Excellent recap! You have certainly seen into the heart of this story and what the writer is trying to tell us. I love the format of it. Every 2 episodes is a new adventure. And in each episode another small piece of who our main characters are and what has set them on their lives' paths are slowly revealed to us. I too hope that this does not follow in the steps of Reset. Reset was excellent until the last 3 episodes, then seemed to lose steam. Still, it was a show worth watching and so well done for those first 7 or 8 episodes. Kang Ye Won, to me, seems to have no purpose in this story but some female eye candy. I don't think it's really her fault, but the writer's. I just can't figure out why her character is even there. She does nothing to move the story forward at all.
Thanks for the recap/review! Good job synopsizing everything!
Not an original idea or love story, but a perfectly and beautifully written and acted love story that breaks your heart with its quiet and exquisite writing and acting. Not sure I've ever seen anything better done. Lovely statement regarding the importance of organ donation. A show everyone should watch! The 2 leads in this were picture and tone perfect in their parts. May be the most believable love story you ever watch. There were so many things in their relationship that 'should' have made it impossible. But anyone who becomes part of their story cannot help but completely believe in true and fated love. I loved the fact that there were none of the fake makjang tropes so prevalent in dramas. Everything about this story felt REAL.
Just finished Confession. It's about as perfect a crime noir movie as you can get. It has everything that's to love in this genre. It starts out very slowly, building the relationship between these 3 men, showing them, warts and all, with all the complexities of their lives and their relationships. Lifelong friends, their youth is marred by an episode early in the movie that leaves questions in their minds that seem to haunt them and to have damaged them, yet, they desperately cling to their brotherhood with such tenacity you can see how stretched thin that relationship is...without quite knowing why.
Half way through, all hell breaks loose and a plan that should never have been started takes an horrifically terrible turn for the worst. The consequences are heartbreaking to watch as minute by minute we see the disintegration of the relationship and the tragic end. Beautifully acted, gorgeously produced and filmed, the very example of what is great about Korean film of this kind. It's the kind of movie that leaves me euphoric for the talent and pure awesomeness that Korean film continues to produce so effortlessly! If there is any drawback at all to this movie, for me, it's that even as terrifically done as this movie is, and as highly as I would recommend it and rate it, it is pretty much like many of the others that I have seen. That only means a .5 reduction in my rating though! I loved it and, if you like this kind of movie, I highly recommend it. It will draw you in to the lives of these 3 and you will ache for the pain they inflict on themselves. I cannot get over how well these films can build such relationships, even in 2 short hours, that can leave you so emotionally drained from how involved you become in them. One of the best ever as far as that part of the movie was concerned. 9.5/10.
This show is the second installment of the revenge trilogy by director Park Chan-hong and writer Kim Ji-woo, after Resurrection in 2005 and followed by Shark in 2013. I don't think the stories have any common thread as far as characters, but the concept in this is very strong. Good and bad are never finite. And what we believe we know and think we have seen may not be what really happened. Also, the sins of your youth will return to you, or, as in this case, continue to haunt and change you. It is beautifully done, complex characters with all kinds of warts and all kinds of right and wrong. You 'know' what is going on from the first, but never fully and even though I am 12 episodes in on a 20 episode show, every episode brings yet another revelation and another realization for our antagonists that the person they are chasing for vengeance is not who or what they think they are. There will be a sad ending for this, absolutely. But, as long as it brings resolution and peace to the 2 men whose lives have been lived in such pain and agony and loneliness, it will be a 'good' ending. I have cried many tears in every single episode so far. I hate sad shows, but this one is just gripping my heart and mind. The photography is very very evocative. Many references to Rodin and Faust, the Gates of Hell, Dante's Inferno. The escalator scenes an obvious reference. The cameraman is over using the Hitchcock's Guide to Camera Work, but it still is chilling and I still haven't gotten tired of it. It's just beautiful to look at.
Very different. Almost a documentary format. Won't be everyone's cup of tea. It's basically a story about 5 girls, but only 3 of them are actually fully developed characters. All of them are dealing with difficulties in their lives which are nearly insurmountable and their futures appear rather bleak. Yet 2 at least, in the end break free of the lives that are stifling them and embark on an unknown path that will, at least, be determined by them as much as they can make possible. Interesting. It is a slow film. But I enjoyed it. 7/10
it's a good movie. I read several reviews and they all seemed fairly critical of it. The overall feeling being, I guess, that it didn't go far enough in its indictment of the destructiveness of the rumor mill, netizens, and the powers that be that, supposedly, behind the scenes are wielding the power to manipulate the mindless horde of internet ghouls that feed off of scandals and proceeding to destroy people as a result. I suppose it could have been better. But, for what it was I thought they did a good enough job. I wasn't pleased with the good guy barreling ahead, repeatedly, seemingly with 1/2 a plan and continually getting the crap beat out of him as a result. But alls well that ends well I guess. I give it 7.5 out of 10. I was entertained, but not bowled over. I would recommend it. It is worth watching. I love Kim Kang Woo. When he is on, he is terrific. Park Sung Woong, as usual, kills it as the cold blooded killer.
Just finished watching Soo Ae and Yoo Ji Tae in Midnight FM. A psychological suspense movie that kept me on the edge of my seat literally and emotionally from start to finish. There wasn't a moment of wasted time in this movie, with a constant ratcheting up of the action from the first appearance of the terrific Yoo Ji Tae to the final seconds. The fact that much of the plot centers around the horrific possibility of the lunatic's murder of 2 small children and we have to watch as they struggle to escape or hide from him, only intensifies the horror. Another great thriller from Korea with powerful performances by the 2 main stars. I give it an 8.5 out of 10. (note-I virtually never give 10's or 9.5's. )
There's something about this movie that makes me want to like it more than I do. I don't know how else to describe it. It was good, not great. But, like the reviewer above said, not a waste of my time to watch. The food was lovely. Wish there had been more of it!
how is this coming up with an 8.5 review rating when the majority of people posting are disgusted with how it ended? You can't even excuse an ending like this with the idea of "Artistic License"! It was just bad.
There are no air bags in Korean cars, so even the smallest accident will result in head injury and hospital visit.
Koreans drop dishes constantly and always cut their finger, resulting in the emergency kit, which is always there, being pulled out, and the question of whether a trip to the hospital should be made is raised.
An IV is needed for everything...and you can administer your own at home if necessary.
Many Koreans do not know there is a board in the airport that tells you what gate a plane is departing from, resulting in them running all over the airport dramatically looking everywhere for their loved one.
They catch colds immediately if they even get a tiny bit wet in the rain, resulting,again, in that trip to the hospital and the ever present IV.
The girl will always twist her ankle and require a piggy back ride. (why are the shoes there so poorly made that the heels are breaking off? I have 20 year old high heels that have never broken? Don't judge me, they are collector items I now never wear but can't throw away!)
At any point that anything goes wrong, get drunk...blackout drunk. It's a great excuse to have sex and get pregnant. The first time.
When upset always stuff your mouth with food as fast as you can. You will choke the second the food is put in your mouth and start coughing.
There are no washing machines nor laundromats so everyone washes their clothes by stomping them in a tub.
Koreans have mouths of steel...they can eat ramen straight out of a boiling pot with only one or 2 breaths to cool it down! and the noodles never run out!
During a drama there will always always be at least one scene of wiping the floor, getting stuck out of town somewhere necessitating a hotel stay,a visit to a gaming arcade, norebang, amusement park, wedding dress store.
I <3 Kdrama!!!!!!!!! :)
Early private eye/detective scenario. Yes sorta like the beginnings of a Korean Holmes/Watson pairing. I liked the woman scientist thrown in. Nice movie. Good for a break, well acted, great costumes and scenery, well written. Just a good movie...not great.
IMBD has some excellent reviews of this film. It is for mature audiences as it does contain nudity and sex scenes. I did not find them gratuitous nor offense in the context of this film and especially with the story of these two people. I did not want this movie to end. My time spent with these 2 people just flew by and I greatly wanted to know more about them, the feelings they kept such tight control on, the passion that they did not, and to know what happened to them. The ending, for me gave me the belief that their relationship will not end. It will either go on indefinitely, until that one breaking point that one of them will reach, that one catastrophic event that will either break them up permanently or ensure their future together. Ever the eternal optimist, I believe she will come to her senses, end the fake marriage, and face her future, however difficult, with him.
Thanks for the recap/review! Good job synopsizing everything!
Half way through, all hell breaks loose and a plan that should never have been started takes an horrifically terrible turn for the worst. The consequences are heartbreaking to watch as minute by minute we see the disintegration of the relationship and the tragic end. Beautifully acted, gorgeously produced and filmed, the very example of what is great about Korean film of this kind. It's the kind of movie that leaves me euphoric for the talent and pure awesomeness that Korean film continues to produce so effortlessly! If there is any drawback at all to this movie, for me, it's that even as terrifically done as this movie is, and as highly as I would recommend it and rate it, it is pretty much like many of the others that I have seen. That only means a .5 reduction in my rating though! I loved it and, if you like this kind of movie, I highly recommend it. It will draw you in to the lives of these 3 and you will ache for the pain they inflict on themselves. I cannot get over how well these films can build such relationships, even in 2 short hours, that can leave you so emotionally drained from how involved you become in them. One of the best ever as far as that part of the movie was concerned. 9.5/10.
Koreans drop dishes constantly and always cut their finger, resulting in the emergency kit, which is always there, being pulled out, and the question of whether a trip to the hospital should be made is raised.
An IV is needed for everything...and you can administer your own at home if necessary.
Many Koreans do not know there is a board in the airport that tells you what gate a plane is departing from, resulting in them running all over the airport dramatically looking everywhere for their loved one.
They catch colds immediately if they even get a tiny bit wet in the rain, resulting,again, in that trip to the hospital and the ever present IV.
The girl will always twist her ankle and require a piggy back ride. (why are the shoes there so poorly made that the heels are breaking off? I have 20 year old high heels that have never broken? Don't judge me, they are collector items I now never wear but can't throw away!)
At any point that anything goes wrong, get drunk...blackout drunk. It's a great excuse to have sex and get pregnant. The first time.
When upset always stuff your mouth with food as fast as you can. You will choke the second the food is put in your mouth and start coughing.
There are no washing machines nor laundromats so everyone washes their clothes by stomping them in a tub.
Koreans have mouths of steel...they can eat ramen straight out of a boiling pot with only one or 2 breaths to cool it down! and the noodles never run out!
During a drama there will always always be at least one scene of wiping the floor, getting stuck out of town somewhere necessitating a hotel stay,a visit to a gaming arcade, norebang, amusement park, wedding dress store.
I <3 Kdrama!!!!!!!!! :)