Once Upon a Time in High School

Once Upon a Time in High School
Poster for Once Upon a Time in High School
Directed by	Yu Ha
Written by	Yu Ha
Produced by	Cha Seung-jae No Jong-yun
Starring	Kwon Sang-woo Han Ga-in Lee Jeong-jin
Cinematography	Choi Hyeon-gi
Edited by	Park Gok-ji
Music by	Kim Jun-seok
Distributed by	CJ Entertainment
Release dates	January 16, 2004 (South Korea)
Running time	116 min.
Language	Korean

Spirit of Jeet Kune Do: Once Upon a Time in High School (Korean: 말죽거리 잔혹사) is a 2004 South Korean drama film. The background of the film was set in a high school in South Korea, 1978.

Plot

Contains Spoilers

Kwon, who starred as Hyun-soo, transfers to another school. He is sent to a bottom-rank class and experiences violence in classroom by the group of gangsters in his class, led by Jong-hun, who is a stereotypical Korean bully in school. The teachers are also depicted as authoritarian to the students, using violence to the students for the sake of discipline, as did most Korean teachers in the 70s and to some extent in the modern days as well.

Hyun-soo, after a failed relationship with Eunjoo, decides that he will no longer put up with the conduct of Jong-hun and his boys as well as the harsh and violent disciplinary techniques being put up by the teachers, trained himself up in Jeet Kune Do , inspired by his greatest hero Bruce Lee. His father, a martial artist, frequently resorted to minor violence to discipline his son.

Hyun-soo challenged Jong-hun to a duel one day when he was no longer able to put up with his behaviour. Jong-hun and his men were grievously injured from Hyun-soo's whips. Hyun-soo was expelled after this incident.

Hyun-soo met his friend Hamburger again at the GED institute and talked about their past. He meets Eunjoo again, but they say there good byes on a bus. And Jackie Chan's 1978 movie Drunken Master was featured in the background at the end of the movie as Hamburger and Hyun-soo played a fighting game in front of the cinema complex.