My Teacher, Mr. Kim (2003) User Reviews

Somewhat predictable

[threeJane · 5/10 · 22 May 2008]

The title I saw it under, *My Teacher, Mr Kim*, indicates that it is from the point of view of the student(s). However, it is really Mr Kim who is the subject of this film, as he undergoes an epiphany and radical transformation.

I loved the character of Mr Kim. He starts off as selfish and shallow in so many ways, and really made me wonder how much more I could achieve if I thought of myself less often.

Mr Choi was an excellent character too, and Sun-Young the high-school drop-out city girlfriend of Mr Kim. However the character of the school caretaker was developed for no apparent reason, the children were indistinguishable from each other, and their parents just cardboard cut-outs.

Fair enough, but why then the reverent attitude to Mr Kim by the end of the film? As far as I could see, there just wasn't enough to explain the children's love for him. He left them to study alone far too much, and played soccer with them far too little, for them to love him as they did. The best thing he did for them, was spend his white-envelope money on gifts for them, and this really wasn't a materialistic type of film.

Which reminds me, there were some really nice ironic moments. Like when Mr Kim is sitting with his students in the beautiful countryside, next to a clear stream, all of them smoking fish on sticks, and he is telling them of all the modern conveniences that Seoul has to offer.

So, some good, some bad, largely predictable but not entirely so, see it if the subject matter or the location interest you - otherwise you could probably give it a miss.

Sweet,Heartwarming and emotional

[jmy_83 · 10/10 · 23 January 2005]

In the beginning of the movie, you are inclined to hate Mr. Kim, the young, drinking, good looking, and selfish teacher from Seoul. Instead of teaching, he gives the students' free period to study on their own. He also has the habit of calling in parents to "discuss" on their children's progress, when he actually wants to request money in envelopes from the parents, so that he'll take good care of their child more. For children whose parents refuse to pay, he will not be favoring that child, sometimes even smacking the child for little wrong doings or making him/her run 10 laps around the field. One day, he gets caught red-handed, when one of the parents barges in a meeting room and threatens to sue the school for Mr Kim's behavior. The principal gives 2 options to Mr. Kim; either quit or is transferred to a rural school, which is bound to close down in a year. Mr. Kim chooses the latter, and heads of to a new life in the country side. The place is hot, no signals for cell phones and has no stores to buy cigarettes. Mr. Kim hates this new life. In the whole school, there are only 5 children for him to teach. Mr. Kim goes back to his bad habits of not teaching; only giving the children study period'. He also tries the same envelope tactic in order to get money. To his disappointment, he only gets nice letters and vegetables from the naive children and their parents. After failing, he tries to get the school to close down faster, than it is supposed to, by persuading these poor families to send their children to Seoul. That also backfires. His prayers are answered when a city developer plans to bring down the school and build a paint-war game recreation center. As the day comes, he realizes that these kids really love and respect him, despite what a lousy teacher he has been to them. It is a turning point for him, where the kids teaches' him the meaning of being a compassionate, sincere teacher..I am intrigued by this movies,because it conveys how a rotten,good-for-nothing teacher transforms into a lovable,mature and caring person because of the pureness of the village children..It shows how a person's life can truly be changed by the people around him..:)

Nice Touching Film

[porsche98892000 · 10/10 · 17 November 2003]

I personally enjoyed this films, very much, because I grew up and spent my childhood in Korea. It showed a lot of similarities between my teachers and Seung-won Cha. He played the part wonderfully, I think he is a great actor. He is bound of become big as he grows older. He was the perfect person to choose for this role... Except he was a little young. Anyways, the concept of this film is very simple, but there are so much to learn from film. It shows a great amount of emotion and bonding. I would reccommend it to any students around the world. Its truly a great family film!

Enjoyable "European style" story

[JazBrown · 28 April 2003]

I quite enjoyed this film -- even though with Korean dialog, without subtitles, and with my inability to understand Korean -- I couldn't understand what was said or the details of the plot. But I was pleasantly surprised by the style of film, conveying to me an emotionally attuned perspective to the events of the primary characters (something of an "European style" film, in my perspective. This is not a film full of action scenes and special effects; I enjoyed its focus on the lives of the primary character (the teacher) and his five students.