2009 Lost Memories Film Poster, Plot Summary, Background, Historical Differences,

2009 Lost Memories is a 2002 South Korean science fiction action thriller film, directed by Lee Si-myung. It was distributed by CJ Entertainment, and was released on February 1, 2002. Japanese filmmaker Shōhei Imamura plays the role of a historian in the film.

Plot Summary

In an alternative future where the Korean peninsula is still a part of the Japanese empire, Sakamoto, a Japanese Bureau of Investigation (JBI) agent of Korean heritage and Saigo, his Japanese partner try to solve a strange case where Pro-Korean nationalist “terrorists” attempt to steal a strange archaeological artifact. Initially Sakamoto is valuable to the case because of his ability to communicate with the terrorists. He is later removed from the case when it is discovered that his father had some previous involvement with the terrorist group. Sakamoto’s desire to solve the mystery involves threatening the powerful Inoue Foundation. This only makes him more passionate about its resolution and after uncovering more on his own, he discovers that reality isn’t how it should be. It then becomes his new mission to restore history to its rightful path.

Background

The film shows an alternate history supposing that Hirobumi Itō was not assassinated by An Jung-geun in Harbin, China, in 1909; this change results in Ito’s leadership guiding Japan as a military and industrial power that allies with the United States against Germany in World War II (dropping an atomic bomb on Berlin in 1945) and retains all of its wartime conquests and peacetime annexations, including Korea. The film takes place in 2009, one hundred years after Ito should have been killed. Author Tom Vick says that the theme of the film represents a desire in Korean cinema to “transcend time and memory”, a theme he says is also reflected in such contemporary films as Flower Island (2001), Il Mare (2000), and Bungee Jumping of Their Own (2001).

Historical Differences

The opening sequence shows the following differences in the historical timeline:

* The March 1st movement is referred to as a terrorist uprising.
* Japan joins U.N. Security Council as a permanent member in 1960.
* Japan launches the Sakura 1 satellite in 1965. (Indicating that it was a huge player in the space race).
* Nagoya is awarded the 1988 Olympics (instead of losing by one vote to Seoul).
* Lee Dong-Gook is depicted in a Japanese soccer uniform playing in the “2002 FIFA World Cup Japan” (not 2002 FIFA World Cup Korea/Japan).
* Korea is never referred to as Hanguk 韓國 as the entity which came to use that name, the Republic of Korea, never existed. Instead it’s called Chosen in Japanese, and Choson in Korean.

Differences in Seoul:

* 2009 Seoul is introduced as Kyŏngsŏng (경성,京城), an old name for Seoul that fell out of use after Korea gained independence from Japan in the actual timeline.
* The Governor General Building still stands in front of Gyeongbok palace (instead of having been demolished in 1996).
* Gwanghwamun was never restored (instead of having been restored during Park Chung Hee’s presidency).
* A statue of Toyotomi Hideyoshi on a horse in full samurai gear stands in downtown Seoul (instead of a statue of the man credited with defeating him, Yi Sun Shin).
* The Chungmuro district of Seoul, where Sakamoto lives, is still called Honmachi, as it was during the Japanese rule.
* Traffic flows on the left side, instead of on the right.

[TR] 2009: Lost Memories Trailer

What if everything you knew was a lie…

What if Japan allied with the United States during World War II?

What If the atom bombs were dropped on Berlin instead of Hiroshima and Nagasaki?

What if the sovereign nation of Korea never existed?

To J.B.I. agent Masayuki Sakamoto these questions are not the subject of speculation - they’re history. However, during a routine investigation of a terrorist attack upon a museum displaying ancient cultural artifacts, Sakamoto uncovers a web of intrigue which leads him to an underground band of freedom fighters willing to risk everything to acquire an ancient relic known as the “Lunar Soul.” As Sakamoto unravels the mystery, everything he ever knew about the world he lives in will be turned inside out.

Thrilling science fiction and tense political intrigue collide in this fast-paced, romanticized thriller. Set in the near future, 2009 Lost Memories is proof-positive that contemporary Asian cinema is being redefined y a handful of talented new Korean filmmakers.

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