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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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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