Once Upon a Time in High School

In Seoul in 1978, high school student Hyun-soo transfers to a school where discipline is maintained by beating. The teachers beat, the older students beat, the gangs beat. Influenced by Bruce Lee films, the boy decides to learn to defend himself. Yoo Ha wrote and directed. Kwon Sang-woo plays Hyun-soo. The film targets the school system of the period directly: education under military government, obedience, and physical punishment made ordinary. Its hardest quality is refusing to present violence as a solution. Hyun-soo learns to fight and what he gains is only more violence. The Bruce Lee references establish both the popular culture of the time and the boy's route of escape. The final fight is long and painful, choreographed so as to give no sense of victory. It did well in Korea and revived the argument about violence in schools. Who it is for: viewers who like Korean youth drama and period storytelling. Who it is not for: anyone with no tolerance for sustained violence.