Steven Yeun’s five favourite movies of all time
Regarded by many film fans as one of the top talents in the industry right now, Steven Yeun has been experiencing a fascinating career trajectory. In addition to starring in critically acclaimed South Korean works like Lee Chang-dong’s Burning, Yeun has also landed roles in major North American productions such as Jordan Peele’s Nope and the recent Netflix series Beef. In the process, he has garnered widespread acclaim and several renowned accolades.
During a conversation with Rotten Tomatoes, Yeun opened up about the five cinematic experiences that shaped him during his formative years and showed him the potential of the medium. One of the most interesting additions to that list is Bong Joon-ho’s Memories of Murder since Yeun would go on to collaborate with the revered auteur on Okja, Bong’s 2017 sci-fi sociopolitical commentary about the machinations of the meat industry.
While Memories of Murder is on a lot of people’s lists, one surprising entry is a 1993 sports comedy. Yeun said: “I’m gonna be so judged for this, but The Sandlot is a pick for me. Top five. I had the privilege of listening to a Frank Darabont conversation earlier on during The Walking Dead, and he kept on talking about this ‘magic window’ — I think it’s from maybe ages 10 to 12 — when you watch a movie, and it moves you. It just becomes one of the greatest things in your life for the rest of your life. The Sandlot was that for me.”
The actor also included The Transformers: The Movie in his top picks: “As a kid, the film actually took me seriously, you know? It took me seriously as a viewer. It wasn’t like, ‘I’m just gonna zone you out for an hour and a half or two hours.’ It was like, ‘No, by the way, your favourite hero? He’s gonna die. And then he’s gonna try to pass the torch, but he’s not meant for that….’ That movie was awesome. And it was so weird, too. Like, this is for kids? I loved that movie.”
In addition to those seminal childhood cinematic experiences, Yeun named Mike Judge’s brilliant 1999 movie as the most important film from his college years. He recalled: “It was the movie that was on in the background 24/7. We watched that movie in college my freshman year maybe 40 times, just quoting the lines. Also, it was an interesting meta way of telling us what we were actually heading towards if we didn’t choose wisely in college, you know?”
Check out the full list below.
Steven Yeun’s five favourite movies:
- The Sandlot (David Mickey Evans, 1993)
- The Transformers: The Movie (Nelson Shin, 1986)
- Office Space (Mike Judge, 1999)
- Tokyo Story (Yasujirō Ozu, 1953)
- Memories of Murder (Bong Joon-ho, 2003)
Among the more critically lauded works on Yeun’s list is Yasujirō Ozu’s Tokyo Story, which is undoubtedly among the most influential cinematic works of the 20th century. A timeless portrait of ageing and coming to terms with the relentless march of modernity, it’s almost impossible to watch the 1953 masterpiece without a tear or two escaping.
Yeun commented: “Tokyo Story is fantastic. You could throw any Ozu film in there. Good Morning is also up there — it’s top six. I think what I love about Ozu is, especially in Tokyo Story, just the simplicity of the depth of the seemingly mundane life… To me, it was one of the first films where it showed me that you don’t need to crack out a movie. You can show people the truth. Just show people the truth, and he was so good at that.”
