deal with the loss in different ways. Feeling most rejected, shy Ji-yeong finds comfort in her new friendship with rebel Tae-hee.
- DirectorShunji IwaiStarsAnne SuzukiYû AoiTomohiro KakuWhen two best friends develop a crush on the same boy, they develop a plan to trick him into dating them.
- DirectorAnthony ChenStarsYann Yann YeoTian Wen ChenAngeli BayaniIn 90s Singapore, the friendship between Filipino nursemaid Teresa and her young charge Jiale makes waves in a family, while the Asian recession hits the region.
- DirectorShôhei ImamuraStarsKoji YakushoMisa ShimizuMitsuko BaishôA businessman kills his adulterous wife and is sent to prison. After the release, he opens a barbershop and meets new people, talking almost to no one except an eel he befriended while in prison.The Eel
- DirectorIvy HoStarsEkin ChengKarena Kar-Yan LamYing Kwan LokAn employee has a secret love affair with her married boss.
- DirectorShunji IwaiStarsTakako MatsuSeiichi TanabeKazuhiko KatoIn spring, a young girl leaves the island of Hokkaido to attend university in Tokyo.
- DirectorLixin FanStarsChanghua ZhangYang ZhangSuqin ChenA couple embarks on a journey home for Chinese new year along with 130 million other migrant workers, to reunite with their children and struggle for a future. Their unseen story plays out as China soars towards being a world superpower.
- DirectorHsiao-Hsien HouStarsShu QiJack KaoChun-hao TuanThe ethereally beautiful Vicky recalls her romances with Hao Hao and Jack in the neon-lit clubs of Taipei.
- DirectorHideaki AnnoStarsShunji IwaiAyako FujitaniJun MurakamiA disillusioned filmmaker has an encounter with a young girl who has a ritual of repeating "Tomorrow is my birthday" everyday. He tries to communicate with her through his video camera.
- DirectorKore-eda HirokazuStarsHaruka AyaseMasami NagasawaKahoThree sisters who live in their grandmother's home invite their thirteen-year-old half sister, whom they have just met, to join them.
- DirectorKore-eda HirokazuStarsArata IuraErika OdaSusumu TerajimaAfter death, people have a week to choose only one memory to keep for eternity.
- DirectorAnn HuiStarsJosephine SiaoKar-Ying LawAllen TingThe Suns are a typical Hong Kong family: May, forty something, works for a trading company; her husband, Bing, works as a low-grade civil servant, and Allen, their teenage son, is still at school. Trouble strikes one day when Bing's mother dies of a stroke, leaving her husband old Mr. Sun. Alzheimer's Disease is diagnosed. From that day on, the family's daily life is thrown into a poignant. Old Mr. Sun develops a tendency to wander off and get lost, he wakes up yelling in the middle of the night plus he is rude and disobliging ... all this, along with May's already full schedule as wife, mother and employee, drives her close to the edge of her endurance. The very last thing they all wanted has to happen: old Mr. Sun has to go into a Nursing Home. But it does not turn out quite like they expected...
- DirectorTsai Ming-liangStarsKuei-Mei YangKang-sheng LeeMiao TienWhile never-ending rain and a strange disease spread by cockroaches ravage Taiwan, a plumber makes a hole between two apartments and the inhabitants of each form a unique connection, enacted in musical numbers.
- DirectorShinji SômaiStarsKyôko KoizumiTadanobu AsanoKumiko AsôA government employee meets a hostess of a "pink club," and together they set out on a journey.
- DirectorEdward YangStarsChang ChenLisa YangKuo-Chu ChangBased on a true story, primarily on a conflict between two youth gangs, a 14-year-old boy's girlfriend conflicts with the head of one gang for an unclear reason, until finally the conflict comes to a violent climax.
- DirectorPeter Ho-Sun ChanStarsMaggie CheungLeon LaiEric TsangTwo Chinese-mainlanders living in Hong Kong form a close friendship. Over the years this grows into love, but there are obstacles.
- DirectorTsai Ming-liangStarsWang Yu-wenChen Chao-jungKang-sheng LeeWithin the urban gloom of Taipei, four youths face alienation, loneliness, and moments of existential crisis amidst a series of minor crimes.
- DirectorMasato HaradaStarsHitomi SatôYasue SatôYukiko OkamotoThe film follows three modern Japanese schoolgirls in Tokyo as they flirt with lecherous old men and dodge the yakuza in the lucrative and sometimes dangerous practice of "enjo kosai" or "date clubs".
- DirectorTakeshi KitanoStarsMiho KannoHidetoshi NishijimaTatsuya MihashiThree stories of never-ending love.
- DirectorKim Ki-dukStarsJung SuhKim Yu-seokCho Jae-hyunWorking at a fishing resort in an idyllic location, but surrounded by various facets of human unpleasantness, a young mute woman falls in love with a man on the run from the law for committing murder.
- DirectorShunji IwaiStarsYû AoiAnne SuzukiShôko AidaAlice transfers to a new school, where students believe that one student per school year is cursed, whom they call Judas Iscariot. Alice is deemed the new Judas, but what happened to the former Judas?
- DirectorHsiao-Hsien HouStarsShu QiChang ChenFang MeiThree stories set in three times, 1911, 1966 and 2005. Two actors play the two main characters in each story.
- DirectorMiwa NishikawaStarsMasahiro MotokiPistol TakeharaEri FukatsuA recently widowed writer whose wife died in a bus crash comes to terms with his grief, or lack of it, in caring for the children of a working man who also lost his wife in the same accident.
- DirectorTsai Ming-liangStarsKang-sheng LeeShiang-chyi ChenYi-ching LuA watch salesman meets a young woman soon leaving for Paris and becomes infatuated, so he begins to change all the clocks in Taipei to Paris time.
- DirectorIsao TakahataStarsMiki ImaiToshirô YanagibaYoko HonnaA twenty-seven-year-old office worker travels to the countryside while reminiscing about her childhood in Tokyo.
- DirectorYasujirô OzuStarsChishû RyûChieko HigashiyamaSô YamamuraAn old couple visit their children and grandchildren in the city, but receive little attention.
- DirectorLee Su-jinStarsChun Woo-heeJung In-sunKim So-youngHan Gong-Ju transfers to a new school to escape her past. It takes a long time for her troubled past to catch up with her but when it does, the revelation is devastating.
- DirectorKatsuhito IshiiStarsMaya BannoTakahiro SatôTadanobu AsanoA spell of time of a rural family's slightly surreal life.
- DirectorAbbas KiarostamiBanafsheh ModaressiStarsRin TakanashiTadashi OkunoRyô KaseIn Tokyo, a young sex worker develops an unexpected connection with a widower over a period of two days.
- DirectorKar-Wai WongStarsTony Leung Chiu-waiZiyi ZhangFaye WongSeveral women enter a science fiction author's life over the course of a few years, after the author has lost the woman he considers his one true love.
- DirectorHur Jin-hoStarsKong Hyo-jinPark In-hwanHwang Jung-minA love story about two people who meet while battling serious illnesses.
- DirectorKaige ChenStarsLeslie CheungFengyi ZhangGong LiTwo boys meet at an opera training school in Peking in 1924. Their resulting friendship will span nearly 70 years and endure some of the most troublesome times in China's history.
- DirectorKore-eda HirokazuStarsBae DoonaArata IuraItsuji ItaoA life-size blow-up doll develops a soul and falls in love with a video store clerk.
- DirectorJun'ichi FujiseTomoyuki ItamuraMasaharu TomodaStarsMahiro TakasugiLynnYukiyo FujiiA high school student discovers one of his classmates, Sakura Yamauchi, is suffering from a terminal illness. This secret brings the two together, as she lives out her final moments.
- DirectorShinji SômaiStarsYuichi MikamiYûki KudôTomokazu MiuraThe movie takes place in the five-day period before, during and after a ferocious, seemingly liberating typhoon, which several students endure while marooned in their school gymnasium.
- DirectorZhangke JiaStarsTao ZhaoZhou LanSanming HanA town in Fengjie county is gradually being demolished and flooded to make way for the Three Gorges Dam. A man and woman visit the town to locate their estranged spouses, and become witness to the societal changes.
- DirectorHiroyuki YamagaStarsLeo MorimotoDavid ThomasMitsuki YayoiIn an alternative Earth, a young astronaut participates in a controversial fledgling space program.Wings of Honneamise
- DirectorHur Jin-hoStarsBae Yong-junSon Ye-jinKook-huan ChunA man and a woman meet in the hospital after their respective partners are involved in a car accident. After learning that their spouses have been having an affair, the two begin one of their own.
- DirectorYoon Ga-eunStarsChoi Soo-inHye-in SeolSeo-Yeon LeeA bullied girl becomes friends with a new kid during a break, but when classes start up again, their new friendship is nearly ruined when the bullying continues.
- DirectorKim Ki-dukStarsLee EolKwak Ji-minHan Yeo-reumJae-Young is an amateur prostitute who sleeps with men while her best friend Yeo-Jin "manages" her, fixing dates, taking care of the money and making sure the coast is clear. When Jae-Young falls in love with one of those man she suppresses her feelings towards him in respect of her friend who's jealous.
- DirectorYôji YamadaStarsHiroyuki SanadaRie MiyazawaNenji KobayashiAs the feudal Japan era draws to a close, a widower samurai experiences difficulty balancing clan loyalties, 2 young daughters, an aged mother, and the sudden reappearance of his childhood sweetheart.
- DirectorHyuk ByunStarsHan Suk-kyuEun-ju LeeSung Hyun-ahA detective, his 3 girls & a murder case. Complex emotional relationships and human nature's darker sides are explored in this captivating suspense drama about a cop whose lust for love threatens to get in the way of his professional life.
- DirectorJun IchikawaStarsIssei OgataRie MiyazawaShinohara TakahumiWhen technical illustrator Tony Takitani asks his wife to resist her all-consuming obsession for designer clothes, the consequences are tragic.
- DirectorHong Sang-sooStarsYoo Joon-sangKim Sang-jungSong Seon-miA professor in the film department at a provincial university goes to Seoul to meet his senior, who works as a film critic, and stays in a northern Seoul village for three days.The Day He Arrives
- DirectorJuly JungStarsBae DoonaKim Sae-ronSong Sae-byeokA young police officer is sent to work in a small village and takes in a teenager to protect her from her abusive stepfather.
- DirectorShunji IwaiStarsHaru KurokiCoccoGô AyanoNanami is an apathetic, part-time junior high school teacher, whose only solace comes from connecting with others on "Planet".
- DirectorMikio NaruseStarsHideko TakamineTatsuya NakadaiMasayuki MoriA middle-aged bar hostess, constantly in debt, is faced with numerous social constraints and challenges posed to her by her family, customers and friends.
- DirectorTakeshi KitanoStarsTakeshi KitanoYusuke SekiguchiKayoko KishimotoA young, naive boy sets out alone on the road to find his wayward mother. Soon he finds an unlikely protector in a crotchety man and the two have a series of unexpected adventures along the way.
- DirectorHur Jin-hoStarsLee Yeong-aeYoo Ji-taeSang-hui BaekA sound engineer falls in love with a radio show host after they work together on a project capturing natural sounds.
- DirectorLee Hae-junStarsJeong Jae-yeongJung Ryeo-wonYeong-seo ParkA failed suicide attempt leads a heartbroken man to live a life in the wilderness.
- DirectorRyosuke HashiguchiStarsYoshinori OkadaAyumi HamasakiKouji YamaguchiThe movie is built around the very complex relationships between Yoshida, leaving Shimizu for Aihara (or at least he tries to), and his friend Ito, whose love for Yoshida seems to have little chance for success. In the end we have a coalition of Ito and Aihara - who may or may not be in love with Ito - teaching Yoshida a lesson.
- DirectorKore-eda HirokazuStarsHiroshi AbeYui NatsukawaYouA family gathers together for a commemorative ritual whose nature only gradually becomes clear.
- DirectorMiwa NishikawaStarsJoe OdagiriTeruyuki KagawaMasatô IbuOn the anniversary of the death of the mother of a hip and happening Tokyo-based photographer, the son returns to his hometown for the funeral. What follows is a return to the past that is more than just a trek home. Old relationships, love, conflicts and memories resurface and collide. Apparently, old perspectives don't wither.
- DirectorXiaoshuai WangStarsYuanyuan GaoBin LiHao QinIn the 1980s, encouraged by the government, a large number of families leave Chinese cities to settle in the poorer regions of the country, in order to develop local industry. The film's main character is a 19 years old girl who lives in the Guizhou province, where her parents have settled. That's where she has grown up, where her friends are and where she first experiences love. But her father believes that their future lies in Shanghai. How can they all keep on living together when they don't share the same dreams ?
- DirectorYimou ZhangStarsGong LiJingwu MaSaifei HeChina in the 1920s. After her father's death, Songlian is forced to marry the wealthy Master Chen. With three wives already, each living in a separate house, there is fierce competition for his attention and the privileges that are gained.
- DirectorYang Ik-joonStarsKim KkobbiHwan LeeYang Ik-joonA bitter loan shark strikes a friendship with a troubled schoolgirl as he faces his own troubled past with his abusive father.
- DirectorZhangke JiaStarsWei Wei ZhaoQiong WuTao ZhaoTwo unemployed Chinese teenagers have trouble resisting the temptations of the Western world.
- DirectorKar-Wai WongStarsLeslie CheungTony Leung Chiu-waiChang ChenA couple take a trip to Argentina but both men find their lives drifting apart in opposite directions.
- DirectorHideaki AnnoStarsTadanobu AsanoMitsuru FukikoshiMegumi HayashibaraA high school girl engages in compensated dating in order to buy an expensive ring before the day ends.
- DirectorHae-sung SongStarsChoi Min-sikCecilia CheungSon Byung-hoA marriage of convenience between a petty gangster and an illegal immigrant he has never met has unforeseen consequences for them both.
- DirectorChan-ok ParkStarsKim Bo-kyungLee Bong-gyuLee Dae-yeonTeenager Eun-mo suspects her brother-in-law is responsible for her sister's death. Perhaps more unbearable than her grief and anger is the irreconcilable love she feels for him.
- DirectorMasayuki SuôStarsKoji YakushoTamiyo KusakariNaoto TakenakaA successful but unhappy Japanese accountant finds the missing passion in his life when he begins to secretly take ballroom dance lessons.
- DirectorHiroshi IshikawaStarsAoi MiyazakiShioli KutsunaSakura AndôFour women, who have their own different sorrows, embark on a road trip. They look back at their past and restart their lives.Petal Dance
- DirectorAnn HuiStarsJacky CheungAnita MuiKarena Kar-Yan LamYiu-Kwok is a high school teacher, having a perfect family. Good times don't last long, when a student, Choy-Nam, falls in love with him. For dealing with a relationship with Mr. Seng, a beloved teacher of the couple, his wife Man-Ching requests a leave for a month. A midlife crisis mixing with pressure sends him into an emotional tailspin. Everything seems to lead him towards Choy-Nam, the forbidden fruit. History seems to repeat itself.
- DirectorKim Ki-dukStarsCho Jae-hyunWon SeoKim Yun-taeAn unfeeling gangster seeks to ruin the life of a young girl who rejected him. He forces her into prostitution and spies on her regularly, then he soon begins to fall for her.
- DirectorKim Ki-dukStarsLee Seung-yunJae HeeHyuk-ho KwonA transient young man breaks into empty homes to partake of the vacationing residents' lives for a few days.
- DirectorAng LeeStarsSihung LungKuei-Mei YangWang Yu-wenA senior chef lives with his three grown daughters; the middle one finds her future plans affected by unexpected events and the life changes of the other household members.
- DirectorHeung-sik ParkStarsSol Kyung-guJeon Do-yeonJin Hee-kyungBong Soo has been working as manager of a small bank in an apartment complex for three years. During his three years there, no, for 23 years if you count his school days, he has never been late. However, he purposely decides to skip work one day. There is only one reason. Inside a subway train that has suddenly stopped on his way to work, everyone around him reaches for their cell phones to call someone. At that moment, he realized that he does not have a single person to call. He does not know that inside the educational center across the street from the bank where he works, a 27-year-old woman Won Ju is looking over to him, nourishing a small love. Bong Soo and Won Ju run into each other every day, at the Ramen restaurant, at the bank, at the bus station - Various trivial incidents occur, but Bong Soo still does not truly recognize Won Ju's presence.
- DirectorJae-young KwakStarsSon Ye-jinZo In-sungCho Seung-wooA college student finds a diary detailing a long-ago love triangle involving her mother, her future father, and his best friend.
- DirectorPark Kyung-JinJohn H. LeeKim Tae-WonStarsJung Woo-sungSon Ye-jinJong-hak BaekA young couple's enduring love is tested when 27-year-old Su-jin is diagnosed with a rare form of Alzheimer's disease.
- DirectorWon Tae-yeonStarsKwon Sang-wooLee Bo-youngLee Beom-su"K" loves Cream but has terminal cancer so he keeps his love for her secret and tries to find a mate for her before he dies so she will not be alone after he dies.
- DirectorAndrew LauStarsJun Ji-hyunJung Woo-sungLee Sung-jaeAbout a tragic love triangle story involving young painter Hye-young, Interpol detective Jeong Woo, and professional hitman Park Yi.
- DirectorJae-young KwakStarsCha Tae-hyunJun Ji-hyunIn-mun KimA young man sees a drunk, cute woman standing too close to the tracks at a metro station in Seoul and pulls her back. She ends up getting him into trouble repeatedly after that, starting on the train.
- DirectorHyun-seung LeeStarsLee Jung-jaeJun Ji-hyunMu-saeng KimIn 1999, a voice actor moves from Il Mare, a seaside house, and leaves a Christmas card in its (magical) mailbox. An architecture student receives it in 1997, and a friendship separated by 2 years begins.
- DirectorPark Chan-wookStarsLim Soo-jungRainPark Byeong-eunA girl who thinks she is a combat cyborg checks into a mental hospital, where she encounters other psychotics. Eventually, she falls for a man who thinks he can steal people's souls.
- DirectorJong-kwan KwonStarsJung Woo-sungLim Soo-jungCha Tae-hyunThis film follows the lives of four very different couples as they deal with love, loss and life in these romantic, loosely interconnected tales.
- DirectorJeong-hyang LeeStarsShim Eun-haLee Sung-jaeAhn Sung-kiTwo strangers with very little in common, find themselves forced to live together.
- DirectorTakahiro MikiStarsSôta FukushiNana KomatsuMasahiro HigashideOn the way to his university in Kyoto, a 20 y.o. man falls in love with a woman on the train. He tells her. They start dating. She has a supernatural secret.
- DirectorHae-sung SongStarsLee Na-youngGang Dong-wonYoun Yuh-jungA suicidal girl started to visit a convicted murderer awaiting execution every Thursday.
- DirectorJung Ji-wooStarsKim Go-eunJung Hae-inPark Hae-joonIn 1994 during the IMF crisis, two people meet while exchanging stories on a radio program. They fall in love, but can't quite seem to get the timing right.
- DirectorChang-ho ChoStarsKim Jae-WookSeo Ye-jiSoo-jin KangJung Won who finds life difficult while looking after her paralyzed mother and working a part time job, decides to kill herself. Soo Wan, who is trying to come to grips with the meaning of life after witnessing his mother commit suicide at a young age, works as a police officer. When the two meet in Chuncheon, they make a suicide pact.
- DirectorChih-yen YeeStarsGwei Lun-MeiChen Bo-linYolin LiangAn is-she-or-isn't-she gay comedy focused on a Taiwanese teen, the boy she might like, and the girl she may love.
- DirectorDerek TsangStarsDongyu ZhouSichun MaToby LeeTwo women who have been close friends since adolescence must cope with the changes that maturity brings.