Failan leaves China after her mother’s death to find her Aunt in Korea. When she arrives, she discovers her Aunt has moved to Canada, and with no forwarding address nor contact number, and nothing back in China, she decides to live and work in Korea.

Unfortunately, as a Chinese citizen the only way she can stay in Korea, as she only has a permit for temporary stay, is to get married. Kang-Jae is a hoodlum, but not your typical brute. He’s lazy, doesn’t care for much, and barely gets by. His boss is also his friends, the two of which grew up together; whereas Yongsik (his friend) became the head of the gang, Kang-Jae remains a tool. Out of no particular interest, he offers to marry Failan. He doesn’t care for her, and he’ll never see her; it’s just part of business.

Time progresses slowly, and we watch as Kang-Jae is not only treated like dirt by his boss, but also by the new youngsters. It seems no one actually cares or respects Kang-Jae – except his flat mate, who also works for Yongsik. One day, the police arrive at the flat to see Kang-Jae. Whereas he believes it’s for an incident that could spell for himself, or for Yongsik, they are only there to inform Kang-Jae that his wife has died.

What takes place is an interestingly filmed melodrama, charting Kang-Jae’s journey to confirm the marriage, and to confirm that the corpse was that of his wife. Sadly for Kang-Jae, he becomes more involved, and touched by the letters that Failan wrote to him, suggesting that he is a kind man, a noble soul that she has fallen in love with, and whom she looks forward to meeting. The journey to finalise her existence from the world changes Kang-Jae more than he can imagine, and more than his boss Yongsik would want.

I absolutely hated Cecilia Cheung up until watching this film. She came across as stupid, inexperienced and poor at acting in all of her other performances. Yet here, she proves that she can, in fact, act. The character of Failan is played sublimely. Her understated mood, the love that she feels for a man she’s never met, let alone talked to, or had any correspondence from is truly heart warming.

The harsh contrast is we see what he’s actually getting up to, and she is not even a memory to him; if he saw her in the street, he wouldn’t know who she was. Yet she loves unconditionally, believing him to be the one she is to be with. She works hard, with a poor grasp of Korean, and even in her ill condition waits on him to return; to see her.

Song Hae-Sung’s direction is beautiful and sincere throughout. The shots of the Korean countryside, the nicer side, contrasting with the harsh dirty and aggressive city life is cleverly captured – accentuating the opposite worlds that both Failan and Kang-Jae live in.

Kang-Jae visits go to clear up her death in realtime, and in flashback we see the world from Failan’s perspective as she waits for her husband to return. She has high expectations of him, and hopes he is the man that is displayed in the picture. You could say the more deep and sensitive the flashback is, it is also a reflection of the sincerity and heart that Kang-Jae feels and is displayed in his behaviour. Suddenly, he loses the self-pity and learns regret, but also love for a wife he never saw or even gave a second thought.

Choi Min-Sik seems to have been in a lot of gangster related movies, but I guess most people will know him for his performance in OldBoy as Dae-su or in Shiri. If you watch this film, looking for a similar gritty, burning performance you’re unlikely to find it. Min-Sik’s character is too much of a loser to be compared to his previous roles, and is played with such visceral anguish that you better understand his performance in OldBoy. He performs equally well here, albeit in a more sensitive and pathetic character. Without question, he is one of Korea’s most talented actors today.

It’s a tragic film to watch, as the inevitable end starts to draw closer; empathy is felt for both characters, as you begin to understand them through their experiences. Things could have been different, and it’s possible they both would have found happiness. As it is, they never truly meet, and the only remnants of memory are a picture and letters, surmising the loss that both have experienced, beyond what they have already lost; with Failan it’s her parents and love, and with Kang-Jae it’s dignity and self worth.

Failan is a very moving drama, and my only mistake is to have waited three years later to watch it. It’s the sort of drama that would lose all its charm and innocence if it was made in the west. Instead of over dramatics, we see two characters who are their most human in a situation which neither could have changed.

Verdict: Beautiful Korean melodrama with touching performances, and intelligent, thoughtful direction