Arthdal Chronicles Part 2: The Sky Turning Inside Out, Rising Land
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Political intrigue with a lil bit of unionism snuck in too :)
~Review of Part II only~And here the plot thickens! We have emerged from the initial shock of invasion and now must deal with the logic of Arthdal. We are introduced to new characters and the storylines are separated for most of these six episodes.
Normally, I don't enjoy multi-perspective narratives because you almost always end up hating one storyline. But this was a rare exception for me – I thought they were interesting and well paced. It's a balancing act you don't see done effectively in cinema often enough.
Also big yay for the unionism :) We love worker solidarity.
As I mentioned in my interview for Part I, one thing I like about Arthdal Chronicles is how it treats spiritual agency. By spiritual agency, I mean the role of the spiritual world (rather than necessarily 'religion' because that's often associated with a man-made institution). This is the first piece of historical fiction I've seen to treat the spiritual world as a legitimate agent and as a political tool at the same time. Too often, historical fiction sees a belief in a spiritual world and then a political cynicism of religion to be mutually exclusive.
However, as seen in the characters of Tagon, Taheala and Tanya, they all have belief (of varying degrees) in higher powers but also will use those higher powers – and their religious institutions – for their own ends. I have a sneaking suspicion I'm probably the only person who's watched this series who cares about this point, but I'm a politics nerd, ok? (But if that does catch your interest, I do recommend reading Provincializing Europe by Dipesh Chakrabarty and where he critiques secular histories.)
Don't get me wrong, Arthdal Chronicles isn't perfect. One big downside for me was I started noticing in this section of the series that the music can be a bit lacklustre at times. I can't remember if it was in Part II or Part III but there were some awkward audio cuts too.
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A standard revenge-romance watch with some poor taste (CW: mention of rape)
Normally, I don't care about watching rich people deal with rich people problems, but there was just enough happening to pull me through all eight episodes. The strong acting provided support where the plot failed to provide substantial meat on bone. I think the writers had a good preliminary concept here but just failed to bring it to its full potential.However, what bugged me thoughout the entire show was the 'woman lies about being raped' trope. First, it falls into the sexist myth of 'if a woman claims rape, she is most likely lying'. Of course, this is not true. I don't know international stats, but in Australia, studies find, on average, only 5% of rape allegations are found to be false (and remember, most survivor/victims don't report and so aren't in the data). In other words, when someone says they've been raped, they're very very very likely to be telling the truth.
Second, the show refuses to grapple with the fact that someone can co-exist as a survivor/victim *and* as a bad human being. As far as characterisation goes, it meant the writers could draw an easy 'good/bad' line between the main characters. Thus, not only did the 'good' character not owe the 'bad' character any pity , but the 'good' character's own refusal to believe the rape claim goes unchallenged throughout all eight episodes.
Apart from that, I did enjoy this series as an easy watch. It was actually a lot of fun once I stopped taking it too seriously.
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Don't take it too seriously – it's a fun mixed genre Young Adult drama
The Ghost Bride has its faults but what drew me in was the rich world-building. I've never watched anything set in historical Malaysia before nor had I ever encountered the idea of 'ghost brides' before reading the YA novel this series derives from. Those two elements plus the Underworld setting meant that I wasn't too fussed about the characters because the variety of settings became fascinating characters in their own right.I think other reviews have assessed the actual characters well. Special mention goes to Chris Wu just because of his range: I've now seen him perform beautifully in huge different roles in Ghost Bride, Autumn's Concerto, and Shards of Her. Boy, can he act!
I think it is important to remember that this is meant for a younger audience. I was more forgiving than I would normally be about the lack of depth for some of the characters because of the 'Young Adult' genre. There tends to be a certain naîve sheen that comes with that. Normally, I'd be critiquing the class politics too – notice how Amah and Lao Wong are uncritically loyal to the Pan family – but, again, it's a YA audience in mind so I can understand how it could've complicated the story too much.
Overall, this is a fun mystery/fantasy drama with a touch of romance that strays just far enough away from usual YA tropes to stand on its own two legs.
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Super problematic but still rewatched it like 6 times
I'm pretty sure this was the first non-English language drama I ever watched – I was 12 yo when Summer's Desire came out and a friend at school was watching it. I've rewatched it a handful of times since. But I think just because it was the first ever Taiwanese drama I'd watched, not because it was particularly good. I can't deny this is my most re-watched drama, hence the generous star number there.Look, be warned, this drama has heaps of problematic elements to it. Ok, I'm understating that a lot. I've given this a low rating because this drama has nothing to do with love and everything to do with coercive control. so **big content warning** there. There's no rape scenes thankfully, but it's clear that consent is not a big priority.
Also, as other reviews have noted, this drama is brimming with clichés. Turns out, it was a great drama to begin with because it introduced me to almost all the tropes of Taiwanese and C-Dramas in one go. I also think it took at least three re-watches for me to fully understand the plotline. But, let's be real, you're not watching Summer's Desire for the plot.
The chemistry between the three lead actors is really well done (somewhat despite a sub-par performance from Barbie Hsu who doesn't match her Meteor Garden efforts). The actors do pretty darn well in spite of the cliché characters and dialogue. The support actors also do well to provide emotional depth to the storyline.
The OST is great and makes up for the fact the overall audio quality is a bit patchy (this seemed to be a common thing among Taiwanese dramas of this era, I've now noticed). Just weird audio levels around dialogue and general atmosphere.
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A satire that becomes the thing its parodying
EDIT: Came back to drop this from a 7.5 to 6.5 when i remembered that weirdly homophobic episode from the first half.The way I was bawling my eyes out with laughter for the first dozen or so episodes and then.... stopped. A Dream Within A Dream starts off as a fkn hilarious satire aimed at Chinese costume drama fans like myself. After having been let down a while ago by My Only Love Song – a Kdrama with a similar premise to ADWAD but terrible execution – I was ready to be hurt again.
Was I hurt? Yes. But only after thoroughly enjoying the first half of this series. And because the start was so good, I was uncharacteristically forgiving about the narrative trajectory for the rest of it (hence the weirdly high rating). A lot of times I was laughing at scenes in the middle episodes because I was viewing them through a satirical lens, even though the parody elements kinda fell off the wagon around the mid way point. There was also just enough small gags to keep me going to the end, but not without disengaging from major chunks of the storyline along the way.
The problem is that ADWAD ultimately folds in on itself. It becomes what it was parodying. And despite some attempts to salvage some of the humour and satire at the end, it never truly recovers.
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Graphic war film with a focus on photography
Dead to Rights is a traditional war film. War movies are not my usual cup of tea, but as a photographer myself, I was interested in the photographic element of the story.Honestly, there’s a lot I could say about this film but won’t, because that critique is more of war films as a genre rather than anything special about Dead to Rights. The only thing I will note here before talking about the photography element of the storyline, is that I believe accusations of propaganda against this film are a bit redundant. All war films are propaganda. It doesn’t matter whether you’re watching Dead to Rights or Gallipoli, you can’t expect the genre to have no political motive.*
The initial drawcard for me was how Dead to Rights depicted the use of photography in war and atrocities. A lot of films I’ve watched that feature photographer characters normally position them as a truth-teller. One example that comes to mind given its narrative similarities is The Photographer of Mauthausen (Spanish, 2018) which tells the story of real-life Spanish concentration camp prisoner, Francois Boix, who took photographs at the camp, the negatives of which he hid until liberation and were ultimately used to prosecute the Nazis.
Dead to Rights was a little different because, while it had a photography-as-truth protagonist, it also used the Japanese military photographer as a foil. Although not delicately handled, I at least appreciated that the film attempted to go beyond the usual narrative of photography-as-truth. Even the Chinese characters seemed less interested in journalistic style documentation**, and more so in using the photographs as an act of resistance.
But all in all, I think the film did ultimately fall back on the simplistic photography-as-truth trope. It was made clear that scenes in the film were derived from the photographic archive of the Nanjing massacre. This also meant that that the film ended up trapped, I suspect willingly, in a paradox that Susan Sontag describes of war photography:
“The photograph gives mixed signals. Stop this, it urges. But it also exclaims, What a spectacle!”
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*Of course, propaganda films aren’t just limited to war films, although this genre is one of the more blatant forms.
**I should mention that, citing Sontag again, war photography as critical documentation – rather than as morale-boosting PR – didn’t really come into the fore until the Vietnam War.
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Snail's pace and straight-laced
Looks guys I really tried, ok. On paper, I should've loved Nirvana in Fire. Political intrigue + costume drama + solid acting = yum yum yum. But unfortunately, I never got pulled in the storyline.None of the main characters provided me with an emotional hook. This was further exacerbated by the plot hinging so much around serving justice for a dead guy who we barely see on-screen. While there were little bits of moral ambiguity sprinkled throughout, I think our protagonist and his allies were just too straight-laced for my liking. Lawful good type characters paired with some incredibly slow pacing meant I had well and truly lost interest in events by halfway through.
Consequently, this ended up being a really good show to put on in the background while at the gym. I could do a whole set and watch the TV during my breaks. My biceps have grown a lot bigger in the time it took me to finish off this series lol
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Not sure what the director was trying to achieve here
To be fair, I did only see the second half of The Last Emperor. I was flicking around for something to watch at 1am and this was playing on SBS World Movies. For those of you familiar with SBS, you would know that this is the only true way to properly experience SBS movies.Admittedly, I initially thought Joan Chen's Empress was the protagonist. Partially, because she was the feature of the scene I came in halfway through, but also because she had the strongest presence on screen. Honestly, what a diva. Recognised her immediately due to having watched Ruyi's Royal Love in the Palace so many times.
Otherwise, this film just gave weird old-school Hollywood vibes (yes, yes, I know he's Italian, whatever...). First of all, did this seriously need to be almost entirely in English?? Like I get that Western audiences are racist, but if they've chosen to watch a movie about the last emperor of China, I feel like they can handle some Mandarin, y'know? Plus, you have the lethargic orchestral score, and then the weird flattening of Evil Japanese and then Evil Maoists...well, it all left a bland taste in the mouth.
Needless to say, I'm really not inspired to go back and watch the first half. Cheers.
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Where simple storytelling draws you in
For the record, I don't give out 10 star ratings lightly. In fact, I think this is my first one on this site.Liway isn't particularly intricate in its storytelling or production. It tells the story of a couple of freedom fighters who are imprisoned with their two kids under the Marcos regime. But its simplicity is Liway's greatest strength.
The plain storytelling works so well for two reasons. One, the characters are rich and tactile. The actors do an incredible job in demonstrating what make each character tick, their fears, and their raison d'être. It makes them feel incredibly human and incredibly real.
And thus reason two: the story is a true one. The punch of this really follows through in the epilogue and credits where the connections between the film and real life are made explicit. I already knew about the big reveal at the end before watching Liway, but it still hit me emotionally like a tonne of bricks.
All in all, despite the occasional cliché (though these are done well) and a little heavy-handedness with the music, I think Liway does have an important place. The emotional weight of the storytelling aside, releasing this film during Duterte's presidency – and having watched it now with Marcos Jnr in power – really highlights the necessity of stories like this in contributing to collective memory.
And, yes, you will need a tissue box for this one.
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This review may contain spoilers
Ok but i need u to understand that construction bosses are the Real Villains
School kids gang up on a classmate and torture her to the brink of death. Not because of any personal hatred but rather as the because they are the rich elite exploiting their power over others. We not only despite these teens for their cruelty but also their flippancy; their indifferent disregard for another person's life.So riddle me this: Why is Ha Do Young spared?
Sure, he at no point is involved in the violence and bullying. You might argue that he innocent, just like his daughter. I would argue otherwise. In fact, I would argue that this is the central contradiction and disappointment of The Glory.
His daughter is a child. But Ha Do Young is a construction boss*. Let that sink in. A. Construction. Boss. You ever heard of one of those who *hasn't* indirectly committed industrial manslaughter? Who hasn't used the poor, working class as fodder for profits? You think how he achieved immense wealth is *innocent*?
Construction bosses like Ha Do Young are far more scary a villain than a bunch of rich teens. He does not need to hold a heated rod himself in order to inflict lifelong scars. But that's ok I guess! The FL decides to take revenge *personally*, even if the motivation of her torturers wasn't personal at all.
And honestly, that approach from the writers makes sense. The Glory is escapism (torture porn aside). In the world of The Glory, injustice *can* be righted. Of course, this is only achievable when the violence is boiled down to the individual level rather than as a result of social structures. To suspend that disbelief, Ha Do Young remains unblemished and unscathed.
All this to say: my itch was not scratched! Either you provide a) individual motivations for the rich kids to have bullied the FL or b) pure class warfare. It's that easy :P
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*The construction industry is one of the worst for workplace deaths. It is the employer's responsibility to ensure a safe working environment for workers. Just last week, half a dozen Korean construction workers died in a fire likely originating from materials on site: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/2/14/at-least-6-killed-in-fire-at-south-korean-hotel-construction-site
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Took me FIVE YEARS to slog through this drama
In the time it has taken me to scrape and crawl through this drama I have:– Lived through 5 Covid lockdowns
– Changed jobs 4 times
– Moved house 3 times
– Learnt 2 semesters of Mandarin, and
– Breathed the 1 biggest sigh of relief when I reached the credits of the final episode.
Class dynamics, who even is she? I'm a hard agree with Graeme Smith who describes this version of Meteor Garden as "unwatchable". In his article for The Interpreter, he says, "A drama about class divisions set in present-day China – where class divisions aren’t up for discussion – was never going to work."
It's true. Everyone in the series looks like they're acting in a laundry commercial. The sets are sparkly clean, all the actors have amazing teeth, and there is no way Shancai would be able to survive off the occasional shift she does at the bubble tea store.
By removing the class tensions that drove the Taiwanese version (and that was still relatively sanitised – it is a soap opera, after all), the creators gutted the life out of the drama.
It's also just hella boring. I felt no chemistry in any of the romantic relationships. I didn't particularly care about anyone's fate. And I say this as someone who *loves* championing an underdog. But because the class divisions "aren't up for discussion", Shancai isn't really an underdog. And so I found it hard to care much about her so-called struggles.
It got to the point where I was using diversions to keep myself watching. One fun game was tracking the disappearances and re-appearances of Daoming Si's earring/s. It was like playing Spotto with continuity errors.
For the sake of pushing through the last dozen episodes, I put the playback on 1.5x speed (as fast as Netflix would let me), which added an unintended comedic element. It also demonstrated how much screen time went to waste.
However, I'm going to be reeeeeally nice and end on a couple of (backhanded) positives. I did appreciate the music covers and the cameos from the Taiwanese version (but this is nostalgia and should be attributed to the 2001 series). I did also enjoy bits of Darren Chen's performance as Huaze Lei. He made the character seem almost complex, particularly in comparison to the cardboard cutouts that accompanied him on screen.
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And that, kids, is how you unionise!
From that start, the plot didn't feel right. Why would a domestic servant have any real romantic feelings for their master? So needless to say the final episode was a big 'ah now that makes sense' moment.That said, as much as I enjoy lower class insurgency and rooting for underdogs, the plotline was terribly executed. Because it spent more time delving into the backstories of the Evil Masters Of The House more than the servants, you had very little sense of who the servants were as human beings.
I understand why the storyline worked that way. It would've been very hard to explore Khaimook's character in-depth, for example, without giving away the big plot twist. However, it does mean the ending feels shallow. Sure – I want these people to land on top. But only on principle. Not because I feel any sentimental attachment to the individuals themselves.
Also, just as a heads up, this series does stray into torture porn territory at times. You can skip those scenes: it's lazy writing and doesn't really contribute much overall.
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