White Valentine
White Valentine (Korean: 화이트 발렌타인; RR: Hwaiteu ballentain) is a 1999 Korean romantic film directed by Yang Yun-ho. It stars Park Shin-yang with Jun Ji-hyun in her movie debut.
White Valentine | |
---|---|
Promotional poster for White Valentine | |
Hangul | 화이트 발렌타인 |
Revised Romanization | Hwaiteu ballenta-in |
McCune–Reischauer | Hwait‘ŭ palrent‘ain |
Directed by | Yang Yun-ho |
Produced by | Kim Yong-kuk |
Written by | Lee Eun-kyeong Lee Byeong-ryul |
Starring | Park Shin-yang Jun Ji-hyun |
Music by | Park Ki-young |
Cinematography | Lee Seok-gi |
Edited by | Kyung Min-ho |
Release date |
|
Running time | 101 min. |
Language | Korean |
It is the story of a young woman who re-discovers her childhood pen pal from military service when she happens upon an epistolary exchange he sent to his dead girlfriend by a carrier pigeon.
Plot
As a young girl, Kim Jeong-min (Jun Ji-hyun) hated writing letters to soldiers because they never write her back once they learn her age. So instead, she pretends to be a teacher, and becomes pen pals with Park Hyun-jun (Park Shin-yang). They plan to meet in person at a train station, but Jeong-min never shows up, and thus their correspondence ends.
Later when Jeong-min reaches the age of twenty (though when this movie was shot Jun was only 17), Hyun-jun moves into her hometown. Since her parents died when she was little, Jeong-min has been living with her grandfather who owns the bookstore Somang Books. She also works at this bookstore but dreams of becoming a painter. Hyun-jun has become the owner of a pet shop for birds, and grieving over the death of his girlfriend in a car accident, he keeps sending her letters via carrier pigeon. While painting outdoors, Jeong-min sees Hyun-jun feeding some pigeons. As she watches him care for one wounded pigeon then give an apple to a child playing nearby, she falls in love with him at first sight. But the apple reminds her of the same apple painted on the envelopes from her yet unknown pen pal.
Cast
- Park Shin-yang - Park Hyun-jun
- Jun Ji-hyun - Kim Jeong-min
- Jeon Moo-song - Jeong-min's grandfather
- Kim Young-ok - flower shop lady
- Yang Dong-geun - Han-seok
- Kim Se-joon - Ji-seok