Synopsis

Six graders Ye-jun, Dong-hee, and Young-tan have a huge curiosity about dead people. When the rumor spreads that an old man in the village will die soon, the kids begin a stakeout. Days pass, but the old man seems to be far from death. And to make matters worse, he throws filthy water on them and even forces them to work on his house and garden. But as they weed the garden, plant cosmos seeds, paint his house, and tie a laundry rope in his yard, they slowly develop a friendship with the old man. The old man tells the kids old tales, and at the end of summer, he shows them fireworks. Their friendship continues to deepen when one day, the kids return to see the old man who never awakens, as much as they try to wake him up. Based on a novel by Japanese writer Yumoto Kazumi, the film captures sweet memories of youth through the director Lee Young-jae’s warmhearted eyes, just as he has done in his first feature film *The Harmonium in My Memory*. (Chun Jin-su)

Director

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  • Lee Young-jae
  • Born in 1957. After graduating from Yonsei University, he completed the 3rd class of the Korean Academy of Film Arts. In 1998, he made his feature debut with *The Harmonium in My Memory*, which won the Best New Director Award at the 20th Blue Dragon Film Awards. He has also been active as a founding research member of the Yonsei Theatre Arts Research Society and the Sanwoolim Theatre Company.