''Scent of Love'' (국화꽃 향기 lit. ''Scent of Chrysanthemums'') is a

2003 File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during reentry into Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an epidemic in China, and was a precursor to SARS-CoV-2; A des ...

South Korean film The cinema of South Korea refers to the film industry of South Korea from 1945 to present. South Korean films have been heavily influenced by such events and forces as the Japanese occupation of Korea, the Korean War, government censorship, t ...

, and the directorial debut of Lee Jeong-wook. The film is based on a novel of the same name by Kim Ha-in, and stars

Jang Jin-young Jang Jin-young (; June 14, 1972 – September 1, 2009) was a South Korean actress. Following Jang's time as a model and participation in the 1992 Miss Korea beauty contest, she began her acting career on television, in the drama ''Angel in My ...

and

Park Hae-il Park Hae-il (born 26 January 1977) is a South Korean actor. He began his acting career in theater, but soon gained the film industry's attention in 2003 with ''Jealousy Is My Middle Name'' and ''Memories of Murder''. Park's film career took off, ...

in the lead roles. Like her character, Jang Jin-young battled stomach cancer and died in 2009. The film received an around of 900,000 admissions nationwide and on May 16, 2003, the film was screened at the

Cannes Film Festival The Cannes Festival (; french: link=no, Festival de Cannes), until 2003 called the International Film Festival (') and known in English as the Cannes Film Festival, is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films o ...

Plot

University student Seo In-ha meets a young woman on the subway and instantly falls in love. After joining a local book club, he is pleasantly surprised to find that the woman, Mun Hee-jae, is also a member. Although he makes a poor first impression, In-ha and Hee-jae eventually become friends, though he is left disappointed when she later rejects him, as she is more interested in another student, Kang Seong-ho. Several years pass, with In-ha and Hee-jae going their separate ways. While Hee-jae and Seong-ho prepare to get married, In-ha, now a producer at a local radio station, still pines after his first love. When Hee-jae survives a car crash that kills her fiancé and parents, In-ha keeps a respectful distance. After a while he resumes his pursuit of her by reading out letters on his radio show, and finally winning her heart, the couple get married. However, their happiness is short-lived, as Hee-jae becomes pregnant only to discover that she has

stomach cancer Stomach cancer, also known as gastric cancer, is a cancer that develops from the lining of the stomach. Most cases of stomach cancers are gastric carcinomas, which can be divided into a number of subtypes, including gastric adenocarcinomas. Lymph ...

, and must choose between her own life and the life of her unborn child.

Cast

... Mun Hee-jae *

... Seo In-ha *

Song Seon-mi A song is a musical composition intended to be performed by the human voice. This is often done at distinct and fixed pitches (melodies) using patterns of sound and silence. Songs contain various forms, such as those including the repetitio ...

... Choi Jeong-rae *

Kim Yu-seok Kim Yu-seok (born 22 September 1966) is a South Korean actor. He starred in the films ''The Power of Kangwon Province'' (1998), ''The Isle'' (2000), ''Possible Changes'' (2005), ''Long and Winding Road'' (2006), and ''Family Matters'' (2006), a ...

... Kang Seong-ho

References

External links

* * 2003 films Films based on romance novels Films based on South Korean novels 2000s Korean-language films South Korean romantic drama films 2003 directorial debut films 2000s South Korean films {{romantic-drama-film-stub