A Simple and Slow Life Drama
My 4 categories are Acting/Cast, Writing, Direction/SFX/Music, Entertainment Value.
I’ve been wanting to watch this drama for a while now. I went in blind. For some reason I thought it would be a bit more exciting than it was.
Acting/Cast: The cast is good as well as the acting. I guess my big issue here is just that the main character played by Bae Suzy [배수지] is a stoic character. I usually don’t like those types of leads. It’s rare that an actor can pull off a stoic character well, as it’s difficult to play it in a way that keeps the stoicism from boring me. I would say that this stoicism was more on the boring side for my taste. I had a hard time connecting with her character; she felt distant and robotic. I watched this drama after watching Genie, Make A Wish (another drama in which Bae Suzy plays a stoic character). I much more preferred her performance in Genie, Make A Wish. 5.5/10
Writing: The message behind this drama seems to be about the problems regarding nepotism and classism in South Korean society. Although I understand that, the story itself isn’t very interesting. Nothing really crazy happens except maybe at the end, but even that wasn’t too dramatic. Whenever I thought the drama was going to go in an interesting direction, it didn’t. It’s just a story about a girl’s life...a really depressing life where nothing ever goes her way. The side characters weren’t fleshed out, especially the real Anna. I was surprised by how little she actually appeared in the drama. The main villain of the drama arrived a little late to the party. I didn’t feel as though I knew him well enough to fully appreciate his ultimate fate. 2.5/10
Direction/SFX/Music: Something exciting was finally happening at the end of the drama. It was as though the build up throughout the entire drama was about to explode. But my anticipation was met with bad CGI. Even worse, it was completely unnecessary CGI. Why? Why was The Hunchback of Notre Dame suddenly being used as an allegory for the drama? It seemed to come out of nowhere. From what I understand, The Hunchback of Notre Dame has more religious connotations—gypsies and witchcraft versus a corrupt government/church. This drama has no religious connotations or even lust towards the female lead (aside from the very beginning). The story seems pretty simple to me, so trying to attach a deep meaning felt futile. 5/10
Entertainment Value: This drama had a hard time holding my attention. I was hoping for a twist or a dramatic climax, but the drama just kind of fizzled out. 1.5/10
Overall, I gave this drama a 3.5/10 which puts it in the “Probably a waste of time” category on my scale. It’s a very simple story of an unfortunate woman’s life. Even though the drama centers around her, I still felt like I wasn’t able to really get to know her. Also, the ending wasn’t cathartic enough for the long build up.
I’ve been wanting to watch this drama for a while now. I went in blind. For some reason I thought it would be a bit more exciting than it was.
Acting/Cast: The cast is good as well as the acting. I guess my big issue here is just that the main character played by Bae Suzy [배수지] is a stoic character. I usually don’t like those types of leads. It’s rare that an actor can pull off a stoic character well, as it’s difficult to play it in a way that keeps the stoicism from boring me. I would say that this stoicism was more on the boring side for my taste. I had a hard time connecting with her character; she felt distant and robotic. I watched this drama after watching Genie, Make A Wish (another drama in which Bae Suzy plays a stoic character). I much more preferred her performance in Genie, Make A Wish. 5.5/10
Writing: The message behind this drama seems to be about the problems regarding nepotism and classism in South Korean society. Although I understand that, the story itself isn’t very interesting. Nothing really crazy happens except maybe at the end, but even that wasn’t too dramatic. Whenever I thought the drama was going to go in an interesting direction, it didn’t. It’s just a story about a girl’s life...a really depressing life where nothing ever goes her way. The side characters weren’t fleshed out, especially the real Anna. I was surprised by how little she actually appeared in the drama. The main villain of the drama arrived a little late to the party. I didn’t feel as though I knew him well enough to fully appreciate his ultimate fate. 2.5/10
Direction/SFX/Music: Something exciting was finally happening at the end of the drama. It was as though the build up throughout the entire drama was about to explode. But my anticipation was met with bad CGI. Even worse, it was completely unnecessary CGI. Why? Why was The Hunchback of Notre Dame suddenly being used as an allegory for the drama? It seemed to come out of nowhere. From what I understand, The Hunchback of Notre Dame has more religious connotations—gypsies and witchcraft versus a corrupt government/church. This drama has no religious connotations or even lust towards the female lead (aside from the very beginning). The story seems pretty simple to me, so trying to attach a deep meaning felt futile. 5/10
Entertainment Value: This drama had a hard time holding my attention. I was hoping for a twist or a dramatic climax, but the drama just kind of fizzled out. 1.5/10
Overall, I gave this drama a 3.5/10 which puts it in the “Probably a waste of time” category on my scale. It’s a very simple story of an unfortunate woman’s life. Even though the drama centers around her, I still felt like I wasn’t able to really get to know her. Also, the ending wasn’t cathartic enough for the long build up.
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