The Harmonium in My Memory (1999)

The Harmonium in My Memory isn't your everyday movie. Here, love isn't always perfect with butterflies and little flowers everywhere or complicated in a Romeo-and-Juliet kind of way. This movie has the credits to depict love simply but at the same time so nicely.

STORY: The story is simple but the way it is unwinding prevents it from being a random story just for the sake of making a movie. The way the story handles the people of the village's daily life (though it's more about the students and teachers) and the unrequited love of both the young teacher and the student is raw but smooth at the same time. There's like a touch of poetry in this movie that makes the viewer continue watching it even if it may be long and kind of bittersweet. And the way the movie begins and then ends is just perfect...at least it was for me.

ACTING/CAST: I think the cast was just perfect. Seriously, while watching the movie I really thought this could be a documentary. Every single character has its flaws and qualities that were depicted with such...realness. Yes realness is the right word.

MUSIC: Though the movie is Korean and the story takes place in 1963, the main songs we hear are old songs in English. This is quite surprising but in a good way, what better way to begin a movie about unrequited love than with “Don't Break My Heart"? I am personally a huge sucker for "old songs" so I truly appreciated the soundtrack. Of course they are songs in Korean too and the song played when the ending credits roll stayed in my head for quite a long time. In fact, I loved all the songs in this movie and if I could I would have every single of them on my Ipod.

REWATCH VALUE: I don't think this is a movie one will watch on a daily basis especially because of its length but still THIMM is a movie you can easily watch if you have time and feel nostalgic about your childhood with your crush on your teacher or just to admire the amazing actors in this movie.

OVERALL: The movie is very well done. It may have flaws but it doesn't prevent it from being very lovable. I think everyone should watch it at least once. The movie may be long but you definitely won't regret the time spent in front of it. You may not love it but you definitely cannot not like it.

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I would describe this movie as a slice-of-life story of a young girl's first love, set in rural Korea in the early 1960s. It is not particularly romantic, though you can see how certain scenes are romanticized and fraught with meaning from Hong Yeon's (the student) point of view. For anyone who ever had a serious crush during their teen years, where every action by your beloved can cause one to fall into depths of despair or rise to ecstatic flights of fancy, the moments shared in this film will be very familiar.

The story unfolds in scenes from the everyday life of our three protagonists, so expect the pacing to be slow and meandering, punctuated by lovely songs from that era that would be familiar with Western (i.e., non-Asian) audiences. The ending and credits come as a lovely surprise.

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