Memento Mori (film)

Memento Mori
Theatrical poster
Hangul	여고괴담 두번째 이야기
RR	Yeogogoedam dubunjjae iyagi
MR	Yŏgogoedam tupŏntchae iyagi
Directed by	Kim Tae-yong Min Kyu-dong
Produced by	Lee Chun-yeon
Written by	Kim Tae-yong Min Kyu-dong
Starring	Lee Young-jin Park Ye-Jin Kim Min-sun Kong Hyo-jin
Music by	Jo Seong-woo
Cinematography	Kim Yun-su
Editing by	Kim Sang-beom
Distributed by	Cinema Service
Release date(s)	December 24, 1999 (1999-12-24)
Running time	98 minutes (theatrical) 186 minutes (director's cut)
Language	Korean

Memento Mori (여고괴담 두번째 이야기, Yeogogoedam dubeonjjae iyagi) is a 1999 South Korean K-Horror film. It is considered to be a loose sequel to the previous year's Whispering Corridors, as it is also set in an all-girls high school, but they are otherwise unrelated. The film was one of the first Korean commercial films to depict lesbian characters. However, prevailing Korean attitudes constrained its potential to be widely viewed, even more so as the controversial themes targeted the teen demographic.

Synopsis

The film revolves around the relationship between two high school students, Yoo Shi-Eun (Lee Young-jin) and Min Hyo-Shin (Park Ye-jin). As the two girls become romantically involved, their taboo friendship causes them to be marginalized by the other students. Unable to cope with the social pressures of having a lover of the same gender, Shi-Eun tries to distance herself from the increasingly dependent Hyo-Shin. Hyo-Shin reacts poorly to Shi-Eun's changed attitude, viewing it as both a betrayal and rejection. Hyo-Shin consequently commits suicide by jumping off of the school roof. It is also heavily implied that she was pregnant at the time of death, the father being literature teacher Mr. Goh.

The plot unfurls in a nonlinear fashion, often from the perspective of fellow student Soh Min-Ah (Kim Min-sun). Min-Ah grows increasingly invested in Shi-Eun and Hyo-Shin when she finds a diary kept between the two alienated girls. This diary allows her disturbing insights to the nature of the relationship and pulls her deeper into a strange chain of events around the school. After Hyo-Shin's death, supernatural occurrences start to terrorize all of the students that condemned the relationship. It is later revealed that Hyo-Shin's spirit is malevolently haunting the school through the remnants she left behind in the diary.

Cast

• Kim Min-sun as Min-ah
• Park Ye-jin as Hyo-shin
• Lee Young-jin as Shi-eun
• Baek Jong-hak as Mr. Goh
• Han Min
• Kim Jae-in As Yeon-an (as Min-hie Kim)
• Kong Hyo-jin as Ji-won
• Lee Hye-mi
• Lim Seong-Eon

External links

• Memento Mori at the Internet Movie Database
• (Korean) Memento Mori 2 at Cine21
• Memento Mori (film) at HanCinema