Joyce_Tyler

9.5

From the description, it seems to have a lot in common with Ha Ji-won's "Hospital Ship."

I'm enjoying it. Li Yi Tong is a compelling actress. Love that her character is strong, brilliant, and creative. Not to insult Xu Kai's fans, but I've seen too many of his dramas in which he plays basically the same character. I prefer Tan Jian Ci, especially in this drama.

Great screenplay and Kim Da-mi's solid, nuanced performance = 10/10. Happy to see that she's accepted more roles in more k-dramas.

Screenwriter Zheng Wei rarely misses when it comes to female-centric dramas, and A Dream of Splendor is one of her best efforts. I will watch anything written by her.

And for me, that was part of the problem. It was just too unbelievable that the FL would continue to pretend to be mute well into adulthood, and way too easy to get away with writing uber-weak-willed heroines.

The plot was by no means difficult to understand. I understood it and thought it was silly and without merit.

Will definitely watch.

Terrible script. Felt sorry for the actors, who are great kissers, btw, which might account for the 8.1 rating. I gave it a 6.

I thought Ha Ji-won was also cast in this drama.

My favorite Hollywood musicals all feature the most extraordinarily talented singers and dancers, and the ones I like least are the ones in which the studios hired famous non-singers and dubbed their voices. Imo, the only time that practice is understandable is in biopics when the non-singer is playing the role of a famous singer whose voice is known to billions around the world and whose life story required an actor an Oscar-winning performance (i.e. Marion Cotillard in "La vie en rose"). But that's another discussion.

Btw, great to have discussions like this one.

My favorite director, Bong Joo-ho, said something that I fervently agree with: "When I create a film, an actor’s voice is part of their soul. Dubbing makes movies accessible to different audiences, but the true magic lies in the original. Genuine emotions, intonations, and nuances are lost in translation. If you want not just to watch a film but to feel it deeply, watch it in the original language with subtitles. That’s how you’ll experience the story as it was intended."

Voice actors in live action productions make me wonder why the actors I'm watching on the screen needs to have their voices replaced. Are they not portraying their characters well and need the help of other actors' voices? Does the Chinese film industry just want to employ more actors? If the answer to both those questions is no, then, unless the voice actors are just doing narration, isn't it a huge insult to the onscreen actors?

The success of this drama was solely dependent on lingering close-ups of the two leads. Since I'm more interested in the writing than the FL's pretty face and the ML's smile, the drama was slow, repetitive, and boring.

Breathtakingly beautiful. Ha Ji-won never better or more convincing in her scenes with the ML as when she begs him to tell her that he's innocent. WOW!

She revealed what a talented actress she is in "Wild Bloom." She "lived" her character. I couldn't agree with you more about a later period than her dynasty dramas suiting her best.

And yet, no season 2. Really angry about that.

They probably didn't announce a 2nd season because the production company is dependent on Disney financing. Just from the looks of it, this cost a lot to produce. Also, the ML and FL are very busy, so a 2nd season couldn't be announced until they were both available at the same time. Look how long it took for a 2nd season of Signal to be announced! And for Disney, popularity in SK is less important than popularity in the rest of the regions in which they stream. Vagabond was very popular in SK and had a similar open ending. I really wanted a 2nd season, but it never happened. So, have I convinced you to start that diet?

It seems clear from the ending that a season 2 was intended. I can't stop thinking of Yun Ja Yu's voice over saying, "Where am I?" So, like, WHERE IS SHE?

Debunked by whom? Two Israeli-Americans I know personally had nieces (21 and 24 years old) in Israel whose dead bodies were found and returned to their families. Dead, their pelvises crushed as a result of gang rape, and shot in the head. So, don't try and whitewash Hamas's plan to rape and murder Israeli women as a means of inciting Israel to retaliate and have the world turn against Israel. Palestinians who know what happened are happy to see the end of Hamas governance.