Failan

South Korea 2001

Details imdb

Seen 8 April 2008

A different kind of love story. A Chinese girl who becomes the wife of a gangster on paper so as to legitimise her stay in South Korea. She has never seen her 'husband' except for a photograph. The story focuses on the husband's life in the early part of the film. Fail an, the girl, comes into the picture only about half way through. Then we get flashbacks, on both lives.

A girl, working hard to survive in a foreign land. A man, the ant worker for the neighbourhood gangster. How their lives intertwined in unexpected ways.

The love that develops is unique, to say the least. The girl did try to see the husband, but circumstances prevented that meeting. She, nevertheless, continues to carry the flame, the torch of love. This is pure love, born out of necessity, but over time developed into a genuine regard for the 'spouse'. The gangster himself, with his soft hearted true self, is touched by the gestures from the wife.

It has a happy ending in an unconventional way. They will meet in the end but in a different world altogether.