Netflix's teen romance film '20th Century Girl' evokes nostalgic feel for '90s

By Kim Eun-jung

SEOUL, Oct. 19 (Yonhap) -- The upcoming Netflix original movie "20th Century Girl" is a sweet teen romance set in 1999 that will make the audience feel nostalgic for the '90s with retro items, fashion and music, its director said Wednesday.

The story centers on a 17-year-old girl who keeps close tabs on a boy in school on behalf of her best friend and she ends up in a love story of her own.

Against the backdrop of the '90s, Bora (Kim Yoo-jung) secretly records Baek Hyun-jin (Park Jung-woo) on a camcorder and strikes up a friendship with his friend Poong Un-ah (Byun Woo-seok) to learn more information about Baek.

Director Bang Yoo-ri said she wrote the script based on her own experience of exchanging diaries with her friend, thinking the story could resonate with a broader audience.

"It began with a diary I exchanged with my friend," the 39-year-old said in a press conference. "About 80 percent of the diary was about a boy that I liked."

Bang said the film was set in 1999, a year suffused with nervous excitement ahead of the new millennium, to reflect a turbulent phase of emotions the teens were experiencing.

"I was a bit worried that the actors may not understand the sentiment of the past, but all of them shared similar sentiment and liked it," Bang said.

Kim Yoo-jung, who was born in 1999, said she discovered that old things can still be trendy and hoped young viewers can feel the '90s vibe.

"I first saw a floppy disk while filming the movie. I also thought it would be good to have video rental shops," she said. "All of us particularly liked wearing the clothing of the 1990s."

The Netflix original was premiered during the Busan International Film Festival held earlier this month.

"20th Century Girl" will be released on Netflix on Friday.

ejkim@yna.co.kr
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