The Great Doctor

Apaixonante

Eu tenho tanta coisa para dizer sobre esse drama que fiquei até com medo de me alongar demais, mas considerando que ele é longo, acho justo permitir que a review também seja.


Primeiro de tudo, uau, simplesmente uau. Eu terminei esse drama bastante impactada, a ponto de ter dificuldade de organizar os pensamentos. Depois de ler tantos comentários negativos, eu não esperava ser fisgada desse jeito, então já começo dizendo que eu fui muito surpreendida.


Eu já gosto naturalmente de tramas de viagem no tempo, especialmente aquelas em que alguém do presente vai para o passado. E aqui a ideia já me ganhou de cara: uma médica do presente vai parar na dinastia Goryeo e se envolve com um capitão que vive cercado por guerra e morte. Ela é alguém que passa a vida tentando salvar pessoas, ele é alguém que passa a vida convivendo com a perda delas. Essa oposição se reflete lindamente na personalidade dos dois e cria embates muito naturais entre eles. Isso deixou a dinâmica do casal extremamente envolvente.


Na história, para salvar a vida da rainha, um capitão atravessa um portal e sequestra uma médica do futuro, prometendo levá-la de volta assim que a missão fosse cumprida. Só que o portal se fecha, e ela acaba presa no passado. Por ter conhecimento do futuro, ela passa a despertar o interesse de figuras perigosas, e boa parte da trama gira em torno disso.


Tecnicamente, o drama começa fraco. A cinematografia não é muito bonita (dá pra sentir o peso de ser uma produção de 2012), o figurino parece de baixo orçamento e as cenas de luta são muito coreografadas, às vezes até artificiais (e mentirosas) demais. Mas algo curioso acontece, com o passar dos episódios, tudo isso melhora muito. As lutas ficam mais naturais, o ritmo melhora e a encenação ganha fluidez, o que faz sentido se lembrarmos que antigamente os dramas eram gravados de forma mais linear, então o elenco ia se entrosando aos poucos.


Ainda assim, o grande mérito dessa obra está longe de ser técnico. Está na escrita.


A trama política começa simples, e eu gostei disso. Um rei recém-coroado, que passou anos em território inimigo (a dinastia Yuan) e agora tenta aprender a governar, enfrenta um príncipe manipulador, irmão da imperatriz de Yuan, que apesar de não quer o trono, sabe jogar o jogo do poder. Ambos se interessam pela mulher do futuro, o que cria uma tensão inicial quase como uma “guerra fria”. Achei que ficaria só nisso, mas a entrada do tio do rei transforma essa dinâmica e a política cresce muito, ficando surpreendentemente boa.


Mas o que realmente brilha são os diálogos e os personagens.


Os diálogos são excelentes: naturais, orgânicos, sempre com função narrativa e emocional. Nada parece jogado só para preencher tempo. Cada conversa revela algo, move a história ou aprofunda os personagens, e tudo flui com uma naturalidade impressionante.


E os personagens, minha nossa, eu me apaixonei por eles. Não só pelos protagonistas, mas também pelos secundários, que têm voz, presença e importância sem precisar de tempo excessivo de tela. Eles não são figurantes de luxo, eles tornam o mundo mais real.


Os protagonistas, em especial, me marcaram muito. Há algo na química deles que faz parecer que estamos vendo um casal de verdade. Eles não precisaram de rivalidades artificiais, nem de intrigas forçadas. Tudo o que acontece só os aproxima mais. Eles discutem, discordam, batem de frente como qualquer casal, mas nunca se afastam de verdade. Discutem, ele sai e volta logo depois. É lindo como eles não conseguem ficar longe um do outro.


E, ainda assim, o roteiro não os transforma em um casal meloso ou infantil. Eles não são “pombinhos apaixonados”, são dois adultos que, mesmo com uma relação recente, parecem ter uma intimidade profunda, quase como se estivessem juntos há décadas.


Eu torci por eles o tempo todo. Eu me conectei com eles.


Sobre o final, também me surpreendeu. Viagem no tempo costuma ser confusa, e eu demorei um pouco para entender completamente aquele desfecho. Mas quando entendi, me emocionei muito. Tudo fez sentido. Minhas dúvidas foram sanadas, não senti pontas soltas e achei a história muito bem fechada.


Por fim, preciso destacar o Lee Minho. Ele fez um trabalho excelente, especialmente considerando que ainda era muito jovem e contracenava com uma atriz mais velha e experiente. Mesmo assim, ele brilhou. Ele tem um carisma muito forte, e isso tornou seu personagem guerreiro mais humano, mais acessível, mais real.


Enfim, um drama lindo, bem escrito, muito bem planejado e eu fiquei genuinamente feliz por ter assistido.

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Basically, after finish watching it, I can conclude that it is a love story hidden in a historical-action story. The love story here is not a normal drama love story (which is too fantasy). I like the fact that in every relationship (love , friend, bromance), have to protect our love. and with only one kiss scene, it still great.
I like both lead characters. they done their job very well.

The historical storyline is good nor bad. But, I dont think rewatch again about the historical scene. I could rewatch just to watch their love story. For the ending, I like to see them hug each other. Overall, the cinematography could have been better.

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Great idea, not-so-good execution

If you’re going to write a fantasy, especially if it’s a drama, the parts that aren’t magical have to be really believable. Otherwise you lose your audience. The writers make one big mistake along these lines right at the beginning.

Is it possible that someone could be run through by a sword and live to tell the tale? It’s probably happened–but not likely in a situation where antibiotics are unknown and no one understands the basics of hygiene. And, never, I’m guessing, when the patient gets up, resumes his daily activities, and even rides a horse for hours on end.

At least for the first five episodes, the FL comes off as an annoying twit–but she improves after that. This woman is supposed to be cute, appealing, and funny. She’s also supposed to be a respected and knowledgeable medical professional. Unfortunately she doesn’t know how to be all those things at once. But, to be fair, I’m not sure anyone could do it. They made her a more serious person in the latter half of the drama, and that helped a lot. Also the humor worked better as the series proceeded.

Unfortunately, the lighting on the set is not the FL’s friend–at least in the beginning. In almost every scene of the first five episodes she looks older than she is (she was 35 when this series was filmed). Again, they fixed that problem in later episodes, and she starts looking more age appropriate in her scenes with the (10 years younger) ML. Another improvement was the ludicrous wig the pipe-playing white haired guy was forced to wear. The finally got that one under control after a few episodes.

There’s a lot of telling and talking, explaining and pondering and politiking in this series. Both the King and his nemesis, Ki Cheol are waay too philosophical and self-absorbed. The King talks endlessly about his self-doubts and feelings of inferiority, while Ki Cheol is always plotting and carrying on about the future and who should be next on his murder list. I think these two should be forced to live together, where they would undoubtedly drive each other crazy–instead of the audience.

At times the English translation is stiff and barely intelligible. Example:

SCHOLAR: “I had thought this, since a new king is coming, that if nothing should happen, there is no hope. If change were to occur, a bloody storm will blow.”

CHOI YOUNG, ML:“The place I will be escorting you to was put together in haste, hence it will not be too pleasant.”

SCHOLAR: “In an era like this, a warrior as you is pitiful as you have to continue to slay before you are slayed.”

Having listed all the negatives, this series actually isn’t that bad. For the most part, it held my interest. Seven stars.

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Well first off I love Lee Min Ho! He did another amazing job in this drama. The music was awesome. I have already downloaded them to my ipod it went well with the story line. The acting (cast) was great all together. sometimes though the music was put in to the scene at the wrong time and was noticeable (one or two times I notice). I think the explosions were a little fake but it didn't make me not want to watch it. Also, It had me laughing the actress Kim Hee Sun did excellent with her character. At first before I watched it I didn't think she would fit the part, but she proved me wrong.
i would defiantly watch this again!

If you like a little action, Love story, and historical dramas this is the one you don't want to miss watching.

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There are reasons I haven't reviewed City Hunter here. For instance I don't want the Lee Min Ho fangirls to downvote my review like crazy just for stating what I honestly felt about the drama. It's a fact that I rated it 7.5 stars while 'Faith' gets an 8 from me. Execution-wise, Faith may lack City Hunter's slickness or tempo or glamour but it makes up for everything with the inclusion of the sweetest romance ever. I have watched LMH with Goo Hye Sun and Park Min Young before this too but boy his chemistry with Kim Hee Sun in this one is totally off the charts. In every scene they appear together, they are virtually shooting sparks. And to think they have a 10-year wide age gap. This just goes to show that good acting trumps everything else.

Faith's other strong point is obviously Kim Hee Sun. In the first couple of episodes she may come off as slightly airhead-ish, babbling non-stop like a teenager but once you learn that under the facade of this relentless bubbliness, there is a headstrong, intelligent, sassy woman who takes no shit from anyone you will find yourself charmed by her antics. I came to this drama to verify whether Lee Min Ho can actually act or not and was pleasantly surprised. I think this is the only show in which LMH gets into a character rather than acting out the part of a rich, entitled brat/superhero-lite. Choi Young's vulnerability, his heroism in the face of defeat and danger, his emotional scars, his unwavering love for Eun Soo all come through quite wonderfully in Lee Min Ho's performance. And I think Kim Hee Sun's excellent excellent acting may have helped things along in this regard. Only she could have made Eun Soo so endearing, earnest and believable.

The direction is not the drama's strength. In fact it flounders so badly, that there is a constant discrepancy between a scene's emotional content and the actual screenplay. Badass fights look distinctly less impressive because of the choppy editing and shabby production values. There are so many plot loopholes in the drama that one can drive a truck through all of them put together. Several plot devices are rehashed time and again to advance the story and the fantasy bits are rather badly juxtaposed with the realistic bits. The X-Men-ish premise makes zero sense. One wonders if there were indeed X-Men like warriors in Goryeo, why the hell did they not organize themselves against Yuan? Also Young's superhuman powers were rarely used in the drama so I am not sure what was the point of giving him the ability to shoot lightning anyway. Excellency Deuk Heung made for a worthier villain than Gi Cheol who sort of degenerated into a caricature by the end methinks.

I would have liked the time-travelling bits to have been more fleshed out so that we could understand better the past and future Eun Soo's struggles to reach Young across the fabric of space-time. It was probably one of the only plot threads that could have made for interesting viewing but remained sadly underutilized.

Long story short, Faith isn't the best sageuk-fantasy out there (that honour goes to Arang and the Magistrate) and has a shitton of narrative flaws. But it has its heart in the right place. If for nothing else, watch this for Young and Eun Soo's impossible love that develops gradually and becomes the show's only lifeblood. In my opinion, this is one of the best romantic relationship portrayals in all of Kdrama history.

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I had no expectations when I started watching Faith. The only excitement that I had was that I wanted to see Lee Min Ho again in a drama. At first I found it really hard to continue this drama, perhaps it wasn't because of the drama, but because of my busy schedule, but still. After a day when I eventually started watching 5/6 episodes after each other, I couldn't stop anymore. The main reason is just that I was so curious how it all would evolve and eventually end. In the end i'm really glad that I continued watching this drama, cause I really liked spending my time watching it!

I have to say that sometimes the effects were a bit lacking and the music sometimes came on a strange moment. Also when I was near the end (in my opinion), there were too many flashbacks from the previous episode. But even so it couldn't make the drama less great. The story they wanted to tell was wonderfull and the cast did great in acting. I only knew Lee Min Ho, but seeing the others acting, I will probarbly continue to follow one or two more of them.

Anyways don't let the negativity reach the upperhand. Start watching this drama and continue to watch it.
Just don't drop the drama and believe me, in the end... You know you didn't waste your time watching it
(atleast I know).

Have fun watching it, I hope you enjoy so!

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Overall, I would say this drama is pretty amazing. The best thing for me was the cast. I enjoyed Lee Min Ho as cold but sweet Choi Young . Kim Hee Sun nailed her character. I usually only watch for the male leads but this is my 2nd drama of kim hee sun and she didnt disappoint me at all! I enjoyed her flustered and quirky character. They had incredible chemistry as well.
I would say the story is pretty well written too. I liked the fact that their is no love triangle and that the 2nd couple (king and queen) were pretty adorable as well. I liked the happy ending since I was worried it was going to end in a tragedy but it didn't.
I would rewatch it since I love happy but not forced endings. A great historical drama!

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