han gong-ju

Director: su-jin lee

Actor: woo-hee chun,in-sun jung,so-young kim,yeong-ran lee

Data Published: Thu Apr 17 2014

Genres: Drama

Key Words: high school,gang rape,friendship,school,a cappella

IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3265462/

WIKI: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Han_Gong-ju

Description: Han Gong-ju is a movie starring Woo-hee Chun, In-sun Jung, and So-young Kim. Han Gong-Ju transfers to a new school to escape her past. It takes a long time for hers troubled past to catch up with her, but when it does the revelation...

Plot: The movie starts with Gong Ju (Chun Woo hee) facing a crowd of disparaging adults as she tells them she did nothing wrong. The scene shifts to her teacher from her current school, Lee Nan do (Jo Dae Hee), helping her pack her luggage as she is about to be transferred to another school in a different town. As they eat lunch he tells her that it was not her fault but to wait for the results of the trial before deciding what to do next and meanwhile not to answer any phone calls. Lee manages to make her school transition as smooth as possible despite it being mid semester. He then brings Gong Ju to the convenient store owned by his mother, Mrs. Cho, for possible board in her house. Initially the mother refuses but eventually allows her to stay. One day at school Gong Ju is walking down the hall and peers through a classroom window where a small group of girls are rehearsing an acapella song. When the leader of the group, Eun Hee (Jung In Sung), sees her she quickly walks away and thinks of old memories she had with her friend Hwa Ok (Kim So Young). Another flashback scene occurs where Gong Ju is working as a cashier at a convenient store when a friend/classmate and son of the store owner, Dong yoon (Choi Yong Jun), walks in visibly beaten as he grabs some food and heads back out to see his friends. Gong Ju looks on from a distance. In the present time, Gong Ju tries to pick up swimming by attending lessons and meets Eun Hee who tries to befriend her after hearing her sing in the changing room. Eun Hee asks Gong Ju to join the acapella group. Although Gong Ju is not interested she asks Eun Hee for her phone to help with directions so she can find her mother. They take a bus and Gong Ju goes to her mother’s work but ultimately, she is rejected and dismissed. Angry, Gong Ju forcefully kisses and bites her mother’s boyfriend before running away. Gong Ju stops by the empty music room at school and starts to sing where she is heard by Eun Hee and her friends. Slowly, she begins to open up to the girls and shares with them that her absolute goal is to learn to swim at least 25 metres. Gong Ju’s friends decide to post a video of her singing and details about her on the Internet so she can start a fan club, but upon hearing this Gong Ju becomes very irate, bluntly asking to remove the video immediately. Her friends are puzzled by her reaction and an argument ensues. Shortly after, cluster of angry parents barge in and interrupt the classroom to harass Gong Ju for having put their sons in jail. Gong Ju runs away and hides in an empty room. Another flashback is shown where Hwa Ok is being gang raped in Dong yoon’s house. Before that, Gong Ju arrives at Dong Yoon’s house where he, Hwa Ok and at least 15 guys are hanging out and drinking alcohol. Dong Yoon is shown being severely bullied by his friends. Although Gong Ju does not drink, Dong Yoon insists she drink a beer that has been drugged, unbeknownst to her. Gong Ju takes the drink as Dong Yoon reassures her that the guys will leave if she drinks it. Under the effects of the drug she is gang raped as well. It is not long after that Hwa Ok commits suicide by jumping off a bridge and drowning. The scene moves back to the present time where Gong Ju is sitting with the principal as he advises her he will discuss the situation with the board, not having known about her past. Mrs. Cho’s boyfriend doubts her innocence and urges her to kick Gong Ju out of the house but Gong Ju leaves willingly, after telling them Hwa Ok was pregnant but she did not do anything to help her. Gong Ju friends at school find out about the rape, they text her to ask where she is and that it is not her fault. Meanwhile Gong Ju is seen walking towards a bridge where she jumps into the water but she is then shown swimming away. A background voice is heard asking Gong Ju why she wants to swim so badly. Gong Ju’s response is “In case I change my mind.” as her friends chant and cheer her name.