The story line is very unique, both in subject matter and tone. We follow a group of normal people following the dream of orchestral performance together, under the direction of a conductor who is as rude and arrogant as he is famous and talented. The experience and accompanying tribulations change their lives, as you might expect, but the difference can be genuinely felt. There may be unbelievable circumstances that bring these people together, but the way they progress and transform is realistic and subtle. Some may complain the final episodes are bittersweet and somewhat open-ended, but I feel they composed the perfect ending for a story such as this. Any other result would have felt too saccharine, especially with the heavy emotions this drama evoked. We pursued a dream with these characters, but it's really not the result that matters...it's the path we took and what we choose to do after.
This is also the first drama where I've felt I would actually miss the characters after completion--in particular, abrasive conductor Kang Mae as played by Kim Myung Min. His acting really is as outstanding as everyone says it is. It's a rare gift to see a character spring to life as vibrantly as this; he felt like a real person separate from the actor, no doubt thanks to his extensive preparation. I mean, Myung Min was actually even able to conduct an actual orchestra at a press conference for this drama...something he'd learned how to do in five months. Another favorable mention must go to Jang Geun Suk, who was still in the early stages of rising fame (and looked nothing like he does now). I'm not sure he's played a part like this since, but I'm hoping he will soon. His Gun Woo was an earnest, hardworking, genuinely good kid...but with very human failings and no sob story to excuse them. Geun Suk was a joy to watch too, and stood competently alongside the great Myung Min as his foil.
As to music, as one might expect, there's a ton of classical used in Beethoven Virus. The performance sequences utilize elegant and meaningful pieces, looking as good as they sound. Other works serve to fit scenes as background tracks, and add a delicious feeling of high drama without also becoming cheesy. Fans of instrumental music and classic in general will love it, while others might find a spark of interest growing in them after watching! Vocal tracks are also great, with Insooni's inspirational number "A Goose's Dream" basically summing up everything Beethoven Virus stands for.
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BEST DRAMA EVER!
I have watched a lot of dramas but The King: Eternal Monarch has by far been the best.I loved the acting.
Lee Min Ho's acting was spot on. The way he portrayed his character was so life-like. The emotions he displayed were so on point that I often found myself tearing up in the sad moments and laughing in the playful ones.
Woo Do Hwan's acting was absolutely perfect. His acting was superb. His acting as Jo Yeong and Jo Eun Sub was so great, that I actually had to research to see if Woo Do Hwan had a twin brother. He portrayed both characters expertly. He gave each character their own personality and behavior. I could just make out who was who.
Kim Go Eun's acting was done amazingly. I don't think anyone could have done a better job. She captured the emotions just right and I felt as if I was really there watching them instead of sitting on my couch.
The OST was epic. I really have no words to express how perfect it was. The OSTs set the mood. If it was romantic scenes, heartbreaking scenes, happy scenes, or action scenes, the OSTs captured it perfectly. It was so great that I downloaded all the OSTs
This drama I can positively say was a work of art. Everything, to the acting, OSTs, the professionalism of the different sets made the drama more realistic and enjoyable.
I would definitely recommend this drama to anyone and everyone. It will make you want a season 2!
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This review may contain spoilers
It´s Girl Power time! Outrageous, luminous angelic + consistently deadly, too. Pitch-black humour.
"Sympathy for Lady Vengeance" or in the original "Lovely Geum-ja" is grossly funny, bitterly satirical, with a huge portion of pitch-black, bone-dry, unpredictable humor. The KMovie playfully juggles with details that seem to have sprung from a film noir and, above all, deliberately wants to irritate with the aestheticizing stylization of bloodthirsty revenge.Geum-ja is an Angel of revenge in the most literal sense. Luminous, angelic in her kindness, yet consistently deadly when it comes to her revenge mission. This makes the KMovie a paradoxical, incomparable experience: bizarre, absurd, dark and yet pointedly funny.
It´s is Girl power time! Patriarchy is in the pillory, regarding various offenses and arrogance of most of the male characters. Geum-ja (convincing to the point: Lee Young-ae) offers the entire program of associations with the feminine in its blatant contradictions: saint, whore, witch, as well as mother, lover, friend. Guilty in naive innocence. Outrageous. Diabolical. Sovereign. Powerful. Decided. Efficient. Exhilarated. Significantly, a remix of Vivaldi's "Ah ch'infelice semper" swings the baton in the background.
Storytelling is always close to Geum-ja. Not too much, just as much as is needed, is given to the audience. A serious, deeply meaningful off-screen narrator closes the gaps. As I said, the humor is pitch-black.
By the way, the KMovie (which has also received many international awards) is the third part of a revenge trilogy by director Park Chan-wook, which includes "Oldboy", that is considered one of the most influential films of contemporary South Korean cinema.
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Though it’s far less bloody than the first two, Park Chan Wook’s Sympathy for Lady Vengeance should be held in just as high regard. It outclasses Tarantino’s Kill Bill as a revenge story with far deeper turmoil.
Filmed in an almost grotesque fairytale manner, it is about the struggle between a saintly pale faced damsel in distress and a cunning witch donned in red eye make-up and classy heels. Stranger yet, is that both characters are one and the same - Ms Geum Ja (Lee Young-Ae) who seeks vengeance for crimes committed against her.
This film has the right blend of humour, love, family elements yet maintains an incredibly intense dark tone throughout. The surreal shots, the use of music and the progression of the story are nearly flawless.
I would happily use the words 'compelling' 'heart wrenching' and 'beautiful' to describe Park Chan Wook’s Sympathy for Lady Vengeance. However, to this description you must also add 'chilling' and 'horrifically sinister' to fully appreciate the depth and complexity of this film. Lady Vengeance provides the audiences with intense off-camera violence and in this film it is the aftermath of the violence that is most effective. It’s not the violence that bothers the viewer but the situation in which it arises.
This offering by this amazing director is not for those who can only stomach physical brutality but that of the emotional type, thus making opinions surrounding this film as divisive as its predecessors. Like most pieces of art, it really depends on one’s taste. But one thing is for sure; whether you’re swayed by the deeper emotional content or the hard to ignore visual elements, there is at least one thing you’ll love about this film.
Or if not, you won’t be able to forget it for a variety of reasons.
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A Fun Action-Noir Film
Watched it in expectations of a really dark and gory film…While I got a comedy film instead ? not complaining tho bcs I really love it!!
I always prefer a simple and fun action movies rather than the dark and serious ones. The Childre brands the film “action noir”, but in fact it is not really that much “noir” for me, more like “action noir-comedy”. If you love a fun movie without any stressful thoughts this one will be best for you. But if you prefer darker movies and difficult plot, you might be bored with this movie in their first half hours.
Kim Seonho really delivered the character of Childe/Nobleman well! His action scenes are so cool and scary but at the same time her micro expression while saying and doing random funny things also worth to wait. I would love to see more of Nobleman, he is so fun to watch (eventho he’s evil lol)
Really recommended!
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1This review may contain spoilers
Humans are not black or white, they are shades of grey.
First I have to say I watched this because of the actor Matsumoto Leo who played the best side character in "I Cannot Reach You" in 2023. Also the two personalities on the poster intrigued me. But besides that, I went in blind.This is a story which was needed to be told. I applaud the creators to have the gall in Japan to tell a story which is against the conforming nature of japanese people. It teaches the viewers that man do not need to be masculine and even if they have feminin traits, it does not mean they are all gay. The same goes for the girl, who is on the tomboyish side without the typical expierence doing makeup and dessing up. I won't spoil the rest of the story here, but it was not earth-shattering, but quite nice.
It's more on the light side, telling a story of discovery and exploration especially for the girl. The only downfall is the story about Hikarus parents, especially his father who does not approve of his cross-dressing. We can assume the mother was on his side always and his father came around in the finale but maybe in this case they should have shifted the story more so we could have seen the wedding with the parents... as with many BLs the kissing was again just dead fish kisses which annoys me in EVERY romance.
Overall an atypically japanese romance with atypical people which is worth the watch in my book!
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Story: The story is set in Bakuda/Bakaleya high school. Now I love school dramas because I can relate to them because I'm in high school as well. However I really found it interesting to see how schools in Japan are run. The story is really simple but entertaining to watch. I'll admit the boys do fight a lot, but I actually found the fight scenes really interesting. The fight scenes really bought out the characteristics of each boy. The girls were annoying at first, especially Fumie who showed no expression, but they grew on me. I love how smoothly the boys and girls transition from enemies to friends. Another thing I really liked were that the boys,though rowdy, were really sweet, good boys who just wanted to protect their honor and pride. They had so much spirit that I wanted to join their school. I marathoned this drama over 2 days when I had time and it was really entertaining and fun to watch.
Cast: So its seems that this is a cast of rookie actors. The acting honestly wasn't that bad. Some more expression could have been shown, but it was believable. The cast improved with every episode which I give props for. They are extremely good looking so that's a plus as well. The only downside to having such a big cast, was that in the beginning I really got my names confused. I couldn't figure out who was Tatsuya and who was Tetsuya. I honestly thought they were the same person at first.
Music: I loved loved loved the theme song!! Its so catchy! But it reminded me of another song, and it really bugged me for a day. I figured out what song it reminded me of - F.Cuz's No. 1. The beat is the same in both songs. But the song is good, and honestly I think the theme song was the only song played in this whole drama. At least that was the only song I heard. But I really liked it, and it wasn't like BOF where you got sick of hearing Almost Paradise... every 2 minutes.
Rewatch: I definitely think I would rewatch this again if I'm in the mood for a cute, fun, light-hearted Jdrama.
Overall: Really good, fun Jdrama. I would recommend to anyone who wants something entertaining to watch which won't get them too emotional.
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I didn't go into this movie with a lot of expectations because other than Han Hyo Joo, I'm not really interested in much of the cast. (I know I'm wretched). The premise interested me but what kept me watching was the absolutely magnetic performance of Lee Byung Hun.
He is beyond talented and he deserves all the praise he gets for being a great actor and if you don't believe me or really wonder why Korea thinks he's 'all that' watch this movie. It will clear up all the doubts you ever had of him. Just within the premise of the story he plays two physical characters (Ha Su and Gwanghae) but Ha Su himself goes through so much to change that the range that Lee Byung Hun delivers believably is great. The transitions of his character are seamless.
The story moves quickly and is enjoyable from the start, you get to literally see things that you would never expect in a historical drama but maybe like me have always wondered. There's a human aspect to this story that doesn't come across as well in other historical dramas I find because the king is a man who is from the palace. In Gwanghae, it's the opposite as the position of king is given to someone who is absolutely not from the palace.
I didn't particularly notice the music >< (my bad!) I would definitely rewatch this movie but not right away cause dear god I have way too much to actually watch (and right now I'm going to rewatch Coffee Prince ^.^)
But overall, love Gwanghae...if you're looking for a good historical WITH AMAZING acting, watch Gwanghae. It didn't just win big at award shows for nothing :)
P.S. (the other actors in this film do really well too even though I just mentioned Lee Byung Hun cause he blew me away. In particular I really liked the Eunuch :))
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WITHOUT THE BL, IT IS A LOSER
I really wanted to like this series. I tried it because of the BL element but what we get is only about 25% of BL goodness and 70% of annoying trio of negligible main characters. What about the 5%, you asked? It is for Lee and Sing who are like the not-so-good fairy godmothers.Lets talk about the LOSER so we can get him out of the way. Yes, I understand that the main character IS a loser but Oh is a whiny and perverted character and even if he is bullied he is just hard to feel sorry for. What's worse is when he goes home his mother bullies him too (telling him he is good for nothing) and everything is setup to be a light comedy scene as if nothing bad is happening at school. No bullying should be comedy. And even fter the makeover transformation he still feels like a Loser.
I wrote about the female lead initially but in this edit can we just pretend she never existed.
The saving grace is the BL element. Yes, plus points for Sun for being definitely gay and eventhough In's character is confused and confusing, Pluem's cuteness kind of overcomes the negative parts. And comeon, his singing voice is just golden. No kissing scenes and the ending for these 2 was not as satisfying as i hoped for but i forgive them for continuing their story in another series. InSun deserves a series of their own.
Rewatchability 6.0 - if you are a BL fan just watch the InSun supercut. Total score 6.5 just because of InSun without them its a 4.5.
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Her character as Luna was also impressive as the character as Luna was completely different from that of the character as Jeong Tae-ul. the formal being a pick pocket thief with a vast criminal record and the latter being an honest, strong and diligent police officer Wo Doh Hwan also did an excellent job at potraying 2 different characters who were poles apart in personality. One being a stiff and upright bodyguard cum soldier and the other being cheerful and chilled out person. All other actors too did a very good job as most of them played in double roles from the 2 parallel worlds. The screenplay and direction too was applause worthy.
Kim Go-eun, God, I am falling in love with her acting skills. Just saw her Goblin TV series and she was amazing. She didn't disappoint me. Her strong-willed and sarcasm character made me love her even more. The Superb supporting cast Woo Do-Hwan and the enigmatic Villain Lee Jung-jin shines here. You will fall in Love with their characters. Highly recommended must watch!
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It wasn't extraordinary but the actors/actresses are enjoyable to watch and of course Cha Eun Woo is mesmerizing (he's not the best actor, but he has that charisma that I really like so).
I must say that the first 14 episodes were really good but after the story lacked a little and the end was a little unsatisfying.
There isn't so much songs in it but I like a lot the rap music that is in it.
So it wasn't a memorable webdrama but it was fresh and I liked to watch it, so don't have high hopes about this just take it the way it is!
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This review may contain spoilers
*Spoilers MAY BE ahead* I need to take a break from Korean/Taiwanese drama. So I haven't watched a Thai Lakorn for so long, the last one I watched was Kaew Lorn Phat (Something like that) After watching this, I LOVED IT (Coming from a guy's point of view)
Story:
Pretty unique, I have never watch a drama like this ever? To be honest, I found episode 1-4 kinda boring, but after a while it picked up. There are some misunderstanding and so-so. There's no evil second lead so that's a new thing to me (plus for me). The bad"guy" doesn't come out until the end but as you watch on, they give you hints, so look out for those.
The plot itself is already self-explanatory: Selfish and conceited girl turns good
Acting/Character:
All the cast did EXCELLENT, mostly the two main characters!
+Chemistry between the two leads is cute :)
+No evil second lead girl/boy
+Angels :P
-Kinda annoying second lead (Not Pat) though (Sticks to main actor like glue sometimes)
-Pat's and Beauty's relationship will sometimes be annoying (To me sometimes it was)
Music:
The music wasn't that bad but rather dull, there was like only 3 songs that I could remember
2 instrumenal music?
1 vocal song
REWATCH VALUE: Probably ( If Im bored and need a drama to watch)
Watch this drama if you're a big lakorn fan or asian drama fan. This is one of my favorite thai lakorn :)
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All that glitters is not gold.
"Beautiful and splendid show window... It's open for everyone to see, but once the spotlights go out and the curtains are drawn, no one can ever know what's going on inside." ~ A minor character from the drama said this.In a world where people care about the vaunting virtue more than one's inner beauty, we have developed ways to showcase what we wish to swank about. But what happens behind the walls, is always more than the alluring self, which most of us don't bother to care about. Show window is one of the most effective way in that regards but little do we know about the camouflaged matters that can either ruin us or shape us for good.
As you already know, this is a makjang, undoubtedly with toxic elements and nerve-racking characters in it. The question should be, "is this worth checking out?" . Well, yes, in my opinion, I would send you a positive nod. It's not something sort of a must watch but if you're fond of the genre, it surely is an enjoyable watch.
I will tell you a simple plotline, differently from the synopsis given everywhere. There is a happy family of four people and one day the husband is caught cheating on the wife. The wife scared of hurting her children by separating from her husband, pushes herself to save the family and simultaneously tries to get rid of the third person. The husband with high ambitions to own his mother-in-law's company doesn't wanna leave his family, nor does he want to abandon his extramarital lover. The story leads towards the unveiling the husband's true self and establish harmony.
This sounds very simple and typical, right? Well because, it is an usual Kdrama makjang storyline with cliché elements but not to spoil the actual plot, the way of occurrence, screenplay and execution are different from what you'll be able to perceive from the above paragraph. And that's why it's a good watch and to mention, it's for those who are into mild makjang stories accompanied by corporate thrillers, i. e. fight for power and hierarchy.
Song Yoon Ah as Han Sun Joo is considered the Queen who has achieved perfection from every aspect and is ideal to many women; born into a wealthy family, she can pull on anything and marries to a capable & devoted man, now having a loving family. Lee Sung Jae as Shin Myung Seop is a highly ambitious man who with his dedication plus wife's support has been able to climb the hierarchial ladder in Lahen group that belongs to his mother in law. Jeon So Min as Yoon Mi Ra is a lady deprived of love and seeks constant attention from the one she loves. She falls for Myung Sup and they immediately get into a mutually reciprocating relationship. Hwang Chan Sung as Han Jung Won is a warm-hearted guy who loves his sister Sun Joo and despite being slow-witted, knows how to deal with situations.
Some other good actors in major roles are: Moon Hee Kyung (Kim Kang Im) as Sun Joo's mother & Lahen's chairperson, Kim Sung Soo (Cha Young Hoon) as Sun Joo's close friend, Kim Byung Ok (Kim Dae Wook) as the Chief Detective. Shin Yi Joon (Shin Tae Hee) and Park Sang Hoon (Shin Tae Yong) play the children of Sun Joo and Myung Sup.
Only the above mentioned 9 characters are of essence while some others in major characters didn't show any sort of notable acting, in fact, many of the characters, to me, felt very unnecessary fillers. They weren't required for the story; especially all of the residents of the town residency complex who were there to just gossip and even so, the amount of gossiping was absolutely useless for a drama.
I have mixed opinions about the plot development of this drama; it is both good and bad, not both at the same, obviously. The first episode, as an introductory wasn't that impressive but as usual, I decided not to judge it that soon. But what I was already loving was the way initial base of the story was being established as the episodes furthered. The screenplay is gripping, intensively appealing and definitely something catchy. But then there's a leap which is not distinctly shown but yeah, things somehow change and there starts another mood of the drama. It becomes even more interesting and makes you expect, which lasts for about next 2 episodes. And that's when the show starts going downhill.
Well, it doesn't really turn bad or suddenly becomes uninteresting but they start attempting to exaggerate the plot to an extent and while doing that, they include some awfully unnecessary elements and morever, they repeat some of them which was clearly visible. What saved it from a probable backlash was the fact that tbe quality starts degrading much later the interval, which in my opinion is a key time period to evaluate a show, hence, I've tried to reflect it through my ratings.
I am very surprised to have come to know that the makers of the drama are both rookies. Not sure if they've worked as assistants before but this definitely seems to be their creation as frontline director and writer and they've undoubtedly done a very commendable job given their experiences. The drama isn't something very wowish but it was surely a decent watch even when you're not into makjangs. The direction was up to par, starting from screenplay management, synchronising various time scales, screen-editing were taken care of very well. The pacing wasn't consistent after 10th episode, still manageable. The cinematography was surely good; the dark yet flashy pallettes with momentary yellow as well as natural delineations were persuading. The writing was lacking, it was a good plot but progression was not well executed. But given that both the director and writer have debuted through this, this is quite well-delivered, no?
OSTs are composed by Kim Jong Chun and I must say all of them are catchy and captivating at the same time. There are total 7 tracks. My most favourite is "Hello' by Hickee which is the main theme song and is very intriguing. It followed by "Heaven Made" by Elsie Bay which was soothing and tragic at the same time, demanding escape towards happiness. The vocals of Ha Domg Qn in "Cry me a river" gave me goosebumps. "Fallin' by HARU, "just myself" by Kim Dong Hee, "Why i cry" Sin Ye Young and "Tears" by Onestar are the other ones which are quite likable and beautifully written as well as composed.
What I liked...
# Despite having a typical story, the screenplay was engaging and entertaining.
# The performance from the main cast was stupendous as they're old and immensely experienced, except Chan Sung and So Min. Well, they weren't that good but did a decent delivery.
# The drama not being a complete makjang. The simultaneous power fight was intriguing tho that plot went downhill and became repetitive in the 2nd half
# The kids not being typical makjang stupidass spoiled brats.
# The portrayal of present scenario in the beginning and ending of each episode and using it to unfold the past through detailed storytelling.
What I didn't like...
# So many unnecessary supporting characters as fillers and their extended scenes just to fill the 16 eps quota.
# The decent plot development that goes downhill starting from 10th episode. The pacing was still okay yet repetitive. They had many instances to finish the drama with a clear-cut ending, but duh!
# Underutilization of Chan Sung and Seung Soo. Their characters didn't have the impressive dynamics that I was expecting. Chang Sung is improving with dramas but Seung Soo is more than just skilled.
# Not to spoil, the thing involving both Jungwon and Mira could have lasted longer with some stirring outcomes but it felt like there was no need if it were gonna be that simple.
# So many kisses, haha. I'm not genophobic or against inclusion of explicit contents but the first half of the show has so many unnecessary making out scenes.
Final remarks.... Show Window 2021-22 isn't really a good show with intriguing plot, star-studded cast and amazing execution but given it's genre, for me, it was an enjoyable and entertaining watch with fabulous performance though the final delivery was average and wasn't pleasing. A fair one time watch.
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Story: 10/10 The story is one that will motivate you while tears stream down your eyes. It has themes of "High School" romance mixed in with following your dreams to the very end.
Cast/Acting 10/10 I couldn't ask for a better cast. They truly did a flawless job.
Music: 10/10 I still listen to the theme song by Yui (who also acted in this movie) two weeks after I watched the movie. The only "downside" about this movie is that you get addicted to the wonderful music by Yui.
Rewatch Value: 9/10 This is such a beautiful movie that I would definitely rewatch.
Overall 10/10 (i'd give it a 15/10 if I could!). Definitely watch this movie. You won't regret it.
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In Guk and Si Yang slayed their roles!
I enjoyed this drama so much. It was so fun to watch, In Guk and Si Yang played their roles extremely well, I was not only crying from laughter but of course sad scenes as well, because let's be honest, it's not a kdrama without a few tears. The story line was interesting and kept me invested the entire time I was watching. The whole tory kept me on my toes because of the suspense it also had with the whole plot and everything that went with it. I highly recommend watching this, you won't regret it I promise, bit just remember to go into it with an open mind, don't take everything too serious otherwise you'll ruin this great drama portrayed by wonderful and amazing actors and actresses.Was this review helpful to you?
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