Original title: Nae Maumui Punggum

Starring: Lee Byeong-Heon, Jeon Do-Yeon, Jeon Mu-Song
Director: Lee Yeong-Jae
Studio: Dawoori Entertainment
Rating: G
Genre: Drama

About this DVD

Harmonium in My Memory is a moving and beautifully shot movie about the first love of adolescents.

The year is 1963 at a village area very far from Seoul. Kang, aged 21, practises teaching for the first time with verve and sincerity. He's shown in several episodes to be a warm-hearted one and takes great care of his class pupils, who're mostly children from poor families. Yoon, a 6th grader but much older than most of her classmates, gradually falls in love with Kang. The daily journal assignment helps to communicate the strong feel of Yoon to Kang, ranging from humorous portrayal of her daily life, her constant ranting of the sexual bias against female in her family (and typically in the village as a whole), to her attacks of Kang's secret lover, Miss Yang, a 5 year senior of the young recruit. In one scene, the camera captures the beauty of actress Jeon Do-yeon (who plays Yoon in the movie) in a stunning scene, her joyous moment after Kang naughtily pitches her arm. Yoon's introvert but lovely character is constantly shown when she enjoys her moment of calm and tranquil by looking at the beautiful full moon, which changes to the face of Kang. At one time, the picture overlaps with us peeping into Kang's watching the full moon that changes into the face of Yang. The director would have us know that these fantasies are pure in form, not obsessively crooked in content.

Music plays a great role in this wonderful movie. As a grammar and music teacher, Kang is a record keeper who loves esp. the songs of Connie Francis. This is another glimpse that we can see the creeping influence of American pop culture even in a small rural town in South Korea. The record of Connie Francis' greatest hits ultimately plays an important role in the movie, serving as symbols of love affection expressed by Kang (to Yang) and by Yoon (to Kang).

The whole movie is not to portray some heroic attempts of school reform or student repentence but instead it's an extremely touching story about one's memory of first love. After the ending of the movie, the echoes of the theme song will remain strongly in your memory.

The ending of the movie is one of the most impressively shot and definitely one of the most touching moments. Yoon's red coat fades into the background, her face showing a sign of sadness that's heart-wrenching. She's quite ordinary at first glance. But her smiles really captures your attention and, again, the strong feel of loss and sorrowness that you can see clearly on the screen of her, watching helplessly Kang's leave.

Prize of Best Actress(Jeon Do-Yeon) Best Assistant Actress(Lee Mi-Yeon) New Director(Lee Young-Jae) at 20th Chung Ryong Film Award

Sanri, a town in Kang Won Province. Hong-Yeon, 17-year-old, is a student in an elementary school. She meets Kang Su-Ha, 21-year-old teacher, in the street by chance. He starts for his new position in Sanri elementary school. After that, she who loves him, goes around him after school to see him. She writes about him in her diary, but he does not care about it. Su-Ha likes beautiful Yang Eun-Hi, his colleague, and they come to love each other. When Hong-Yeon sees that Su-Ha and Yang Eun-Hi were together, she is exposed to rain. After a while, Yang Eun-Hi goes abroad to study with her fiancee in Seoul. While Su-Ha is disappointed in love, Hong-Yeon fills with happiness. One year after, there is fire in auditorium due to the children's mischief during the rehearsal for class day. Su-Ha runs into the auditorium to rescue the children, and Hong-Yeon follows him...

Audio Format:	Dolby Digital 2.0
Video Format:	Widescreen 1.85:1 (Anamorphic)
Languages:	Korean
Subtitles:	English, Korean
Country Made:	Korea
Region Code:	ALL
Year Made:	1999
Running Time:	118
Special Features:	Director's Commentary, Cast & Crews, Interviews, Music Video, Trailer, Dual Layer
Availability:	usually ships in 3-10 days