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hard life of high school girl
The movie is better then i though. I was expecting a B level movie made just for the message or the practice of some new talents, but i found the message of the movie very compelling and the final production was not bad at all. The actors were decent (even though the extras were funny entering and exiting the scene to try to make it more believable), the story had more dimensions with side characters and there were some very emotional moments, especially the last scene where ... oh, no spoilers.The movie is a high-school drama and a tragic death mystery. The mystery elements serve the story well, slowly revealing more information and so increasing the interest until the end. I was especially attentive since i saw it without english subtitles and had to concentrate to understand some dialogue but certainly i missed few things due to not being able to understand everything. so if you'll give this movie a try, stick with it until the end.
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Beware how you use a gun
First of all, I had no expectations about the movie and I didn’t know what kind of movie this is before watching it. It turns out to be a psychological thriller drama so if that is what you are ready for, this is a gem. But if you expect some intense action, twists and turns, shocks and thrills, you might be disappointed.Before watching the movie it came to my mind that Kim Ki-duk was making a movie about a gun, so if anything I was interested in the role of a revolver for this movie. Silently I hoped to see a little bit of Kim Ki-duk genre and I would say that I got it. Director Oh Seung-uk is exploring the human psychology in a unique way by showing us a few distinct characters and their clashing with one another. Revolver is still here to push them a little further than they would normally go. The story is simple but is developing in an intriguing way, actors are superb, the production and visuals truly excellent.
I remember the movie “Shameless” from the same director with a similar casting and a similar tone. And I saw other projects he worked on, but they are too few. I see here that all of them have a score around 7 but for me they are all 9 or 10/10. That means I am a fan.
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"Only I" instead of "Nessun dorma"
I know Turandot. It is a famous opera with the even more famous aria “Nessun dorma,” but I actually didn’t know the full story until I watched this musical. The Korean Turandot, even as a movie, lacks the grand orchestration and the exotic, epic staging of the original opera, but in its own way it offers a fresh take on the story, blending pop, rock, and ballad elements in the music.The acting here is a bit… well, let’s just say theatrical. Since this is a film, I expected more detailed scenes with wide, cinematic shots, but the way it’s presented makes it feel as if we’re watching a stage production rather than a movie.
But the most important thing is the music, and it was very good. All the spoken parts felt a bit slow, but the musical numbers became more and more enjoyable as I listened, and right now I’m also listening to the OST. So, in short: this is not really a movie, and it’s not an opera either, but it’s a very nice musical with some great songs (for example, “Only I – 오직 나만이”) and an emotional touch that celebrates love overcoming tears and curses.
P.S. The OST of this musical is going straight onto my playlist.
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Too late for a Happy Land
Recently, I’ve started going blindly into new Korean movies, and I’m glad I didn’t read the synopsis for this one on this site, because it reveals something that had a big impact on me while watching the movie. So I hope you can also watch it with a clear mind and just let go to enjoy it as much as I did. For me, this is almost a perfect action thriller, and after watching it, I became interested in reading the novel as well.It’s enough to know that the main character is a female assassin. Although she’s a woman and old, her strength and skill were quite believable—except maybe in the final act, where things got a bit exaggerated. But it still worked within the spirit of the movie. The heroine’s name is important, and it changes throughout the story as we see her in different stages of her life.
The story flows quickly, with intense, brutal, and sometimes hard-to-watch fight scenes. So for action-genre lovers, this movie has all the right ingredients: masterful and serious action, a compelling and interesting story, and even a thoughtful drama about the value of life. The producers and actors managed to make us care about the characters, feel their pain, and ultimately hope for a better future.
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Ah those noisy neighbors
A very well-structured movie with a mix of genres and a nice, heart-warming story. The movie begins as a weird, absurd comedy about a noisy woman with too much time on her hands, who sticks her nose into other people’s business, fighting for order and justice. The main plot follows her as she faces a new challenge in a large apartment complex, where there is a mysterious noise issue of unknown origin. The movie offers plenty of comical moments, but also intense scenes where it almost becomes a thriller. Yet behind it all lies a very pleasant drama.The character of the noisy woman (An Keo-eul) in a noisy mansion was very interesting, and all the other characters have distinct, anecdotal personalities that give us a lot to enjoy. They remind us of our own issues and prejudices with our neighbors.
I really liked how the movie managed to connect all the details into a convincing and unexpected resolution. So for me, everything worked — the mystery, the comedy, the characters, the whole movie. This is a film I could recommend to everyone.
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Drama Special Season 15: To My Lonely Sister
2 people found this review helpful
Who is the lonely sister?
This is a tale of two sisters that deeply care for each other but ... still feel lonely. The main actress playing Haneul (Heaven) carries the drama all on her self but the big emotional impact is made with all of the characters together. I think this drama touched my heart and the heart of other viewers because it explores the topic of loneliness which is very relatable and also reveals a deep truth about humans and that is that we need to believe that everyone is doing the best he can.And this is also the finale of Drama Special Season 15, the shortest season to date and I saw every episode so far (all 230 of them). This season was just too short but all the episodes continue to be original and go into new interesting and educative topics. This series is always a refreshing watch and I will continue to support it.
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Do you know what your neighbor is doing?
Living in an apartment where you can hear what's going on with your neighbors through the walls is the everyday life of many people. And of course, when you hear sounds and you don't know what they are, you start imagining different things. I'll never forget one night when I couldn't sleep because the neighbor above me was moving furniture at midnight, and I thought it was a real earthquake. This is also the premise of this film. A young woman who is pursuing a writing career is disturbed by the sounds from the neighbor's apartment, but interestingly, no one else is bothered by it. I liked that for the greater part of the film, as viewers, we remain in ignorance and suspense because we ourselves question what is really happening. Later, when all the elements are revealed, the film shifts the emphasis to another topic, so until the end there is something that keeps us attentive to the plot. But saying more would mean to spoil te movie.The movie isn't bad, and I liked that it didn't try to over-inflate the tension. It tries to be as realistic as possible, and yet arouse interest in the viewers due to the slowly developing plot. I have some objections to the decisions and actions of the main characters, which seem illogical to me, but all in all, this is a solid film that turns from a social drama at the beginning into a tense thriller at the end.
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Strange finger
The movie is almost 20 minutes long but it was over in an instant. The background for the story is the loud TV program with commercials and news about current issues in the Korean society. And then there is this chopped finger found at the parking place.I have seen people cutting and chopping and losing fingers in many Korean movies. Most recently in the movie "Hopeless". I even remember the news about some Koreans chopping off their own finger in protest against Japan. But the main question here is: what can you do with a finger? Apparently, a lot but nothing worthy. Maybe this is an allegory on how we are interested in the lives of other people but at the end we can only live our own life.
So this short movie is very strange. I didn't understand it but i liked it.
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Live up to your Name
Wow. This is quality cinema. The story was in moments confusing for me so maybe i should watch it again, but it got me to think a lot. That is because the movie shows many layers of society and reality. You think that you understand what is going on but you are not aware of the play that is conditioning the main characters, and maybe even those who control him are unknowingly controlled and influenced by someone else.The synopsis says that the main character Lee Man-jae sold his name to survive so this is not a spoiler. And throughout the move his name will have a central role of the story as he tries to get a hold of all the things that happened to him. What value does our name has? This movie shows that without your name you might be alive but you are actually dead.
In one moment the movie gives us a message that goes something like this: "Even if you haven't sinned, you have a sin because it is sin if you didn't do anything." I am not sure how this connects with the story of the movie so if someone can help I would appreciate it. Nevertheless, this is a strong and true statement that it is better to do something and fail (sin) than to not do anything.
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Real Story
I am sued to watch the actor Ra Min-ran in comedic roles. Here her talent shines through as a hard working single mother who got scammed for her life savings. So instead of making us laugh she makes us sympathize with her struggle for her children, job, money, in fact for her life. Her acting is so sincere that I forgot that this is only a movie. I felt sorry for her situation as if she was my neighbor. Also the other actors are very good. And there are also characters who bring a little bit of humor and cheerfulness so that the movie wouldn’t be too depressing.I like this kind of movies where the story captures you from the start and continues to guide the emotions. I think that the director masterfully connected real life event on which this movie is based of, with the dramatic themes and cinematic details. In short, i was engaged 100% in the movie from start to finish and i can recommend it to everyone. It also speaks about the ever growing problem of scammers.
Interesting fact, completely by chance I watched this movie exactly on the date the case was solved, August 21st.
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Fun but forgettable
Not gonna lie. I had fun watching this movie but ultimately this seems like one of those average Netflix movies. I guess what bothers me the most is that the movie resembles Hollywood action comedies a little too much and I wouldn't want Korean movies going that direction.In terms of comedy and action, the film provides enough material. I didn't find some jokes funny at all, but others made me laugh out loud. Also, the production is at a high level so we have some very good action scenes. The plot is interesting, but forced. Many events happen without any logic, but so that the story can take the desired course. This is an ideal movie for those who want to refresh a boring evening, but it is not a movie that will be on any top lists.
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Gut-wrenching story
This movie is not entertainment but a depressing story about a town without hope. The title of the movie is truly fitting. There seems to be no hope for our main character and neither for other people. So this was all emotionally very hard to watch. Few scenes were hard to watch because of brutality but the entire movie is hard to watch emotionally because it is just sad to see peoples lives going downhill. In fact it is more than sad. There is sadness that purifies but when you don’t have hope it is even worse. In a sense this is what hell looks like.Actually the real title of the movie is Hwaran – 화란. That is transliterated from the Chinese word for Netherlands. Our main character Yeon Gyu has a dream of going to the beautiful Netherlands. However, Hwaran can also be transliterated from another Chinese character with the meaning of disaster and chaos. Very interesting detail that says a lot about the story of this movie too. In short, don’t watch this movie if you want to have a good time, watch it at your own risk.
Btw. the version of the movie I saw was 1hr 58min and not 2 hr 13 min as stated on the info.
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Awkward Woman
This is an interesting movie, but I wouldn't say that it is for entertainment, but for thinking about foreigners integration. In today's world, in many developed countries, there are a lot of foreign tourists, travelers, workers so that the compactness of nations and states is slowly being lost. Despite all its openness to the world, Korea still proudly preserves its traditions. In this movie we have an unknown woman, a foreigner, who lives in Korea. The title of the film suggests that she is a traveler, but it seems that she would like to be a part of Korea, not just a foreign traveler. The movie touches on what I experienced myself – In Korea, everyone is very kind and friendly to me, but I still feel like a foreigner.The foreign woman in this movie reflects the difference and clash of cultures. It was awkward and uncomfortable for me to watch her interaction with people, hugging at the first greeting, nonchalance and seeming disinterest in regards to others, irresponsibility for herself, taking private space in sitting to close to other people... The movie has a lot of interesting details, it is especially nice how some sentences and gestures are repeated by several characters to convey that there is something that connects us. In my opinion, the message of the movie is that there is a place for foreigners in Korea, but not without difficulties.
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Change or not to change
This is a beautiful looking movie. Production, story, acting, music – everything looks nice, especially the photography. But is there any value or substance beneath the appearance? I would say that there is.The topic of living as a single person is very sensitive today because a lot of people live as single people intentionally or by force, and it is impossible to give a comprehensive answer and a sufficiently objective comment on such a life. My comment is that it is not good for a man to be alone. In any way, we need other people, and we live this reality most deeply in a couple as a man and a woman. This film approaches the subject in a creative, comical and, of course, romantic way. It respects single people, but is aware that they are also people who love, i.e. who are looking for/need love. As a book lover, I really liked that they used reading, writing and publishing a book as a metaphor for the human relationships. I would say that the movie gives better advice on writing books than on living as single.
I can't say that I completely agree with the philosophy of the story, but I really enjoyed watching this entertaining and emotional film.
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Exorcism for me and you
I came to this movie after watching the "Exuma" and I can say that between these two movies there are many similarities in both the atmosphere and the structure of the movie. Although this is a short movie, it is divided into chapters whose names are written over the screen in English, Korean and Chinese language. The difference is that here it is about demonic possession, and in "Exhuma" it is about the dead who have not found their peace. Also, similarly, the center of the action is on the characters, so here the deacon who participates in the exorcism is even more important then the act of exorcism itself.I really liked the movie. It is quite intense and scary, but also comforting in a way. I personally participated in two exorcisms, and I never wanted to do them again because, to be honest, I am afraid of darkness and evil. That's why this movie has a good message. We all have bad experiences and dark areas of our life, but if we want to live in the light, we cannot run away from the darkness, we must face it and overcome it. Therefore, we all need some kind of exorcism, some sort of cleansing and liberation.
PS. If you want to know the whole story of this short movie watch "The Priests" (2015).
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