''Hot Young Bloods'' (; lit. ''Blood Boiling Youth'') is a 2014

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

teen Adolescence () is a transitional stage of physical and psychological development that generally occurs during the period from puberty to adulthood (typically corresponding to the age of majority). Adolescence is usually associated with the te ...

romantic comedy Romantic comedy (also known as romcom or rom-com) is a subgenre of comedy and slice of life fiction, focusing on lighthearted, humorous plot lines centered on romantic ideas, such as how true love is able to surmount most obstacles. In a typica ...

film that depicts the loves, rivalries, and friendships between four high school students in

Hongseong County Hongseong (''Hongseong-gun'') is a county in South Korea, and the capital of South Chungcheong Province. The current governor is Yeoung Lock Lee. The original name of the city is ''Hongju''. Symbols * The flag represents the Joyang Gate along wi ...

South Chungcheong Province South Chungcheong Province ( ko, 충청남도, ''Chungcheongnam-do''), also known as Chungnam, is a province of South Korea. South Chungcheong has a population of 2,059,871 (2014) and has a geographic area of 8,204 km2 (3,168 sq mi) located in ...

in the 1980s. Hot Young Bloods was inspired by the short film That's What I Told Her (2013, Daniels Calvin).

Plot

Set in a rural town in 1982, Young-sook (

Park Bo-young Park Bo-young (, born February 12, 1990) is a South Korean actress. She is best known for her leading roles in the hit films ''Scandal Makers'' (2008), '' A Werewolf Boy'' (2012) and ''On Your Wedding Day'' (2018), and the television series '' ...

) is the feared leader of a female gang at Hongseong Agricultural High School. Although she is known for her toughness and foul mouth, she secretly has a crush on Joong-gil (

Lee Jong-suk Lee Jong-suk (, born 14 September 1989) is a South Korean actor and model. He debuted in 2005 as a runway model, becoming the youngest male model ever to participate in Seoul Fashion Week. Lee's breakthrough role was in ''School 2013'' (2012). ...

), the biggest playboy in school. Joong-gil is a legendary

Casanova Giacomo Girolamo Casanova (, ; 2 April 1725 – 4 June 1798) was an Italian adventurer and author from the Republic of Venice. His autobiography, (''Story of My Life''), is regarded as one of the most authentic sources of information about the c ...

whose single glance has the ability to make girls' hearts melt, and he's attempted to woo all the girls at school, except for Young-sook. That's because Gwang-sik (

Kim Young-kwang Kim Young-kwang (, born 28 June 1983) is a South Korean footballer who plays for Seongnam FC as a goalkeeper. Career In December 2006 he transferred to Ulsan Hyundai Horang-i in a deal reportedly worth around $2.2m International career He w ...

), the leader of a rival school's male gang, views Young-sook as his girl. Then a new female transfer student, So-hee (

Lee Se-young Lee Se-young (; born December 20, 1992) is a South Korean actress. She debuted as a child actress in 1997 and was best known for her roles in ''Dae Jang Geum'' (2003), '' When I Turned Nine'' (2004), ''Lovely Rivals'' (2004), and ''The Wonder ...

) from

Seoul Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) as stated iArticle 103 ...

arrives at their high school. So-hee is beautiful, innocent-looking and different from the other girls, and Joong-gil falls for her instantly. The jealous Young-sook picks a fight with So-hee to prevent her new rival from encroaching on her secret crush. Trouble brews as Gwang-sik, suspicious of the ties between Young-sook and Joong-gil, also harasses So-hee to instigate Joong-gil.

Cast

as Young-sook *

as Joong-gil *

as So-hee *

as Gwang-sik *

Ra Mi-ran Ra Mi-ran (born March 6, 1975) is a South Korean actress and television personality. Career Before making her film debut in ''Lady Vengeance'' (2005), Ra Mi-ran spent years acting in theatre. Afterwards, she appeared in more than 40 films but di ...

as Na-young, a teacher *

Kim Hee-won Kim Hee-won (born January 10, 1971) is a South Korean actor. Since 2007, he has played supporting roles in films and television series A television show – or simply TV show – is any content produced for viewing on a television set which ...

as Jong-pal, a teacher * Park Jung-min as Hwang-kyu *

Jin So-yeon Jin So-yeon is a South Korean actress and model. She is known for her roles in drama ''Touch Your Heart'' and in movies ''Hot Young Bloods ''Hot Young Bloods'' (; lit. ''Blood Boiling Youth'') is a 2014 South Korean teen film, teen romantic co ...

as Hwa-seon * Shin Hyun-tak as Man-chul *

Jeon Soo-jin Jeon Soo-jin (born November 8, 1988) is a South Korean actress. Born in Seoul but raised in Jeju Island, she was studying design at Konkuk University in 2008 when she began doing part-time work as a model for the fashion magazines Shibuya and C ...

as Song Yeon-hwa, Young-sook's henchwoman *

Kwon Hae-hyo Kwon Hae-hyo (born November 6, 1965) is a South Korean television, film and stage actor. He is also an activist, involved in the Unite Our People Movement Headquarters, the Abolish the Family Registry and Create Family Equality Organization, th ...

as Dae-pan, Joong-gil's father *

Kim Ji-eun Kim Ji-eun (; born October 9, 1993) is a South Korean actress. She is best known for appearances in the television series '' The Veil'' (2021), ''Again My Life'' (2022), and ''One Dollar Lawyer'' (2022). Early life Kim Ji-eun was born in Inche ...

as Young-sook's classmate *

Lee Chae-eun Lee Chae-eun is a South Korean actress. She is known for her roles in dramas such as ''One Mom and Three Dads'', ''100% Era'', ''Grand Prince'' and '' All of Us Are Dead''. She also appeared in movies '' Detective K: Secret of the Lost Island'', ...

as young Young-sook *

Han Da-sol Han Da-sol is a South Korean actress. She is known for her roles in dramas such as '' Men Are Men'', ''Twelve Nights'', '' The Smile Has Left Your Eyes'', and ''Happiness''. She also appeared in movies ''Hot Young Bloods ''Hot Young Bloods'' ( ...

as Bicyclist

Historical context

The film is set in a southern agricultural area of

in the early 1980s. In 1982, the Korean Ministry of Education eliminated uniforms for middle- and high-schoolers. This created a sense of freedom and

individualism Individualism is the moral stance, political philosophy, ideology and social outlook that emphasizes the intrinsic worth of the individual. Individualists promote the exercise of one's goals and desires and to value independence and self-reli ...

for the young people of the time. Uniforms were reinstated in 1986.

Production

Filming began on 1 August 2013 in

Sunchang Sunchang County (''Sunchang-gun'') is a county in North Jeolla Province, South Korea. It is located in a mountainous region of the province and is connected to the city of Jeonju by a modern double-lane free-way that was completed in 2011. Suncha ...

North Jeolla Province North Jeolla Province (; ''Jeollabuk-do''), also known as Jeonbuk, is a province of South Korea. North Jeolla has a population of 1,869,711 (2015) and has a geographic area of 8,067 km2 (3,115 sq mi) located in the Honam region in the southwest ...

. After three months of filming in Sunchang, the seaside town of Hongseong, and the metropolitan city of

Gwangju Gwangju () is South Korea's sixth-largest metropolis. It is a designated metropolitan city under the direct control of the central government's Home Minister. The city was also the capital of South Jeolla Province until the provincial office ...

, the film wrapped on 4 November 2013. The press conference was held on 30 December 2013, during which actress

revealed that she had a difficult time using the southern accent, which is a mix of

Jeolla Jeolla Province (, ) was one of the historical Eight Provinces of Korea during the Kingdom of Joseon in today Southwestern Korea. It consisted of the modern South Korean provinces of North Jeolla, South Jeolla and Gwangju Metropolitan City as wel ...

and

Chungcheong Chungcheong (''Chungcheong-do''; ) was one of the eight provinces of Korea during the Joseon Dynasty. Chungcheong was located in the southwest of Korea. The provincial capital was located at Gongju, which had been the capital of the kingdom o ...

dialects. Writer-director Lee Yeon-woo, who was a teenager in the 1980s, said he made the film because he thought it would "be fun to bring to life the experiences of his youth" spent in the countryside of

. Lee, whose previous film ''

Running Turtle ''Running Turtle'' () is a 2009 South Korean film about a countryside detective trying to capture a legendary prison breaker. Released on June 11, 2009, it was directed by Lee Yeon-woo and starred Kim Yoon-seok and Jung Kyung-ho. Plot Jo Pil-s ...

'' (2009) had the same setting, said he liked the dialect and the Chungcheong-specific humor and sensibility, and that the retro rom-com was his way of expressing his sentiments about the digital era.

Release

''Hot Young Bloods'' opened in theaters on 23 January 2014. Two weeks after its release, it had recorded 1,570,609 admissions, which was attributed to the film's appeal to younger viewers given its premise and lead stars. The film's distribution rights to

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...

were sold at the

American Film Market The American Film Market (AFM) is a film industry event held each year in early November. Historically, more than 7,000 people attend the eight-day annual event to network and to sell, finance and acquire films. Participants come from more than ...

, followed by

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...

and

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hot Young Bloods 2014 films 2010s Korean-language films South Korean teen comedy films South Korean high school films Films set in the 1980s 2014 romantic comedy films South Korean romantic comedy films 2010s high school films 2010s South Korean films