I did feel like they could've dug into detail a bit more and we could get more interactions between the two main characters but it did satisfy overall and didn't feel boring or too forced both actors nailed their parts and got my head spinning at some points.
The tone change between the beginning when we had outdoor scenes and much brighter colors to the darker blue-ish tones by the ending scenes and the whole actual play sequence.
I am looking forward to see more south Korean movies of this caliber with lgbtq themes in the future.
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as is actors need to be gender-fluid, especially if they want to do all kinds of roles to get awards and be recognized as "great". they can't be uptight about roles. so the title and the acting was apt.
i think Yeong-woo's character was indeed in love, maybe he's bi or even if he was straight, i think the turning point was at the start where Jae-ha forced him to get into the role by physically pulling him out of his chair and then acting out the scene with him, his tears were real.
i think cause of the accident or maybe the life of an idol was getting old, he was apathetic to it all. but when Jae-ha took a hold of him physically, that was the start for him, from there on everything he did was not only to get close but to tease and awaken the same attraction in Jae-ha.
in the play - his acting as if he had really acted out the plays storyline on Jae-ha and his gf, was to punish Jae-ha for denying his feeling and acting as if his confession and the time they spent together affirming their love, was only acting. this was sad but also showed a side of acting that most know about, but gloss over. this was well acted and an interesting watch -
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Life imitates art and art imitates life
I wasn't very impressed with this. I somehow expected more drama, intrigue, and obsession from this. I think for me this film falls short of executing what is otherwise a very interesting premise. It's partially due to the ambiguity of the narrative but it's not just that. There's also the fact that the film's intrigue is amped up too high because the actual film fails to deliver its meaning at certain points so it's both ambiguous and vague.Plot: An idol rapper is (for some reason) doing a super moody theater production with a famous theater actor known for his method acting. This whole thing seems convoluted because theater is too prestigious for idol actors like...seriously! But whatever. After initial disinterest and rebellion, the young idol slowly becomes interested in acting as he watches the seasoned actor. He tries to imitate the method acting technique and soon, things get weird!
Btw, the idol coming from a group called "P2S" is so gauche...Korea, please do better. Seriously...
Plot: So I could not understand the narrative from watching the film. It was so vague, choppy, and scattered for me, that I ended up reading the plot summary on Wikipedia in order to figure out what was happening in the film. I have since read some interesting interpretations of this film which partially succeeded in redeeming some aspects for me but for the most part, I could not understand why characters went from one point to another. Basic details of the plot were so convoluted and unnatural that I also failed at suspending my disbelief and spent a good amount of the film distracted by technicalities that made me feel second-hand embarrassment. Like how are they getting away with making a racy theater production about a gay affair?! It's been seven years and Korea can barely accept a TV show with a gay character in it, in the year of 2024! And why is an idol actor doing theater to begin with?! And why is everyone so chill about the bizarre behavior of these men?
That said, it wasn't all bad. The plot has a cyclical nature and that's so interesting. We're thrust in the middle of a script reading with no context of the drama's plot. We slowly figure out that the drama is the final, bloody moments of an affair gone wrong but we have no idea how the characters got there. Then we see the actors going through a process of living as the drama's characters, becoming them in every way. It's a self-fullfilling prophecy. The actors' attempt to embody the characters sets into motion a series of events that eventually come to precede the events of the drama they are supposed to act in. Real life becomes the cause and history of the drama's events and the drama is the cause and catalyst that brings about the incidents happening in real life. It's actually brilliant! There's also a seriously interesting point made about sincerity and bravery and it's completely entangled with the queer representation in the story which makes this an exclusively queer narrative, impossible to recreate with any other type of dynamic and that's so amazing. I love that!
But I didn't really get all this from just watching the film. I only put these together with the help of other people's analysis and reading the summary! So while I think the idea is great, I think the execution of the plot was sloppy.
Acting: and that brings me to the second point. I don't think the acting was great. It was too much and too little in different scenes and only hit the mark occasionally. I know there's supposed to be ambiguity in the story and we're not supposed to be totally sure if the characters are being honest or pretending but for that to be shown, sincerity and insincerity need to be contrasted against each other. Here though, characters are unreliable and vague all the time! I could never grasp a normal behavior standard for them to measure their abnormal behavior against. So that led to more confusion.
Production: I think the main issue of this film is directing. A better director would have directed the actors better, established the world order better, chosen the best shots, and made sure the editing was immaculate. Then this movie could have been a 10. I really think a better direction would have fixed everything. And that's odd because I believe the director wrote the script too so they should have been the perfect candidate to make this. I wonder why it fell short a bit.
Rewatch: Not really. It wasn't that interesting though it wasn't awful. Once was enough.
Overall: If you're curious, just watch it. But it's not a personal recommendation, for me.
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Promised to deliver more than it actually did
I don't have much to say about this one. Guess I went into it with more expectations than I should've when I saw that Park Sung Woong was in the main cast.It's experimental which I find interesting but it really does not deliver whatever it promises to. The acting is good but the script fails to seems natural in my opinion. It might be because of its theatrical inspiration but it was truly ridiculous how some of the lines came off.
I did enjoy the theatre scene and the ending as well. Still, overall, it'll remain unmemorable.
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A piece of art...
Perhaps leaving a review after 6 years, when everything has already been said by other people, is meaningless, but my head is full of contradicting thoughts right now, and there's no real place to express them.The cast was chosen perfectly, the music was spectacular, because I'm a sucker for classical music. The plot...
Art isn't something that everyone can do, and we know it. My future profession is politics, and perhaps I'll have to deceive myself and my commitments, become coldhearted and kinda deprived of the chance to express my true feelings.
The psychology of art is a subject of extensive studies, and it goes without saying that art and emotion are homogenous in some way. A true piece of art can be born only when you lay bare your true feelings, emotions, pain, struggles and etc. The same goes for acting.
Jae Ha is someone who loses himself every time when he gets to play a new role. His character becomes his doppleganger, that's the reason he is a well-known veteran actor. He is devoted to his job, consequently he doesn't bare tardiness and slothfulness from his partners.
Young Woo is exhaused. Girls running around him trying to take a pic or touch him is a usual part of his life and perhaps he was tired of doing the same thing every day. Acting is something that helps a lot in recognizing yourself better, finding our your limits, so he wanted to try something new. I bet he could never know that he would get deeply infatuated with the veteran actor, who himself, despite his age and experience, never knew he could ever fall in love with his acting partner, because his method of acting had never let him down.
Yes, as far as I'm concerned he had feelings for Young Woo, albeit he couldn't accept them till the end. The inner battle he was going through was obvious - him running every day as fast as he can to drop those thoughts out of his head, being startled and speechless after every physical contact he made with Young Woo (the photoshoot, for example, which wasn't a part of the play). During the play he kissed Young Woo and also wasn't a part of it. That was something that he wanted himself.
Young Woo felt like he had been toyed with, because he truly believed that there was something between them. The reason he could perfectly execute his role is that he loved Jae Ha the way Singer loved Walter: madly, deeply, passionately. In the end of the performance he indeed tried to commit suicide,
But the age gap says it all. Being a young man who wants to explore the world and open himself up to new things and a middle aged man who understands the laws of attraction. It's comprehensible why Young Woo was ready to tell everyone about his, their feelings (my feelings, our feelings): he is young, vigorous, ready to overcome obstacles, because is there anything impossible when you're young?
Jae Ha is a middle aged man who can foresee the consequenses of jumping the gun and sacrificing everything. Let's take into account that homosexuality isn't something widely accepted in Korea.
At the same time, I can't deny the fact that he had feelings for Young Woo. When the latter told him that he was ready to tell everyone, he just held his face in his hands and that moment I felt his rue. During the play we could notice the thin line between the play and reality: he mixed up the names, forgot what was a part of a play and what was not. That's why, in the end, Young Woo is the perfect Singer and Jae Ha is just Walter.
I don't believe that there's a happy ending for them despite the open ending which lets us interpret it ourselves. They will go their separate ways but there's no doubt that they left an unerasable trace in each others lives.
I know that my review is as messy as the plot of "Unchain" but that's what it is. Actually, there are more thoughts invading my head right now, but I can't put them in words. This was breathtaking, compelling, and definetly not for everyone due to it's intrication.
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So Damn Good
Keeping this short and sweet. I randomly started watching this movie and it was devastatingly good! Mind bending, intense, dramatic, heart pumping - all the things! The acting is superb. The story is superb. The direction and production is superb. Layers upon layers of meaning within the story. Each scene unexpected so it keeps you at the edge of your seat. It was a rollercoaster of a movie and I had a blast watching it. I highly recommend. I'm about to go check out the pages of the two leads and see what else they're in because they were both such powerful actors. I want to see what they offer in their other works.Was this review helpful to you?
With this premise, the film is a pretty interesting concept, which can be watched on three levels: one, the play "Unchain" that is being rehearsed and performed within the film; two, the characters who must take up "method acting," let loose and assume the identities for the performance of this play; three, the real actors who are indeed doing "method acting" to assume the characters and in turn assume the same identities for the play. Which of the three is believable, and is it all acting - well, with regard to these questions: after watching the film, I can say that there is a missing element to "method acting," outside the control of actors but ultimately attributes to its success or failure. That element is what the film is about...you, the silent watcher, you with the choice as willing accomplice or critical call out in all this charade.
I can think of movies like Ocean's Eleven, Twelve, and others about some kind of heist or collaborative effort to "con" a stupefied audience, within and without the film. This is just like it. Do you believe the multi-level acting put on before you?
The funny part is that there's also a master and student relationship going on on the different levels. At the beginning, there's no interest whatsoever in any serious play. Then, one of them gets a signal from the other, almost like a prank - to see who can pull one over the other, maybe even outdo the other in this game - and suddenly there's now a contest, a battle of wills, to find the true master. One line says it all: "You are just another Walter, but I am the perfect Singer." On the pseudo-stage in the film, at least, I think we know who the victor, the master of the game, is.
On whether the real actors are convincing in their roles - I have to say it was a hot kiss that they shared, but take note that both their eyes were tightly closed, almost like they're afraid to look at each other. One wonders what they must be imagining, and two points off for not convincing me wholly.
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This review may contain spoilers
Fever Dream
Honestly I got this movie recommended to me by a friend and I decided to go blind into it, not reading the summary or anything, just diving into it. I didn’t know what to expect, but once the scenes about them getting intimate started I thought it was going to be a cute romance between the dudes but pretty soon enough it’s established that won’t be happening.To some extent it did lowkey remind me of call me by your name, both movies have the intimate moments happen early on to the movie and make things escalate,, it was honestly a roller coaster ride.
I’m confused withn this movie though, are they both just going to ignore everything that happened and move on? Was it really just method acting? I’m so curious about it…Wish it didn’t end so abruptly honestly.
It was good and it’ll keep you distracted. Pretty solid movie, just very frustrating ending (in my opinion).
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It shows the very fine line between reality and fiction thanks to an astonishing performance.
This movie gave me the chills. I loved from the get go Park Sung Woong's flawless performance and one of the best in my whole time watching korean dramas and movies, the way he delivers every piece of dialoge is impecable, just amazing. Thanks to that I was invested in the story in the first 5 seconds. But that's not the only great thing, the concept of the story and how fiction and relality intertwine in a seamlessly way, it just takes your breath away. It says a lot about what Art does, and how every artwork takes a piece of yourself till you don't know who you are anymore. The entire final part (the actual play) is a master piece, the ending, even if its not what I wanted for the main characters, fits perfectly to the movie.The sound of the movie is its soul, you really don't notice that is there but it blends with every though and every action and highlights the emotions the best way possible.
In general, is a really well build movie with a spectacular cast and an enteresting narrative. I do think that is not the greatest representation of LGBTQ community, but at least it touches the matter.
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All the staff worked very hard to bring us the talent could see on the screen.
ACTING:
As I said before, the acting was the best point of the whole movie. It pulled me in so fast and refused to let go. I really loved the play and honestly, that scene shocked me so much. I know our Singer is a young actor, but....don't hate me, but I did NOT expect such amazing acting but I was very suprised and for sure I'll follow his future work as well. With our Jae Ha it was just as I expected and even better. The relationship which was potrayted in the movie is not easy to show but the two leads had such great chemistry between each other...I can't even explain with words how good it was. It was a match made in Heaven. Everything looked so real that for a second I really thought that they are together in real life.
STORY:
Before the movie came out, me and many others started to picture the movie in our heads and guess the plot/ending. I must say, yes, the movie was a bit predictable but still I enjoyed it and loved to see that my theories were in some parts true. The idea of method acting romance is amazing but I must say I want to see more. I expected it to give us the deeper insight in characters lives, not just Jae Ha's. If this was 2 hour movie I think it would be much better. I won't spoil the ending so watch it, but overall the story IS very good but not well described which is the fault of the run time.
MUSIC:
No comment. I have ALL the songs in my phone on replay, yes it is that good. I just love instrumental music so much and when u know at which scenes it was played, your head automatically takes u there.
REWATCH VALUE:
I watched it today, but i'm going to watch it again so yes, definetly in my top 10 fav movies.
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Also it's not everyday we get to see full length Korean films that deal with homosexuality in a serious manner, let alone the way this film approaches it. It does not vilify it nor does it use it as a cheap hook to bring in BL fans to rake in the audiences and then leaves people feeling mad and unfulfilled.
Even though some may say the ending falls into the usual trope for LGBTQ+ movies in western media (either sad or the usual tragedy), I wouldn't have this film ending in any other way as it would take me out of the whole experience.
True to its name, "Method" is a compelling story about an older mentor figure who has a special acting method to get into character whenever he assumes a new role to give out his best performance, which solidified him as famous and well regarded in the industry, and how he deals with a younger less experienced figure, coming from South Korea's pop culture world, trying to transition into acting. Both leads are male and through this acting method fiction and reality start getting blurred.
This by no means does the film any justice but it's about as far as I can go as "Method" must be experienced, not summarized.
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