Once Upon a Time in High School

{{Infobox film | name = Once Upon a Time in High School | image = Once Upon a Time in High School movie poster.jpg | caption = Theatrical release poster | native_name = {{Infobox Korean film name/auto|hangul=^말죽거리 잔혹사}} | director = [[Yoo Ha]] | producer = [[Cha Seung-jae]]<br />[[No Jong-yoon]] | writer = Yoo Ha | starring = [[Kwon Sang-woo]]<br />[[Lee Jung-jin]]<br />[[Han Ga-in]] | music = [[Kim Joon-seok]] | cinematography = [[Choi Hyeon-gi]] | editing = [[Park Gok-ji]] | studio = [[Sidus Pictures|Sidus FNH]] | distributor = [[CJ Entertainment]] | released = {{Film date|2004|01|16}} | country = South Korea | runtime = 116 minutes | language = Korean | budget = }} '''''Once Upon a Time in High School: The Spirit of Jeet Kune Do''''' ({{Korean|말죽거리 잔혹사|lit='''''Cruel History of Maljuk Street'''''}}) is a 2004 South Korean [[action drama film]]. The background of the film is set in a high school in South Korea, 1978. One of the filming locations was the present neighborhood of [[Yangjae-dong]], [[Seocho District]], [[Seoul]].<ref>{{cite web|author=Jo Seong-jin|url=http://www.visitseoul.net/visit2006/article/article_view.jsp?seq=1102|script-title=ko:서울, 아는 만큼 즐긴다!: 말죽거리를 아시나요?|website=[[Seoul City Hall]]|date=2006-03-20|language=ko}}{{Dead link|date=October 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|author=Jang Gang-myeong|url=http://www.donga.com/fbin/moeum?n=society$c_194&a=v&l=3&id=200503180248|script-title=ko:(영화 속의 서울) 영화 '말죽거리 잔혹사'와 암사동 점마을 |website=[[The Dong-A Ilbo]]|date=2005-03-18|language=ko}}</ref>

== Synopsis == Hyun-soo ([[Kwon Sang-woo]]), transfers to a school that is notorious for its poor outcomes and brutality. He joins a bottom-rank class and experiences violence by delinquents led by Jong-hoon ([[Lee Jong-hyuk]]), a stereotypical Korean bully. The teachers are depicted as authoritarian and brutal. On the bus, Hyun-soo sees and falls in love with Eun-joo ([[Han Ga-in]]). When schoolboys start teasing her, Hyun-soo takes the opportunity to gain her respect, even though it starts a riot. After the two are chased and caught in their hiding place, one of Hyun-soo's friends Kim Woo-sik ([[Lee Jung-jin]]), steps in and knocks out the attackers.

A love triangle is formed between Hyun-soo, Woo-sik, and Eun-joo. One day, Hyun-soo notices Woo-sik and Eun-joo arguing. Despite his only achievement being sharing an umbrella with her, he meets her on a rooftop that night and they bond with each other while Woo-sik jealously observes them in secret. One day Hyun-soo and Woo-sik get in a fight over Eun-joo and their friendship ends. Woo-sik then humiliates and beats up Ham Jye-bok or "Hamburger" ([[Park Hyo-jun]]) who sells pornography to other students. Woo-sik then loses an intense fight with Jong-hoon on the rooftop and leaves the school, presumably having dropped out.

Hyun-soo concludes that Eun-joo has left him for Woo-sik. Hyun-soo's father is a black belt in [[Taekwondo|Tae Kwon Do]] and an owner of a Tae Kwon Do gym; he treats his students kindly while treating his son poorly. When he discovers that Hyun-soo has been receiving poor grades, he beats him, refers to him as "surplus man" (a derogatory term for a person without a future), and kicks him out of his house permanently.

No longer able to put up with the conduct of Jong-hoon, his gang, nor the brutality and violence of teachers, Hyun-soo trains himself in [[Jeet Kune Do]], inspired by his childhood hero [[Bruce Lee]]. One day, on the same rooftop where Woo-sik lost his fight with Jong-hoon, Hyun-soo uses [[nunchaku]] and his new-found expertise in Jeet Kune Do to grievously injure Jong-hoon and his gang mates. When authorities blame Hyun-soo, he lashes out. Smashing windows and throwing his nunchucks, he curses Korea's entire education system for being so corrupt and encouraging brutality.

Hyun-soo is expelled and sent to a public school. Jong-hoon's mother blames him for beating her son, forcing his father to apologize to her for his son's actions. Hyun-soo apologizes to his father about the incident and they eventually reconcile. His father tells him that he can always get a GED and asks if Bruce Lee went to college, knowing full well that he didn't and realizing that a good man isn't defined by a college education. By chance, he runs into Eun-joo. Hyun-soo later attends a movie with Ham Jye-bok and both goof off with mock martial arts over Bruce Lee vs Jackie Chan.

==Cast== {{colbegin}} *[[Kwon Sang-woo]] as Hyun-soo **[[Kim Dong-young (actor)|Kim Dong-young]] as young Hyun-soo *[[Lee Jung-jin]] as Woo-sik *[[Han Ga-in]] as Eun-joo *[[Kim In-kwon]] as Jik-sae *[[Lee Jong-hyuk]] as Jong-hoon *[[Park Hyo-jun]] as Hamburger *Seo Dong-won as Seong-hun *[[Baek Bong-ki]] as Cheetah *Kim Byeong-chun as drill teacher *Yang Han-seok as P.E. teacher *[[Ahn Nae-sang]] as Math teacher *[[Lee Jin-wook]] as Jiksae's friend *[[Joo Jin-mo (actor, born 1974)|Park Jin-tae]] *Kim Bu-seon as [[tteokbokki]] store owner *[[Chun Ho-jin]] as Hyun-soo's father *Kim Young-im *Choi Jae-hwan *Kim Su-nam *Lee Yu-soo *Kwon Tae-won as English teacher *Jung Jae-jin *Lee Sook *[[Cho Jin-woong]] as gang member *Lee Hyeon-seok as Hyun-soo's mother *Jeon Sung-ae as Jong-hoon's mother *[[Park Soo-young]] as Politics & Economics teacher *Choi Woong as dance club guard *Jeon Jin-woo as the DJ in the tteokbokki store {{colend}}

==Awards and nominations== 2004 [[Baeksang Arts Awards]] * Most Popular Actor - [[Kwon Sang-woo]] * Nomination - Best Actor - [[Kwon Sang-woo]]

[[41st Grand Bell Awards|2004]] [[Grand Bell Awards]] * Popularity Award - [[Kwon Sang-woo]] * Nomination - Best Original Screenplay - [[Yoo Ha]]

2004 [[Blue Dragon Film Awards]]<ref>{{cite web|title=Once Upon a Time in High School|url=http://www.cinemasie.com/en/fiche/oeuvre/onceuponatimeinhighschool/recompenses.html|website=Cinemasie|access-date=2014-07-31|archive-date=2014-08-08|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140808033845/http://www.cinemasie.com/en/fiche/oeuvre/onceuponatimeinhighschool/recompenses.html|url-status=live}}</ref> * Best Art Direction - Kim Gi-cheol, Kim Hyo-jeong * Popular Star Award - [[Kwon Sang-woo]] * Nomination - Best Film * Nomination - Best Director - [[Yoo Ha]] * Nomination - Best Screenplay - [[Yoo Ha]] * Nomination - Best Cinematography - Choi Hyeon-gi * Nomination - Best New Actress - [[Han Ga-in]]

2004 [[Korean Film Awards]] * Nomination - Best Film * Nomination - Best Director - [[Yoo Ha]] * Nomination - Best Screenplay - [[Yoo Ha]] * Nomination - Best New Actress - [[Han Ga-in]]

== References == {{Reflist}}

== External links == * {{Kmdb film|06112|Once Upon a Time in High School}} * {{IMDb title|0390205|Once Upon a Time in High School}} * {{Hancinema film|Once_Upon_A_Time_In_Highschool|Once Upon a Time in High School}} * {{Rotten-tomatoes|spirit-of-jeet-kune-do-once-upon-a-time-in-high-school-maljukgeori-janhoksa|Once Upon a Time in High School}}

{{Yoo Ha}}

[[Category:2004 films]] [[Category:2004 action drama films]] [[Category:South Korean action drama films]] [[Category:South Korean teen films]] [[Category:2000s teen drama films]] [[Category:Films about school violence]] [[Category:Films set in 1978]] [[Category:Films set in Seoul]] [[Category:Films directed by Yoo Ha]] [[Category:2004 Korean-language films]] [[Category:2004 South Korean films]] [[Category:South Korean high school films]]