Greta (played by Keira Knighley) follows her singer-songwriter boyfriend Dave (played by rock band Maroon 5’s frontman Adam Levine) to New York. As soon as Dave lands a deal with a major record label, he strays away from her. Heartbroken Greta takes to singing at a bar, where she meets former music producer Dan (played by Mark Ruffalo), and they decide to make music together busking around the city.

This is how the musical film “Begin Again” unfolds. The story sounds banal, but the movie has gained popularity in Korea, becoming a commercial hit as a “diversity film,” a term for indie, art-house and documentary movies. 

“Begin Again” has set a new box office record in the category of diversity films with 3.39 million tickets sold so far. The previous record was held by the 2009 documentary “Old Partner” with 2.93 million tickets sold.

The film also attracts attention for being far more popular in Korea than in the U.S., where it premiered earlier in 2013. Box office sales of the movie in Korea reached around $25 million as of Oct. 21, surpassing the $16 million it earned in the U.S. Its box office figure is set to rise further, as the film, released in Korea more than two months ago, is still seeing popular acclaim.

When asked what made this tuneful tale beloved by so many Koreans, film experts and audiences may agree on one thing: the music.

Irish writer-director John Carney, known for his 2007 hit “Once,” took the helm of the film, creating much buzz, along with the film’s main song “Lost Stars,” even before the initial release.

“Good music is the foremost reason behind the film’s success,” said Kim Tae-joo of All That Cinema, the PR company of the film. She also stated that the flick’s feel-good and relaxed plot made it a go-to film among blockbuster films this summer.

The film’s success extended to the music industry, as a number of songs on its soundtrack dominated major local charts, including Melon and Genie, from August to October. Many Korean singers joined the fervor by singing their own cover versions of “Lost Stars” on YouTube. 

Films with good music have always been popular in Korea, according to a report by the state-run Korean Film Council in October, which cited the success of the musical films “Once,” “August Rush” and “Les Miserables.” Their tremendous success in Korea was a surprise factor for film pundits abroad.

“I’ve watched the film twice already,” said office worker Chung Min-kyu, 36. “An easy mix of beautiful music and a good story was something to relieve my stress.”

Chung is one of 148,000 moviegoers who watched the movie more than once. They account for 4.6 percent of those who viewed it, according to the local film magazine Max Movie. The rate is high for films watched by 10 million or more viewers. Only 12 films have achieved the return-viewership so far, with their portions of repeat viewers ranging from 6.3 percent to 7.78 percent. For a music-based film like “Begin Again,” 4.6 percent is a rare milestone.

“Begin Again” was first released on a limited number of screens, but the number expanded as it began to attract a large audience.

“Word of mouth has a big role in this,” Kim said. “We started out small, as the film is categorized as a ‘diversity film’ to be run on a limited number of screens. But as soon as the film became viral, the number of screens increased dramatically.”

Both men and women equally watched the film, says Kim. “Nowadays, high school students like it.”

By Ahn Sung-mi (sahn@heraldcorp.com)