MIRACLE ON 1st Street (Korea, 2007)
Directed by: Yun Je-Gyun
Starring: Ha Ji-Won, Im Chang-Jeong, Jeong Du-Hong

1st Street is a ghetto on the edge of Seoul, where the residents don’t have much but each other. When Pil-Je (Im Chang-Jeong) comes around to "persuade" everyone to sell their little patch of land to the thuggish real estate developers that he represents, he discovers to his amazement that to people who don’t have anything, home is everything. He settles in for the long haul but for his own convenience forces the city to bring in power and internet access, which makes him a local hero. This flick has Capra written all over it like a neon sign, but it’s Frank Capra’s evil twin at the helm as the gangsters decide Pil-Je has had enough time and they come down hard on the struggling residents of 1st Street. As in every feel good film, suicides, beatings and self-immolation follow.

Director Yun Je-Gyun makes populist fare that streaks to the top of the Korean box office: My Boss, My Hero and Sex Is Zero were surprise smash hits and in 2007 MIRACLE ON 1st STREET became the second biggest hit of the year. Utilizing his super secret weapons from Sex is Zero, the radiant Ha Ji-won (Duelist) and the comically abrasive Im Chang-Jeong, he gleefully sets the audience up for a feel good film and then pulls the rug out from under them as if to remind us that nothing in this world is a sure bet.