# Take Care of My Cat (고양이를 부탁해)
**Take Care of My Cat** (고양이를 부탁해, *Goyangireul Butakhae*) is a 2001 South Korean coming-of-age drama film and the feature debut of director Jeong Jae-eun. It follows five young women in Incheon in the year after their high-school graduation as their friendship frays under the pressures of work, class, and housing insecurity, with a stray kitten named Teetee passing between them as the thread that keeps the group connected.[1](https://www.imdb.com/news/ni65647904/)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Original release | October 13, 2001, South Korea[2](https://www.khan.co.kr/article/200110041655311/amp) |
| Director and writers | Directed by Jeong Jae-eun; screenplay by Jeong Jae-eun and Park Ji-sung[3](https://www.koreafilm.or.kr/library/search/video/7707) |
| Cast | Bae Doona (Tae-hee), Lee Yo-won (Hae-joo), Ok Ji-young (Ji-young), Lee Eun-sil and Lee Eun-ju (twins Bi-ryu and Ohn-jo)[3](https://www.koreafilm.or.kr/library/search/video/7707) |
| Runtime and genre | 112 minutes; drama, youth film, social film[3](https://www.koreafilm.or.kr/library/search/video/7707) |
| Initial box office | About 50,000 admissions by late December 2001, after an early end to its theatrical run[4](https://www.khan.co.kr/article/200112271806291/amp) |
| Festival honors | Competition selection at the 31st Rotterdam International Film Festival and the Forum section of the 59th Berlin International Film Festival; MBC Film Awards new director prize and a Rotterdam special mention[4](https://www.khan.co.kr/article/200112271806291/amp) • [5](https://www.dmzdocs.com/db/9914_db/FILE_DOWN/11%ED%9A%8C_DMZ%EA%B5%AD%EC%A0%9C%EB%8B%A4%ED%81%90%EB%A9%98%ED%84%B0%EB%A6%AC%EC%98%81%ED%99%94%EC%A0%9C_%EB%B3%B4%EB%8F%84%EC%9E%90%EB%A3%8C%EC%A7%91.pdf) |
| Later releases | 4K remaster re-released October 13, 2021 for the 20th anniversary; Kani Releasing planned a 25th-anniversary North American theatrical return for summer 2026[6](https://www.joongang.co.kr/article/25015510) • [1](https://www.imdb.com/news/ni65647904/) |
## Spoilers
### Plot and characters
The film is set in the industrial port city of Incheon and follows five friends who have just turned twenty. Hae-joo ([Lee Yo-won](https://www.edgepedia.org/lee-yo-won)) joins a brokerage firm in Seoul and nurtures ambitions of becoming a successful career woman, though at work she is limited to errands. Ji-young (Ok Ji-young), who has a talent for art and dreams of studying textile design abroad, lives with her elderly grandparents in a crumbling house in a hillside neighborhood and is repeatedly turned away from jobs. Tae-hee ([Bae Doona](https://www.edgepedia.org/bae-doona)) works without pay at the sauna her father runs, types out the poems of a poet with cerebral palsy she met through volunteer work, and dreams of becoming a sailor. The twins Bi-ryu and Ohn-jo (Lee Eun-sil and [Lee Eun-ju](https://www.edgepedia.org/lee-eun-ju)) live on their own and sell handmade jewelry on the street.[3](https://www.koreafilm.or.kr/library/search/video/7707) • [2](https://www.khan.co.kr/article/200110041655311/amp) • [7](https://www.isi.or.kr/data/b_study/2003is_24.pdf)
Hae-joo's changing circumstances strain her friendship with Ji-young, who is disappointed in her and grows closer to Tae-hee; the calls simply become rarer and meetings harder as their lives diverge.[14](https://www.koreanfilm.or.kr/eng/films/index/filmsMore.jsp?movieCd=20010007&title=Take+Care+of+My+Cat+%282001%29) The kitten Teetee, a stray that Ji-young takes in, is handed from one to another, with each friend in turn telling the next "take care of my cat." A Korean academic study of Incheon's screen image reads this relay as the film's central gesture: what the characters are really asking each other to look after is themselves.[7](https://www.isi.or.kr/data/b_study/2003is_24.pdf)
## Production and style
Jeong Jae-eun wrote and directed the film as her feature debut, produced by Oh Ki-min's company Masulpiri Pictures, with cinematography by Choi Young-hwan and editing by [Lee Hyun](https://www.edgepedia.org/lee-hyun)-mi.[3](https://www.koreafilm.or.kr/library/search/video/7707) Jeong was a first-generation graduate of the Korea National University of Arts film school; her graduation short *Night of Two* (1999) won the best work award at the Videowon Festival, and she had earlier won the top prize at the Seoul Women's Film Festival with the short *Diary of June*. She has said the title came from her own experience raising a cat, whose hesitation at the window, between the domesticated life of the house and the wild life outside, gave her a figure for twenty-year-old women.[2](https://www.khan.co.kr/article/200110041655311/amp)
Two stylistic choices drew attention at the time. Text messages and typewritten pages appear as on-screen subtitles rather than spoken dialogue, and the five leads, several of them new to film, were praised for performances that read like a documentary of real people. Reviewers also noted the film's decision to center ordinary female vocational high-school graduates from Incheon's outskirts, and its contrast between the city's commercial districts and back alleys, populated with figures such as female office workers, kimchi-factory women, and Southeast Asian laborers.[2](https://www.khan.co.kr/article/200110041655311/amp) • [4](https://www.khan.co.kr/article/200112271806291/amp)
## Release and reception
The film opened in South Korea on October 13, 2001 and performed poorly commercially, leaving theaters early despite a favorable critical response. A volunteer "save Take Care of My Cat" campaign, joined by figures including the singer Cho Young-nam and general audiences, formed to extend its run; by late December 2001 it had drawn about 50,000 admissions and was scheduled to screen until January 25, 2002. Together with *Waikiki Brothers*, it became associated with a movement to rescue low-budget art films, and the two films gave the year's top two debut features in Cine 21's critics' poll, with Oh Ki-min named producer of the year.[4](https://www.khan.co.kr/article/200112271806291/amp) • [8](https://www.starnewskorea.com/movie/2005/05/16/2005051617532605084) • [9](https://host.cine21.com/news/view/?idx=2&mag_id=6373)
Abroad, the film was released in the United States, the United Kingdom, Japan, and Hong Kong. It competed at the 31st Rotterdam International Film Festival, where it received a special mention, and was invited to the Forum section of the 59th [Berlin International Film Festival](https://www.edgepedia.org/berlin-international-film-festival); Jeong won the new director award at the MBC Film Awards.[5](https://www.dmzdocs.com/db/9914_db/FILE_DOWN/11%ED%9A%8C_DMZ%EA%B5%AD%EC%A0%9C%EB%8B%A4%ED%81%90%EB%A9%98%ED%84%B0%EB%A6%AC%EC%98%81%ED%99%94%EC%A0%9C_%EB%B3%B4%EB%8F%84%EC%9E%90%EB%A3%8C%EC%A7%91.pdf) • [4](https://www.khan.co.kr/article/200112271806291/amp) In the United States, Kino International opened it on October 18, 2002; it earned $3,137 in its domestic opening and $9,866 overall in the US, with a recorded worldwide gross of $64,591 including a 2021 South Korean re-release.[10](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt0296658/)
## Re-releases and standing
For the film's 20th anniversary, a 4K digital remaster was re-released in South Korea on October 13, 2021, with Bae Doona, Lee Yo-won, and Ok Ji-young joining anniversary events. Advance booking scores on major chains exceeded 9 out of 10, and coverage noted that viewers born in 2001, the age of the film's characters, were among those finding it resonant, with comments calling it a "classic of youth."[6](https://www.joongang.co.kr/article/25015510) • [11](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WEq5SQevWr4) In 2026, the North American distributor Kani Releasing acquired rights from Barunson E&A for a 25th-anniversary theatrical return, scheduled for July 17, 2026.[1](https://www.imdb.com/news/ni65647904/) • [10](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt0296658/)
The film's reputation has grown well past its initial run. Korean commentary places it as a rare work in the lineage of Korean youth films for its portrait of friendship among women in their twenties, and festival retrospectives have highlighted its capture of early-2000s urban life in Incheon, filmed in locations including Dongincheon Station, Chinatown, Manseok-dong, and the old coastal railway.[12](https://cine21.com/community/recruit/view/?wr_id=20400) • [13](https://www.diaff.org/db/9922_db/FILE_DOWN/DIAFF-2016.pdf) Jeong herself has described it as a film about housing, noting that independent living has remained difficult for young people in Korea both then and now.[6](https://www.joongang.co.kr/article/25015510)
## References
1. [Korean Classic 'Take Care of My Cat' Acquired by Kani Releasing for 25th Anniversary Re-Release, Variety via IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/news/ni65647904/)
2. [［새영화］13일 개봉 '고양이를 부탁해', 경향신문 (2001)](https://www.khan.co.kr/article/200110041655311/amp)
3. [고양이를 부탁해, 한국영상자료원 영상도서관](https://www.koreafilm.or.kr/library/search/video/7707)
4. [2001영화·방송·가수 '작품'이라 말할수 있다, 경향신문 (2001)](https://www.khan.co.kr/article/200112271806291/amp)
5. [DMZ국제다큐멘터리영화제 보도자료집 (정재은 감독 소개)](https://www.dmzdocs.com/db/9914_db/FILE_DOWN/11%ED%9A%8C_DMZ%EA%B5%AD%EC%A0%9C%EB%8B%A4%ED%81%90%EB%A9%98%ED%84%B0%EB%A6%AC%EC%98%81%ED%99%94%EC%A0%9C_%EB%B3%B4%EB%8F%84%EC%9E%90%EB%A3%8C%EC%A7%91.pdf)
6. [개봉 첫날 주연배우 울고 상영관 텅비었는데…'청춘 고전'된 영화, 중앙일보 (2021)](https://www.joongang.co.kr/article/25015510)
7. [영상매체속에 비쳐진 인천이미지를 통해 본 인천의 정체성 연구, 인천학연구 2-2호 (2003)](https://www.isi.or.kr/data/b_study/2003is_24.pdf)
8. [조이진, '고양이를 부탁해'와 얽힌 인연 공개, 스타뉴스 (2005)](https://www.starnewskorea.com/movie/2005/05/16/2005051617532605084)
9. [2001년 한국영화 결산 [1], 씨네21](https://host.cine21.com/news/view/?idx=2&mag_id=6373)
10. [Take Care of My Cat (2001), Box Office Mojo](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt0296658/)
11. [고양이를 부탁해 4K 리마스터링 재개봉 축하 영상, YouTube (2021)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WEq5SQevWr4)
12. [씨네21 영화 클럽 소개글 (고양이를 부탁해)](https://cine21.com/community/recruit/view/?wr_id=20400)
13. [DIAFF 2016 카탈로그 (고양이를 부탁해 상영 정보)](https://www.diaff.org/db/9922_db/FILE_DOWN/DIAFF-2016.pdf)
14. [Take Care of My Cat (2001)](https://www.koreanfilm.or.kr/eng/films/index/filmsMore.jsp?movieCd=20010007&title=Take+Care+of+My+Cat+%282001%29)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Individual films by title and year › Coming-of-age films › Coming-of-age films released 2000 to 2009*
*Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 15, 2026; Oct 21, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
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