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Master CHOI MIN SIK

Failan

SONG Hae-sung

Korea2001116min

Synopsis

Kang-je is a third-rate thug whose only joy in life is playing games at the local arcade. Unlike his buddy who is now the head of a local organization, all he has to show for his life of petty crime is a small video store. Kang-je is a push-over and gets pushed around by neighborhood punks. One day, he is offered a deal he cannot refuse. To the hope-filled Kang-je, a letter arrives. It reads: Dear Kang-je. Thank you for giving me a chance to live in Korea. Everyone here is so nice. But you are the nicest of them all for marrying me. Marriage.... Wife.... Failan....? Kang-je had a wife, a wife he had forgotten that he had married. In fact, he had married her for a measly amount of money in exchange for Korean residency. A contractual marriage. A simple letter will make Kang-je realize the meaning of life, love and fate.

Program Note

Failan is the film that catapulted CHOI Min Sik as the face of Korean cinema. With his screen-dominating charisma in full display, he plays Kang-jae, a spoiled thug who enters into a fake marriage with an undocumented Chinese woman named Failan for convenience. However, he is overcome with remorse and breaks down in tears upon learning of his fake wife’s death. It is an unusual setting for a male melodrama and presents a challenge for CHOI Min Sik to portray a hopeless loser feeling compassion and love for a woman he has never met. CHOI Min Sik controls every aspect of his body and emotions to convey the character’s circumstances and inner struggles accurately. His performance is neither overly sentimental nor does it fall into a clichéd acting style. He captivates the audience and even manages to make them give their hearts to this disagreeable man. When everything reaches its peak, emotions erupt off the screen, and the audience grieves with him. Most importantly, all this is not artificially contrived by emotional manipulation. (JANG Byungwon)

Diretor

SONG Hae-sung

He debuted in 1999 with Calla and his second feature film Failan won a number of director awards. Since then, he directed Rikidozan: a Hero extraordinary (2004), Maundy Thursday (2006), A Better Tomorrow (2010), and Boomerang Family (2013).

Credit

Producer
HWANG Woo-hyun, HWANG Jae-woo
Screenplay
AN Sang-hoon, SONG Hae-sung, KIM Hae-gon
Author of the Original Work
ASADA Jiro
Cinematographer
KIM Young-chul
Editor
PARK Gok-ji
Sound
OH Won-chol
Music
LEE Jae-jin
Production Design
LEE Jong-pill
Cast
CHOI Min Sik, Cecilia CHEUNG, SON Byung-ho