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This review may contain spoilers
Untitled
My first impression is that this is such a well made work. But it gave me the feeling that I could guess the plot in a single breath just by watching the first scene. However I think it was done on purpose that they don't try to make it as a mind blowing surprise. this drama doesn't offer insane plot twists. That even you can guess it just by looking at the list of the casts. And I don't see it in a bad way. This is a typical show that can survive even with the reveal of a plot twist, imo. I'm just glad that it felt like it has been a while since I watched a seriously produced historical and it's beautifully well-done.
It's screaming kdrama produced by netflix coded. The visual is a work of art. And the cinematography, directing, editing, etc are well done. But there's just always something missing about western washed kdrama that I don't know how to explain it. Maybe it lacks of the raw emotion, because I can't fully sympathize with it. And sometimes I wonder why the story is directed to a certain way. Had they have more episodes, they could explore the rawness like in usual kdrama, that would make the viewers more attached to the characters.
What makes the show gripping is the intensity and the delivery of the plot. To be honest my slow brain cells needed sometime to finally digest that this drama is very symbolic and uses analogy cleverly. I wanted to give this 8.5 but once I understood their story telling it's a 9 for me. That was my original rating after I finished the show. Honestly this deserves higher than that by the quality of the production alone. and it didn't seem fair if I only gave it 9 compared to my other shows I have rated, so I added 0,5 points to my overall rating.
The osts aren't just songs. If the universe could make some noises, it'd sound like any of the osts. the songs are dedicated to the broken hearted souls and ode to the heaven. It feels like it contains loneliness and hope. the osts made the show more majestic. they complimented the beautiful cinematography, the story and the journey of the characters. the songs must be the echoes of the universe, nobody could convince me otherwise.
~
⚠️SPOILER ALERT!⚠️
~ characters and acting ~
💔
"It's said to be fake because the original exists." They weren't just talking about about the paintings in the warehouse. Paintings are used as an analogy for hongrang(s). Which made me believe that deep in her heart, what Mrs. Min cared the most was that the one in front of her had to be her son. Because he was the one who was there within her grip. Even if he wasn't real, for her he was the original Hongrang. Just like how she treated those paintings.
everyone in Hongrang's life was not fine, but her mother was super crazy. but you'd understand why she grew old to be such a twisted human. the actress crazily nailed every character's craziness. Uhm Jiwon is such a monster diva!
💙
And I'm not sure, is it too wild to think this way? but could the body painting be interpreted as symbolism of a SA? "Hongrang" repeatedly expressed how disgusted he was of the painting in his body and it made him like he was no longer human. And the painter said something about how he was already apart of him and that their souls already intertwined or something like that.
hongrang wasn't just physically broken but he was also once lost his soul. he left to the nothing land with one way ticket. he was all ready for the worst scenario as he was never properly felt like he was alive. but it changed after he connected with Jaeyi. She made him felt something. She made him felt like a human. She made him afraid to lose himself.
at first I couldn't resonate to Hongrang but through the end he made me attached to him. and Lee Jae Wook played his character really well scene by scene.
❤️
If we're talking about the literal ending, Jaeyi found Hongrang in every from. It's just like what they promised. She found him in every innocent kid she sheltered. She found him in those java sparrows. And in the end she saw him as the brightest star in the sky. They were never separated and always together. Just like what Jaeyi said that they went back to their respective places. Where Jaeyi belonged to his side and Hongrang belonged to her side.
Hongrang accompanied Jaeyi wether he was alive or not. But in a delulu interpretation, that means he could be alive. Jaeyi considered herself married to him the moment they runaway together. And Jaeyi puts her hair in a bun, like other Joseon married women.
Jo Bo Ah is a real artist. She was so dedicated at her work.
💚
My favourite character at the beginning was her older brother, surprisingly. I enjoyed his complexity. There was something about him, as if his character was shining. But just like other typically kdrama with short episodes, they pushed the SML to the big stage from the beginning. Then they cut his spot light without giving the room for the audiences to proceed.
I'm glad that in the end instead of embracing the darkness, he embraced her younger sister like the waves trying to embrace the land and shielding it from the emptiness.
I've never been impressed with characters portrayed by Jung Garam in other shows before. But he made me noticed that he's a really good actor.
🖤
Would his skin itch if he played a boring role?
It seems like taking a challenging roles is his actual comfort zone. What's really challenging for Kim Jae Wook is the opposite, to play a plain vanilla character. well at least his character is serving the bath up scene. Maybe everyone already know but I just want to say that Kim Jae Wook always delivered.
Does anyone think the butterflies in his room showed at the beginning meant something? I tried to count several times and thought about it but I couldn't think of a sensical thing to connect them with something.
❤️🔥
A professional new talent?
Kim Ba Da who played as Du Ryeong was just insane. His experience in the stage plays really showed with his acting. He was on fire. And I've never seen him so it's a fresh to see him here. Please somebody cast him as a leading role!
🌀
Their father was just a sht. Tho the Park Byung Eun did a good job to bring his character out.
At the beginning I was confused and mistook him for someone else. Every older character look alike. I appreciate that they're trying to be as close as possible to the customs from that period by portraying characters with moustache. However, normally it's hard for me to recognise people's faces and identifying their characters. And the moustache made it even harder.
~
Does the romance good?
At the beginning, way before the show started, I felt that people who stated that the romance is weird were the weird ones. However as I followed the story, some parts of the romance did make me uncomfortable. I wasn't uncomfortable due to the trope, but the execution. I don't want to elaborate, many people already talked about it. and if you watch this, you'll understand it. Maybe it wasn't that weird according to the society of that period. But I couldn't help myself to be judgmental in the end.
However the leads served one of the most beautiful spicy scenes in history.
It's screaming kdrama produced by netflix coded. The visual is a work of art. And the cinematography, directing, editing, etc are well done. But there's just always something missing about western washed kdrama that I don't know how to explain it. Maybe it lacks of the raw emotion, because I can't fully sympathize with it. And sometimes I wonder why the story is directed to a certain way. Had they have more episodes, they could explore the rawness like in usual kdrama, that would make the viewers more attached to the characters.
What makes the show gripping is the intensity and the delivery of the plot. To be honest my slow brain cells needed sometime to finally digest that this drama is very symbolic and uses analogy cleverly. I wanted to give this 8.5 but once I understood their story telling it's a 9 for me. That was my original rating after I finished the show. Honestly this deserves higher than that by the quality of the production alone. and it didn't seem fair if I only gave it 9 compared to my other shows I have rated, so I added 0,5 points to my overall rating.
The osts aren't just songs. If the universe could make some noises, it'd sound like any of the osts. the songs are dedicated to the broken hearted souls and ode to the heaven. It feels like it contains loneliness and hope. the osts made the show more majestic. they complimented the beautiful cinematography, the story and the journey of the characters. the songs must be the echoes of the universe, nobody could convince me otherwise.
~
⚠️SPOILER ALERT!⚠️
~ characters and acting ~
💔
"It's said to be fake because the original exists." They weren't just talking about about the paintings in the warehouse. Paintings are used as an analogy for hongrang(s). Which made me believe that deep in her heart, what Mrs. Min cared the most was that the one in front of her had to be her son. Because he was the one who was there within her grip. Even if he wasn't real, for her he was the original Hongrang. Just like how she treated those paintings.
everyone in Hongrang's life was not fine, but her mother was super crazy. but you'd understand why she grew old to be such a twisted human. the actress crazily nailed every character's craziness. Uhm Jiwon is such a monster diva!
💙
And I'm not sure, is it too wild to think this way? but could the body painting be interpreted as symbolism of a SA? "Hongrang" repeatedly expressed how disgusted he was of the painting in his body and it made him like he was no longer human. And the painter said something about how he was already apart of him and that their souls already intertwined or something like that.
hongrang wasn't just physically broken but he was also once lost his soul. he left to the nothing land with one way ticket. he was all ready for the worst scenario as he was never properly felt like he was alive. but it changed after he connected with Jaeyi. She made him felt something. She made him felt like a human. She made him afraid to lose himself.
at first I couldn't resonate to Hongrang but through the end he made me attached to him. and Lee Jae Wook played his character really well scene by scene.
❤️
If we're talking about the literal ending, Jaeyi found Hongrang in every from. It's just like what they promised. She found him in every innocent kid she sheltered. She found him in those java sparrows. And in the end she saw him as the brightest star in the sky. They were never separated and always together. Just like what Jaeyi said that they went back to their respective places. Where Jaeyi belonged to his side and Hongrang belonged to her side.
Hongrang accompanied Jaeyi wether he was alive or not. But in a delulu interpretation, that means he could be alive. Jaeyi considered herself married to him the moment they runaway together. And Jaeyi puts her hair in a bun, like other Joseon married women.
Jo Bo Ah is a real artist. She was so dedicated at her work.
💚
My favourite character at the beginning was her older brother, surprisingly. I enjoyed his complexity. There was something about him, as if his character was shining. But just like other typically kdrama with short episodes, they pushed the SML to the big stage from the beginning. Then they cut his spot light without giving the room for the audiences to proceed.
I'm glad that in the end instead of embracing the darkness, he embraced her younger sister like the waves trying to embrace the land and shielding it from the emptiness.
I've never been impressed with characters portrayed by Jung Garam in other shows before. But he made me noticed that he's a really good actor.
🖤
Would his skin itch if he played a boring role?
It seems like taking a challenging roles is his actual comfort zone. What's really challenging for Kim Jae Wook is the opposite, to play a plain vanilla character. well at least his character is serving the bath up scene. Maybe everyone already know but I just want to say that Kim Jae Wook always delivered.
Does anyone think the butterflies in his room showed at the beginning meant something? I tried to count several times and thought about it but I couldn't think of a sensical thing to connect them with something.
❤️🔥
A professional new talent?
Kim Ba Da who played as Du Ryeong was just insane. His experience in the stage plays really showed with his acting. He was on fire. And I've never seen him so it's a fresh to see him here. Please somebody cast him as a leading role!
🌀
Their father was just a sht. Tho the Park Byung Eun did a good job to bring his character out.
At the beginning I was confused and mistook him for someone else. Every older character look alike. I appreciate that they're trying to be as close as possible to the customs from that period by portraying characters with moustache. However, normally it's hard for me to recognise people's faces and identifying their characters. And the moustache made it even harder.
~
Does the romance good?
At the beginning, way before the show started, I felt that people who stated that the romance is weird were the weird ones. However as I followed the story, some parts of the romance did make me uncomfortable. I wasn't uncomfortable due to the trope, but the execution. I don't want to elaborate, many people already talked about it. and if you watch this, you'll understand it. Maybe it wasn't that weird according to the society of that period. But I couldn't help myself to be judgmental in the end.
However the leads served one of the most beautiful spicy scenes in history.
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