The Old Garden

The Old Garden is a 2006 South Korean film, based on the best-selling novel of the same name by the author Hwang Sok-yong. It was written and directed by Im Sang-soo and starred Ji Jin-hee, Yum Jung-ah, and Youn Yuh-jung. The plot of the film involves a couple during the turbulent political landscape in early 1980s South Korea, and the events surrounding the Gwangju Massacre. Plot Hyun-woo (Ji Jin-hee) is released from prison after spending 17 years behind bars. During his college days he was involved in the student-led anti-government protests that swept across Korea in the early 1980s. Now that he is finally free, Hyun-woo travels back to the town where he spent a few precious months immediately prior to his arrest. Seventeen years ago, Hyun-woo fled into the rural area of Korea, hiding from the government that was trying to quash his anti-government group. He found sanctuary in the home of Han Yun-hee (Yum Jung-ah). She was a former sympathizer to the anti-government cause, but now living a modest life as a teacher in a small rural community. The couple quickly became intimate, Hyun-woo able to provide the spark that was missing from Yun-hee's simple life.