sunflower

Best known for his impishly charming roles in romantic works like My Little Bride and Rooftop Room Cat, Korean Wave star Kim Rae Won breaks from mold to portray a troubled gangster in the box office hit Sunflower. Although he also played a gangster in his previous film Mr. Socrates, Kim's role in Sunflower is a lot more challenging, and a big step away from the lighthearted image viewers have come to associate him with. At the core of this action melodrama is a tragic character study of a conflicted man with a violent past, and Kim Rae Won makes the character his own, giving the role the necessary inner life to connect with the audience. He stars opposite veteran actress Kim Hae Suk and newcomer Heo Yi Jae (Dirty Carnival), who help his character start anew in life. Sunflower also marks a new venture for director Kang Seok Beom, who previously worked mainly in comedy, having directed Mr. Handy and written for My Boss, My Teacher.
Growing up on the wrong side of the tracks, Tae Sik (Kim Rae Won) dropped out of school at a young age and spent much of his time fighting in back alleys before landing in prison. Years later, Tae Sik is released from prison and ready to start over. He seeks refuge at a quiet neighborhood diner named Sunflower, befriending the restaurant's matron (Kim Hae Suk) and her daughter (Heo Yi Jae). Finding a family at last, Tae Sik begins to let go of all the emotions and anger bottled up within. But the people from his past are not ready to let him go...

the story is a bit more complicated.
in fact tae sik killed dopin, the son of the restaurant's matron 10 years ago.
the mother is the only one who knows the truth, that it was an arranged fight
and forgives tae sik, even adopts him as her own son...

i didn't like the end. you only learn about dopin being the women's son in the end, so you expect tae sik to be the real son of that lady.
you wouldn't expect the daughter to fall for tae sik. there's no sign for it. it looked like a normal dongseng-oppa-relationship.
so i was frustrated when, in the end, the daughter played a narrator and said something about loving her oppa...

well, i only got that dvd for kim rae won. i liked his works in my little bride, mr. socrates (which is even available german-dubbed!) and ...ing.
the plot sounded nice, too. lately i'm going for serious movies, with changing characters...