The setting for this film is 1962, when a young teacher from Seoul takes his first job at a village school in Kangwon Province. When he arrives, his students present him with a number of challenges: many of them are poor, and cannot write properly; classtime is interrupted by fighting or visits from relatives. Nonetheless the students seem to enjoy his caring, idealistic approach, even if they don't always do what he tells them to.
Director Lee Young-jae takes a lighthearted approach to this film, as evidenced by his casual jokes and the stereotyped portrayals of the older teachers at the school. This humor helps to put the ideals of the teachers and the passions of first love into perspective, without detracting from the underlying seriousness behind them. Jeon Do-yeon (The Contact, A Promise) is wonderful here once again as the 17-year old schoolgirl who battles with her timidity to make passes at her teacher. The teacher is played by Lee Byung-heon, a popular TV, stage and film actor. Lee Mi-yeon (Whispering Corridors, No. 3) acts as Jeon's rival, an idealistic young teacher who arrives from Seoul to teach at the same school.
As a teacher I've been subjected to a great many films that mythologize teaching and spin touching but ingenuine tales of success in the classroom. What I like best about this film is its lack of a triumphant breakthrough. Its honesty and light humor make us believe in the characters and care about what happens to them. By the time we reach the end of the film, it hits us with more power than we ever expected. (Darcy Paquet)