2009 Lost Memories
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| 2009 Lost Memories | |
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| Hangul | 2009 로스트메모리즈 |
| Directed by | Lee Si-myung |
| Produced by | Kim Yun-young Seo Jun-won |
| Written by | Lee Si-myung Lee Sang-hak |
| Starring | Jang Dong-gun Toru Nakamura |
| Distributed by | CJ Entertainment |
| Release date(s) | February 1, 2002 (South Korea) |
| Running time | 135 min. |
| Country | South Korea |
| Language | Korean / Japanese |
| Budget | $5,600,000 US (est.) |
2009 Lost Memories is a 2002 South Korean science fiction action thriller film, directed by Lee Si-myung. It was distributed by CJ Entertainment, and was released on February 1, 2002. Japanese filmmaker Shōhei Imamura plays the role of a historian in the film.[1]
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Plot
In an alternative future where the Korean peninsula is still a part of the Japanese empire, Sakamoto, a Japanese Bureau of Investigation (JBI) agent of Korean heritage and Saigo, his Japanese partner, try to solve a strange case where pro-Korean nationalist terrorists attempt to steal a strange archaeological artifact. Initially, Sakamoto is valuable to the case because of his ability to communicate with the terrorists. He is later removed from the case when it is discovered that his father had some previous involvement with the terrorist group. Sakamoto's desire to solve the mystery involves threatening the powerful Inoue Foundation. This only makes him more passionate about its resolution and after uncovering more on his own, he discovers that reality isn't how it should be. It then becomes his new mission to restore history to its rightful path.
Background
The film shows an alternate history supposing that Hirobumi Itō was not assassinated by An Jung-geun in Harbin, China, in 1909; this change results in Ito's leadership guiding Japan as a military and industrial power that allies with the United States against Germany in World War II (dropping an atomic bomb on Berlin in 1945) and retains all of its wartime conquests and peacetime annexations, including Korea. The film takes place in 2009, one hundred years after Ito should have been killed. Author Tom Vick says that the theme of the film represents a desire in Korean cinema to "transcend time and memory", a theme he says is also reflected in such contemporary films as Flower Island (2001), Il Mare (2000), and Bungee Jumping of Their Own (2001).[2]
Historical differences
The opening sequence shows the following differences in the historical timeline:
- The March 1st movement is referred to as a terrorist uprising.
- Japan joins U.N. Security Council as a permanent member in 1960.
- Japan launches the Sakura 1 satellite in 1965. (Indicating that it was a huge player in the space race).
- Nagoya is awarded the 1988 Olympics (instead of losing by one vote to Seoul).
- Lee Dong-Gook is depicted in a Japanese soccer uniform playing in the "2002 FIFA World Cup Japan" (not 2002 FIFA World Cup Korea/Japan).
- Korea is never referred to as Hanguk 韓國 as the entity which came to use that name, the Republic of Korea, never existed. Instead it's called Chosen in Japanese, and Choson in Korean.
Differences in Seoul:
- 2009 Seoul is introduced as Kyŏngsŏng (경성,京城 in Japanese Keijo,京城,けいじょう), an old name for Seoul that fell out of use after Korea gained independence from Japan in the actual timeline.
- The Governor General Building still stands in front of Gyeongbok palace (instead of having been demolished in 1996).
- Gwanghwamun was never restored (instead of having been restored during Park Chung Hee's presidency).
- A statue of Toyotomi Hideyoshi on a horse in full samurai gear stands in downtown Seoul (instead of a statue of the man credited with defeating him, Yi Sun Shin).
- The Chungmuro district of Seoul, where Sakamoto lives, is still called Honmachi, as it was during the Japanese rule.
- Traffic flows on the left side, instead of on the right.
See also
- History of Korea
- Korean reunification
- List of Korean language films
- Cinema of Korea
- Contemporary culture of South Korea
- List of Korea-related topics
- Time travel
- Alternate history
References
- ^ "今村昌平 - Imamura Shōhei" (in Japanese). Japanese Movie Database. http://www.jmdb.ne.jp/person/p0122340.htm. Retrieved 2008-07-03.
- ^ Vick, Tom (2008). "Korea: Rising from the Ashes of History" in Asian Cinema: A Field Guide. Collins. ISBN 9780061145858, p. 161.
External links
- 2009 Lost Memories at the Internet Movie Database
- Japanese Site
- Elley, Derek. 2009 -- Lost Memories (film review). Variety, July 9, 2002.
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