What is the single moment in our own lives we treasure the most? This intriguing and thought-provoking film embraces the mystery of memory, love and life, while masterfully triggers us to think about why we are here, and what makes us truly happy.
One of 2019 gems, “Chocolate” is a delicate, slow-paced, heart-warming story about healing, maturing, cherishing ourselves and loved ones and embrace life and its wonders without regretting our choices. Wonderful aesthetics, cinematography and soundtrack, excellent performances from so many actors -veterans and children-, so many meaningful stories and heart-breaking departures. A definite must-watch!
“The Light in your Eyes” is a painfully beautiful, thought-provoking and healing story that reminds us the importance of treasuring ourselves and cherishing our happy memories, accepting each other’s shortcomings and differences, learning to live with the consequences of our actions, living our lives to the fullest and not having regrets as we grow old. This drama has a fascinating solid story line, well-written and relatable characters, a poignant plot twist near the end that left us viewers in tears and a superb cast. Kim Hye Ja, in particular, was astonishing! This drama, this character was made for her. Her natural, effortless performance as both elderly and young Hye Ja was a pure perfection. As young Hye Ja she had the light in her eyes and a youthful aura in her movements, while during the end she captured the confused, resigned, weak-spirited, heartbreaking elderly Hye Ja flawlessly.
Based on a summer day in the everyday life of the painter Kumagai Morikazu, this slow-paced and definitely not plot-driven film is a portrait of an eccentric recluse, a garden gnome who just inhabits and observes happily his microcosm in his overgrown garden, full of insects, ants, fish, small animals and flora. It is not everybody’s cup of tea, but I found it charming and soothing Needless to say that veteran actor Yamazaki Tsutomu and late actress Kiki Kirin were superb in their subtle, both comic and sly acting :)
Fed up with her teenage daughter’s sullen indifference, a single working mom comes up with a brilliant way to vent her frustration: elaborate every day cartoon bentos designed to deliver her thoughts in a way so annoying that’s impossible for her daughter to ignore. A funny and heartwarming story of mother-daughter bonding, which confirms that mom's food heals everything, “Bento Harassment” successfully delivers a simple yet inspirational message to persevere through life’s various difficulties and live life without any regrets!
The first half of the drama was so refreshing and intriguing in every aspect, while the second half was too predictable, too unrealistic, with a lot ridiculously comic and cringy moments - one more missed opportunity...
This film depicts the story of Yun Dong Ju, one of Korea’s most well-known and beloved poets, whose poems conveyed his worries and hopes for his country’s future during the colonial period in Korea. The story of his life, from being an awkward idealistic teenager to his imprisonment by the Japanese, as well as the impact his poetry had on Korean consciousness, as it became a voice for the revolution and symbolized Korea’s escape from oppression, is wonderfully delivered by Kang Ha Neul with his expressive yet restrained, elegant, subdued and melancholic performance, which is brilliantly enhanced by the graceful black and white cinematography. And KHN’s singing during the credits was the most emotional and intense closure… “What’s the use of literature, if it doesn’t change the world?” - Dong Ju: The Portrait of a Poet
This movie was my introduction to Filipino shows and it was way better than I expected! Pleasantly surprised by this heartwarming, cute and fluffy romcom and the couple's natural acting and excellent chemistry!
The first drama of grey-haired Kimura Takuya is an engaging story with mystery elements about a strict veteran instructor in police academy and his interactions with his students, as well as their intensive training, mysterious trials, inner struggles and character development throughout graduation. The intriguing plot and the excellent performances made this drama special a real pleasure to watch! Highly recommended :)
An interesting sci-fi mystery romance, a bit slow-paced, but with stunning cinematography and some really poignant scenes enhanced with elegant music. Takahashi Issei and Kawaguchi Haruna were both shining :)
I've watched all five of your favorite dramas and tbh I didn't enjoy "Touch Your Heart" so much... My top five dramas of 2019 are: "Doctor Prisoner", "Designated Survivor 60 Days", "When the Camellia Blooms", "Be Melodramatic" and "The Tale of Nokdu" :)
A slow-paced slice of life family drama that tells the story of how the oldest brother of five siblings, who lost both their parents at a young age, raised his siblings. Their relationships, fights, life and love struggles and their character development were realistically depicted through the actors competent acting in an ordinary, simple house set-up. Although the stories of some siblings were stronger and more ‘complete/balanced’ than the rest ones, and there were some cheesy dialogues here and there, overall it was an enjoyable, heartwarming drama.
Beautifully written article, with such an attractive structure :) Master in the House is probably the only variety show i watch on a regular basis. Every episode is funny, touching, informative and very entertaining! I'm sure many people will give it a try after reading your article ❤
Slow-paced but well-developed and intriguing mystery with strong suspense undertones (though I found a bit tiring and confusing sometimes were the flashbacks between the three different timelines). But, its most powerful element was the characters’ development and relationships built between them throughout the drama, rather than the mystery solving itself. It addressed some sensitive subjects such as physical and mental violence, domestic abuse and manipulation and successfully managed to develop the impact such things can have on people’s life, dreams and relationships. Throughout the drama, friendship and romance were subtle, slow, understanding, sacrificing - some things were not said, but the emotions were conveyed perfectly and elegantly through glances, gestures and actions. The music was perfectly-fitted, the scenery breathtaking and all the actors did an excellent job. It may not be everyone's cup of tea, but it's worth a try!
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This intriguing and thought-provoking film embraces the mystery of memory, love and life, while masterfully triggers us to think about why we are here, and what makes us truly happy.
Wonderful aesthetics, cinematography and soundtrack, excellent performances from so many actors -veterans and children-, so many meaningful stories and heart-breaking departures.
A definite must-watch!
This drama has a fascinating solid story line, well-written and relatable characters, a poignant plot twist near the end that left us viewers in tears and a superb cast.
Kim Hye Ja, in particular, was astonishing! This drama, this character was made for her. Her natural, effortless performance as both elderly and young Hye Ja was a pure perfection. As young Hye Ja she had the light in her eyes and a youthful aura in her movements, while during the end she captured the confused, resigned, weak-spirited, heartbreaking elderly Hye Ja flawlessly.
It is not everybody’s cup of tea, but I found it charming and soothing
Needless to say that veteran actor Yamazaki Tsutomu and late actress Kiki Kirin were superb in their subtle, both comic and sly acting :)
A funny and heartwarming story of mother-daughter bonding, which confirms that mom's food heals everything, “Bento Harassment” successfully delivers a simple yet inspirational message to persevere through life’s various difficulties and live life without any regrets!
“What’s the use of literature, if it doesn’t change the world?” - Dong Ju: The Portrait of a Poet
The intriguing plot and the excellent performances made this drama special a real pleasure to watch!
Highly recommended :)
My top five dramas of 2019 are: "Doctor Prisoner", "Designated Survivor 60 Days", "When the Camellia Blooms", "Be Melodramatic" and "The Tale of Nokdu" :)
Master in the House is probably the only variety show i watch on a regular basis.
Every episode is funny, touching, informative and very entertaining!
I'm sure many people will give it a try after reading your article ❤
It addressed some sensitive subjects such as physical and mental violence, domestic abuse and manipulation and successfully managed to develop the impact such things can have on people’s life, dreams and relationships. Throughout the drama, friendship and romance were subtle, slow, understanding, sacrificing - some things were not said, but the emotions were conveyed perfectly and elegantly through glances, gestures and actions.
The music was perfectly-fitted, the scenery breathtaking and all the actors did an excellent job. It may not be everyone's cup of tea, but it's worth a try!