1969 Seoul, South Korea

Kim Ki Nam

1948

Seoul, South Korea

Interviewed on 2/3/2022

By Joseph Cho

Translated from Korean — The first movie I saw was Love Me Once Again (1968), when I was 19 years old. I remember going to the theater with my friends, which was a 20-minute bus ride from my neighborhood; the theater was located in Dongdaemun-gu, Chungnyangni-dong. Even by the late 60s, South Korea was still a poor country, so I never had a chance to go to a theater until I was well into my teens. The average monthly salary back then was around 12,000KRW. Only wealthy families owned televisions, so the only place most people could watch anything on video was the theater. All of my friends were telling me how good this movie was and I happened to be a fan of the actors who were cast in the movie, Moonhee and Shin Youngkyun. I finally decided to go, and I had so much fun. I remember how vividly I was able to experience a completely new world!

Love Me Once Again was such a sad film, I can’t even express how much I cried after it ended! The protagonist, Hyeyeong (played by Moonhee), is a kindergarten teacher in Seoul who falls in love with a man, Shinho (played by Shin Youngkyun), and becomes pregnant with his child. At this point, she is considering marriage and moving in with him. However, Shinho is revealed to already have a wife and child when his wife appears to confront Hyeyoung. In the end, Shinho’s wife runs off, divorcing him, and Hyeyoung eventually meets Shinho’s family and gives birth to their son, Youngshin, at his parents’ village. She reluctantly leaves her newborn son behind to be raised under Shinho’s parents. But as Youngshin struggles to get along with his step-brothers, and as her motherly love only grows from being separated from her son, Hyeyoung reclaims her son, and they stay resolute together despite the hard life ahead. The film did a great job of portraying the tragedy of characters’ sorrow from an indecisive male character. 

From what I remember, we departed for the theater in the evening, perhaps around 7 PM? It was a pretty popular theater; there were only several theaters in the area. I forget the theater’s name… I don’t remember much about the atmosphere or smell, either… you know how Koreans are, we like to clean, so the theater was pretty nice. The theater was pretty quiet, but in between movies the theater would broadcast the national news and play the Aegukga, the Korean National Anthem. It all felt so patriotic! I do remember there were concession stands; actually, the theater smelled of butter and popcorn. Everybody was eating popcorn, as was I, but there were also people chewing gum and some even eating ramen. I don’t really remember eating many snacks during my childhood because we simply didn’t have access to such things, so I really enjoyed eating the snacks there. There were a lot of people there when I went; completely full. A number of them were kids my age. That’s how popular the movie was! If I watched it again, I’d probably get emotional. In fact, I bet Americans would, too. It was a really fun experience. I don’t recall what else was playing in the theater during that time. I know some friends who went frequently to watch foreign films, especially from China and America. I remember my first experience watching a foreign film: Ben-Hur. I had never been abroad, so it was really fascinating to experience what that would have been like through a screen. 

Since then, I would only go to the theater maybe once every two months? The theater was really only for special occasions. My favorite genre would have to be films like Love Me Once Again, so romantic movies. I mean, of course, I was young at the time. I really enjoyed films in which characters are forced to solve their problems and ultimately find happy resolutions. But, seeing that it has been a while since I’ve been to the theater, I simply watch dramas now. But, I do remember shortly after marrying your grandpa going to the theater again to watch a foreign film. I forget the name. I remember I was pregnant with your mom! She was born in early 1973, so it must have been around 1972. Your grandpa loves the western and action genre, like any typical guy. He says his favorite movie is The Sons of Katie Elder (1965). 

(Extras from our conversation): 

Who’s the guy who wrote Minari? I remember he was responsible for getting our country’s own Yun Yuhjung an Acting Academy Award. But I haven’t even seen that movie yet. Your mom recommended Squid Game to me, but I haven’t had time to watch that, either. I haven’t even watched Parasite or any of Bong Joon Ho’s movies. I’m just too old and too busy to go to the theater now. I just stay home and watch dramas, yeah, write that [laughs]. 

Oh yeah, what’s that movie with the sinking ship? Oh yeah, Titanic! I went to watch Titanic with your grandpa. That was really fun.