Kang Ha-neul, Chun Woo-hee team up in romance film ‘Rain and Your Story’

Kang Ha-neul is returning to the big screen for the first time in three years, teaming up with actor Chun Woo-hee in the romance film “Rain and Your Story,” directed by Jo Jin-mo.

The movie begins with a narration by Young-ho (Kang Ha-neul): ”This is a story about waiting.” Set mostly in 2003, “Rain and Your Story” introduces Young-ho who is studying for his third Suneung, the national college entrance exam, in Seoul. One day, he suddenly decides to write a letter to his elementary schoolmate So-yeon who lives in Busan. However, So-yeon is sick and cannot read the letter. So-yeon’s younger sister So-hee (Chun Woo-hee) reads the letter and starts writing back.

“I have not seen script with this kind of mood in a while. It reminded me of the first time I wrote a love letter. How I had butterflies in my stomach,” Kang said during a press conference held at CGV Yongsan in central Seoul on Tuesday. “This script moved me.”

“I also thought that this was a rare story after reading the script. It has a ‘90s vibe and is not dramatic,” Chun said.

During the press conference, the director introduced his new movie as a prequel to a love story.

“This movie does not tell a story of what happens after falling in love. The story is more about how they arrive at this point, which is love,” Jo said. “Young-ho’s affection slowly piles up through receiving photos and letters from So-hee, along with imaginations that he has about her.”

How the two main characters were able to develop special feelings for each other without knowing each other looked like is also special, Jo added.

The director also talked about his voice making a cameo in a scene where So-hee is in the car with her mom.

“In the car scene, the radio DJ’s voice was mine. I thought that my voice would fit nicely and volunteered to record my voice,” Jo said. “Personally I like the scene.”

Since the movie is mostly set in 2003, the two actors said filming it reminded them of their own childhood.

“As it is set in 2003, I thought about what I did back then. I was attending middle school and it was a year after Korea hosted the 2002 World Cup. Bits of memories of me using things like social media Cyworld, messenger Buddy Buddy all came back,” Kang said.

“This movie also reminded me of 2003 when I was in school. I have this memory of ordering Chinese food jajangmyeon and eating it quickly at the schoolyard. It was a windy day,” Chun said. “Also there is an elementary school field day scene in the movie. As I was watching that scene today, I realized how we took that happy moment for granted.”

“Rain and Your Story” will hit local theaters on April 28.

By Song Seung-hyun (ssh@heraldcorp.com)