teck4201 I was never one who were into love stories until I saw this movie. The fact that they took a basic idea and decided to tell it from a perspective where the main characters DID NOT met each other totally sustained my interest throughout the movie and was wondering how would this movie play out at the end.The characters themselves drew me right into their world since their lifestyle was far less then typical then ordinary people. You really got to see the struggle they had to go through just to live day by day.Now granted there would have been a gap in age but what we had here were two people who are far different from each other as can be and the only thing that connected them really was the red scarf which was the most simplest but yet most powerful thing that sparked what true love could have been.The second half of the movie took a turn to even more sadness because of the letters that was being left behind for her supposedly husband. Choi Min-sik character totally touched me because it was obvious that he had never experienced that kind of honesty and sincerity before in his life which was full of pain,struggle and who is considered less then a decent human being.The climax was the most power moment due to his character dieing and the last thing he saw was her. All I could think of during that time was "only if they had met each other, there lives would have been different" knowing that I consider this to be the most powerful love story ever because of all the possibilities that would have happen if only if they just met once.

sitenoise Time to drop some tough love on a film that many consider one of the pinnacles of contemporary (Korean) cinema (melodramatique). It's a weeper all right, but it comes from sympathy not empathy. It's mean and manipulative. The misguided love for this film is understandable because the performances of the two lead actors are amazing, utterly fantastic. You could pull any number of scenes completely out of context from this film and just look at them and they might make you cry, but the characters they portray as a whole are not worth an investment in tears.The story in a nutshell is this: Failan is Chinese. Her parents die and she travels to Korea to seek out her last remaining relative, an aunt, who unfortunately left Korea years ago for Canada. (I guess Failan's parents weren't very close to their siblings.) There must be a subtext for why Failan decides to stay in Korea because saying "there's nothing to go back to" hardly justifies accepting a paper marriage to stay in the country taking a job as a launderer to make money to pay off the mob who underwrites the marriage—after failing an audition to be a prostitute by coughing up blood at the interview. Kang-jae is the bottom-feeder gangster wannabe slob who marries her for a paycheck without wanting to see her or know anything about her. Time passes and gangster stuff happens. Kang-jae is about to take a ten-year jail time fall for his boss who promises to buy him a boat when he gets out but Failan dies all by her lonesome in some far off village and Kang-jae must detour his life in order to make funeral arrangements for the wife he forgot he had. This is where things get wonky.Failan writes a couple "love" letters to Kang-jae thanking him for being kind enough to marry her and presumes that he is therefore a swell guy worthy of her love and devotion, but he doesn't get them until she's dead. Why would she write love letters to this guy she doesn't know? A guy who marries foreign girls for a fee? She must have some idea of what that kind of arrangement is all about. It has nothing to do with her. At the very least she should be grateful Kang-jae leaves her alone and doesn't expect sexual favors in return for his kindness. She tries to see him once at the video store where he works but the meeting is interrupted by the police hauling him away (for selling porn to a minor). It's not even close to an endearing moment. The film maker paints a portrait of this young woman as pure virginal innocence and devotion, which appeals as some male ideal, but nothing more. There is no reason to like this girl for who she is or what she does. We can only admire her, as men, for what she represents. And Cecilia Cheung, as Failan, does some powerful representing. She is angelic.Min-sik Choi, most famous—to western audiences, at least—for his performance in Oldboy, plays Kang-jae. He is a superb actor with an incredibly impressive and expressive physical presence. He wears loose fitting pants. He's a man's man, confidence personified. But he's a teddy bear too, albeit one who's a very loose cannon perennially toying with the end of his fuse. He's got baby fat everywhere and wild baby hair. His face is a work of art, chiseled and scarred with been-there done-that experience, handsome in a Hell's Angels kind of way. He is an enigma who plays the paradox perfectly. He's able to make us believe he has entered some life altering introspective awareness stage upon reading Failan's letters to him when all he's really experiencing is massive regret for not getting some the whole time. He doesn't even see a picture of her until she's, and I quote, a "dead bitch" lying on a table. And then he reads the faux flattering poems of loneliness from this Virgin Mary. I'd cry too if I were him. He blew it. He's an unlovable and unlikeable dunce not an everyman who deserves a better lot in life and tragically missed it.This film is a crock of crud, highly recommended for the performances. It's not a tragic love story, it's a fetish. Keep in mind the first half of the film is sloppy gangster comedy developing the character of Kang-jae. Failan doesn't show up until the second half, and she's already dead. Her story leading up to her death is told in parallel with Kang-jae's awakening sadness (or sad awakening), dealing with her death. It's very effective until the unnecessary, testosterone injected finish.

infinito2345 Let me start by saying that this is the most touching film i have ever seen.I am from India and i have seen quite a few korean films like taegukgi,3-iron etc. But this is absolutely th most emotionally compelling film i have ever seen.The film is the story of kang-jae(portrayed brilliantly by Min-sik Choi).He is a seedy gangster who has no concern for others and is even despised by his own minions in his gang.While his friend grows up to be the leader of the gang he continues to remain a low-level gangster.Failan(a touching role by cecilia cheung) is an immigrant from china who finds out that her relatives have left Korea.She is forced to marry kang-jae to stay in Korea.She never gets to see kang-jae and ultimately dies of a disease.The greatest achievement of this movie lies in portraying the love story between two persons who never meet each other.kang-jae sees failan's photo for the first time after her death and he starts reading her letters.In her letters he senses her humanity and respect for him.He finds a small window of peace in an eternity of darkness.This paragraph may be a spoiler but my review would be incomplete without it.The final scene in which kang-jae is strangulated while watching a video of Failan singing taken while she was alive just crushed my heart.It is the most beautiful and piognant scene which will continue to linger in my mind for a long time to come.I have seen Min-sik Choi in chihwaseon but this is his best performance to date.If any of you want to see a movie about life,a movie about the true beauty of life then watch this one.I you want to see a movie which touches the deepest layers of your heart then see this one.A painting of hope on a canvass of hatred and despair................My rating :- 10/10

pinkston Failan is the first movie out of Korea I had ever seen. As I sat down to watch the film, I didn't know quite what to expect, although I have seen plenty of American melodramas and other Asian films. Simply put, I was blown away. I can't really describe why I am still so touched by this movie, but I think that is part of the beauty of it.I have had discussions with others about the film and the biggest qualm seems to be that the first half's violence doesn't quite work with the second half's intense drama. I wholeheartedly disagree. It is important that Kang-jae's development as a character comes quickly and seemingly out of nowhere. Without him being set up as such a despicable personality in the first half of the film, the power of the film completely misses. Is his transition too unbelievable? Although under false pretenses, Failan is the first and only person who has ever cared, trusted and believed in Kang-jae. Would this not change you? The film constantly beats on Kang-jae through most of the film (a role typical for Choi Min-sik), so this really sets up the tragedy at the end of the film - with Kang-jae forever unable to fulfill his second chance.