20th Century Girl’s director opens up about inspiration behind the movie and more

20th Century Girl's director Bang Woo-ri, in a recent interview, revealed the inspiration behind the international blockbuster movie and her experience in major production.

20th Century Girl, starring Backstreet Rookie star Kim Yoo-jung and Record of Youth's Byun Woo-seok, is a nostalgic bittersweet romcom set in 1999. The story, which revolves around the first love of the 17-year-old Na Bo-ra played by Kim Yoo-jung, begins as a flashback.

On a winter evening in the present day, Na Bo-ra, who is now an adult, finds a videotape containing her experiences from the year 1999, when she played cupid to aid her closest friend Yeon-doo (played by Noh Yoon-seo) and her first love Baek Hyun-jin (played by Park Jung Woo).

On this journey, Na Bo-ra befriends Poong Woon-ho, brought to the screen by Byun Woo-seok, and they begin their own love story.

Explaining why she decided to make a youth movie, Bang Woo-ri noted her personal interest in films like that. She said that when she was younger, “it was ‘Cinema Paradiso’ that made me feel how beautiful films are.” She explained that she wanted to make a movie like that.

“I enjoy youth films but if I was to watch them, I typically had to watch Japanese or Taiwanese films. The idea of a first love is similar, but the culture and emotions aren’t the same so I wanted to watch our story [as Koreans].”

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Director Bang Woo-ri expresses her gratitude towards the cast and crew of 20th Century Girl

20th Century Girl has become a raging success internationally. Besides the soul-stirring plotline, what made the movie resonate with young audiences across the world was the impactful acting by the actors. Opining on the cast, Bang Woo-ri stated that the cast was impeccable and no other set of actors could have done a better job.

On getting Han Hyo-Joo and Kim Yoo-jung to play the the present and past versions of Na Bo-ra, the director said:

“In my opinion, there was no alternative. They both said they would do it at the same time, so I think my luck was really great. I thought that I’d be able to pick the remaining actors a bit more comfortably."

According to Bang Woo-ri, Love in the Moonlight's star Kim Yoo-jung is her senior on set despite her young age. Although Kim Yoo-jung may have initially felt intimidated by her seniority on set, the director noted that she immediately forged deep relationships with her co-stars and made everyone feel at ease.

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20th Century Girl has autobiographical inspirations

Bang Woo Ri disclosed that the plot of 20th Century Girl was inspired by her own life to a certain extent and that the story was supposed to be an autobiography. She said:

“I’m not married so as my friends get married and raise children, I’m unable to fit in to those conversations. But one day, my friend said that she had met her first love, so we began talking about the past and I pulled out my exchange diary that I’ve kept for a long time.

She added:

“In there was the story of how I observed the guy my friend had a crush on. Thinking about it now, it’s an embarrassing story, but I made the story with this out of the thought that it was only possible in that life period.”

20th Century Girl was released on October 6, and can be streamed online on Netflix.