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)