Once Upon a Time in High School
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| Once Upon a Time in High School | |
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 Poster for Once Upon a Time in High School |
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| Directed by | Yu Ha |
| Produced by | Cha Seung-jae No Jong-yun |
| Written by | Yu Ha |
| Starring | Kwon Sang-woo Han Ga-in Lee Jeong-jin |
| Music by | Kim Jun-seok |
| Cinematography | Choi Hyeon-gi |
| Editing by | Park Gok-ji |
| Distributed by | CJ Entertainment |
| Release date(s) | January 16, 2004 (South Korea) |
| Running time | 116 min. |
| Language | Korean |
| IMDb profile | |
Spirit of Jeet Kune Do: Once Upon a Time in High School (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.
[edit] Plot
Kwon, who starred as Hyun-soo, transfers to another school. He is sent to a bottom-rank class and experiences violence in classroom by the group of gangsters in his class, led by Jong-hun, who is a stereotypical Korean bully in school. The teachers are also depicted as authoritarian to the students, using violence for the sake of discipline, as did most Korean teachers in the '70s and to some extent in modern days as well.
Hyun-soo, after a failed relationship with Eunjoo (played by Han Ga In) , decides that he will no longer put up with the conduct of Jong-hun and his boys as well as the harsh and violent disciplinary techniques being put up by the teachers, and starts to train himself in Jeet Kune Do, inspired by his greatest hero Bruce Lee. His father, a martial artist, frequently resorted to minor violence to discipline his son.
Hyun-soo challenges Jong-hun to a duel one day when he is no longer able to put up with his behaviour. Jong-hun and his friends are grievously injured by Hyun-soo's nunchaku. Hyun-soo is expelled after this incident.
Hyun-soo meets his friend Hamburger again at the GED institute and they talk about their past. He meets Eunjoo again, but they say their goodbyes on a bus. Jackie Chan's 1978 movie Drunken Master is featured in the background at the end of the movie as Hamburger and Hyun-soo play a fighting game in front of the cinema complex.
