<Love Me Once Again (Miweodo dasi han beon)> (1968)

Director : Jeong So-Young
Production Company : Han Jin Co., Ltd
Date of Rate : 1968-07-20
Running Time : 93 min.
Opening Theater : Kukdo Theater
Genre : Melodrama

Staff :
Writer : Lee Seong-Jae
Screenplay(Adaptation) : Lee Seong-Jae
Producer : Han Gap-Jin
Executive Producer : Jeong So-Young
Director of PhotoGraphy : Ahn Chang-Bok
Gaffer : Lee Ki-Seob
Music : Kim Yong-Hwan
Art Director : Lee Mun-Hyeon
Editor : Hyeon Dong-Chun

Cast(Actor/Actress) :
Shin Young-Kyun, Moon Hee, Jeon Kye-Hyeon, Kim Jeong-Hun, Park Ahm, Lee Chung-Beom, Kim Jung-Ok, kim Jung-Hun

Synopsis

Hye-yeong (Moon Hee) falls in love with Sin-ho (Shin Young-kyun), not knowing that he is a married man. She dreams of marrying him but he hesitates to tell her the truth, and she discovers the facts only after his wife (Jeon Kye-hyeon) and child arrive in Seoul. Hye-yeong leaves Sin-ho and gives birth to his son Yeong-sin (Kim Jeong-hun), whom she raises by herself. But eight years later, she comes to Sin-ho and asks him to raise Yeong-sin, in order to ensure a better future for their son. The boy is unable to adapt to his new environment and constantly asks for his mother. Feeling lonely, Yeong-sin sets out to find Hye-yeong but gets lost on the way, and his new family searches for him. Hye-yeong watches in secret as Sin-ho scolds the returned Yeong-sin, and resolves to raise him herself. Sin-ho's family decides to send Yeong-sin back to his mother as well, and the two of them depart for the countryside.

Notes

"The biggest box office hit of the 1960s and the model for female sentimental melodrama, Love Me Once Again is the ultimate tear-jerker."
Love Me Once Again became an icon of popular culture in the 1960s and 70s. As one of the most widely-remembered movies among Korean classics, it affords valuable insight into audiences' tastes and conceptions of maternity at the time. Love Me Once Again climbed to the top of the box office thanks to the fervent support of married women throughout the nation, and its commercial appeal and popularity helped spawn numerous remakes in the years that followed. It opened at Kukdo Theatre and drew an audience of over 360,000 in Seoul alone (the population of Seoul at the time was 4,500,000); subsequent remakes continued to enjoy box office success. In contrast to Sin-ho, who is virtually devoid of fatherly love, the plaintive yet unshakable love Hye-yeong shows for her child drew copious tears from women in the audience. The standout performance of child actor Kim Jeong-hun, in the role of Hye-yeong's son, added to the movie's emotional impact and catapulted young Kim to stardom.

Afterword:

- Love Me Once Again was remade a total of six times, owing to its continued popularity.

Director Bio: Jeong So-young (1928- )

He graduated from Gukhak University with a degree in Korean Language & Literature and worked as a producer of television dramas. He made his directorial debut with Survive for Me(Nae Mokkkaji Saraju) in 1967. After his most famous work Love Me Once Again (Miweodo Dasi Han Beon) of 1968 became a smashing hit, he directed a series of sequels. He founded Hanrim Films in 1970 and won the 7th Korean Theatre and Film Award with his movie, Pil-nyeo (Pilnyeo).