`Failan`, love between a Korean gangster and a Chinese girl

In the West coast seaport city of Incheon there is a man who deserves the expression ``good-for-nothing.`` His name is Lee Kang-Jae. He is a gangster, but he is a third-class gangster and is not even called ``boss`` by the younger members of the gang.

In a small village near the East Sea that is only reached by winding roads over the Taebaek mountain range, there is a Chinese girl who even has to wash bedclothes barefoot in the severe winter weather. Her name is Failan. She does menial jobs in a laundry shop and has come from China to find her family. She has nowhere to go.

Failan pays an unknown man to marry her in order to avoid being an illegal alien. But she feels thankful for his acceptance of her as a wife.

``Failan`` stars Choi Min-Shik (Lee Kang-Jae) of ``Shwiri`` fame as the gangster husband, and Zhang Baizhi (Failan) of ``Fly Me To Polaris`` comes and goes between the two seas over the mountain range.

If the film, ``Christmas in August`` contains lonesome love that is ended by death, ``Failan`` explores pathetic love that starts at death.

But it fails to maintain a consistent mood and this makes it difficult for the audience to concentrate on the movie to the end. Original novel is `Love letter` written by Jiro Asada famous for `Poppoya,` and it is screenplayed to fit Korean situation. The film opens Apr. 24 and is restricted to those who are 15 years of age or older.

Kwon Chae-Hyun confetti@donga.com