''Romantic Heaven'' () is a 2011

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...

n melodrama about fate, love, loss, and redemption. Though the premise is sentimental, dealing with a variety of characters and their relationships in both life and the afterlife, it is very much in line with writer-director Jang Jin's previous works, combining elements of several different genres, including romance, comedy, drama, ghost and even police thriller into an eccentric, playful and imaginative film.

Plot

Three seemingly disconnected people cross paths at a hospital: Part one, "Mom," focuses on the character of Mimi, whose mother is battling cancer, and needs a

bone marrow transplant Hematopoietic stem-cell transplantation (HSCT) is the transplantation of multipotent hematopoietic stem cells, usually derived from bone marrow, peripheral blood, or umbilical cord blood, in order to replicate inside a patient and produce a ...

if she is to have any hope of surviving. With great difficulty, doctors identify a potential donor, but then the man goes into flight after being accused of murder. Hoping to find him, Mimi becomes acquainted with the police detectives assigned to his case. Part two, "Wife," concerns a lawyer named Min-gyu who has recently lost his spouse. Amidst his grief, he is distracted by the fact that he can't find a bag that she had brought with her to the hospital, and which contained her personal diary. In the meantime, he is visited by an ex-convict who has a score to settle. Part three, "Girl," focuses on Ji-wook, a taxi driver whose grandfather is on the verge of death. One day his grandmother tells him that for all of his life, her husband has been unable to forget a young woman he met in his youth. It is in part four, "Romantic Heaven," that the various threads are brought together and ultimately resolved. As fate would have it, their counterparts are gazing down upon their loved ones from heaven, dealing with their own version of remorse and regret.

Cast

Kim Soo-ro Kim Soo-ro (; born Kim Sang-joong on May 7, 1970) is a South Korean actor. Career Early career Kim Soo-ro studied Theater at the Seoul Institute of the Arts and Dongguk University, then joined the Mokwha Repertory Company. In 1993, he mad ...

as Song Min-gyu *

Kim Dong-wook Kim Dong-wook (; born July 29, 1983) is a South Korean actor. After appearing in student short films and several minor parts, Kim became a star through his supporting role in the popular TV series '' Coffee Prince'' (2007), followed by box offi ...

as Dong Ji-wook *

Kim Ji-won Kim Ji-won (; born October 19, 1992) is a South Korean actress. She gained recognition through her roles in Korean drama, television series ''The Heirs'' (2013) and ''Descendants of the Sun'' (2016), before taking on leading roles in ''Fight f ...

as Choi Mimi *

Lee Soon-jae Lee Soon-jae (; born November 16, 1934) is a South Korean actor. He has had a prolific career on the small and big screen spanning over six decades, and was given a second-class Eungwan Order of Cultural Merit for his work as an actor. Lee made ...

as old man (God) * Shim Eun-kyung as Kim Boon as a girl *

Im Won-hee Im Won-hee (; born October 11, 1970) is a South Korean actor. Im was an alumnus of the legendary Daehak-ro theater troupe ''Mokhwa'' (), starring in many of Jang Jin's stage plays. He made his film debut in Jang's black comedy ''The Happenings' ...

as Detective Kim *

Kim Won-hae Kim Won-hae (; born April 6, 1969) is a South Korean actor. Since his debut in musical in 1991, Kim Won-hae worked on stage in plays and musicals before joining the non-verbal performance Nanta as an original member in 1997. He is best known a ...

as Detective Park *

Lee Han-wi Lee Han-wi (born June 17, 1961) is a South Korean actor. Since his acting debut in 1983, Lee has become a prolific supporting actor on Korean film and television. He is particularly known for his mastery of ad-libbing. Personal life Lee marr ...

as Peter, the secretary *Jeon Yang-ja as grandma *Kim Dong-joo as Mimi's mother *Lee Moon-soo as Ha-yeon's father * Kim Byung-ok as manhole man *Kim Jun-bae as Jang Heo-soo *

Lee Yong-yi Lee Yong-yi (; born July 30, 1958) is a theater, television and movie actress. She is known for her role as Nomo both in theater play and film '' Welcome to Dongmakgol'' (2005) and tvN series ''Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha'' (2021). Career After gra ...

as Kim Boon as an old woman *Kim Jae-gun as old man *Lee Chul-min as Eung-shik * Lee Na-ra as Yoon-joo *Jung Gyu-soo as Ji-wook's doctor *Lee Jae-yong as Mimi's doctor *Kim Il-woong as Lee Kang-shik *Seo Joo-ae as Park Joon-hee *Lee Sang-hoon as deputy director of taxi company * Kim Do-yeon as Person from heaven *Kong Ho-seok as judge *

Yoo Sun Wang Yoo-sun (; born February 11, 1976), known professionally as Yoo Sun, is a South Korean actress. She is best known for the popular family Korean drama, drama ''My Too Perfect Sons'', as well as the films ''Black House (film), Black House'', ...

as Yeom Kyeong-ja (cameo) * Han Jae-suk as stalker (cameo) *

Kim Mu-yeol Kim Mu-yeol (; born May 22, 1982) is a South Korean actor. Following a successful career in musical theatre, Kim was first cast in minor parts on film and television. After gaining recognition for his performance in ''War of the Arrows'' (2011), ...

as Dong Chi-sung (cameo)

Awards

References

External links

* * * * {{Hancinema film, Romantic_Heaven, Romantic Heaven 2011 films 2011 fantasy films South Korean romantic drama films Films about the afterlife Films directed by Jang Jin Cinema Service films 2010s Korean-language films 2010s South Korean films