Happiness (2007)

A love story about two people who meet while battling serious illnesses.

Director:

Jin-ho Hur

Writers:

Jin-ho Hur, Hyo-kwan Kim (screenplay)

Stars:

Jung-min Hwang, Gin-goo Kim, In-Sook Kim

4 wins & 16 nominations.

Cast

Credited cast:
Jung-min Hwang	...	Young-su (as Jeong-min Hwang)
Gin-goo Kim	...	Young-Soo's mother
In-Sook Kim	...	Miyoung
Ki-Cheon Kim	...	Bu-Nam
Hyo-Jin Kong	...	Su-Yun (as Hyo-jin Kong)
Soo-jung Lim	...	Eun-hee
Kyung Jin Min	...	Truck driver
Seo-won Oh	...	Pharmacist
Suh Won Oh	...	Medicine doctor
In-hwan Park	...	Suk-Gu
Seung-su Ryu	...	Dong-Jun
Shin Ae Shin	...	Director
Seung-mok Yoo	...	Jae-Kon

Storyline

Seoul-based playboy Young-Soo learns that he is suffering from liver cirrhosis and finds his life quickly getting worse. Seeking rest and recuperation, Young-Soo admits himself to a countryside clinic. Here he meets Eun-Hee, whom is suffering from a severe lung disease. Smitten with Young-Soo, Eun-Hee starts to approach the new resident. They fall in love with one another and take up living together in a small house. With no money and suffering from severe illnesses, just how happy can they become and how long will it last?

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Plot Keywords:

love | 

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Genres:

Drama | Romance

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Did You Know?

Quotes

Eun-hee: Young-su? Let's move in together. Do you want to? We don't have to get married. I'm sick and might die soon. But I'll help you get better. If it doesn't work out... We'll break up then.

User Reviews

Serendipity

Films about the gravely ill tend not to contain many surprises. And when they are not terribly sentimental, trying to wring every possible tear out of the audience, they are far too joyous and upbeat—two equally dishonest and exploitative strategies. I dare say that Happiness (Hængbok) not only espouses milder variations of such emotions but also manages to conflate them in surprising ways. It certainly helps to have someone like Hur Jin-ho at the helm, a director known for quiet, tasteful melodramas such as Christmas in August (1998) and April Snow (2005). Similar to those two films, the overarching plot of Happiness is fairly ordinary—after being diagnosed with Cirrhosis, a hard-living, hard-drinking Seoulite retreats to a sanatorium in the countryside, where he meets a gentle, mild-mannered young woman, a resident patient, who is suffering from a severe respiratory disease, and, as you may have already guessed, the two fall in love—but, once again, Hur's treatment of the material, despite not straying too far from convention, renders it truthful and affecting. He possesses an innate sense of rhythm, a knack for shaping dramatic situations, a sensitivity for unusual relationships. He also has a keen eye for composition and color. And he knows how to draw good, understated performances from extremely popular stars, as he has done here with Hwang Jung-min and Lim Soo-jung. Hur, who, as usual, also co-wrote the film, has imbued his characters with greater complexity this time around, which, in turn, has only added more depth and texture to the narrative.

Details

Official Sites:

Official site [South Korea]

Country:

South Korea

Language:

Korean

Release Date:

3 October 2007 (South Korea)

Also Known As:

Haeng-bok

Box Office

Budget:

$3,500,000 (estimated)

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$8,324,700

Company Credits

Production Co:

Rai Film, Zip Cinema

Technical Specs

Runtime:

124 min 119 min

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1