Juvenile Offender () is a 2012 South Korean drama film about a teenage criminal who reunites with his mother, who gave him up at birth.
It won the Special Jury Prize at the 25th Tokyo International Film Festival, and Best Actor for Seo Young-Joo. It was also awarded the Lino Brocka Grand Prize and Best Actor at the 14th Cinemanila International Film Festival as well as Best Children's Feature Film at the 2013 Asia Pacific Screen Awards.
The film was selected as the South Korean entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 86th Academy Awards, but it was not nominated.
Plot Jang Ji-Goo is a 16-year-old juvenile offender under probation who lives with his only known relative - his grandfather who is sick in bed all the time with severe diabetic complications. To Ji-Goo, home is only a place that stinks with sickness and school, a place to hang out. His only interest in life is his sweet new girlfriend, Kim Sae-Rom. One day, he gets caught after committing burglary with the neighborhood big boys. And without a parent to plead for him, the judge sentences Ji-Goo to the juvenile reformatory while others get lighter penalties.
Eleven months later, Ji-Goo is informed that his grandfather has died. After the funeral, his teacher tracks down Ji-Goo's mom, who he thought was dead but in fact had run away from home after giving birth to him at age 17. Ji-Goo is simply shocked to realize that he has a mother. But after he gets discharged from the juvenile reformatory, he and his young mother try to make up for their time lost. Ji-Goo starts off living together with his mother with high expectations, but he soon realizes that his mother is much too young just like himself and he comes to understand why she had to leave him right after giving birth. But when Ji-Goo falls into a similar situation with his girlfriend, his mother, who he thought would understand is appalled at the news which creates a conflict between the two.
Cast Lee Jung-Hyun as Hyo-Seung Seo Young-Joo - Jang Ji-Goo Jun Ye-Jin as Kim Sae-Rom Kang Rae-yeon as Ji-Young Jung Suk-Yong as Kim Sun-Saeng Choi Won-Tae as Jae-Bum Kang Hyuk-Il as Ok-Hyun Seo Young-Hwa as Judge Jun Young-Woon as Jang Ji-Goo's grandfather Kim Kyung-Ryong as Ok-Hyun's father Lee Yoon-Sang as Kim Sae-Rom's father
Release The film was selected in 'Contemporary World Cinema' at 2012 Toronto International Film Festival held in September 2012.
Awards and nominations YearAwardCategoryRecipientResult2012 25th Tokyo International Film FestivalBest ActorSeo Young-joo 14th Cinemanila International Film Festival 201356th Asia-Pacific Film Festival Best ActressLee Jung-hyun 49th Baeksang Arts Awards Best New ActorSeo Young-joo 22nd Buil Film Awards Best New Director Kang Yi-kwan 7th Asia Pacific Screen Awards Best Children's Feature Film Juvenile Offender
See also List of submissions to the 86th Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language Film List of South Korean submissions for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film
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