Plum Blossom | |
Director: | Kwak Ji-kyoon |
Producer: | Lee Won-gi Oh Eun-sil |
Starring: | Kim Rae-won Kim Jung-hyun Jin Hee-kyung Bae Doona |
Music: | Kim Seong-jun Song Si-hyeon |
Cinematography: | Ham Sun-ho |
Editing: | Kim Hyeon |
Studio: | Eye Pictures Won Film |
Distributor: | Cinema Service |
Runtime: | 113 minutes |
Country: | South Korea |
Language: | Korean |
Plum Blossom (; lit. "Youth") is a 2000 South Korean coming-of-age film written and directed by Kwak Ji-kyoon.[1]
Kim Ja-hyo, a teenage boy, moves to a new high school in his senior year. His classmate Jeong Ha-ra seduces him, and he loses his virginity with her. Afterwards, he becomes frightened when Ha-ra obsessively declares her love for him, so he begins to avoid her. Devastated by his indifference, Ha-ra commits suicide in front of the whole school. Since then, though Ja-hyo sleeps around in college, he is unable to form lasting attachments with women. Until he meets perky nurse Seo Nam-ok.
Meanwhile, Ja-hyo's best friend Lee Su-in develops a crush on the new teacher, Yun Jeong-hye. She unwillingly rejects him because a student-teacher relationship is socially taboo. Heartbroken, Su-in gets involved with an older woman in college, but continues to pine after Jeong-hye, sending her countless letters. To get closure, he hopes to see her face-to-face one last time.