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Watched this on Viki but it's also on Gooddrama. Wow! Loved it....have to say that first of all.

However, this show was definitely not without its problems. HUGE lapses of logic, direction or editing problems that created a choppy and sometimes WTH? continuity in the show, some cheesy horror cliche's that would have been better off left behind and an ending that was predictable, so not shocking, but so rushed and incoherent it was actually kinda embarrassingly bad.

Even so, I am toying with giving it one of my precious 9's because I enjoyed the heck out of it!! But will probably settle for an 8 or 8.5. The writer on this was also the script writer for Goong/Princess Hours and Marry Me, Mary. The directors have done several shows I loved or at least liked....My Princess, I Do I Do, Couple or Trouble, Can You Hear My Heart, Arang and the Magistrate, Hwajung (and When a Man Loves...so there is that!) :(

Bad stuff aside I found the show very addictive. This may have a lot to do with my Lee
Seo Jin obsession, but honestly I found all the psycho babble in this highly entertaining. Took me back to my college days. Because this thing is LOADED with psycho babble, religious babble, anti death penalty babble and all the kdrama cliche loaded anti revenge babble we have all grown to know and love/hate. Now that may sound like I'm putting it down, but honestly, I loved it. I thought they mingled all of that into the story very well. The major problem is that this thing should have been longer from the start. It was painfully obvious they chopped out entire sections of the story onto the cutting room floor to fit it into its allotted time. You could catch up, but you spent a lot of your time doing that. (I'm back again saying bad things!!! ) The acting was great for me. Everyone fit their parts and did well. LSJ excelled and was the emotional and passionate center to the show. The cliche horror type possession scenes and bugging eyes for first timer Lim Ju-Eun were above her level and I kinda cringed, but she did really well with the rest of the show. There was palpable chemistry between her and LSJ....but the guy could have chemistry with a May Pole! I'm glad I gave it a chance and for 10 episodes it was FAST to watch. And another old one off my list! An 8 for now...I may up it a bit later??

I died watching it a few years ago and have never fully returned to the living. Sincerely, WHIB Zombie

Watched on Dramanice. Not at all what I expected based on the publicity. Based on the publicity I thought it would be something much darker in tone. The entire movie plays very 'tongue in cheek'. No need to get stressed by it. Sit back and enjoy since it never loses it's slightly comedic overtones. The fight/car chase/ action scenes are superb! I wonder if anyone was seriously hurt in this? I was actually prepared for YAI's character to be much darker than this. He was bad enough to be sure, but nothing more than the best of the bad guys I've seen in dozens of movies in this genre. Not to take anything away from it, but it wasn't nearly as dark and sinister as the press had led me to believe. 8/10 for me. An enjoyable watch for sure, but nothing all that new as far as the script was concerned. My props to the stunt men, action coordinators, and set people. SUPERB job, especially in that final action packed melee!! The movie was worth every minute for that and all the other great action scenes.

The YT video gives a great partial explanation of this movie (see comments below my comment), but the comments on that YT video add much more info and much more confusion.

First, for me this is a straight out Horror genre movie, my least favorite genre. However, I'm a big Walking Dead fan so there's that!!! So my first instinct in a movie like this is to dislike it just because I find this kind of thing too ott. But Walking Dead opened my eyes to well done horror and this movie is certainly more than just a low budget horror flick! :) It is extremely well done. There isn't a part of it that doesn't excel...production, script, acting, directing. All of it just amazingly well done. That doesn't eliminate my distaste for horror as a genre, but this movie certainly elevates the genre into an entirely different level. The complexity of the story was engrossing, the acting pulled me in and gripped my attention and emotions, the production and set designs immersed me into a world I was unfamiliar with, made me afraid, and left me fascinated and curious.

I think a lot of my confusion about the story in this comes from my ignorance of cultural and religious customs and stories. Many of the things going on in this movie are probably familiar to people who grew up with knowledge of such things as shamans and their rituals and with superstitions that are commonplace to their culture, but unknown to outsiders like me. So people like me lose a lot while watching the movie as a result. A bird in the soy sauce? It means it's contaminated and spoiled so throw it out. But it's obvious there was a deeper significance to these people. There were tons of things going on that I missed out on (see the comments on that YT video for examples).

I'd say I would 'like' to watch it again to try to decipher more info, see all that I missed out on. I wish I had done my usual research first before watching this movie so I could have looked for all the hints I missed out on. But, I won't watch it again because the basic facts remain that with horror genre I am not happy when I'm done watching it. It is TOO dark and TOO fatalistic. Still I am tempted to give this one of my precious 9's. But I will settle for an 8 or 8.5 and maybe change it later.

Thanks for this link. The comments are even more revealing and create even more confusion/questions about this movie. Both the video and the comments are very enlightening though.

I absolutely agree with you on Kim Sae Ron. They are moving her ( or she is moving) far too quickly into an adult. It is disturbing and was sort of the icing on the cake for me dropping Mirror. I couldn't attach to that show anyway, so it's not all my discomfort with the concept of her as a partner for YSY...no matter how young he looks or acts. She is a marvelous talent. I hope they don't burn her out.

Another great selection of young actors..though I have no idea how you are going to stop, there are so many! I am so impressed with Na Da Reum. He blew me away in Dragons, I cannot forget him even with all the other superb performances in that drama. He definitely not only held his own, but stood out. And you have to see him in Memory. He gave an Outstanding performance there also. He has a depth of emotion in those eyes of his! And I definitely remember Cha Sang Woo in Tree also. I've seen him in other shows, but he didn't leave a memory for me like he did in that one. I also remember Kim Hyang Gi's remarkable performance in Hearty Paws. She was barely 6 years old and stole every scene she was in! HOW do you get a 5 or 6 year old to express those emotions like she did? I was in awe.

Still trying to work up my courage to watch The Crucible. Not sure I will be able to face it.

I have 32 Specials (including Drama Festivals) under my belt and feel like I have only touched the tip of the iceberg. So many 8, 8.5, 9, and 9.5's in there! White Christmas come up as a drama in MDL. It is my only 10 (you know how stingy I am with my 10's). Sirius is also listed as a drama and is also one of my favorites. I wish MDL would fix that so I feel better about myself where my Specials total is concerned!!! ;) Wiki has a page with all the Drama Specials listed. It made me very depressed. :( I hope there is internet in heaven. Or wherever I end up, because no way do I have time to see all the stuff I need to see before I die. :( I wish Korean tv would embrace the idea of a few re-runs each season and cut back on the new stuff so I could make some attempts at getting caught up!!!

9.5 = Pitch Black Darkness, When I was the Prettiest.
9 = Happy Rose Day, The Reason I'm Getting Married, Land of Rain, Me and Mom and Dad and Grandma and Anna, Haneuljae's Murder

And has anyone mentioned Splash Splash Love???

Oh yes...I see they have!! ;) sorry, couldn't resist. When you need to feel happy, watch it. In other words, watch it daily.

Brutal, Bloody, Brilliant. It is unremittingly agonizing to watch. I don't do well with stories about child abuse and this movie touches on some very graphic violence to children. The acting by the 2 leads was, as everyone is saying, the best part of it. They both were amazing. And Bo Gum's smaller, but emotionally pivotal part, was pure Bo Gum. He nails every character he plays. 9 for great performances.

In 'some' ways, this wasn't AS difficult to watch as I dreaded. I've seen some pretty horrific stuff and, on the Kmovie scale of horrific this is only about a 7.5 for most of the movie. It deals with an unremittingly dark and twisted segment of society and it is demoralizing as all hell to know that people like this actually exist in our world. When you see things like this, you start to think really dark thoughts about how much you wish you could have the power of striking evil people dead.

very excited for this reunion. NO chemistry at all with him and Ha Na in Unkind Women...very uncomfortable watching them. She was terrific in High School King, but SIG can have chemistry with a light pole!!!! ;) But what a dud she was in Women. I adored KSE with him in WGM...so depressed when their time ended and so wished for them to continue and so disappointed when (yet again) my imagination got away from me! :) Crossing fingers they can play those parts again...a lot of us will be very happy.

So agree. Seriously over rated drama. Stupid ending, but the irritants throughout the second half of the drama were overwhelming. I just loved it starting out, but it completely fell apart as the episodes went on...and that ending!

Good movie. Loved the filming technique. In the hands of a less skilled director and editor this could have been a confusing mess, but I never felt confused. Very well written and directed. Very entertaining also. The movie flew by...always a good sign!

Watched on Amazon, free with Prime. I found it lackluster. Character development was minimal to criminal. Having great leads like Cha and Han in this did it no favor, not that they weren't great as always, I just really didn't get attached to either of them because I never felt any connection! Maybe it was my mood. The story was good, if not new, but how it was put together was so hodge podge feeling. Here's a scene, there's a scene, no background except for a few sentences of explanation. I don't know. This is the genre I am usually loving...NOT loving this at all.

every one amazing. This could be a VEEEERRRY long series though

I've never seen a kdrama like this and may never again. I have to say I did have a BIT of hard time sticking with it in the beginning. It's my shallow tendency to go for the Romance! and the comedy and the beautiful people kdrama is usually populated with. Something made me stick with this and OH how happy I am I did so! I know slice-of-life is what this drama would be classified as, but it is SO much more. Once again writer No Hee-Kyung has shown how she can put down on paper and bring to her audience LIFE in all of its beauty and its pain, and she draws us in to the story until we are living it too. I never thought a drama populated by a half dozen + 60 somethings would take me where this drama did. I don't think there is a one of us, who watched and loved this, who couldn't find an issue related to ourselves or our parents or our children. Every problem that either we or someone we love or someone we know has had to face, these people faced and dealt with as best they could. As the slow beginnings of this drama moved on into the discovery of the terrible pain and anger and fears that these women lived through, as they spilled their pain and anger and fear out after burying it for so many years, we watched how they dealt with these terrible memories, we became an invisible friend next to them, living that pain and wanting so much to comfort them and to share our love with them. And then as they began to face the inevitable illnesses and weaknesses of age....cancer, dementia, loneliness...we could see in them ourselves and our fears for the future. The wonderful, heart filling last 2 episodes were brimming with hope and joy. One of the most amazingly beautiful endings to a drama ever for me. Can there be any one of us who would not wish for such a group of friends like this to ease our last days on earth? Like Wan said, their lives were ordinary, not extraordinary. They were just lives lived day to day like most of us. Yet the sum total of their lives was remarkable in its normality because they lived their lives the best they could. And in the end they had each other....how lucky they were. In their ordinary lives how many of us are now looking at them with envy?

I've watched this movie 3 times now. Mainly it's for the drumming, which I wish there was more of. The story itself is pretty basic, and the acting is just ok. Yet, it keeps drawing me back every few years, so I guess there is something there. I've always loved the Taiko and Zen Drummers and this was a nice way to showcase them.

Pain. My one word review for this drama. I won't get into the moral issues about extra marital affairs because that was not what this movie was about. It was about 2 people living in a lot of pain and a lot of loneliness. They bump into one another and some something sparks life and passion between them. For a short period of time they escape from a world of pain into each others' arms. But, as time goes on, and as it always does, life intrudes with its reality and they are faced with painful decisions. There really weren't any right decisions though. He stays with his family. The look on his face at the end of the movie as he drives on, looking in the rear view mirror tells the price he will continue to pay for his decision. Her breakdown in the taxi after walking away from intruding where she knew she could not go, as well as her phone conversation with her ex and son, also shows the price she will continue to pay for her decision. If they had thrown their old lives away and started anew with each other, the price they would have paid would be just as painful. There was nowhere to go for them. Painful to watch. My heart feels like it has straps wrapped around it, it hurts so much.

The cinematography in this was beautiful. The scenes in Finland so beautifully cold, reflecting the beautifully cold lives they were leading. It is interesting that this story shows 2 affluent and successful families, both dealing with serious mental illnesses in their children (and in his case he is also trapped as a caregiver for his mentally ill wife). On the outside it would appear they have control over their lives, a certain kind of happiness, but it is all illusory. The symbolism of the cold and frozen lives, the rigid control over their lives and their feelings, is juxtaposed with the cold and frozen landscape around them. When they meet and let go of the ties binding them, it is in a sauna, the symbolism of the melting of their walls and the heat of their passion was beautifully shown. The direction was terrific. Nothing gratuitous. The release these 2 found in each other was a relief for them and for me. The end being a forgone conclusion, I wanted them to have at least these stolen moments of happiness that were so hard fought for. Their struggle to not succumb and then to hang on to these moments of release and happiness were agonizing to watch. The final scene of him in the car just ripped my heart. I know he was doing the right thing, but his face! Such agony! Gong Yoo was amazing in this and I will watch it again for him. After I have recovered a bit.

A good movie typical of its genre...cops and gangsters, back and forth battles as our cops try to stay within the law in their fight (well one of them), lots and lots of really vicious beatings and killings. All through it I kept hoping and expecting that turning point, that time when the good guys win. But the whole feel of the movie has such a sense of hopelessness and anger to it. I'm not sure I've watched another movie that left me feeling like this. On the good side it did a good job in getting that across...the sense of futility in good fighting a more powerful and, let's face it, smarter evil. Which brings up the sorta bad. It didn't seem like our good guys planned things out so well...tho I blame the thin script for that. Lots of great action scenes do not make up for a well written plot. And how Jang Do-Yeong ever managed to stay on the police force, or even become a police officer is a big stretch of the imagination. His out of control violence would have caused him to be bounced a long time ago, even in Korea. Still, I found no difficulty in just going along for the ride It would have been nice to see more of his history tho.

This is now 10 years old, but seems older for some reason. It was wonderful and surprising to see how incredibly different Kwon Sang-Woo and Yoo Ji-Tae looked. You wouldn't think 10 years would mean that much difference, but wow, they look SO much better now at 40 than they did at 30!!!

Wow, wow, wow, wow. What a movie. I'm exhausted. I watched this on Dramanice. The picture quality wasn't as good as perhaps other sites might have been, but I hate, when I'm watching intense, edge of your seat movies like this, having to stop and click on the next segment. DN has the full Original Version that is 3 hours long and it is the fastest, most riveting 3 hours I've spent in a movie in a very long time. This is very definitely an adult movie and the very complex subject matter, the violence, the nudity and profanity, are all testaments to that fact. I found myself confused at first...trying to keep up with plot, names, relationships, subtitles, and all the onscreen action...but as the movie goes along everyone and everything becomes clearer and you can start placing your players. So don't get overwhelmed if you feel lost, it will all settle into place. I loved it. 9.5/10 for me. This is my genre though.

Wow, wow, wow, wow. What a movie. I'm exhausted. I watched this on Dramanice. The picture quality wasn't as good as perhaps other sites might have been, but I hate, when I'm watching intense, edge of your seat movies like this, having to stop and click on the next segment. DN has the full Original Version that is 3 hours long and it is the fastest, most riveting 3 hours I've spent in a movie in a very long time. This is very definitely an adult movie and the very complex subject matter, the violence, the nudity and profanity, are all testaments to that fact. I found myself confused...trying to keep up with names, relationships, subtitles, and all the onscreen action...but as the movie goes along everyone and everything settles into their places and you can start placing your players. So don't get overwhelmed if you feel lost, it will all settle into place. I loved it. 9.5/10 for me. This is my genre though.

p.s.-this page is for the short version, which I did not watch. Moving this comment to the other page for this movie

Not a fluff drama...this one is dark and full of terrible things. But, really well written, terrific acting, beautifully filmed. I wasn't crazy about it starting out, but as the characters were fleshed out and the story built, I grew to really like how it was all put together. It is hard when you get hit with a realistic ending like this one. No real winners as even though the good guys won, sort of, the price they paid for doing so wasn't worth it. About broke my heart. I loved this cast!!! Lee Sang Yeob has been a favorite since Blue Bird. I hope we continue to see more of him and in bigger roles! He is just a wonderful actor. Chun Jung Myung is seriously underrated as an actor. I was really happy for Gong Seung Yeon to have such a good part and to do so well in it. JJH is always great, but he pretty much plays the same villain in all his shows. He just does it so well though!