Once Upon a Time in High School
| Once Upon a Time in High School | |
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Theatrical poster
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| Hangul | |
| Revised Romanization | Maljukgeori janhoksa |
| McCune–Reischauer | Maljukgŏri chanhoksa |
| Directed by | Yoo Ha |
| Produced by |
Cha Seung-jae No Jong-yoon |
| Written by | Yoo Ha |
| Starring |
Kwon Sang-woo Han Ga-in Lee Jung-jin |
| Music by | Kim Joon-seok |
| Cinematography | Choi Hyeon-gi |
| Edited by | Park Gok-ji |
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Production
company |
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| Distributed by | CJ Entertainment |
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Release date
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Running time
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116 minutes |
| Country | South Korea |
| Language | Korean |
Once Upon a Time in High School: The Spirit of Jeet Kune Do (Korean: 말죽거리 잔혹사) is a 2004 South Korean drama film. The background of the film is set in a high school in South Korea, 1978. The original Korean title literally means "cruel history of Maljuk street" and one of the filming locations was the present neighborhood of Yangjae-dong, Seocho District in Seoul.
Hyun-soo (Kwon Sang-woo), transfers to another school, which is notorious for being one of the worst and most brutal high schools in the country. He is sent to a bottom-rank class and experiences violence in classroom by a group of delinquents in his class led by Jong-hoon (Lee Jong-hyuk), who is a stereotypical Korean bully in school. The teachers are also depicted as authoritarian and brutal to the students, using discipline as an excuse for brutality, as did most Korean teachers up to the 70s. One day on the bus, Hyun-soo sets eyes on and falls in love with Eun-joo (Han Ga-in), and one day when a group of schoolboys start teasing her on the bus, Hyun-soo takes the opportunity to gain her respect, even though it meant starting a riot. After a chase through the neighborhood and being caught in their hiding place (a rat prompted Eun-joo to scream), one of Hyun-soo's friends Kim Woo-sik (Lee Jung-jin), who happens to be a son of a popular actress, steps in and knocks them out.
A relationship triangle was formed between Hyun-soo, Woo-sik, and Eun-joo. One day Hyun-soo while riding his bike noticed Woo-sik and Eun-joo arguing. Taking into account that Hyun-soo was at a disadvantage of winning her heart due to his only achievement being sharing an umbrella with her on a rainy day while Woo-sik did more, he meets her at a rooftop that night and bonds with a romantic song playing on the radio presumably bought for the occasion, much to Woo-sik's jealousy when he saw them unnoticed when he reached the rooftop. One day Hyun-soo and Woo-sik got in a fight over Eun-joo and their friendship was put to an end. This event prompted Woo-sik to the extent of humiliating and beating Ham Jye-bok (Park Hyo-jun) who is called by his nickname "Hamburger", who sells pornography to other students.
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