Really terrific movie. Filled with dark humor and even darker life lessons, it melds the unquestionable illegality of the criminal with the questionable legality of the cop. Beautifully acted by Kim Rae-won who has the ability to 'become' the character in whatever role he assumes with an ease and smoothness unmatched by most actors out there, imo. He is why I watched the movie, but the plot was more than just entertaining and is what kept me watching. It moves quite rapidly and I found the story of Dong-hyuk to be engrossing not because of the violence and action that usually draws me to these types of movies, but because, as is so typical with especially Korean film, the story had its deeper lessons to teach. In the small parameter of what could be expected from a deeply flawed character such as Dong-hyuk we get to see growth and development from a deeply flawed and lost hoodlum, to a still flawed but purposeful cop. No perfect fairytale ending, but it is its own 'success' story despite that
Sadly, in the entertainment world, life for women seems to end at 40. These women are beautiful and talented. Yes some of that beauty may be 'helped', but I wish I had the ability to be 'helped'! You betcha I'd do it too! I'm really enjoying this....as you get towards the end you will need to add some halmoni's! Or maybe another series of over 50's? 60's? Your work will never end!!!
Definitely enjoyed it. Appreciated the different format, sorta documentary, sorta drama. Nice character stories with some watered down exposé type stories. A Nice dig at SM, et al, in Cindy's speech to CEO Byun. How many of these kids had, wished they had, or could never have that conversation with their managers/agencies? Well acted. Loved the shorter format too. Just the right amount of episodes. Just a very nice drama.
I have not laughed so hard, for so long, nor for so many times ever in a movie. Just loved it and will definitely watch it again. Irreverently adorable.
I watched this in April of 2014. Extremely violent which, given the circumstances of what is going on is understandable. But, looking back, the movie had no real purpose other than as a pure slasher/horror movie. Yet. It was a really well done slasher movie. So I'm sorta all over the place on this one. I gave it an 8 based on acting, story's portrayal, camera work. This would have been an extremely difficult movie to make and act in. There is rape, incest, graphic graphic violence against women and children, and the portrayal of a young girl (10-11?) who is not only perfectly okay with the idea that her father is having sex with her, but is actually enjoying it?? The revenge, when it comes, is more violent than the violence prior to it. In the end, even though as a film you could say it was well done, it still seemed to only be violence for violence's sake. It was like each scene was more horrible than the previous and that was actually the purpose of the entire film. Yet, the performances were horrifically riveting and the story was just....horrifically horrific. Watch at your own risk.
Just a cute sweet fun movie to watch. Required no work or effort of any kind. Laughed a little smiled a lot. Just an enjoyable couple hours of light entertainment. Probably a 7.5, but I gave it an 8 for giving me a nice relaxing couple hours.
really going back and forth on this one. 7.5 or 8? I liked it, but something was missing. Great fight scenes, decent suspense, nothing real surprising as far as the story is concerned. But, a good popcorn crime movie. I enjoyed it. Crime Noir is my favorite genre and this definitely fits that. But....I just wouldn't say its "Great!!!". But, it was good!
Perfectly adequate crime thriller with a small twist and predictable ending. I enjoyed the time spent watching it and don't regard it as wasted. Just because it was predictable and a little melo doesn't mean you can't sit back with a box of popcorn and a soda and enjoy it for what it was. 7.5/10...maybe 8, but only because of the performance level of the 2 stars, but in particular Son Yi Jin who was gorgeous in this. And make sure you don't turn it off when the credits roll!!
The Good, the bad, and the not so bad. There was some of each in this but the Good, For Me, FAR outweighed the rest. The Good: Gorgeous, Gorgeous, Gorgeous. This show is a visual feast and I don't just mean the beautiful bodies of both men and women so prominently on display. This is so my kind of show. Not for everyone, I realize this. But I have loved old hack and slash, ridiculous and laughable blood spurting, Japanese samurai movies all my life. Love Chinese Wuxia ala Hero and House of Flying Daggers, etc. I'm also am crazy about Tarantino's movies like Kill Bill and Pulp fiction. I also loved 300, Sin City, etc. And A Yaksha is a compilation and homage to all of that. The fights scenes were very high quality for a TV production with 1 ,2, or 3 in every episode! This is a CABLE DRAMA! That means rated R and that means adults only who are not offended when a drama actually dips into reality and shows skin and (lots of) blood (even if most of it is CG). Because surprise, surprise, the reality is, especially during those times, people in all walks of life lived very violently and death and betrayal were a constant. So don't watch this if all that offends you.
Another good. The story is (warts and all), far more realistic in its portrayal of the vicious, back-stabbing, murderous way of lives these people lived. This is no sanitized story like so many of the normal fairy tale sageuks where they ignore or gloss over or carefully keep off screen the fact that the kings of those times were brutal and killed hundreds indiscriminately, including friends, fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters, children. It's in your face and on screen in every episode. The powerful men also had 10, 15, 20 or more concubines and dozens of children. In other words, they actually had sex and it was probably not consensual a lot of the time.
This drama shows (more graphically than Hwajung) the complex decisions of betrayal of their closest friends and allies that these people in power made for their concept of "The Greater Good". Even our hero does horrible, irredeemable things because of his "vow of (blind) loyalty". The story was also good just on its own merits as far as the main characters, and I felt fully engaged through every minute of every episode in what was happening to the characters. I loved the fact that every single person in this had good and bad to them. They all did good things and they all did bad things, even the leads, which is so unusual in normal Kdrama where our leads are always pure and good. Of course, the bad were very bad, but I liked the fact that this show also did such a good job of showing the reasons why good people were doing bad things and how no decision is just black or white. Yet, the terrible betrayals they all engaged in were very difficult to watch when every instinct and desire reaches towards that happy ending and redemption. Yet again one of the things I love about cable shows....the complexity of what is right and wrong in these stories. And the price people pay for having to do the things they do....because there is always a price and from the first moment of this show on, there is little question of the prices that will be paid.
The bad. There were definitely some editing problems. Truncated scenes, inexplicable happenings. Yeon seemed to change her mind about Gyeol every other episode towards the end. I don't understand how Moo Myeong was allowed to pass on that message to her in front of Minister Kang and not even be questioned about it. And the 11th episode prior to the very predictable ( but right) ending was just kind of What? Too fast. But my guess is this show was very very expensive to film given how it looks so they had to cut some things short.
Anyway, long winded as usual. If you like the kind of shows I mentioned above, and are in the mood for something VERY different from normal historical Kdrama, give this a try...and TRY to stick with more than 1 episode. Give it a chance. The first episode tries to shock, succeeds, but it actually gets pretty tame after that...which I was kind of sorry about. There is actually only one kiss scene I think in the entire show.
8.5 instead of 9 because there should have been more episodes and a little more cohesive story development at the end. It went off track too quickly. I almost never give 10's so 8.5 is pretty high for a show that needed some work. But, I'm giving it an extra point for effort and originality. Amazing try OCN. I love OCN!
Excellent crime noir. Very fast paced, the movie flew by. Not a surprise ending if you are watching carefully. On the downside, it was a bit too fast paced and crammed with so many plot lines and filmed at such a frenetic pace, added to which they used my most hated filming technique...shaky cam. It would have been nice to see more of how they got from a to b to xyz, yet, even so the film was chock full of enough plot twists and guessing games to keep me happy for a couple hours. And a satisfying ending.
If ever a show deserves to be continued, it's this one. Dark and mysterious, brilliant acting, terrific writing, and, most importantly, for the most part (but for a couple lapses of logic) realistic portrayals of graphic crimes and criminals and the methodologies available to crime fighters as well as the repercussions to them personally from the difficult duties they have to perform. The split second judgments, second guessing, and complex thought processes that result in good and bad decisions and what they have to live with as a result that so many people, inside and outside judge them for were well portrayed here. It is so rare to have a kdrama where they show police/detectives with brains and also show them using proper police investigative procedures (again, for the most part).
This was a smart show with smart characters doing a great job of cracking difficult to solve cases. Each one was fascinating to watch. I wish I had waited for the entire show to post before watching it. This one would definitely be best watched as a marathon, just because the continuity factor is so important. It's too easy to forget things over a week (or more, since viki took so long to post subs on this one). Even switching to only watching every other week to watch 2 episodes at a time wasn't much better. If I get time, I will definitely watch this one again. Hopefully all the missing subs will also eventually appear.
As to the ending, it is hard to leave them like this, but, it is also realistic. The saying that A Policeman's Work Is Never Done was never more truthfully shown than in this ending. I pray there will be a sequel, but do not hold out much hope. We who watched this show and realized just how outstanding it is can only pray that OCN will grant our wishes. Between OCN and TVN we finally have realistic dramas for thinking people. With the vast pool of talent in Korean writers, actors, directors, these 2 cable networks have got a lock on the best it seems. I'm sick of makjang, fish kissing, unrealistic shows. Finally we are getting dramas that reflect truer to life situations, with all the warts, passion, and reality of life. If it has OCN or TVN on it, I'll be watching that show...IF I can find it subbed!!
5.5 and that only out of charity. I too do not understand why No Min Woo continues to take these oddball rolls. He is really a terrific actor but this was just torture watching this. What writer (as well as everyone else involved with this) actually thinks a character like this is romantically and sexually appealing except to some pre-pubescent girl who has no idea what it takes to actually have a male female relationship? It was like watching a cartoon character and not in a pleasant way. I hate being so negative, but it was impossible for me to get past the fact that this drama was mainly about 2 people who were supposed to be falling in love and they spent 90% of the time showing that 1 of those people was not an adult mentally, and then randomly shove in some "adult time" here and there to pretend he actually was. The whole thing was just slightly disturbing. I guess it is a genre that just is not appealing to me. But that certainly is only a personal opinion and others may find it a lot of fun. I worry that, since his last couple shows have been these kind of weird characters, and both have tanked in the ratings that he is being shunted off by The Powers That Be at SM as a way of punishing him (see his lawsuit against them). He is an amazing actor with huge range and since my first site of him in Midas I was head over heels (broke my heart to pieces in that role). Anyway. I hope he gets something with more meat and more power in his next role. He handled both of these last roles very well as far as nailing the character. My dislike of this show has to do only with the story itself, not the performances. I love both the leads.
Right now it's an 8 or 8.5, but I know already that I will be thinking about this movie for a long time and it will end up being the 9 I gave it. For a movie almost 20 years old, it has certainly not dimmed in impact nor shown its age. Beautifully directed and acted. Slow, so achingly slow moving, as we watch Makdong move step by terrible step into a life with only one inevitable conclusion. Painful to watch. For what reason did it have to be this way for him?. He was so innocent and so clean, even to the end and with the things he did, which makes the sense of loss and betrayal so much harder to bear. His search for family in the gangsters he joined, so he could one day have the family he dreamed of at home, treacherously and coldheartedly stolen by a trusted hyung pursuing his own dream. One can only hope that Mi Ae and Bae's dream is one of reoccurring nightmares and reminders of the one they so cruelly betrayed.
I can't even begin to express my thoughts on how brilliant I think this drama is. But boy oh boy is my heart heavy right now. I see that MDL has not adjusted the number of episodes. I hear it has been cut by 2 to 30?
A very sweet and lovely drama, the highlight of it the relationship between Kang Soon-Ok, the mother and the 'mistress' Jang Mo-Ran. The rest of the story pales next to those 2. I could have watched them bicker and tease all 24 hours. They were absolutely adorable! The daughters' stories were enjoyable enough, the grand daughter and her "romances" left me cold and were a total waste of time...absolutely NO chemistry at all there. I liked the conflict with the Assistant cook and the lovely romance with the older daughter, but got kind of tired of the conflict between 2nd daughter and her old teacher. That sort of got like beating a dead horse. Which, of course, was really the moral of the story. Anyway. For those 2 moms, I'd give it a 9, but overall an 8 for me.
I ended up stopping watching this until I did some research on the time period and on the story behind the happenings that are depicted in this film. Then did as much reading as I could on the film itself. Because, frankly, this thing was confusing as all get out. And I watched it with the official subs on DF so it wasn't that. There were way too many people, way too many groups, and way too much going on with very little explanation of why they were doing what they were doing, who belonged with what group and what each group's agenda was, and way too many leaps in time and logic. I think a lot of what could have made this movie better and more easily understood, ended up on the editing room floor. That said, it was a pleasure to watch the acting even if the story was all over the place. I really enjoy dark, gritty movies and had no problem with that aspect of it. The film was certainly better the second time around when I knew more about what was going on and who was who, but, it still was just not put together that well and, as a result, we, as an audience, lost contact with our principle characters. Never a good thing. The core story of the 2 young men was very compelling. Unfortunately, more time should have been spent with them...all that other 'stuff' killed the heart of this story for me. The film definitely ramped up and tightened the story and the performance levels as it drew to an end, but so late. Tragic story, tragic ending. Great performance by Kim Rae Won, and I sincerely appreciate LMH being given the opportunity and for wanting to take on this new role. It's more than past time for him to start taking on a man's role instead of acting like he's still a high school student. This could have been a 9, but, due to the editing and the choppiness of the story, it's a 7 from me. :(
the choice of excellent Korean actors is deep. Why is it I suspect you will have trouble finding this number of Korean actresses to love? Well....if you stick to over 40 you may be okay. :) meow
Another good. The story is (warts and all), far more realistic in its portrayal of the vicious, back-stabbing, murderous way of lives these people lived. This is no sanitized story like so many of the normal fairy tale sageuks where they ignore or gloss over or carefully keep off screen the fact that the kings of those times were brutal and killed hundreds indiscriminately, including friends, fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters, children. It's in your face and on screen in every episode. The powerful men also had 10, 15, 20 or more concubines and dozens of children. In other words, they actually had sex and it was probably not consensual a lot of the time.
This drama shows (more graphically than Hwajung) the complex decisions of betrayal of their closest friends and allies that these people in power made for their concept of "The Greater Good". Even our hero does horrible, irredeemable things because of his "vow of (blind) loyalty". The story was also good just on its own merits as far as the main characters, and I felt fully engaged through every minute of every episode in what was happening to the characters. I loved the fact that every single person in this had good and bad to them. They all did good things and they all did bad things, even the leads, which is so unusual in normal Kdrama where our leads are always pure and good. Of course, the bad were very bad, but I liked the fact that this show also did such a good job of showing the reasons why good people were doing bad things and how no decision is just black or white. Yet, the terrible betrayals they all engaged in were very difficult to watch when every instinct and desire reaches towards that happy ending and redemption. Yet again one of the things I love about cable shows....the complexity of what is right and wrong in these stories. And the price people pay for having to do the things they do....because there is always a price and from the first moment of this show on, there is little question of the prices that will be paid.
The bad. There were definitely some editing problems. Truncated scenes, inexplicable happenings. Yeon seemed to change her mind about Gyeol every other episode towards the end. I don't understand how Moo Myeong was allowed to pass on that message to her in front of Minister Kang and not even be questioned about it. And the 11th episode prior to the very predictable ( but right) ending was just kind of What? Too fast. But my guess is this show was very very expensive to film given how it looks so they had to cut some things short.
Anyway, long winded as usual. If you like the kind of shows I mentioned above, and are in the mood for something VERY different from normal historical Kdrama, give this a try...and TRY to stick with more than 1 episode. Give it a chance. The first episode tries to shock, succeeds, but it actually gets pretty tame after that...which I was kind of sorry about. There is actually only one kiss scene I think in the entire show.
8.5 instead of 9 because there should have been more episodes and a little more cohesive story development at the end. It went off track too quickly. I almost never give 10's so 8.5 is pretty high for a show that needed some work. But, I'm giving it an extra point for effort and originality. Amazing try OCN. I love OCN!
This was a smart show with smart characters doing a great job of cracking difficult to solve cases. Each one was fascinating to watch. I wish I had waited for the entire show to post before watching it. This one would definitely be best watched as a marathon, just because the continuity factor is so important. It's too easy to forget things over a week (or more, since viki took so long to post subs on this one). Even switching to only watching every other week to watch 2 episodes at a time wasn't much better. If I get time, I will definitely watch this one again. Hopefully all the missing subs will also eventually appear.
As to the ending, it is hard to leave them like this, but, it is also realistic. The saying that A Policeman's Work Is Never Done was never more truthfully shown than in this ending. I pray there will be a sequel, but do not hold out much hope. We who watched this show and realized just how outstanding it is can only pray that OCN will grant our wishes. Between OCN and TVN we finally have realistic dramas for thinking people. With the vast pool of talent in Korean writers, actors, directors, these 2 cable networks have got a lock on the best it seems. I'm sick of makjang, fish kissing, unrealistic shows. Finally we are getting dramas that reflect truer to life situations, with all the warts, passion, and reality of life. If it has OCN or TVN on it, I'll be watching that show...IF I can find it subbed!!