sigh..... I'm not blaming any of the actors, they seem to be trying VERY hard....it's the WRITING. This thing can't seem to make up it's mind if it wants to be a 007 wanna be, a mystery, a comedy, a romance, and a host of other stuff. It's doing way too many things trying to be everything!! It goes helter skelter from scene to scene without enough story to back them up. We can't attach to the characters because there isn't enough built into their stories to make us interested in them. Should have known, and I did worry, when I saw the writer's previous credits. IMMENSELY disappointed...but still hanging in there with ever fading hopes. It's not horrible, it's just not what I hoped and prayed for. At a 7 for me right now. Still hoping and will wait for eps 5 & 6 with fingers crossed.
5.5 and that only out of charity. I too do not understand why No Min Woo continues to take these oddball rolls.…
Yes indeed, a very tough watch and I am totally with you on how it got harder and harder with each episode. I ended up FF through most of the final ones. So very very disappointing. Or. Unfortunate!!
This movie is heartbreaking and the facts presented are very hard to deal with. It's not so upsetting that you can't watch it. It's presented in an almost documentary style, so that helps with the overload of emotions that could overwhelm. It did not leave me sobbing, but I did shed tears, so don't feel like you can't watch it because you are afraid it will be too upsetting. I learned a lot watching this and left with even more to think about. No easy answers in this one. And my heart will stay with those parents who are still searching for their stolen children. Unbelievably sad and inconceivable.
The last half hour was good, but, honestly, I expected more. The adults were good. The kid not so much. It's like the director just picked some random kid, said stand or sit in this spot and look at the ground until I tell you to stop. Now raise your arm across your eyes and rub it back and forth until I tell you to stop. Still, the quirky adult cast was fun to watch and I loved the dream sequences. Not Great not Bad. 7/10
It's a commercial For Samsung. They apparently have a mentoring program for young entrepreneurs to submit business plans to, If they get selected they get into the mentoring program to help them build their business. This appears to be a training type video introducing people to it. MASSIVE product placement throughout!
Absolutely hilarious. Really enjoyed it. Jung Il Woo FINALLY has a great show and performance and he looks fantastic in this. Loved his wardrobe! What a fashion doll he is! ;) JSY was ok. She still seems wooden to me. Her facial expressions are ??? I'm not sure what the word is but she doesn't have that subtlety of expression that makes a fine actor...that way of projecting thoughts and feelings with those facial expressions that speak better than words The MV in this was a case in point. She looked frozen and awkward all through it yet everyone in the show was oohing and aahing about how 'great' she was (not). Still she was cute enough. JIW was definitely the star and all eyes will be on him in this anyway. Highly recommend and it's a definite rewatch for me.
Crying like a baby. I loved it. Absolutely loved it. I was so on the fence anyway that I would have been happy however they wrote the romance angle, but I was completely on board with how it went. And that ending was just beautiful, beautiful. This one, more than the other 2, really got to me emotionally with the friendship and family bonding. There was an extra heavy dose of intimacy about these relationships. I think the setting had a lot to do with that.
I feel like this entire series, and 1988 in particular, touches so many people differently. I have very few happy memories of my childhood. So perhaps, for me, it's a look at something I wish I could have had in my life. Yet I think for others, who had this kind of history, its a beautiful reminder of youth gone by and the ache of memories that sometimes are all that remain . " A time so warm and pure that it was painful. Can you hear me? If you can hear me, please answer."
The music again was a huge factor in this. I know I lose so much by not knowing the words to those songs, and I hope one day Viki will pick it up so I can watch it there with the lyrics translated. No matter what, this one I WILL watch again and again.
Park Bo Geum again just blew me away. He is one AMAZING young actor. He nailed Taec. It was a beautifully written and portrayed character...deeply passionate with a careful balance of strength and fragility. No one else could have done it so well. He did this in I Remember You. The serial killer you hate to love. And Hye Ri was perfect. Adorable and, on the surface, still a child, Deok Sun had hidden depths to her and a heart of gold with room to love and give unstintingly to her family and her friends. PD Shin again proved his (netizen) critics wrong with his pick for a female lead. But Ryu Joon Yeol and Go Gyeong Pyo have also made their mark and all them are going to be swamped with offers.
Thank you TVN for existing in kdrama world. At a time when I am reaching saturation point with makjang, cliche ridden dramas, Korean Cable is my salvation.
I cannot begin to express how disappointed in this drama I am. Even after the tearjerker tonight. And I did cry. I was looking forward to a high tech, well written, crime noir and, instead, I get a makjang melo fest. I really don't fault the acting in this. It's the writing that's just awful. WHY did YSH sign up for this smaltz? I wanted something great for him in his first drama. So frustrating. NGM proved to us in Smelly Girl how well he can do an evil character. I was looking forward to something multi-dimensional from him here, hopefully even more so than the great character he gave us there. There is a ton of character building possible in villains and in this one, with the horrible abuse he has grown up under, there should be immense conflict. The writer is totally ignoring this and giving us a straight up cartoon character villain instead.
In the beginning we are shown a JIn Woo with a brilliant mind. He counts cards and makes tons of money to fund his agenda. He reads books and absorbs law texts like candy. But he goes into trial completely unprepared, spouts off emotional tirades with not a word of legalese to back it up (wth with his closing statement?), seems infinitely unprepared for every single event (yeah, all part and parcel of typical makjang)....where did this brilliant mind go? He had 4 years to prepare for this and I see nothing as far as evidence he has accumulated. And....at every single turn, what little evidence he does get is stolen for lack of making copies? Or having basic protection? My eyes feel like they will fall out of my head they are rolling so much. And the incessant flashbacks of the Oh So Happy and Jolly Daddy and Son dancing and frolicking with one another. ??? Ugh!!!!
Sorry to tirade like this. I wouldn't be SO upset, if I didn't expect so much more and want so much more from this. Now with his early onset Alzheimers, we are going to be beaten to death for 10 more episodes as he races against the clock, but for the next 8.5 or 9.5 he will be defeated and beaten down at every turn as we watch him disintegrate even further each week. It will be a weepfest for sure. Lord. Don't yell at me, I am too depressed already. I will pull up my big girl pants and come back next week with hope anew for SOMEthing to change! If not the drama, my attitude!!!!!!!!!!!! ;)
Alright... I just finished episode 10 and it seems my complaints have been heard because not only they gave it…
I love your take on it...great perspective. And you are right...my frustration is MY expectations for the character and the story. We were led to believe this character was going to kick ass and he's just getting his ass kicked! We want a hero and we get a little boy being beaten to death in front of us. I like your analysis of the character and the writer. Of course (see my tirade above) MY expectations of what I WANT the character to be are being destroyed by the writer and I end up frustrated and unhappy with the drama. As, I'm afraid, many are. We all wanted our boy to have a great drama, being the hero, fighting crime, defeating bad guys, leaping tall buildings in a single bound. It's not happening (so far). I'm going to hang in there and keep your analysis in mind...despite my preconceived desires!!!! :)
started out with promise. Then....it just kinda fizzled...for me anyway. Great concept and I went into it with high hopes. The first few episodes I was really happy with, but, I don't know what happened, can't put my finger on it, but somehow it just lost something. It went in a direction I didn't expect I guess. Still not bad...just not as good as I hoped it would be.
i'll be the only downer here. Totally not my cup of tea. I found it incredibly boring. almost 2 hours of watching people have conversations about virtually nothing. Maybe I'm just in a bad mood?
wow. I'm not sure how to describe this drama. It says it only lasts an hour, but I feel like it was 2 because of the incredibly detailed development of the characters and the story.
First of all, it was brilliantly written. It's disappointing that this, as well as Haneuljae's Murder (and a few others), had a writer I would love to see more of, yet I found nothing online about either of them. I love the format of each character narrating what happened, their feelings, the petty misunderstandings and jealousies that grew out of all proportion to reality, thereby fueling a doomed prophesy of their own making. Fascinating character study of each person and each of them were fully developed. I felt completely immersed in the story as a result.
So this and Haneuljae's Murder are the winners equally for me in 2013's Drama Festival. For writing + acting + production these 2 excelled and I see why they saved them for last!
9 out of 10 of these I've gone through now and this is my favorite. Also, the most intense so far and dealing with very difficult issues. On the surface, a forbidden love between 2 people with a 20 year difference in age, but so much more is involved here. Both of these tragic souls were damaged by their experiences in the war. Both of them alone and terrified. He found her at a crucial time in his life (and just where did his baby sister disappear to? did I blink and miss that?) and then she disappeared. He was left alone again and terrified. I don't think that child in him ever grew up, was ever able to move emotionally away from that moment in time where he went from free fall into a remembered safety of love and family and then just as suddenly lost it again. When they meet again, age causes his feelings for her to evolve into love, the need to possess and never lose this one person who gave him a feeling of safety and belonging. So he went to terrible lengths to secure that safety by his marriage. It was a doomed relationship, especially given the era and the country they lived in.
I don't want to judge the right or wrong of that relationship. I don't think that's what this story is about and it's sad that, for most, that's what it will come down to...the age gap, the obsessiveness of his attachment as wrong or twisted. There is some validity to that. But I think the writer also wants us to see beyond that to the root reasons why these 2 ended up like this" the eternal damage caused to the minds and emotional health of people who never are able to recover from trauma as great as so many of these people endured.
There are a host of ills people commit as a result of childhood or adult traumas and war. Yes, many have the strength of will to survive those things, to find something inside themselves to hang on to and win against the memories and the damage. But many many others never get past the devastation and I'm not sure I can sit here and judge them for it. There was so much hinted at in this story that could not be covered given the format..like where did that baby disappear to, why did Jeong Bun disappear leaving him so alone again, where was her child MiSu when she met him that first time, what was the Aunt and daughter accusing her of as to the death of the Aunt's child? But it's the skill of this writer that those hints create entire new scenarios in our minds that we can find our own answers to, in order to fill in those blanks and understand even more about the terrible things these characters lived through. The ending was horribly tragic for everyone involved.
The cinematography and production on this episode were exceptional, as they have been in most of these episodes. And the acting was superb. In addition to the hints the writer left us, the portrayals by these actors with their bodies and their facial expressions gave us even greater insight into who they were and what they were thinking. Seo Kang Joon was only just 20 and had only a year of acting under his belt, yet he was incredibly good in this part. And Moon So Ri....if you have never seen her in other parts, try Oasis. Her performance in that left me absolutely speechless with wonder! (you can tell I'm not exactly speechless!! :) )
I highly recommend this episode of 2013's Drama Festival, though all of them are worthwhile. For the exceptional quality of the acting and writing alone, I thoroughly enjoyed this one. 9/10 for me.
looks like another safety video...this one on food safety and sponsored by Korea's Ministry for Food and Drug Safety. We didn't have videos like this at my work!! :) That said, not worth watching at all. The first ep alone will tell you that. this is the second of these that DramaFever has posted. Why????
This movie is heartbreaking and the facts presented are very hard to deal with. It's not so upsetting that you can't watch it. It's presented in an almost documentary style, so that helps with the overload of emotions that could overwhelm. It did not leave me sobbing, but I did shed tears, so don't feel like you can't watch it because you are afraid it will be too upsetting. I learned a lot watching this and left with even more to think about. No easy answers in this one. And my heart will stay with those parents who are still searching for their stolen children. Unbelievably sad and inconceivable.
I feel like this entire series, and 1988 in particular, touches so many people differently. I have very few happy memories of my childhood. So perhaps, for me, it's a look at something I wish I could have had in my life. Yet I think for others, who had this kind of history, its a beautiful reminder of youth gone by and the ache of memories that sometimes are all that remain . " A time so warm and pure that it was painful. Can you hear me? If you can hear me, please answer."
The music again was a huge factor in this. I know I lose so much by not knowing the words to those songs, and I hope one day Viki will pick it up so I can watch it there with the lyrics translated. No matter what, this one I WILL watch again and again.
Park Bo Geum again just blew me away. He is one AMAZING young actor. He nailed Taec. It was a beautifully written and portrayed character...deeply passionate with a careful balance of strength and fragility. No one else could have done it so well. He did this in I Remember You. The serial killer you hate to love. And Hye Ri was perfect. Adorable and, on the surface, still a child, Deok Sun had hidden depths to her and a heart of gold with room to love and give unstintingly to her family and her friends. PD Shin again proved his (netizen) critics wrong with his pick for a female lead. But Ryu Joon Yeol and Go Gyeong Pyo have also made their mark and all them are going to be swamped with offers.
Thank you TVN for existing in kdrama world. At a time when I am reaching saturation point with makjang, cliche ridden dramas, Korean Cable is my salvation.
In the beginning we are shown a JIn Woo with a brilliant mind. He counts cards and makes tons of money to fund his agenda. He reads books and absorbs law texts like candy. But he goes into trial completely unprepared, spouts off emotional tirades with not a word of legalese to back it up (wth with his closing statement?), seems infinitely unprepared for every single event (yeah, all part and parcel of typical makjang)....where did this brilliant mind go? He had 4 years to prepare for this and I see nothing as far as evidence he has accumulated. And....at every single turn, what little evidence he does get is stolen for lack of making copies? Or having basic protection? My eyes feel like they will fall out of my head they are rolling so much. And the incessant flashbacks of the Oh So Happy and Jolly Daddy and Son dancing and frolicking with one another. ??? Ugh!!!!
Sorry to tirade like this. I wouldn't be SO upset, if I didn't expect so much more and want so much more from this. Now with his early onset Alzheimers, we are going to be beaten to death for 10 more episodes as he races against the clock, but for the next 8.5 or 9.5 he will be defeated and beaten down at every turn as we watch him disintegrate even further each week. It will be a weepfest for sure. Lord. Don't yell at me, I am too depressed already. I will pull up my big girl pants and come back next week with hope anew for SOMEthing to change! If not the drama, my attitude!!!!!!!!!!!! ;)
First of all, it was brilliantly written. It's disappointing that this, as well as Haneuljae's Murder (and a few others), had a writer I would love to see more of, yet I found nothing online about either of them. I love the format of each character narrating what happened, their feelings, the petty misunderstandings and jealousies that grew out of all proportion to reality, thereby fueling a doomed prophesy of their own making. Fascinating character study of each person and each of them were fully developed. I felt completely immersed in the story as a result.
So this and Haneuljae's Murder are the winners equally for me in 2013's Drama Festival. For writing + acting + production these 2 excelled and I see why they saved them for last!
I don't want to judge the right or wrong of that relationship. I don't think that's what this story is about and it's sad that, for most, that's what it will come down to...the age gap, the obsessiveness of his attachment as wrong or twisted. There is some validity to that. But I think the writer also wants us to see beyond that to the root reasons why these 2 ended up like this" the eternal damage caused to the minds and emotional health of people who never are able to recover from trauma as great as so many of these people endured.
There are a host of ills people commit as a result of childhood or adult traumas and war. Yes, many have the strength of will to survive those things, to find something inside themselves to hang on to and win against the memories and the damage. But many many others never get past the devastation and I'm not sure I can sit here and judge them for it. There was so much hinted at in this story that could not be covered given the format..like where did that baby disappear to, why did Jeong Bun disappear leaving him so alone again, where was her child MiSu when she met him that first time, what was the Aunt and daughter accusing her of as to the death of the Aunt's child? But it's the skill of this writer that those hints create entire new scenarios in our minds that we can find our own answers to, in order to fill in those blanks and understand even more about the terrible things these characters lived through. The ending was horribly tragic for everyone involved.
The cinematography and production on this episode were exceptional, as they have been in most of these episodes. And the acting was superb. In addition to the hints the writer left us, the portrayals by these actors with their bodies and their facial expressions gave us even greater insight into who they were and what they were thinking. Seo Kang Joon was only just 20 and had only a year of acting under his belt, yet he was incredibly good in this part. And Moon So Ri....if you have never seen her in other parts, try Oasis. Her performance in that left me absolutely speechless with wonder! (you can tell I'm not exactly speechless!! :) )
I highly recommend this episode of 2013's Drama Festival, though all of them are worthwhile. For the exceptional quality of the acting and writing alone, I thoroughly enjoyed this one. 9/10 for me.