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A woman and man meet, fall in love and spend the rest of their lives together. Sounds fairly conventional? The catch—the couple met in their 70s. This short feature is a sensitive, deeply felt examination of two people, whose remarkable story is a joy to behold.
Park Chi-gyu, 73, and Lee Sun-ye, 72, met in February 2001, at a centre for the elderly, and instantly fell in love. A few months later they appeared in a television documentary, Love, made by Park Jin-pyo. The director was so moved by the couple's devotion to each other that he devised a more in-depth examination of their situation.The 'script' for Too Young to Die uses transcripts from Park's original interviews with the septuagenarians, combined with spontaneous developments on set including a seven-minute, single-take sex scene.
With its extraordinarily frank depiction of love, Too Young to Die has impressed audiences at numerous Film Festivals including Cannes, where it screened in Critic's Week, and Pusan, where it won the FIPRESCI Award. A marvellous affirmation of love and its redemptive and rejuvenating power.