refresh daemon Once Upon a Time in High School is poet-director Yu Ha's third feature and this time he chooses to tread a very different territory than his previous works, exploring the culture of violence in Corea via the lens of high school during the 1970s.The story concerns a recent transferee to a new high school, Hyunsu, who quickly makes friends with the class tough guys. Complications arise when his crush and his new best friend end up liking each other. Add this to rivalries, belligerent teachers, administrators and a general culture of violence and you have a setup for enormous amounts of frustration and violence begetting more violence. Oh, and Bruce Lee. Not the actual Bruce Lee, but there's quite a bit of Bruce Lee in this film, as his star was bright at the time.The story has several threads, but because it's so well weaved together, you never really get lost and although towards the end of the film, most of the plot elements vanish, I think it works well in this film, showing how a system of violence slowly drags its victims into reproducing that same violence, causing everything else to be lost. And yet, while the film criticizes the violence, it also seems to be glorifying the violence at the same time, which you can see in a number of rather impressive fight sequences (including two crazy rooftop rumbles). Clearly this is a complicated, but still nostalgic look back at the days of high school.One thing that really impressed me was Kwon Sang Woo's performance as Hyunsu, especially that he handled a great deal of the stunts and fighting himself. But, he also did really well portraying a rather meek character and I liked his chemistry with his cohort, Wooshik, played by Lee Jungjin. In fact, most of the players do a pretty decent job with their roles. The setting is well articulated, the period dress is great and the technical aspects of the film are top notch.I have to say this is a worthwhile film to watch, both for the seemingly honest look at a violent time in Corean history that still hasn't worked its way out of the culture, but also for its exploration of its impact on the people. The thing I like about Yu's films are that, despite their often critical gaze, is that they at the same time have some sort of respect as well. Once Upon a Time in High School is a decent watch. Martial combat lovers get that, ladies at least get some eye candy and in all that is still a rather decent story about the hardships of high school, first love and the difficulties faced in friendship. 8/10.

yutopia7 why? because the movie is about the narrator's youth, part of his memory. some things were left without reconciliation much like how we live our life. One could only wonder what Han Ga-In's character would have said if the bus didn't stop for that was probably the last time he ever saw her in his life. There are many things i love about this movie. It's not just the accurate portrayal of 70's highschool in Korea, but also the way Han Ga-In projects that nice image of first love. Every guys know how it feels to be crushed when the girl who you love is interested in one of your friends. And man, high school really bites when you're the shy guy who didn't get around being "cool"

ryouboard "The Spirit of Jeet Kune Do" is a misnomer for the title of this movie. When I saw that and watched the movie, I was expecting to see a martial arts movie all about Jeet Kune Do.The actual translation of the title, I later learned, is "Maljuk Street's High School." And that's what this movie is all about actually. It's about a high school student's experiences at a high school. It's not a military school, by the way.I thought the movie had a good story line and great acting. I especially enjoyed the lead's and "Hamburger's" acting, very well done. The cinematography was good as well, and the fight scenes were realistic and well choreographed.People not experienced with Korean movies and dramas will note the "weak" ending in this movie. But I've come to find that almost all Korean movies and dramas do not have as impactful an ending as American movie-goers are used to seeing. Perhaps it's a cultural thing. Either way, I really enjoyed this movie. It's also a great periodic film, in my opinion. If you want a look into what Korean high schools were like from WWII up until recently in the late eighties, then this movie will give you an insightful look. Non-Koreans may be believe that this movie exaggerates many aspects of high school life, but it doesn't at all. My father (born and graduated high school from Korea) loves the movie, and thinks it portrayed some high school experiences very accurately.

JohanRdam Sometimes when watching a football game (or any other sport), you see a player using amazing skills to get past every of his opponent's, but when he finally arrives in front of the goal he misses. Is such a dribble then great/amazing/whatsoever and should it be remembered for a long time OR should it be easily forgotten because it did not result in a goal?I have the same feelings about this film, from the beginning on it gave me the feeling that I was watching one of the greatest movies of the year, but somehow when the movie was finished I somehow was not quite satisfied with it. It's hard to explain (especially if you don't want to include spoilers), but the ending just did not do justice to its build-up. The director in the end just focused too much on one part of his story and let the other storyline IMHO slip away a bit.In the end, I find it hard to award points for this movie. The major part of this movie is great, but the ending is just so-so. Well, I give it an eight, mainly for its great acting, intense scenes, the realistic way end-of-seventies South Korea is portrayed and you know, the ending wasn't that bad....8/10