I adore Min-Sik Choi and I heard great things about this film so I decided to check it out. I watched it this evening and I'm not exactly sure how I feel about it. I was confused initially about Failan and Kang-jae's marriage; why Kang-jae was receiving money and the like, but mostly it was the first half or so that made my high expectations feel misplaced. The fact that Kang-jae was a gangster, I think, lessened the effect of the movie for me. His boss was more comical than he was intimidating and it seemed like the film was trying to decide between two genres, the crossing between them feeling a bit thrown together. When Failan finally entered the picture and the connection between she and Kang-jae became more apparent, I liked it more, but previously I was treating the movie as more of a comedy than a drama. If Kang-jae was simply a worthless, violent bum without gangster ties, it's my opinion that the movie would've worked better. That aside, Failan's innocence and devotion and Kang-jae's eventual reactions were very touching, and though I wasn't as moved by the story as some were (the ending bothered me as well) it was an enjoyable movie.
Review of Failan
