‘Ditto’ presents new image of first love

Instead of the pure and innocent-looking girl with long black hair that is often featured in Korean mainstream media as a first love icon, romance film “Ditto” features a different character.

The new image of first love is shown by featuring the story of an amateur first crush of university student Yong, portrayed by former child actor Yeo Jin-goo, 25, alongside Kim Hye-yoon.

“Before we started shooting, I also thought of a typical image of someone’s first love -- a pure and pretty girl with long hair. But as I read through the script, I decided to present a curly haired girl with a bubbly and bold personality,” Kim said during a press conference held at CGV Yongsan on Tuesday.

Kim highlighted that two scenes in which her character stands up to a rude senior classmate at a bar and also enthusiastically playing dance game Pump It Up at an arcade are her favorites.

“Ditto,” a remake of 2000’s hit romance sci-fi film of the same title, also features popular music, fashion and buzzwords to bring the audience back to the 1990s.

In director Seo Eun-young’s new film set in 1999, university student Yong (Yeo) has just returned to school after completing his mandatory military service. There, he meets his first love, freshman Han-sol (Kim). Meanwhile, Mu-nee (Cho Yi-hyun), who lives in the present day, has a secret crush on her best guy friend (Na In-woo).

On a day when a total lunar eclipse becomes visible, Yong somehow communicates with Mu-nee through a walkie-talkie.

“When I got a proposal to remake the original movie, I thought it was way too early. And then I found that it has been more than 20 years,” the director said. "Time flies."

While the director felt pressure from the success of the original film, she also saw the strong original source material as the reason she chose to write the script and direct the project.

“I believed in the power of the original work,” the director said.

Some of the important and emotional scenes in the film feature older popular Korean songs, including Kim Kwang-jin’s "The Letter," which came out in 2000.

“I think original soundtracks are very important in a romance film. I especially looked into their lyrics and how it fits into the character’s situation,” the director said.

Yeo also talked about how he re-created the style from the past.

“I worked with a fashion stylist who has been working since the 1990s. That helped create the realistic look and also I used outfits of old K-pop band Sechs Kies as reference” he said.

Different from the original film, in the remake movie the two protagonists -- Yong and Mu-nee -- from different periods get to meet in the present.

“I wanted them to meet. There is also a similar scene in the original movie where the role that Yoo Ji-tae played get to watch Kim Ha-neul’s character teaching as a professor,” the director said. “For our film I wanted them to take a step further and get a chance to talk to each other.”

Toward the end of the press conference, Yeo noted that it was meaningful for him to hold the press screening event on the day a total lunar eclipse is anticipated to be visible -- just like in the movie itself.

“I am very excited that we could present the film today,” Yeo said.

The film hits local theaters on Nov. 16.