Brilliant movie, hard hitting in all senses of the word, life in Korean schools in the 1970s makes English public schools of the time (though probably not the pre WW2 ones) look tame (e.g. I don't think in UK they used boys' heads as a billiard ball), with survival of the fittest apparently the guiding principle. There was a danger this would all seem over the top, but the movie felt very believable. I suppose there had to be "love interest" in it to give a reason for some of the testosterone expended in male rivalry. Thankfully it didn't dominate and the way it ended for the lead actor and his crush was again well done and believable. This may only appeal to those who like male coming-of-age and action type movies and can tolerate a fair amount of violent action. But of its type it's first rate.