''My Teacher, Mr. Kim'' () is a

2003 2003 was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Fresh water, Freshwater. In 2003, a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition 2003 invasion of Iraq, invaded Iraq, starting the Iraq War. Demographic ...

South Korean

comedy-drama Comedy drama (also known by the portmanteau dramedy) is a hybrid genre of works that combine elements of comedy and Drama (film and television), drama. In film, as well as scripted television series, serious dramatic subjects (such as death, il ...

film about a man's transformation from a flawed scoundrel into a conscientious teacher when he gets transferred to a rural village school.

Plot

Kim Bong-doo is a young teacher in a

Seoul Seoul, officially Seoul Special Metropolitan City, is the capital city, capital and largest city of South Korea. The broader Seoul Metropolitan Area, encompassing Seoul, Gyeonggi Province and Incheon, emerged as the world's List of cities b ...

elementary school. He comes to school later than the students, and is scolded by the principal every day. Instead of preparing lesson plans, he goes drinking at room salons, and he actively encourages and coaxes parents to give him bribe money in exchange for his favoring their children. But one day, he finally gets caught in the act, and becomes the target of parent complaints. So Mr. Kim gets temporarily transferred to the boondocks, a branch school in a remote village in Gangwon Province. In the countryside, cell phones are useless and even buying cigarettes at the nearest corner store is out of the question. There are only five students in the whole school, and he's also discontented with the extremely naive villagers who offer him all sorts of vegetables and fruits instead of money. To make matters worse, a grumpy old man named Mr. Choi blackmails him into teaching him the Korean alphabet. Driven to near insanity by boredom and peace, Mr. Kim maps out a plan to transfer all of his students to Seoul, thereby closing down the rural school. For starters, Mr. Kim begins an after-school program to focus on developing each student's special talents so that they'll want to get a better education in Seoul. Contrary to his bad intentions, this results in a happy, supportive environment for the children and the village community, such that the school officials reconsider their policy of closing down the school because of Mr. Kim's "wonderful devotion" to the kids. But when a businessman unexpectedly appears, saying he'd like to turn the school into a survival game site, Mr. Kim becomes tempted by money once again.

Cast

Cha Seung-won Cha Seung-won (; born June 7, 1970) is a South Korean actor, who began his career as an in-demand model (person), fashion model in the 1990s. Cha achieved stardom through the hit comedy films ''Kick the Moon'' (2001), ''Jail Breakers'' (2002), ' ...

as Kim Bong-doo *

Byun Hee-bong Byun Hee-bong (; born Byun In-chul; 8 June 1942 – 18 September 2023) was a South Korean film, television and voice actor. In 1963, he embarked on his voice acting career by making his debut in the first season of DBS Donga Broadcasting. He fu ...

as Mr. Choi *

Sung Ji-ru Sung Ji-ru (born October 16, 1968) is a South Korean actor. Filmography Film Television series Awards and nominations References External links * * * 1968 births Living people People from Gongju Male actors from ...

as Chun-shik *

Lee Bom Lee Bom (; born 24 July 1990) is a South Korean actress. She is known for her roles in dramas such as '' The Game: Towards Zero'', '' Hello Monster'', ''Juvenile Justice Juvenile court, also known as young offender's court or children's ...

as Choi Ae-soon * Lee Jae-eung *

Kim Eung-soo Kim Eung-soo (; born February 12, 1961) is a South Korean actor. Kim lived in Japan for seven years, where he studied filmmaking at the Japan Institute of the Moving Image. Filmography Film Television series Variety show Web sh ...

as Nam-ok's father * Lee Jae-gu * Ku Bon-rim * Jung Jin-gak as Seoul principal * Park Soo-il as leisure businessman * Seo Hee-seung as Gangwon principal

References

External links

* * * * {{hancinema film, My_Teacher_v__Mr_p_Kim 2003 films 2003 comedy-drama films South Korean comedy-drama films Films about educators Films set in Gangwon Province, South Korea 2000s Korean-language films 2000s South Korean films