Ahobsal insaeng

WHEN I TURNED NINE (2003) Directed by Yoon In-ho. Korean drama films set in public or high-schools often make me uneasy for I know there will be severe Korean Cranial Abuse, played completely straight, as this is one of the many liberties apparently afforded teachers (among other authority figures) in Korean culture. Westerners will no doubt react with horror at the relentless, wordless beating young Baek Yeo-min (Kim Seok) endures from his stone-faced teacher for dunking the shoes of snooty new classmate Woo-rim (Lee Se-young) in retaliation for an earlier slight. Not only do the very real looking blows eventually start knocking him to the floor, he gets back up and faces into yet another one because, well, that's just what you do. Yeo-min is the defacto Big Boss of his public school social order in the early 1970's. He takes his licks, defers without issue to his elders and their rigid disciplines, and is actually quite attracted to the Woo-rim, a Seoul transplant who's prone to inflating the wonderfulness of her possibly broken family, lies like a rug, plays favourites in the playground pecking order and will make you very tempted to call her something that rhymes with 'bitch.' But Yeo-min sees beyond all that, even if he doesn't understand why, and much to the chagrin of his female friend Keum-bok (Jung Sun-kyung). Meanwhile, on the home front, Yeo-min's greatest desire is to buy a pair of sunglasses for his mother, who was blinded in one eye by a factory mishap and now spends her days a recluse at home, and who ultimately teaches him the error of his weak thinking by whipping the back of his calves with a reed in yet another scene of heart wrenching realism that may put off those who don't read up on the culture. He also becomes acquainted with the town philosopher, whose inability to connect with a local music teacher echoes the potential social problems of Yeo-min's attraction to Woo-rim. Ultimately, this plays like one big ode to Korean strength through suffering (an understandable facet of the country's cinema), and though I'm willing to allow for my own ignorance of other cultures when something doesn't quite sit right with me, much of the melodrama in this film seems a tad disingenuous, particularly the dialogue written for these wise-beyond-their-years youngsters. Now I'm aware from the books I've read, that the harsh living conditions for the Korean under classes from the 50's to the 70's were enough to make anyone grow up fast and hard, I'm still somewhat uncomfortable with the sight of an ten-year-old standing before her bawling classmates and owning up to a laundry list of 'issues' as though it were her final day in rehab seems just a little bit phony. Director Yoon In-ho and screenwriter Lee Man-hee, working from a novel by We Kee-cheul, know just what buttons to push to get the tear ducts welling up, but I'm afraid they don't know how to push them lightly.

From a technical perspective, the film looks stunning, with the barren poverty of the small town beautifully captured through several seasons by cinematographer Chun Jo-myoung.

When I Turned Nine" is a film based upon the bestselling novel of the same title by WE Kee-cheul.

The original novel, which tells a story of a nine year old boy and his journey through 'the first ninth year of his life,' received a rave review for its delightful and touching storytelling and became the national bestseller with over 1 million copies sold nation wide.

In 2002, "When I Turned Nine"'s sensation was revived when it was featured on a popular reading promotional program on television.

It again reached #1 on National Bestseller List and stayed for 7 weeks (July 10 ~ August 27, 2002), thus becoming the bestselling novel of 2002.

Since its first publication in 1991, "When I Turned Nine" steadily gained its popularity among teenage readers, as well as readers in their 40s and 50s.

In the motion picture of "When I Turned Nine", the filmmaker successfully captures the magic of this heartwarming emotional story and beautifully presents it on the silver screen. It is guaranteed to be the sensational masterpiece that will bring laughter and tears to the audience.

The movie was nostalgic and made me remember the moments way back in early 1990s when I fought with my classmates (sometimes came home crying), was punished by teachers (times upon my head as shown in this), the friendly nearby stall owner who gives me candies for half price/free (like the popcorn vendor in this movie) and the list goes on. I guess this movie was an inspiration for a Tamil (Indian) movie 'Pasanga' which did win a national award for the country.

Predominant cast in this movie are kids. Initially I didn't expect much acting from kids but was wrong. They acted professionally, IMHO. Apart from screenplay and script the camera work was well done too. Again another Korean movie got me touchy/sentimental and music was good. The bottom line : A must watch movie for all ages.

I have to say that the children acting in this movie were wonderful - i felt like i was watching adult actors rather than kids, and maybe that's a testimony to how kids grow up in Korea.

I really enjoyed this movie, it reminds, particularly in poorer parts of any country, how hard things are, and how unfortunately, being tough, also means surviving, and that's certainly true of Korean society and the way kids were raised before.

There were many poignant moments in this movie, of separation, love, jealousy, conflict - i can't remember the last time i watched such a well made movie, with almost all children actors.

The cinematography was really good, and if you've ever been to Korea, it's still like that in many parts, frozen in time almost.

I read the novel first and enjoyed it a lot. Saw the movie last week with my wife, We really liked it and were moved a lot several times. This is basically a love story. The lead role boy (Yeomin played Kim Seok) is very generous to the whimsical lead role girl (Woorim played by Lee Se Young). My first remark after the movie was saying to my wife that ¡°I am ashamed that I am narrow-minded and less understanding to you than nine-years-old¡±. Later I found most of viewers felt same. I heard many girls and wives took their boy friends and husbands to the movie to remind them how gentleman should treat lady. Kim Seok now has fan club mostly composed by young ladies sick of their narrow-minded boy friends. Acting were quite good. Not only the leading roles, Keumbok¡¯s crying scene after she lost her sweetheart to newcomer was quite good. The teacher-hit-child scene was quite hard to see but I have to admit that at the time teachers hit children a lot. Then, ¡®Save a stroke and spoil a child¡¯ was firmly believed by parents, teachers and even by the children. These days, of course, they won¡¯t dare to do that. Years ago when a teacher hit a spoiled child, his friend immediately called police for violence from classroom using his mobile phone. The mother-hit-son-scolding scene was also heart-aching esp. the son keep saying ¡®Mother, I am not ashamed of you are one-eyed¡¯. People select the best scene in the movie as the one after the shoe store owner shoved them out of the store saying bad things on her mother¡¯s spoiled one eye, Yeomin hold her mother¡¯s hand first to console her. She is lucky lady to have such a good son. Lee Se Young (Woo Rim) played one more school girl role this year where she competes with her lady teacher to win the heart of handsome male teacher. She is already a very charming girl and will grow into a good-acting-beautiful actress. As last, do not miss the title song which is played with ending credit. Ms Roh Young Sim who made music score for the movie is another talented lady.