''The Old Garden'' () is a 2006 South Korean film, based on the best-selling novel of the same name by the author

Hwang Sok-yong Hwang Sok-yong (born January 4, 1943) is a South Korean novelist. Life Hwang was born in Hsinking (today Changchun), Manchukuo, during the period of Japanese rule. His family returned to Korea after liberation in 1945. He later obtained ...

. It was written and directed by

Im Sang-soo Im Sang-soo (born April 27, 1962) is a South Korean film director and screenwriter. He has twice been invited to compete for the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival, with '' The Housemaid'' in 2010 and ''The Taste of Money'' in 2012. Early li ...

and starred

Ji Jin-hee Ji Jin-hee (born June 24, 1971) is a South Korean actor. He is best known for his leading roles in the TV shows ''Dae Jang Geum'' (2003), '' He Who Can't Marry'' (2009), '' Dong Yi'' (2010), ''Misty'' (2018) and '' Designated Survivor: 60 Days' ...

Yum Jung-ah Yum Jung-ah (born July 28, 1972) is a South Korean actress. Her notable films include ''A Tale of Two Sisters'' (2003), '' The Big Swindle'' (2004), '' The Old Garden'' (2007), and ''Cart'' (2014), as well as the television series ''Royal Famil ...

, and

Youn Yuh-jung Youn Yuh-jung (, ; born June 19, 1947) is a South Korean actress, whose career in film and television spans over five decades. Her accolades include an Academy Award, a Screen Actors Guild Award, a British Academy Film Award, an Independent Spir ...

. The plot of the film involves a couple during the turbulent political landscape in early 1980s

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 ...

, and the events surrounding the

Gwangju Massacre The Gwangju Uprising was a popular uprising in the city of Gwangju, South Korea, from May 18 to May 27, 1980, which pitted local, armed citizens against soldiers and police of the South Korean government. The event is sometimes called 5·18 (Ma ...

Plot

Hyun-woo (

) is released from prison after spending 17 years behind bars. During his college days he was involved in the student-led anti-government protests that swept across Korea in the early 1980s. Now that he is finally free, Hyun-woo travels back to the town where he spent a few precious months immediately prior to his arrest. Seventeen years ago, Hyun-woo fled into the rural area of Korea, hiding from the government that was trying to quash his anti-government group. He found sanctuary in the home of Han Yun-hee (

). She was a former sympathizer to the anti-government cause, but now living a modest life as a teacher in a small rural community. The couple quickly became intimate, Hyun-woo able to provide the spark that was missing from Yun-hee's simple life. Unfortunately, while Hyun-woo was still hiding in Yun-hee's home, he learned that most of his fellow anti-government protesters were captured and imprisoned. Even though the government now has Hyun-woo high on their wanted list, he feels ashamed that he is living peacefully, while his friends are imprisoned. Thus, he makes the difficult decision to leave Yun-hee and go back to the movement centered in Seoul. What he would later learn is that he left behind the sole person that would stay faithful to him throughout his 17-year imprisonment and also the woman that was carrying his baby.

Awards and nominations

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister of Pakistan, Pr ...

Baeksang Arts Awards The Baeksang Arts Awards (), also known as the Paeksang Arts Awards, are awards for excellence in film, television and theatre in South Korea. The awards were first introduced in 1965 by Chang Key-young, the founder of the Hankook Ilbo newspap ...

* Best Actress -

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

Asian Film Awards Asian may refer to: * Items from or related to the continent of Asia: ** Asian people, people in or descending from Asia ** Asian culture, the culture of the people from Asia ** Asian cuisine, food based on the style of food of the people from Asi ...

* Nomination – Best Screenplay -

* Nomination – Best Editing - Lee Eun-soo

References

External links

* * *
''The Old Garden: a review''
at The Korea Society {{DEFAULTSORT:Old Garden, The 2006 films 2000s romance films South Korean romance films Films based on Korean novels Films directed by Im Sang-soo Lotte Entertainment films 2000s Korean-language films South Korean political films 2000s political films 2000s South Korean films