Scent of Love

Scent of Love
Theatrical poster

Hangul	국화꽃 향기
Hanja	菊花꽃 香氣
Revised Romanization	Gukhwaggot hyanggi
McCune–Reischauer	Kuk‘wakkot hyanggi

Directed by	Lee Jeong-wook
Written by	Kim Hui-jae Lee Jeong-wook
Produced by	Jeong Tae-won
Starring	Jang Jin-young Park Hae-il
Cinematography	Lee Hu-gon
Edited by	Park Gok-ji
Music by	Moon Dae-hyeon
Distributed by	Cinema Service
Release date	February 28, 2003 (2003-02-28)
Running time	109 minutes
Country	South Korea
Language	Korean

Scent of Love (국화꽃 향기 lit. Scent of Chrysanthemums) is a 2003 South Korean film, and the directorial debut of Lee Jeong-wook. The film is based on a novel of the same name by Kim Ha-in, and stars Jang Jin-young and Park Hae-il in the lead roles. Like her character, Jang Jin-young battled stomach cancer and died in 2009. The film received an around of 900,000 admissions nationwide and on May 16, 2003, the film was screened at the Cannes Film Festival.^[1]

Plot

University student Seo In-ha meets a young woman on the subway and instantly falls in love. After joining a local book club, he is pleasantly surprised to find that the woman, Mun Hee-jae, is also a member. Although he makes a poor first impression, In-ha and Hee-jae eventually become friends, though he is left disappointed when she later rejects him, as she is more interested in another student, Kang Seong-ho.

Several years pass, with In-ha and Hee-jae going their separate ways. While Hee-jae and Seong-ho prepare to get married, In-ha, now a producer at a local radio station, still pines after his first love. When Hee-jae survives a car crash that kills her fiancé and parents, In-ha keeps a respectful distance. After a while he resumes his pursuit of her by reading out letters on his radio show, and finally winning her heart, the couple get married.

However, their happiness is short-lived, as Hee-jae becomes pregnant only to discover that she has stomach cancer, and must choose between her own life and the life of her unborn child.