What to say about this Modern era masterpiece.... Everything in this movie was perfect casting, acting, locations, story, screenplay etc. The lead role (Min sik Choi) what an actor he is, you give him a role and he will do better from your best expectations.... And the Failan herself (Cecilia Cheung) this was my first experience with her and have to say she is quite a talented actress, look's like she was perfect for the Failan's role..... Now coming back to the movie, it is a very touchy film, a story of a pure & pleasant love in this unpleasant world, failan's love was pure through the end for his paper husband and on the other hand her husband Kangjae(Min sik Choi) also fall in love for her sweetness, kindness and purity..... As all other reviews said that you will cry while watching this drama, & have to admit that, all of them are right. It's quite a touchy movie and it'll break your heart into several pieces. Other things you will love about this movie is acting, direction, story and the farewell notes written by Failan to her husband, those notes was very very emotive.... One more thing i love about this film is that it doesn't look like fake, this whole incident could happen with anyone you, me, anyone. So a must watch movie for all.....

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.

A contrived plot and larger than life characters threatens to turn Song Hae-sung's gritty Failan into a Korean version of Love Story but the film is redeemed by its sincerity, the gorgeous cinematography of Kim Yeong Cheol, and towering performances by Choi Min-sik, the abducted businessman in Oldboy, and angelic-looking Hong Kong actress Cecilia Cheung. Adapted from a novel by Jiro Asada, Failan (Cheung) is a young Chinese immigrant who, after losing both of her parents, comes to Korea only to discover that her one remaining relative has emigrated to Canada. She ends up at an employment agency seeking work but is told that she cannot remain in Korea with just a travel visa. The film then shifts to Inchon where Kang-jae (Choi), a low-level and thoroughly unlikable gangster, has just been released from prison for selling pornographic video tapes to minors.Pushed around by his boss Yong-sik ((Son Beyond-ho) and disrespected by fellow gang members, Kang-jae's life is a mess reflected in his slovenly attire and in the unkempt room he shares with fellow porn dealer Kyung-su (Kong Hyeong-jin). He is tough as nails on the outside but when an old lady gets the better of him in a confrontation over protection money, a softer interior is revealed. He dreams of buying a fishing boat and returning to his hometown but does not have the means to do this. When his boss murders a rival gang member, however, he offers Kang-jae the chance to get the fishing boat by taking the rap for him and going to jail for ten years. Not having much to lose, he reluctantly agrees but his life takes a sudden turn when he hears some sad news.The film then moves back to one year ago. In order to remain in Korea, Failan agrees to a paper marriage to Kang-jae who jumps at the chance to make some extra money, even though the two have never met. She is sent to work as a prostitute but is rejected when she begins to cough up blood, an issue that comes up later in the film. Finding herself working as a laundress for an older lady in a lovely rural setting close to the sea, all she has is a picture of her husband smiling but buys two toothbrushes in the hope that he will come to visit her. Appreciative of just being able to stay in the country, she writes to Kang-jae telling him how kind he is and how much she loves him.We learn that Failan had come to Inchon but only was able to catch a glimpse of her husband in his video shop moments before he was arrested. As Kang-jae reads Failan's letters, a shift takes place in how he begins to see himself. Discovering the fact that someone loves him and believes in his kindness, his identification with the young girl and her struggle is the catalyst for him to rethink his life and discover almost a nobility of character in the process. Choi Min-sik is one of the world's most talented actors and, in Failan, he fully captures the character of the repulsive gangster who begins to discover his humanity and sensitivity. The ending is both sad and hauntingly beautiful as we dream about all the "what-ifs".

OK, I'm not a person that likes slow movies nor do i burst into tears because it is sad but.... after i've seen Failan i just can't get this movie out of my mind. It was so heartmoving and so sad... I ALMOST cried.... I was surprised that a movie so powerful and moving can be made by an Asian country (well Korean movies IMO are the best in the world right now.) and this was all before Taegukgi,Oldboy and so on.... The director of this movie does a fantastic job of describing ones character in Kang Jae and Failan, and it made me think how sad i would be if i was in Kang Jae's place. A MUST SEE!!I admit this movie is not for everyone because it is REALLY slow and the story of both characters unfold after like 45 minutes. But if you want to see a movie that truly touches your heart then this is the movie for you. The acting is SUPERB in both Choi Min Sik and Cecilia Cheung (the acting itself will move you.) Plus all the other characters in this movie does a brilliant job. I don't know why this movie never got popular but it definitely deserves some media. Goes down on my Favorite top ten list of all time ^^.