Rules of Dating

2005 South Korean film

Rules of Dating

Theatrical poster

Hangul|

연애의 목적

Hanja|

戀愛의 目的

RR| Yeonaeui mokjeok
MR| Yŏnaeŭi mokchŏk
Directed by| Han Jae-rim
Written by| Go Yoon-hee
Produced by| Cha Seung-jae
Im Choong-ryul
Yoon Sang-oh
Starring| Park Hae-il
Kang Hye-jung
Lee Dae-yeon
Greena Park
Seo Yeong-hwa
Cinematography| Park Yong-su
Edited by| Park Gok-ji
Jeong Jin-hee
Music by| Lee Byung-woo
Distributed by| CJ Entertainment

Release date

* June 10, 2005 (2005-06-10)

Running time

| 121 minutes
Country| South Korea
Language| Korean
Box office| US$11 million

Rules of Dating (Korean: 연애의 목적; lit. The Purpose of Love) is a 2005 South Korean film starring Park Hae-il and Kang Hye-jung, and is the directorial debut of filmmaker Han Jae-rim.[1][2][3][4]

## Plot

[edit]

Lee Yu-rim,a high school English teacher, is interested in dating Choi Hong, a student teacher, even though she is one year older than Yu-rim. Choi is cynical and always plays hard-to-get when Yurim shows interest in her because she has a boyfriend. While going out for drinks one night, Yu-rim suddenly tells Hong that he wants to have sex with her. Hong is hardly impressed. Although the sexual advances are pretty one sided from Yurim to Hong, both Yu-rim and Hong begin to be unsure of what each other wants and what they want themselves, as Hong's boyfriend is disinterested in her .Choi is later revealed to have some kind of trauma from being framed as a stalker by her former lover who was a married person, which led to her being fired from her previous school and rejecting any kind of love and seek stability over love.Based on common ground that was formed through their encounters ever since they first met, they begin to understand each other, however,because of bad rumors spreading on the school website about the traumatizing event which was framed as a promiscuity issue on Hong's part, Hong sues Yu-rim to save her image as well as confessing all of Yurim's inappropriate behavior and Yu-rim is fired from his job for inappropriate sexual behavior in the work place with Hong.The film ends with Hong and Yurim reuniting as a couple, as Hong thanks Yurim for ending her insomnia due to her traumatic event.

## Awards and nominations

[edit]

2005 Busan Film Critics Awards[5]

* Best Film – Rules of Dating
* Best Leading Actress – Kang Hye-jung
* Best Screenplay – Go Yoon-hee
* Best New Director – Han Jae-rim

2005 Blue Dragon Film Awards[6]

* Best Screenplay – Go Yoon-hee and Han Jae-rim
* Nomination – Best Leading Actor – Park Hae-il
* Nomination – Best Leading Actress – Kang Hye-jung
* Nomination – Best New Director – Han Jae-rim

2005 Korean Film Awards

* Nomination – Best Film – Rules of Dating
* Nomination – Best Leading Actor – Park Hae-il
* Nomination – Best Leading Actress – Kang Hye-jung
* Nomination – Best Screenplay – Go Yoon-hee and Han Jae-rim
* Nomination – Best Music – Lee Byung-woo
* Nomination – Best New Director – Han Jae-rim

2006 Baeksang Arts Awards

* Best Screenplay – Go Yoon-hee
* Nomination – Best Leading Actor – Park Hae-il
* Nomination – Best Leading Actress – Kang Hye-jung

2006 Grand Bell Awards[7]

* Best New Director – Han Jae-rim

## Reception

[edit]

Cho jung bin, writing for the youth magazine Cultura in the year 2023, thought the film did not age well because of how the film deals with the matter of consent, and discusses how the film tells only the men's side of the story, when it clearly depicts sexual harassment and rape by the male protagonist yet minimizes its impact.[8]

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Lee, Min-a (8 June 2005). "Flirting teachers spice their job with romance". Korea Joongang Daily. Archived from the original on 2015-07-14. Retrieved 2015-04-23.
2. ^ Kim, Tae-jong (9 June 2005). "Dating Shows It's the Journey That Matters". The Korea Times via Hancinema. Archived from the original on 2015-04-17. Retrieved 2015-04-23.
3. ^ Kim, Kyu Hyun. "Rules of Dating". Koreanfilm.org. Archived from the original on 2011-06-28. Retrieved 2015-04-23.
4. ^ Elley, Derek (28 August 2005). "Review: Rules of Dating". Variety. Archived from the original on 2015-12-08. Retrieved 2015-04-23.
5. ^ "Rules of Dating – Awards" Archived 2012-07-17 at the Wayback Machine. Cinemasie. Retrieved 2013-07-15.
6. ^ "Sympathy for Lady Vengeance wins Best Picture Award". KBS Global. 30 November 2005. Archived from the original on 2015-01-07. Retrieved 2015-04-23.
7. ^ D'Sa, Nigel (26 July 2006). "43rd Crowns King and the Clown". Korean Film Biz Zone. Archived from the original on 2011-09-28. Retrieved 2015-04-23.
8. ^ 청년문화비평- 오늘날, 다소 찝찝한 연애의 목적. cultura. 3 January 2023. Archived from the original on 23 January 2025. Retrieved 13 July 2025.

## External links

[edit]

* Rules of Dating at the Korean Movie Database (in Korean)
* Rules of Dating at IMDb
* Rules of Dating at HanCinema

* v
* t
* e

Works by Han Jae-rim

As director/screenwriter|

* Rules of Dating (2005)
* The Show Must Go On (2007)
* The Face Reader (2013)
* The King (2017)
* Emergency Declaration (2021)
* The 8 Show (2024)

As producer|

* Very Ordinary Couple (2013)

*[lit.]: literal translation
*[v]: View this template
*[t]: Discuss this template
*[e]: Edit this template