Kʻŭllaesik = The classic

cover image

Where to find it

Media & Design Center

Call Number
65-DVD1501
Status
In-Library Use Only
Item Note
Region 3 DVD. Must have a Region 3 or multiregion player to view.
Instructors may book films for class use/research: https://library.unc.edu/house/mdc/booking-materials-and-rooms/

Summary

In Korean with English subtitles. Korean Cinema. Romantic Melodrama. Coming of Age Drama. Korean Teenagers. Young Love. Directed by Jae-young Kwak. Classic 2003 or The Classic is a smoothly directed and attractively photographed and cast bit of high, silly sentimentality from Korean filmmaker Jae-young Kwak. There are two story lines, one taking place in 1968 the other, 25 years later. Ji'hae is a young girl who has fallen in love with a young man she is too reticent and shy to speak too. She communicates through her best friend, who is also interested in the boy. While dreamily yearning about how to deal with her feelings, she happens upon some love letters written to her mother years before. The letters reveal the story a romance that is eerily similar to the one Ji-hae faces. Sang Min and Jun-ho are best friends at an elite military academy in 1960s Korea. On a summer vacation, Sang-min meets Ju-hie and the two are immediately smitten with one another. Back at school, Sang-min discovers that Ju-hie and Jun-ho are bound together by an arrangement made by their families. Sang and Ju-hie's relationship continues, in secret they believe, until a near tragedy brings everything to a head. This love story across two generations aims for an emotional kill with its probable audience - prepubescent and teen girls. The film is shot in lovely sunlit tones and the young actors spring into tearful moments on cue. It is like a Korean version of Love Story with topical overtones. The film, in fact, has very American overtones stylistically - its story and characters would translate without a hitch. With: Ye-jin Son as Ji'hae/Ju-hie, In-seong Jo as Sang Min, Seung-woo Cho as Jun-ho, Ki-woo Lee as Tae-su, Sang-in Lee as Su-yeeong, Ye-jin Lim as the Shopkeeper, and Hyeon-tae Yang as Seok-woo. Notes: Screenplay by Jae-young Kwak.

Other details