# The Harmonium in My Memory (내 마음의 풍금)
**The Harmonium in My Memory** (내 마음의 풍금, *Nae maeumui punggeum*) is a 1999 South Korean romantic drama directed by Lee Young-jae, set in 1962 in a mountain village in Gangwon Province, about a 17-year-old late-elementary schoolgirl who falls in love with her 21-year-old new teacher while he is drawn to a fellow teacher.[1](https://www.koreafilm.or.kr/movie/PM_000266) It stars [Lee Byung-hun](https://www.edgepedia.org/lee-byung-hun), Jeon Do-yeon, and Lee Mi-yeon, and it was Lee Young-jae's first feature film.[1](https://www.koreafilm.or.kr/movie/PM_000266) • [2](https://m.koreanfilm.or.kr/eng/films/index/filmsView.jsp?movieCd=19990077) [Jeon Do-yeon](https://www.edgepedia.org/jeon-do-yeon) won Best Actress at both the Blue Dragon Awards (1999) and the Daejong Film Awards (2000) for her performance.[2](https://m.koreanfilm.or.kr/eng/films/index/filmsView.jsp?movieCd=19990077)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Korean title / romanization | 내 마음의 풍금 / Nae Maeumui Punggeum[3](https://wiki.onul.works/w/%EB%82%B4_%EB%A7%88%EC%9D%8C%EC%9D%98_%ED%92%8D%EA%B8%88) |
| Director / debut | Lee Young-jae; his first feature film[1](https://www.koreafilm.or.kr/movie/PM_000266) • [2](https://m.koreanfilm.or.kr/eng/films/index/filmsView.jsp?movieCd=19990077) |
| Release | 27 March 1999, South Korea[2](https://m.koreanfilm.or.kr/eng/films/index/filmsView.jsp?movieCd=19990077) |
| Running time | 116 minutes (KOFA); KOFIC lists 132 minutes[1](https://www.koreafilm.or.kr/movie/PM_000266) • [2](https://m.koreanfilm.or.kr/eng/films/index/filmsView.jsp?movieCd=19990077) |
| Main cast | Lee Byung-hun (Kang Soo-ha), Jeon Do-yeon (Yun Hong-yeon), Lee Mi-yeon (Yang Eun-hee)[1](https://www.koreafilm.or.kr/movie/PM_000266) |
| Source work | Ha Geum-chan's "Yeohaksaeng" (여학생, "The Schoolgirl")[3](https://wiki.onul.works/w/%EB%82%B4_%EB%A7%88%EC%9D%8C%EC%9D%98_%ED%92%8D%EA%B8%88) |
| Major awards | Blue Dragon Awards 1999: Best Actress, Best Supporting Actress, Best New Director; Daejong Film Awards 2000: Best Actress[2](https://m.koreanfilm.or.kr/eng/films/index/filmsView.jsp?movieCd=19990077) |
| Musical adaptation | 2008 musical, multiple Korean Musical Awards; 2011 revival at Hoam Art Hall directed by Oh Man-seok[3](https://wiki.onul.works/w/%EB%82%B4_%EB%A7%88%EC%9D%8C%EC%9D%98_%ED%92%8D%EA%B8%88) • [4](https://www.playdb.co.kr/playdb/PlaydbDetail.asp?sReqPlayNo=23680) |
## Spoilers
### Story
The film is set in 1962 in the mountain village of Sanri in Gangwon Province. Yun Hong-yeon, a seventeen-year-old girl, is a late-enrolled elementary school student there; she carries her baby younger sibling to school and, in one detail from the period setting, is the fifth-grade student who first calls herself a young lady after meeting the new teacher.[1](https://www.koreafilm.or.kr/movie/PM_000266) • [5](https://m.etnews.com/199903160069) Kang Soo-ha, a 21-year-old first-time teacher from Seoul newly assigned to Sanri Elementary School, becomes the object of her first love after a chance meeting at a street corner.[1](https://www.koreafilm.or.kr/movie/PM_000266)
Hong-yeon's efforts to win his attention take concrete forms: she lingers around the classroom after lessons, places flowers on his desk, and fills the school diary she submits to him with shy confessions and pointed questions. Soo-ha dismisses her feelings.[1](https://www.koreafilm.or.kr/movie/PM_000266) • [2](https://m.koreanfilm.or.kr/eng/films/index/filmsView.jsp?movieCd=19990077) Instead he falls for Yang Eun-hee, a beautiful older fellow teacher who arrived the same day, and the two grow closer; a shared umbrella on a rainy day leads Soo-ha to propose exchanging their LP records, and the records become the medium through which his affection for Eun-hee develops.[5](https://m.etnews.com/199903160069) • [6](https://brunch.co.kr/%40cache999/552) When Hong-yeon realizes who her rival is, she tries everything to discredit Eun-hee, from mocking her age to stealing her shoes in class.[2](https://m.koreanfilm.or.kr/eng/films/index/filmsView.jsp?movieCd=19990077)
The triangle resolves through departure rather than confession. Eun-hee leaves to study abroad, following her fiancé from Seoul; Soo-ha suffers the pain of rejection while Hong-yeon's heart fills with joy.[1](https://www.koreafilm.or.kr/movie/PM_000266) A year later, during rehearsals for the school arts festival, a fire breaks out in the auditorium through the children's mischief. Soo-ha rushes in to rescue the trapped children, and Hong-yeon runs in after him.[1](https://www.koreafilm.or.kr/movie/PM_000266) The fire becomes the occasion for Soo-ha's decision to leave the school.[5](https://m.etnews.com/199903160069)
## Production and source
The screenplay is credited to director Lee Young-jae, and the film is based on Ha Geum-chan's work "Yeohaksaeng" ("The Schoolgirl").[3](https://wiki.onul.works/w/%EB%82%B4_%EB%A7%88%EC%9D%8C%EC%9D%98_%ED%92%8D%EA%B8%88) Cho Dong-ik composed the music, Jeon Jo-myeong was the director of photography, and Kyung Min-ho edited; the production company was Art Hill.[3](https://wiki.onul.works/w/%EB%82%B4_%EB%A7%88%EC%9D%8C%EC%9D%98_%ED%92%8D%EA%B8%88) • [7](https://embed.letterboxd.com/film/the-harmonium-in-my-memory/) A soundtrack album was released on 26 August 2004 by Mercury Music Entertainment, including the title track "내 마음의 풍금," character themes for Hong-yeon and Eun-hee, and period songs such as Joe Dowell's "Wooden Heart," Mark Dinning's "Teen Angel," and [Connie Francis](https://www.edgepedia.org/connie-francis)'s "Don't break the heart that loves you."[8](https://www.yesasia.com/us/the-harmonium-in-my-memory-ost/1003816819-0-0-0-en/info.html)
The 1960s rural setting is built from period objects: the study chart (학습괘도) on the wall, the wooden schoolhouse windows, lunch boxes warming on the stove, and oil lamps, alongside the LP records that carry the film's old lyricism.[6](https://brunch.co.kr/%40cache999/552) A contemporary review noted that the sets and episodes faithfully reproduce the texture of a 1960s mountain village.[5](https://m.etnews.com/199903160069)
## Reception and awards
At the Blue Dragon Awards in 1999 the film took Best Actress for Jeon Do-yeon, Best Supporting Actress, and Best New Director for Lee Young-jae; Jeon Do-yeon won Best Actress again at the 2000 Daejong Film Awards.[2](https://m.koreanfilm.or.kr/eng/films/index/filmsView.jsp?movieCd=19990077) The film was invited to festivals including the Jio MAMI Mumbai Film Festival, the Fukuoka Asian Film Festival, the Verona Film Festival (Schermi d'Amore), the Palm Beach International Film Festival, and the Udine Far East Film Festival in 2000, and it appeared in special programs at the Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival in 2017.[2](https://m.koreanfilm.or.kr/eng/films/index/filmsView.jsp?movieCd=19990077)
KOFIC's records list 1,417 total admissions and a total gross of $2,523 as of September 2026, figures that reflect a single-screen release entry in its database.[2](https://m.koreanfilm.or.kr/eng/films/index/filmsView.jsp?movieCd=19990077) A 1999 review in the Electronic Times described the film as conveying longing and nostalgia like rereading an old diary found in an attic, and credited it with keeping a code of hope and purity while passing through the fever of first love.[5](https://m.etnews.com/199903160069)
## Legacy
The film marked an early career milestone for its two leads. Lee Byung-hun and Jeon Do-yeon, who played the first-time teacher and the older schoolgirl in 1999, reunited sixteen years later as doomed lovers in *The Assassination* (협녀, 칼의 기억, 2015).[9](https://web.donga.com/pdf/pdf_viewer.php?vcid=2015081110W1101)
The story also moved to the stage. A musical adaptation premiered in 2008 and won multiple awards at the Korea Musical Awards, and it was staged again in 2011.[3](https://wiki.onul.works/w/%EB%82%B4_%EB%A7%88%EC%9D%8C%EC%9D%98_%ED%92%8D%EA%B8%88) The 2011 revival ran from 16 July to 28 August at Hoam Art Hall, directed by Oh Man-seok, who also led a tour of 15 cities including Seoul, Busan, Daegu, and Jeju, with Japanese subtitle services for Japanese audiences; the production won two awards at the 2009 The Musical Awards.[4](https://www.playdb.co.kr/playdb/PlaydbDetail.asp?sReqPlayNo=23680) A 2011 review described the musical as capturing a moment of pure first love that comes once and never again, centered on the growth of Hong-yeon and the young teacher.[10](https://www.artscene.co.kr/721?category=307939)
## References
1. [내 마음의 풍금, 시네마테크KOFA, 한국영상자료원](https://www.koreafilm.or.kr/movie/PM_000266)
2. [The Harmonium In My Memory (1999), KOFIC Korean Film Database](https://m.koreanfilm.or.kr/eng/films/index/filmsView.jsp?movieCd=19990077)
3. [내 마음의 풍금, 오늘의AI위키](https://wiki.onul.works/w/%EB%82%B4_%EB%A7%88%EC%9D%8C%EC%9D%98_%ED%92%8D%EA%B8%88)
4. [뮤지컬 내 마음의 풍금 (2011), Play DB](https://www.playdb.co.kr/playdb/PlaydbDetail.asp?sReqPlayNo=23680)
5. [<스크린 관람석> 내 마음의 풍금, 전자신문 (1999-03-16)](https://m.etnews.com/199903160069)
6. [내 마음의 풍금 (이영재, 1999), Brunch 작가 정작가](https://brunch.co.kr/%40cache999/552)
7. [The Harmonium in My Memory (1999), Letterboxd](https://embed.letterboxd.com/film/the-harmonium-in-my-memory/)
8. [The Harmonium in My Memory OST, YesAsia](https://www.yesasia.com/us/the-harmonium-in-my-memory-ost/1003816819-0-0-0-en/info.html)
9. [전도연·이병헌 '협녀' 재회 기사, 동아일보 (2015)](https://web.donga.com/pdf/pdf_viewer.php?vcid=2015081110W1101)
10. [[리뷰] 『내 마음의 풍금』 뮤지컬, ARTSCENE (2011)](https://www.artscene.co.kr/721?category=307939)
---
*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 before 2000*
*Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license