Seonsaeng Kim Bong-du

I quite enjoyed this film -- even though with Korean dialog, without subtitles, and with my inability to understand Korean -- I couldn't understand what was said or the details of the plot. But I was pleasantly surprised by the style of film, conveying to me an emotionally attuned perspective to the events of the primary characters (something of an "European style" film, in my perspective. This is not a film full of action scenes and special effects; I enjoyed its focus on the lives of the primary character (the teacher) and his five students.

The title I saw it under, *My Teacher, Mr Kim*, indicates that it is from the point of view of the student(s). However, it is really Mr Kim who is the subject of this film, as he undergoes an epiphany and radical transformation.

I loved the character of Mr Kim. He starts off as selfish and shallow in so many ways, and really made me wonder how much more I could achieve if I thought of myself less often.

Mr Choi was an excellent character too, and Sun-Young the high-school drop-out city girlfriend of Mr Kim. However the character of the school caretaker was developed for no apparent reason, the children were indistinguishable from each other, and their parents just cardboard cut-outs.

Fair enough, but why then the reverent attitude to Mr Kim by the end of the film? As far as I could see, there just wasn't enough to explain the children's love for him. He left them to study alone far too much, and played soccer with them far too little, for them to love him as they did. The best thing he did for them, was spend his white-envelope money on gifts for them, and this really wasn't a materialistic type of film.

Which reminds me, there were some really nice ironic moments. Like when Mr Kim is sitting with his students in the beautiful countryside, next to a clear stream, all of them smoking fish on sticks, and he is telling them of all the modern conveniences that Seoul has to offer.

So, some good, some bad, largely predictable but not entirely so, see it if the subject matter or the location interest you - otherwise you could probably give it a miss.

I personally enjoyed this films, very much, because I grew up and spent my childhood in Korea. It showed a lot of similarities between my teachers and Seung-won Cha. He played the part wonderfully, I think he is a great actor. He is bound of become big as he grows older. He was the perfect person to choose for this role... Except he was a little young. Anyways, the concept of this film is very simple, but there are so much to learn from film. It shows a great amount of emotion and bonding. I would reccommend it to any students around the world. Its truly a great family film!