In my thirties, I made Winter Wanderer to represent the struggling youth reflected by the hardships of that time. I'm in my middle forties now, and I would rather face 'the youth' itself with less discomfort than before. As for Plum Blossom, the hero of this movie is Ja-hyo, not Su-in. The reason why is that I wanted to emphasise Ja-hyo's determination to live instead of mourning for the dead. As a result, Plum Blossom can be looked at as an ode to the youth living in 2000.
Kwak Ji-kyun
A first-love story that extends into an examination of sexual confusion among youngsters on the cusp of their 20s, Plum Blossom is hardly the soupy melodrama signaled by its exotic English rifle. Enlivened by yards of realistic, but not graphic, sack activity, it's a part-lively, part-sad movie, well shot, that's let down by a so-so script. Pic continues South Korean cinema's growing rep for full-on, sexually-themed fare.
High school senior Ja-hyo is seduced at his new school by classmate Ha-ra, who eventually commits suicide when he ignores her. Unable to form lasting attachments to women, he subsequently hooks up with perky nurse Nam-ok, but she's not about to let him slide away so easily. Meanwhile, Ja-hyo's pal, Su-in, has developed a crush on his teacher, Jeong-hye; that's a social taboo. Bae has real presence as the spunky, working-class nurse with an equally no-non-sense mother, and Jin (from Girls' Night Out) brings a serene maturity to the teacher. However, dialogue scenes between the young men, about sex, love and male-female differences, rarely match their ambitions. Korean title simply means "Youth".
Derek Elley