DarkEyes

Took me by surprise

Look at the comments and reviews. This show has inspired everyone to try to write like pompous film critics, like when viewers of cooking shows started to drop words like 'umami'. That tells you its different to most of what we see from Korea, there's a serious artistic and narrative attempt which you may or may not like but it's certainly got you thinking. Others wish there was more nudity and sex. More? These people are literally represented in the show (by the reporter in the theatre).

Personally, I enjoyed it. I have never seen this calbre or tone of work from Korea. Its visually beautiful (that's sometimes a criticism I'll get to in a minute) but what stood out is the writing, acting and unusually, the sound design. People rarely rate sound design but here its so good it stands out.

I'm not going to pick out an actors performance. They were all exceptional. Even the vile antagonist manages to be truly loathsome but understandable at the same time. The young actress has impressive depth, and Honey Lee, well I'll make an exception and call out Honey Lee because she owns the screen here. It's a tour de force and she's becoming one of my favourite actors. The criticism is the visual texture. Graded to look like its Golden Hour all the time, over saturation and low contrast, the PD or DoP seemed to be unsure if they were going for something surreal and artistic or gritty and historic. They tried to blend Wes Anderson with Tarantino and I'm not sure that's the right direction to have taken.

I recommend the show. Its only 6 episodes and its worth your time.

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Different from the usual.

The premise is interesting, how the lives of three very different women intertwines as they navigate life's challenges. The production is slick and the music is really good. Sadly the dialogue, acting, love story, melodramatics etc are pretty standard fare for kdrama. They took an interesting premise and then chickened out by making a safe, formulaic show.

Despite this, two things stood out for me. I'm absolutely projecting and over-thinking this, because I was bored, but stick around anyway and see what you think.

I recently watched Aema and I noted that the unsung hero was the sound design. In WWW it's the stylists that were outstanding - especially Bae Ta Mi's looks and Chairman Jang. Clean, modern, tasteful. Not the usual ruffles and glitter clown fashion you see in most Korean productions. And its clearly thought through and intentional because the ruffles and sequins and stripper heels are still present on other characters but not these two. The styling absolutely is part of the story telling. I loved that.

What's even more interesting is the styling and make-up for Cha Hyeon. In fact Cha Hyeon is quite interesting and Lee Da Hee put in a lot of work to give her character depth. I would go so far as to say, Lee Da Hee stole the show. She's such a good actor.

First there's the transformation - Cha Hyeon goes from average teenager to absolutely stunning adult. Nobody talks about it, it's not a part of the storyline, but every viewer is going to notice the mismatch between teenage Hyeon and adult Hyeon and assume it must be poor casting. Yet to me it seems like Da Hee somehow incorporates this late blossoming transformation into Cha Hyeon's character. As an incredibly beautiful woman in real life she is able to extend past her own lifetime pretty privilege to portray a woman who suddenly got pretty and isn't used to having pretty privilege at all. And as an actor she didn't make a ham of it, she does it subtly. Hyeon's insecurities, her admiration for other pretty women (as opposed to seeing them as competition) her physical boorishness from having been an average looking girl but a sporty and athletic one, all makes sense. And then we factor in clothes and makeup. Her clothes are not flawlessly stylish. She has some looks she pulls off, others that completely miss. Again like la person who didn't go through her teenage focussed on looks and fashion. And her makeup is slightly overdone. Its a little vampy, a little drag-Queen-esque: overly vibrant lipsticks, a bit too heavy eye makeup. Not comical, not really remarkable but fits with her character backstory.

In conclusion, like I said, I probably over thought all of this. I don't know if the writer and director put so much effort and thought into constructing the character of a second lead. But it's the story I projected onto the show which otherwise I found predictable. Especially the.. yawn.. lead couples romance arc. Zzzz. Everytime they were both on screen I skipped forward.

Oh a couple of cool things though. The big big BIG boss is a foreigner and they cast a black lady. This has got to be a first in Asian dramaland. And Chairman Jang, the elderly matriarch of KU group - damn, she has style. Not just her clothes which are wow, but her whole aura. She's not a sympathetic character but the actor fills the character's boots and then some. And lastly the Brian character has a very nice singing voice. That was fun.
Conclusion? Thanks for indulging in my little fantasy projection. Do watch the show, it will entertain you.

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