NoobieFan

”I'm just an actor playing a king. You really are Concubine Yu.”

This was a tough film to take in. It's such a multi-layered phenomenon that it’s difficult to really take it all in and convey my thoughts on it. In some ways, this is a tough tale about unrequited love between two lifelong friends who have grown up in an Opera Troupe, playing the parts of The King and Concubine Yu in “Farewell My Concubine”. Dieyi is struggling with his homosexual love towards his friend, partner, brother (as Xiaolou calls him) while failing into the trap of art limitating life. And to make things harder, Xiaolou has fallen in love with another. In other ways, it’s a social retelling of the struggles of the Chinese citizens through pivotal yet tumultuous events of the 20th Century - beginning with the Sino-Japanese War then the Revolution with Mao and his army, then the cultural revolution. It does a great job of combining it all together for one cohesive epic spanning near 3 hours.

The run time was a joy to sit through as this film was truly enthralling. The performances more than matched the rest of the film making, the grand costumes, poignant soundtrack and story elements. Leslie Cheung brought his absolute all to, what was essentially, two characters - Concubine Yu and Dieyi. The struggle of it all is hard to portray, and Cheung brought the role to life. Impactful film from all aspects.

Fair warning to all (and spoilers): Suicide is a main fixture in all points of the film. You’ve been warned.

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An interesting movie about multiple themes such as gried, loss, disenfranchisement with patrioitism. Our male lead, Choi Hyeon, is a Korean who has been living in China as a professor, back in Korea for a funeral and finds himself different. He is totally unsure how to handle himself when faced with seemingly normal south korean customers. The "Century" scene lends credence to how out of the box he is compared to his fellow Koreans. Uncaring about the potential outbreak of war, serious about an impractical life expectency for the North Korean Supreme Leader (which lends credence to the theories that Choi is actually a North Korean spy/defactor). The dealing with loss and pain aspects are done really well. Shin Min-ah as Gong Yun-hee, a tea-house owner that Choi meets while venturing around Gyeongju, puts in a great subtle performance fitting of the independent style film Zhang likes to do.

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Naturally, this will draw comparisons to Something In The Rain. Similar backroom staff, same male lead, similar vibe in the story but this plays out much smoothly and has a way more satifying ending. The love story is heartfelt and relatable even if you're not in the same situations. The ordeal with the parents and side characters is more bearable and fleshed out. I like that there was no real villain. Ki Seok's character is bullish and arrogant but in some way, he's still down to earth and you can feel for him at times despite the character's stalkerish tendencies. The marriage proposal was wonderfully laid out. It was so casual yet loving and perfect. Getting the kid to do it for you - a magical moment.

The acting was super strong and nuanced. I can't rag on any of the cast for their performances. Whether it was the leads or the side characters, everyone had a distinct, interesting character. Everything seemed to natural and seemless. I had no probably parashuting into this world and accepting the characters for their choices.

The soundtrack might cause a few debates. The song list is limited but the songs are memerable and add to the scenes they are used for. That's all that's required.

I think the re-watch value is in the Jung Hae-In and Han Ji Min chemistry and on-screen relationship. Every scene is worth watching with them in, from the beginning of a reluctant friendship to a blossoming relationship.

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There is something about Eric Mun making douchebags likeable and endearing.

Que Sera, Sera was an interesting drama. It tended to show the dark fringe side of someone's character. Even someone as innocent and naive as Eun-soo got darker and more stubborn as the series progressed. It’s something one should expect in a drama about jealousy-fueled emotional abuse, the hard part of love and money. That’s something that’s consistent throughout the series. It can be off putting to some viewers who may have expected more straight-foward romantic melodrama. And sometimes the story does tend to get wishy-washy at times which didn’t help things, but this was a well made - excellently directed - drama headlined by 4 actors who held up their weight to carry the story along. Kang Tae-joo is the main character we follow, eventually turning to Eun-soo as the series progresses, and quite frankly, he’s not a great person. Tae-joo is belligerent, rude and arrogant. He’s not nice to the lovely Eun-soon and messes around with her several times, and he's only really driven by having a nice, money-filled life but he's also someone who learned from his actions, has deep regrets and thoughts and becomes a better person despite his actions saying the opposite. The story of Shin Joon-hyuk is acinating. He is quite clearly the better person over Tae-Joo but due to his insecurity and jealousy towards Eun-soo and Tae-joo’s past relationship, he is just as manipulative and spiteful as the bastard Tae-joo. Cha Hye-rin is an odd duck. She is initially interesting with her unique ways of living her life but she is prolly the weakest out of the four. There isn’t a lot of character depth compared to the others. The acting was strong with Jung Yu-mi standing out to me. She had to portray a seemingly simple character that changes naturally due to her environment. She turns from someone who’s innocent, as Tae-Joo calls her, to someone who’s more knowledgeable about life, responsibility, pessimistic about love and more nihilistic in general. There are a lot of nuances that need to make this work naturally.

The story wasn’t perfect. There are some moments that are awkward and doesn’t really make a ton of sense - like Tae-joo and Eun-soo’s reunion before they spit again - but it's a show with a lot of twist and turns that are compelling, mostly.

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I liked watching it but I can't say that it's good

The story is good in theory. Clichéd? Yes. Unrealistic, even by K-Drama standards? Yes. But it's a fine story to have these characters interact with each other. However it's lacking substances and sense at times. Characters say things just because. Suggested feelings disappear suddenly (Hyun Min not being interesting in Ha Won suddenly was a total mind-f*ck for me. They set up another person to like, which is a mess of a plot by itself, but they have big relationship moments for the first quarter of the series before it's dropped). The title is misleading as there is no 4th Knight. None at all. It's a clever name but it makes no sense. It's not even hinted at as a possibility either. The family abuse plot is irritating for all the wrong reasons. I swear it was only there to draw further comparisons to the title name. One thing I do think is done well is Ji Woon's arc. Whether it be the main relationship with Ha Won or his struggle to accept that he is now apart of a rich family and has expecations to uphold, I thought that was something that you could bite on. The bastard child trying to reject his family instead of the opposite is an interesting plot. He and Ha Won work best out of the three potential guys too. Again, the Ha Won/Hyun Min plot is dropped in a jarring way to the point where the love triangle no longer exists past episode 5/6 but they went the right choice for who is more suitable. Seo Woo is a cool character. He's talented, smart, has good intentions but he does feel like a lost wheel and unnecessary as a whole. The plot is just riddled with problems. The characters are fine enough to keep you engaged for the whole runtime, even if they aren't given much depth. Oh well, at least we have Kim Yong Gun in his natural role as the malignant CEO Kang to keep some consistency.

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I imagine most of you reading this have never heard of this show, despite its popularity or have heard it in passing. To be fair, its name ‘First Love’ is about as vague and non descript as you can get, but my issues with the names of k-drama’s aside, I’ll continue on with my point. First Love was a huge success in 1996. So much in fact that it’s the second HIGHEST RATED drama of all time. It avarged 52.6% of Korean audiences throughout its run which was 66 episodes (50 minutes each). Huge. At one point, it had a peak audience of 65.8%. Imagine 65% of a country that owns a TV watching something. Despite this, it didn’t get many awards. The only one I could find at first glance (and I mean first glance) was a popularity award for Bae Yong-joon (Winter Sonata), who only got more popular from here and is well known. If there is any 90s K-Drama star well known today, it’s likely him. One thing I’d like to address is that synopsis on wikipedia and other places. Some of it is incorrect. It implies a love triangle between the brothers, which is false. There is one but not with Bae Yong-joon’s character, Sung Chan-woo. Rather it's between Sung Chan-hyuk (Choi Soo-jong, Emperor of the Sea) and Park Sung-won (Sandglass or It's Beautiful Now - something more recent that was popular). Chan-woo had liked Lee Hyo-kyung (Lee Seung-yeon) as a kid and decided to push those aside fairly quickly. Spoilers, Chan-woo and Hyo-kyung hardly speak during the time where Chun-hyuk is disabled. So I’m not sure what those people watched but it wasn’t this show.

The story is part love story and part revenge story. It’s largely about a brewing romance that begins between two kids well into their adulthood that is constantly challenged and thwarted by Hyo-kyung’s uncle and father, who do everything without resorting to murder to keep them apart due to their class differences. He is sent to the arm, beat up, forced to run away and even disabled via a car accident. In the background, Chan-woo struggles to get through law school due to financial difficulties and family problems, flirting with a brewing romance of his own with Kang Suk-hee (Choi Ji-woo, Stairway To Heaven) that is sadly underdeveloped, although a really interesting sub plot of the show, which makes it a pain that it didn’t really lead anywhere despite small glimpses of what could be. Chan-woo goes on his own path on revenge and that is that. He eventually succeeded, all while learning forgiveness and all that good hearted crap.

The Chan-woo character is the heart of the show and carries it through its lulls, which this definitely has. The pacing of the plot was too heavy in the beginning and the end and not enough during the 35-45 stage. There were plenty where little took place or developments were repeated for brevity sake. The introduction of a side character called Ju Jung-nam (Son Hyun-joo, The Good Detective) allowed more depth for the Chan-ock, the sister and some plot outside of the main story. It was entertaining but the plot was a little all over the place. You never knew where he stood with Chan-ock. It was back and forward. If I had to continue talking about the side characters, the characters were fine but the stories often went nowhere. 66 episodes and none of them felt completed. Shame. Not crippling to the show but disappointing. Nevertheless, the overarching story was interesting enough to hook me into actually completing the show. I’ve struggled to complete 12 episode dramas before, and I tend to like those. So it must have been good. The story isn’t totally tight from episode to episode but they rarely are. Of course, the acting generally is what attracts people and Bae Yong-joon, Choi Soo-jong, Park Sung-won are great as leading men throughout this. Lee Seung-yeon is fine as the main lead. She can do a nice cry scene. I think she was a more interesting character when trying to portray a teenager. Perhaps it’s because her role was more intertwined with Choi Soo-jong. Park Sung-won really captured my attention for Sandglass and he was really good in his friendly other man role. He had a few plots where he had to show a more depressive, conflicted state and it was captured well. The star is Bae Yong-joon, easily. He’s really good in anything, even if some of his later works are a tad melodramatic for my preference. And this is just the start.

The music in the show changes between classic folksy music to more contemporary tunes. Nothing amazing. Not a patch on Sandglass which has a fantastic, iconic OST (check it out) but there are some ear wigglers here and there.

Recommended. While not amazing, it’s a good show with a strong leading man and a couple of solid side characters. And while I’ve not mentioned it much, the antagonists were solid too. And their comeuppance is sweet.

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This could’ve been yet another quasi-snuff film, instead we get a cult classic

Right, we don’t need yet another key observation regarding the graphic violence, both phiscially and sexually, in the film. But what does need to be brought to attention and be a bigger talking point is how hilarious Ichi The Killer is at times. I’m serious as well. The film blends the tone differently depending on where in the film but in the final scenes, the climax of the film has some brilliant comedic moments. Kaneko’s son booting Ichi on the floor was a legitimate laugh out loud moment. And the actual stand-off between Ichi and Kakihara is very cartoonish. Yet another big laughing moment was Kakihara trying to bring an injured Ichi to his feet, only for Ichi to collapse under the pain once more, much to his disappointment. It’s purposely lacklustre rather than being a big dramatic fight to the death; it’s bold and admirable in that way. Enough about Kakihara and Ichi, what about Jijii’s muscular body? I’m dead.

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Looking at Kim Dae Hwan’s filmography, I see that he had an appearance in the Sageuk, Jang Hee Bin and this is his second film (first being with him writing behind it). It’s clearly a cheap production with a hand held camera for even the tracking scenes but the amateurish camera work adds credibility to the realistic story of two soon to be parents that are forced to meet each other's parents, both of whom have a tense relationship with. There is a bit of a social difference between the two but that doesn’t play too much into the story, only serving to put a slightly wider wedge between Ji Young (Kim Sae-byuk, The Woman Who Ran) and Ji Young’s mother, who pushes Ji Young into doing things that she can brag about to her friends. And likewise for Su-hyun (Jo Hyun-chu, Inspector Koo) and his father, only the difference being that his verbally abusive father thinks it's a step to being a man, likely revealing why the son doesn’t see his family. The family greetings turn from pleasant to awkward very quickly. But the couple are great together. Both are mature and will talk things out when there are disagreements. Both are understanding when it comes to each other’s families. And then in the end, they were happy in their fates, just walking among the nightlife of the city.

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A suicidal road trip taken by a drunken ex-civil servant (Asano Tadanobu) and a depressed bar hostess (Koizumi Kyoko) proves to be threputic and life changing but it takes a while to get there. There is drug taking (sleeping pills, mind you), painful reminiscing and drinking. Lots of drinking. The flashbacks peel back the layers of our characters and what led them to this path, doing it in a backwards manner similar to the structure of insomnia, which only added to the tragic events. Eventually we get a happy ending to the story. A mother changes her life and gets her kid back while a drunk feels satisfied for the first time in a long time without needing the influence of alcohol. I like to think that they eventually would meet up again and become happy together but being happy separately is just as fine an ending as any.

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Wow, I did it! I completed all 81 episodes. A daunting task initially but the time really flies by once you begin it. Now other sageuks lengths - 40-50 episode spans - will seem easier. And I suggest that people do the same. Apply it to family dramas as well. Jump right into the deep end if you have apprehensive thoughts about long dramas. It’ll make everything else seem easier. Of course, they will have to be great shows with fantastic, strong storytelling and characterization which Jumong excels at.

I’m not entirely sure when the episode count was extended but the pacing was quicker as a result. Being initially a 60 episode Sageuk, the typical first arc where they lay the foundation of our main character’s beginnings - which in this case was the story of Hae Mo-su (Heo Joon-ho) and his demise - is done in a shorter manner than an 81 episode Sageuk would’ve devoted to it. There were other examples of that shown throughout Jumong. There was something always happening throughout the episodes. There weren’t many “filler” episodes or ones that didn’t move the plot forward in a progressive way. That ultimately made the show more watchable and enjoyable.
The characters and character development is the strongest part of Jumong. There were plenty of rich, deep characters with plenty of history to work with and explore. Jumong is based slightly on the tales of myths and true reality but it blends it well together to portray a historically accurate show while retaining the mythos of some of the characters, such as the Jumong himself (Song Il-gook).

Let’s start with Jumong. The show first shows him as a bitter disappointment compared to his true Father. Jumong starts to harass a Palace Maid, Bu-young, who is very keen to get away from the situation - presenting himself as a bit of a creep. However, after going through several trials of self-discovery, including finding out his ancestry and meeting the right people to guide him along the way, he forms himself into being a true warrior, an almost deity-like figure who leads his people to constant victory. And because of the myth around him, he is presented with little weaknesses for most of the show. This may stun a few people because often vulnerability is the biggest cause for sympathy by viewers but they opt for the opposite instead. I enjoyed the fresh coat of storytelling, honestly. He had strong bonds with several characters including Hae Mo-su, So Seo-no (Han Hye-jin) and King Geum-wa (Jun Kwang-ryul). All of these relationships are very well developed and represent pivotal character moments for the Jumong character. However, there is one relationship that somewhat failed to be represented, and it’s the one with his first wife, Lady Ye So-ya (Song Ji-hyo). Their relationship was supposed to mirror the relationship between Lady Yuh-wa (Oh Yeon-soo) - their initial meeting was the exact same - but everything after seemed to be very hollow. The writing preferred to use it more as a purpose to keep Jumong and So Seo-no apart due to the historical factor and there wasn’t much else afterwards since they were rarely seen together afterwards. And this made the final arc of Jumong not as effective as a result. A stronger foundation would’ve made the conclusion that much more compelling. Not that I didn’t care or hated it. It was a clear inferior aspect of the show, to me.

On to the second big character arc, I wish to explore - King Geum-wa. The King went through very stages of himself. Introduced as a brave prince, friends with Hae Mo-su, then becoming a strong King that was wise before losing himself to hypocrisy, power and jealousy when he essentially showed his true feelings towards his step-child and his old friend’s cause. He was sympathetic and hateful. The story allowed me, as a viewer, to root for him to re-take power away from the Crown Prince Dae-so (Kim Seung-soo), while being frustrated at his downward spiral of emotions towards Jumong and his Mother. I didn’t expect the character progression to go the way it did but it was one of the most compelling stories of Jumong.

And it would be unfair of me to end this review without discussing the main antagonist, Dae-so. He is surprisingly nicer than history would suggest but his role as the unloved older brother made his actions predictable. He would challenge Jumong every step of the way, trying to kill him before he could pose a threat and then become obsessed with beating him in battle throughout. The development of Dae-so isn’t as complex as the first two, but the strong sense of emotion boils through. His turmoil with the power struggle against the King and flirting with becoming a tyrant before finally maturing into a more sensible, prideful King, as his Father had always wished for him to be, was a subtle development that may go under the viewer's eyes. However, I thought it was a good choice for the character.

One of the main themes of Jumong was the sense of going full circle and mirroring each other. I mentioned earlier in the review about one thing mirroring each other but the three prince relationship of Jumong, Dae-so and Young-po (Won Ki-joon) comes back again with the Princes of Goguryeo. Plus on a minor note, the friends of Prince Yuri reminded me of Oh-i (Yeo Ho-min), Ma-ri (Ahn Jeong-hoon) and Hyeop-bo (Im Dae-ho). Perhaps I’m just projecting but that was my first thought.

This is a long review for a long show and I’ve still not really covered the tragic tale of Lady Yuh-wa or the loveable yet detestable Young-po (and how even he grows and matures) and I only really covered the scale of the romance between Jumong and So Seo-no - which covers a lot of the first half of the show - as well as the other supporting characters that we are introduced to.

But that is Jumong. If you like sageuks with strong characters, a lot of battles and politics, that surprisingly wasn’t the usual drab that the sageuks that cover the Joseon era dramas, and a bit of romance. This does that. Fantastical elements are prevalent but not overwhelming as this is down to earth. The acting was key as was the writing. I find it hard to pick at its weaknesses. Watch it.

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Sometimes, there is nothing more enjoyable to watch than a cheaply made Korean Romantic TV Series. The genre doesn't always produce gems but that's fine because most of them are perfectly solid shows that I can sit and waste a week on. Something about 1 Perfect is one of those shows. It's not got a ton of depth to it. The workplace group are a bunch of interesting characters who don't get as much screen time as they should, there is more to be explored regarding Lee Jae In's background (his mother, father, etc). However, the strength of the main characters is so strong and compelling that it didn't need any other plot points to be a fun show; explosive chemistry and strong performances to bring their character traits to life.

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I liked this but it's flawed in how it progresses the story, in that it doesn't really do that. Things happen to keep things moving but they don't really change anything to an extent. Any story growth is artifical. The body swapping story is actually really hilarious and the actors involve do a superb job at conveying the comedic elements of it. Although Han Ji-Won does a much better job at matching Hyun-Bin's Joo-won than Hyun-Bin does her character, Ra-Im. Hyun-Bin opts for a generic girl rather than what her character actually is but it's amusing all the same. However, the problem lies, just as it does in all other body swapping shows, they end it far too early and they return to it once too many and I just stop caring. Yoon Sang-Hyun's Oska was a treat to watch but his plot wasn't interesting and Kim Sa-rang didn't hold up her performance. She was flat the whole time.

Hyun-Bin's characters tend to be complete pricks, which he is good at doing (so good that he's mostly type casted as one when he has range) and his character is defitely toxic but I totally get his plight. He is unsure of his true feelings and it would be reckless of him to throw away his career and very being to be with a women that he has a connection with but doesn't fully love, yet. His hesitation and confliction was one of the strongest aspects of Secret Garden for me.

Also one of my favourite scenes is the scene where Im Ah-young (Yoo In-Na) brings her "best friend" to a dinner date set up by Joo-Wan, only for it not to be Ra-Im but someone who we've barely being introduced. Hyun-Bin's reactions are genuinely one of the most funniest things I've seen from a Korean TV Series.

Comedy is on point. The characters are all good but the story lets it down in the end.

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Never had Hong Sangsoo projected himself onto one of his films more so than Like You Know It All. I truly believe that Director Hong sees himself as a self loathing, destructive man child. This is a quite hateful film with any interaction Director Ku has with people ending in pain and suffering. Seemingly empty words and gestures that Ku doesn't think much of have a grave effect on those around him. Director Ku somehow within a month inadvertently allows a rape take place, crushes his friend’s wife's spirit and then exposes the boring marriage for what it is. And despite it all, nothing is gained. The only take away Ku takes from his encounters is that no one understands his films because he doesn't understand himself. The sweetest thing that transpired was the camera lingering on a playful couple in the pool while Director Ku starts to gain some hope in his life reading the note Ko Soon wrote him, which is scuppered when reality comes crashing down upon him. This is one of Hong Sangsoo's more beautiful films. It's only appropriate that it's also his most scathing.

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A touching, sad comedy. Bring on the clichés about needing some Kleenex because there is a charm to the film and it turns dark, very dark, taking you by surprise. The relationship building between the stoic Chul Soo and Sun Jin constantly puts a smile on my face whether it's them at the Batting Range or when Chul Soo stops Sun Jin’s purse from being robbed, even the initial meeting where the coke is stolen although it's not said which. The main plot of the whole film is a dark contrast to the rest of the film but I think that it's one of the film's strongest moments. The director’s choice of cutting random images within frames and changing the camera position ever so slightly gave the audience a rather authentic feel about what Alzheimer's is. As much as you can imagine.

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Hong Sang-soo, despite his ways and habit of making his films the same in all, but plot, was able to trick the audience into falling into “this is a dream trap”for the ending by showing us a tell, only to have Not Min Jung come into frame. The film was a puzzle that I had trouble figuring out and I didn't expect a happy reunion between the two main characters, especially in the film that usually leads to sad endings or wrong life choices. I believe that Not Min Jung and Yeong Soo meeting at the end signified their pure love for each other. Min Jung drank with many men - wolves - that she met but, like she said, they didn't fit hence why Min Jung was crying at the end. She realised she truly loved Yeong Soo. Her denying that she wasn't Min Jung was her shedding her old attitude and was a restart, something that Yeong- Soo was absolutely desperate for as well. The ending scene was so sweet in many ways. The first scene we saw the two in had the two arguing and unhappy but they climaxed with happy and flushed faces like the happy couple they wanted to be.

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