At nine years of age, Jang Hani {spellings from the film's subtitles} is everybody's ideal of a bratty little brother: selfish, jealous, and of little use to anyone. Even when his 12-year-old brother Jang Han Byeol feels ill at school and goes home early with Hani, he simply treats it like an excuse to play more video games.
But it soon becomes clear that Han Byeol's illness is more serious than might have been hoped: it is an aggressive form of brain cancer, though it takes Hani a while to cop on to this. At the situation clarifies, Hani has a lot of trouble changing roles away from being everybody's cute little terror. When his brother begins to bond with another very seriously ill boy in hospital; when his parents rush Han Byeol to the ER when an infection overwhelms his exhausted immune system and leave Hani alone in the family's flat over night without a word; when his antics can't bring a hint of a smile to his haggard mother's face---Hani feels that he has been pushed beyond the fringes of everybody's attention---and he despairs.
But he's not a quitter! As he sees mounting pain and indeed terror in his family, he decides to do something about it. He becomes thoughtfully creative in how he can bring moments of joy to those he finally realizes he loves. When Han Byeol actually recognizes Hani's efforts, Hani couldn't be any happier than circumstances allow. In one of the more remarkable child performances I have ever seen, we watch in awe as the character Hani matures before our eyes under the severe pressure of events.
That is not to say that this is a happily-ever-after flick by any stretch of the imagination. The depiction of the ravages of cancer and the stresses on families it entails has probably not be so faithfully portrayed since the fine Australian film "A Woman's Tale". We see poor Han Byeol degrade from a slightly wobbly pre-teen into a heavily scarred, brutalized victim of a fate that no one deserves, let alone a twelve year old child. There will be no complete recovery here, and he knows it. One of the most heart-wrenching scenes shows him screaming in terror as his father takes the lead and wheels him into the operating theatre for his second brain operation---one that the man knows full well will result in his son's permanent blindness as a side effect of yet another life-saving operation.
Sad to say, the close of the film makes it clear that this film was based on fact. Actually, it was doubtless toned down for the screen, given that the poor boy the character Han Byeol is based on had four operations by the age of 15, and further treatment seems to have been mandated in the case.
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