Paju (2009)

Profile

• Movie: Paju
• Revised romanization: Paju
• Hangul: 파주
• Director: Park Chan-Ok
• Writer: Park Chan-Ok
• Producer: Lee Eun, Kim Ju-Kyung, Shim Jae-Myung
• Cinematographer: Kim Woo-Hyung
• Distributor: MK Pictures
• World Premier: October 2009 (Pusan Int. Film Fest.)
• Release Date: October 29, 2009
• Runtime: 111min.
• Language: Korean
• Country: South Korea

Plot

15-year-old Choi Eun-mo (Seo Woo) falls in love with her teacher Joong-shik (Lee Sun-Gyun), a mysterious new man in the town of Paju. Her feelings for Joong-shik changes when she learns that Joong-shik is dating her older sister Eun-soo (Shim Lee-Yeong). A year later, Joong-shik and Eun-soo are now married, with Eun-mo living with them.

One day, when Joong-shik and Eun-soo are home alone, a sudden gas explosion causes the death of Eun-Soo. When Joong-shik tells Eun-mo the tragic news of her older sister, he tells her that her older sister died in a hit-and-run accident. Joong-shik and Eun-soo now live together.

A few years later, Eun-soo, still caught in a whirlwind of emotions for Joong-shik, suddenly leaves for India.

Upon her return to the town of Paju, Eun-mo discovers her apartment is facing demolition and the apartment tenants turned squatters are fighting desperately against the gangster muscle men leading the demolition. The anti-demolition group is led by Eun-mo’s former brother-in-law Joong-shik. During this time, Eun-mo digs further into the death of her older sister and she becomes torn between the truth and her feelings for Joong-shik.