A bold if messy ghost story
Diving deep into the emotional longevity of what grief can inflict on an individual, Missing does not feel like a Tsui Hark film, as it's so far removed from his style. Mixing traditional supernatural beliefs with a psychological character study, Hark spins a tangled, often confusing web that while laudable doesn't quite sustain his ambitions. It instead offers a hodge-podge of genres ranging from psychological ghostly horrors to melodramatic romance, the very idea of the film is exciting but it has too many ingredients that ultimately leave it as a very messy piece of work, often looking hurriedly shot and put together almost as if it was made in a mad rush of a creative spark. It drags its feet to a rather unsatisfactory conclusion of multiple endings, feeling way longer than its advertised 2-hour runtime. Thankfully in the years, Hark's direction has remained steadfast and enjoyable, backed up by a passable score by Ricky Ho, Missing ultimately just misses the mark for me in its attempt to try so much, though the effort involved is commendable, the results are not.Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
Not nice to watch but definitely worth seeing. Superbly done in many ways. Powerful. Resonating.
Prolog:The conclusion for the protagonist in his late 30s is rather tragic: he´s getting the urge to go back. He wants the life of his late youth back. He cannot continue with who he is today. For him, there is only one option remaining – a shortcut to the exit.
However, for the audience, the end is actually the beginning. The journey goes backwards in seven chapters. And when we finally reach the start, it actually makes sense to look at the ending again... (in movie-terms: its beginning...)
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“Peppermint Candy” was one of the top ten movies in 2000. The international awards it collected are respectable. And even in 2022, “The Guardian” has it listed in 12th place among South Korean film classics. Meaning: It was topical back then and still hasn’t lost its impact. It´s cult. It can be considered particularly valuable. However, it´s not particularly nice, though. Rather particularly powerful and ferociously intense.
"Peppermint Candy" dates from 1999. It tells the story of the previous two decades of South Korean history using the example of an arbitrary, inconspicuous individual. For audience who isn´t firm in recent South Korean history, the KMovie may be reduced to the protagonist as an individual - to his very personal story and his tragic ending. For all those who know something about the historical, social background (see the side note below if you like), the KMovie becomes a memorial on screen that commemorates all those in society who were probably thus affected in one way or another, too, and may have had a similar experience. And there were quite a few.
In 1999, South Korea looked back on two extremely eventful decades. Two decades that were endured, sustained, borne by the people... Two decades that, in addition to democracy, turbo-capitalism and material prosperity, also produced a whole series of psychological cripples.
I actually don't like the word 'cripple', but somehow it seems appropriate in this case, here in the sense of: people who were maltreated by others or 'by life´s circumstances' to the point of psychic unconsciousness (even if perhaps they themselves were involved as perpetrators, too). People who were broken by their fate and trauma, not being allowed to and/or able to talk about it. People who fell, lost themselves, could no longer get back on their feet, feeling helpless. Completely bent. People who could not find peace with their shame and guilt. In their inability to communicate about it and get help, they became a total human failure for those around them.
In reverse "Peppermint Candy" portrays the career of such a psychological (and physical) 'cripple' in intense scenes. We may acknowledge the individual fate. Even without historical background and regardless of socialization, we acknowledge a broken soul, of which all that is left to the outside world is actually an 'asshole'. Once a poetic, delicate, sensitive spirit... it´s hard to believe. Actor Sol Kyung-gu expands the entire range of his skills, convincingly and uncompromisingly drawing the audience into each of his divers crucial, rather unpleasant emotional life situations.
“Peppermint Candy” is superbly done in many ways. Not too much, not too little. Ruthless. And in pointed, symbolic imagery, the scenes gain in emotional power and meaningfulness as they progress - even after we have travelled a few sequences further (back) - to the extent that the puzzle of drastic life events accumulated are coherently put together into a pile of shards.
The protagonist in "Peppermint Candy" is experiencing the significant historic events of his generation at the forefront. His psychical downward spiral cannot be stopped. But this protagonist is no exception. Countless people in their late thirties in South Korea in 1999 could have told such or similar stories. During those traumatizing two decades the public was carelessly left alone to individually deal with what had happened. What a person experienced emotionally, what a person had to process and couldn't, the decisions made, the guilt, the shame, the pain – the answer to that was mainly psychological repression and silence about it. The consequences in everyday life: Outbursts of acting up and/or apathy. Sometimes the old wound hurts again. The old wound makes man fall to the ground, by its pain that he cannot escape. But it is also a phantom pain - the desperate suffering over an essential piece of 'who I am' that was taken away once and for all...
The protagonist in "Peppermint Candy" suffers on behalf of an entire generation of anonymous young people who were quietly worn down, deeply psychologically shattered and finally by the two decades of the 80s and 90s, the time of transition from military dictatorship to modern capitalism existentially bankrupt. The KMovie reaches out to all those who may have had a similar experience and/or were able to sympathize. Where communication had been lacking for decades, the KMovie, with its sometimes disturbing insights, tries to build a bridge: with understanding that may even extend to empathy. "Peppermint Candy" manages to connect the South Korean people through the fate of this one fictional man and his personal environment. (Additionally, it may even touch the rest of the world). Yongho, who could be 'anyone', and with him the women in his life, his friends (?), his colleagues and his victims who had crossed his path, who could also be 'anyone'…
Not nice to watch. But definitely worth seeing.
Powerful. Resonating. A convincingly empathetic work.
A work of passion.
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SIDE NOTE: --- Brief overview of the historical background of South Korea - regarding May 1980 in Gwangju, the 1980s under repressive police violence, and the years of economic miracle up to the Asian crisis of 1997-1999. ---
May 1980 in Gwangju, South Korea, featured a bloody massacre that the police and military were ordered to carry out on their own people. Yet, that massacre of Gwangju remained an official taboo for almost two decades. What happened in Gwangju back then was kept secret from the rest of the country. Then, the city was deliberately cordoned off. The enemy was officially called 'communism' (especially in student circles, supposedly under the infiltrated influence of North Korea.)
Those who survived May 1980 in Gwangju and perhaps could or would have wanted to talk about it were pressured, persecuted, tortured and put in camps. The others who preferred to remain silent had to figure out by themselves how to emotionally digest what had happend.
President Chun Do-hwan, who succeeded his predecessor Park Chung-hee in the aftermath of the bloody spring of 1980, did not create any less autocratic structures for the common people than before with his dictatorship. On the contrary. With him, brutal torture was carried out in the spirit of a systematic cleansing. The years of Chun Do-hwan's rule were some of the worst for South Korea in terms of political repression. His mission: The country should use all its might to present itself to the rest of the world as dazzling and up-and-coming until the Olympic Games. Whatever/whoever was bothersome was put away. However, the autocratic rule of the dictator and his brutal power apparatus with police and secret service ended in 1987 as a result of unbridled, enormous public pressure. The people's longing for democracy was finally able to prevail.
Parallel to the repression under Chun Do-hwan, the 1980s and following years were characterized by the years of economic miracle. The market became increasingly liberalized and it was all about exports. Yet, on a large scale growth and prosperity were built on credit: direct investments from abroad, credit cards for the people in the country, loan sharks for all those smaller companies that couldn't get the money from the banks. But the bubble of the expansive credit economy of the 1990s burst in 1997 with the Asian crisis. The credit boom was followed by a crash, an enormous fall in the value of the won, a series of bankruptcies, unemployment all over the place and poverty for the many.
Even though South Korea got back on its feet astonishingly quickly in the course of the subsequent years of the so called IMF Economic Crisis, the path was marked by countless fates of bankruptcies and many families suffering from for a long time since.
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isn't this just porn ?
A two hour long ugly porn movie? A badly directed, poorly edited, with shitty actors, even worse camera work and sent from hell script? Who wrote this and how is rehab going? What kind of drugs are they on? The dinamic between the best friends? The ex THAT GAVE HIM HIV popping out of noowhere, the rainbow flags that are EVERYWHERE, the weird ass gangbang at the begging? DID HE JUST TREAT THAT USED CONDOM LIKE ITS A SLIME TOY. Girl u r some rediculous whore, and no shit you would come crying back after.The problem is, not even the porn is good, in realty its SO BAD. The actors are not ugly but just not actors, just some random ass porn actors that noone knows about. No back ground music, we are jumping throu scenes like an amusment park ride that I would propably throw up after to the point where it makes zero sense. The actor pretending like he was writing on that computer was hillarious, the other dude pretending being on his phone too ?. Mad rediculous.
Also the fact that I had to watch it on a porn site was crazy. The ending? Kinda diserved honestly, thats what u get when u dont apriciate and just use others around u. The golden shower?? All this ass? I almost cried of how ugly this is. Also the movie was in 3-4 different languages???
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Summing up, an awefull Berlin expirience.
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A film that deserves a 10/10 sincerely
Of all the films I have been able to see on the issues addressed, THIS film is my top 1:The subject matter is bullying, a bit cliché at first glance, and social pressure / pressure on young people at school. During the whole movie, we can see several times propaganda about studies, like for example "the intelligent go forward and the idiot go backwards" (it was something like that, but the main idea is that). Then we see that the personal problems of the characters are not "important" according to the adult's point of view.
That leaves a lot to be said about the society in which we live in China mainly.
But what stands out the most is the social differentiation between the characters: we have the typical girl who studies a lot, first in her class but who doesn't live in good conditions, her mother is a swindler and lives constantly in hiding, that's why she is rarely seen.
On the other hand we have the boy, a delinquent who doesn't go to class, therefore a person registered as dangerous, who lives in bad conditions, abandoned by his parents but who finds refuge with the girl, a refuge of love and affection that he has not been able to live.
They are two opposing characters who live in different worlds, but who become attached to each other because they have one thing in common: they both seek protection and love. Throughout the story, we follow them in their lives and we become attached to them.
It deserves a 10 because you can't find a film like this, the story is touching and unique. A masterpiece!
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Might have been better as a series
Usually, I prefer movies because they leave out all the unnecessary filler. In the case of this movie, I would have preferred more information. I have not read the manga or watched the anime, so maybe it's my own fault. The biggest thing missing for me were the emotions of the main couple. When and why did he fall in love with her? Didn't see that at all. They spent time saying that he was a terribly mean person, and multiple women had already run away from him, but he was nice to her from the beginning, and I could never feel why he liked her specifically.It was about time for some niceness to her, after the horror of the family that she had to live with.
The special effects in this movie were really good. There was a lot of action packed into it as well. I also liked the feel of the movie regarding the time frame. I tend to not like historical dramas, but here, the time frame was somewhat blurred, with the women in beautiful kimonos, and the men in suits. Shout out to the costume designer for the military uniforms and kimonos. And whoever was responsible for hair and makeup - the long silver hair was so effective on the ML, as well as the "tattoo" markings on their faces when they used their powers.
So, while I didn't absolutely love it, this movie has a lot going for it and it was time well-spent to watch it.
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Crying 100 Times: Every Raindrop Falls
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Cerita Amnesia yang jarang jarang ada di film
Cerita :Untuk sebuah film yang memasukkan tema hilang ingatan entah akibat kecelakaan atau apapun. Di film ini penyakit itu ga dijadiin titik berat cerita di film ini, justru cerita nya kalo menurut saya lebih berfokus pada hubungan antara Fuji sama Yoshimi.
Buat saya pribadi yang sering nonton drama/film yang selalu ada hal tentang hilang ingatan pasti dan akan selalu jadi titik utama ceritanya tersebut, jadi kisah yang lainnya agak di kesampingkan aja gitu. untungnya di film ini ga seperti itu dan itu menurut saya suatu hal yang baru aja ketika ada sebuah film yang ada hubungannya dengan penyakit ini.
Akting :
Karena ini film cukup lama kisaran 2013 lalu. untuk casting hanya ada beberapa aktor/aktris yang saya tau, sisanya yaa gitu deh. Dan aktingnya pun kalo menurut saya aga gimana gitu. Ga ada karismanya sama sekali. Saya ga nemuin karakter yang bikin saya wau aja di film ini. Mirei Kiritani lumayan lah ya, sisanya menurut saya kureng aja.
Musik :
Nah ini dia salah satu hal yang saya suka. Sepanjang film mungkin kamu ga bakalan denger suara suara musik di latar belakang nya di adegan manapun terkecuali adegan krusial ya. Yang bisa kalian denger sepanjang film ya entah itu suara berisik di taman, tempat keramain, gimana sepinya di dalam rumah yang hanya ditinggali 2 orang, suara motor dari kejauhan dll. Disini kita emang difokuskan ke perbincangan antar karakter yang ada di filmnya. Dan seperti yang saya bilang tadi, kalo pun ada musik itu hanya ada di bagian krusial film ini saja contoh saat Fuji ngajak naik motor Yoshimi lalu duduk di pinggir sungai sambil cerita cerita gitu dan nangis tentunya. Saya kasi skor 4/10 ya karena emang ga ada musik yang didenger samsek sepanjang film. ada pun paling cuman beberapa menit, dan soundtrack endingnya kalo menurut saya juga rada ga cocok aja.
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A máme tady zase vir, tentokráte ne covid, ale už přes deset let starý japonský vir věčného mládí, který "chytla" třígenerační rodina Kanba. Vir způsobil, že celá rodina chce mít sex pouze s dědečkem Koichi a zabraňuje jakémukoli stárnutí. Tato ztřeštěná "komedie", kdy jsem se tedy moc nesmál, byla spíše na hlavu postaveným erotickým filmem, kdy dědečka láduje jakýsi "medvěd", dále jeho syn Shusaku a i vnuci a snacha. Takže úsměv mi vykouzlila akorát ta ztřeštěnost. Je mi jedno, co tady moralisté budou psát, hodnotím svým hodnocením jako raritní film tady na GT a doplnil bych do profilu filmu ještě dvě slova: erotický a incest.
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Since I also saw the movie Macho Dancer years ago, I wanted to see this one as well. Yes, actor Allan Paule goes from a young man selling his body to an elderly father in this sequel, and his son also gets involved in selling his body. Unfortunately, she gets involved with a sadistic criminal and you will see how it all turns out. You will also see how the poor Filipino lives, unlike most fairy-tale BL series, in which middle and rich middle-class people play ...
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This review may contain spoilers
This is a decent movie. The cast is great. The premise is good. What would you do if you thought the father that loves and adores you, and who has been the only person in your life, was a killer, a child killer no less? Would you believe him when he says he didn't do it or will you believe everything and everyone around you? Son Ye Jin and Kim Gab Soo are great as the daughter/father leads. I thought Kim Gab Soo was the standout here. I was on the fence; going back and forth with each reveal. I didn't know what or who to believe.
The reason I didnt give this a better score is b/c at the big reveal they make something appear in contrast to the way a charcater was behaving in the prior scenes. Plus, one of the characters was threatening and blackmailing another character and it didn't make sense. I think it's worth watching at least once.
10/29/23
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"What if..."
The worst pain of all is that feeling of "what if", you can't get over something that never really happened.I understand and feel for all the characters in this movie. Every word left unsaid, every insecurity, every feeling not explored is completely understandable and it pains to think that not one of them will get to sleep with a clear head anytime soon.
I loved it. All the conversations very realistic and the lingering feeling of uncomfortable moments.
Perfection!
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Gore, Guts, Gays!
Wow! What a ride this movie is! You must be warned, however. This movie is a ‘hack-and-slash’ gory romp of blood and guts. So, if this is not your thing, I suggest you do not watch it. I loved it even though I generally dislike these types of movies. Despite what you might imagine, it is a gay-themed movie but certainly not BL by any stretch of the imagination. However, there is no romance here; it is just eroticism. This movie is based on a real lifestyle of gruesome theater that was popular in France in the late 19th Century and early 20th Century. While it was characterized by the ‘grotesque” drama, it stresses horror and sensationalism and explored the darker aspects of human attributes. This movie takes that to a whole new level.Was this review helpful to you?
Boooooring
I hardly write any reviews but I felt I needed to say something about this series.The whole 8 episodes I felt like watching an ad or some kind of promotional video. It did not feel like a real story, more like an extended summary.
This being said I have to credit the actors (whom I understand to be members of a k-pop group), who did a good job. I would not have guessed that they are no professional actors apart from the make up that looked rather overdone at times.
For fans of the k-pop group’s members or huge BL fans this series might be thrilling, but I am afraid for everybody else it might be rather a waste of time.
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I'm sorry, but this is definitely not one of the worst Korean movies out there
According to the know it all internet, this film is considered a huge failure, both commercial and critical, and generally one of the worst Korean films to ever be made. Now doesn't that make you more eager to watch it?It is stated in the very beginning that the movie is a fictional dramatization inspired by true events and that's exactly what it is.
The story is taking place during the japanese occupation of Korea, when an idealist believes that it is vital for a Korean bicyclist to win in the races that take place in the capital. The reason? The morale of the Korean people should be raised to strengthen the cause of the resistance.
It is a -mostly- fictional film based on the barely known life of famed cyclist Um Bok Dong that raced against the Japanese.
Now is this a great movie? Not really. But is it extremely entertaining? Hell, yes!
This movie has everything that you will find in similar films. Fighting against the extremely evil Japanese (and the equally evil Koreans that have chosen to work for the enemy), having a hero that is a bit pure -that's how they like to call him- (or if we are being real a bit dumb with a big heart) and of course watching some things that are hard to believe and impossible to happen.
I won't lie. It looks very cheap at times with some awful CGI and some questionable acting performances. The plot is as simplistic as it could get and it definitely doesn't look like a 2019 film. However, it is so damn entertaining and it achieves its goal which is to make your heart feel for the Korean people and everything they went through.
It has some nice comedic elements and some heart racing parts and generally, if it was not evident from what I said before, it is an extremely easy and fun watch -with a pretty well edited trailer that makes you want to give it a chance even more-.
Should you expect something great? Not even close. Is it an amusing watch that is better than just staring at the wall after a difficult day at work? Absolutely!
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Realistic, grounded portrayal of young people and some of their difficulties
The film centres around two high school students, Maki and Akira, who are both a bit lost because parents and find friendship with each other. I didn't understand some of the symbolism decided on by other students but it was easy enough to just go with it. Perhaps it's a Japanese understanding, maybe it's idiosyncratic to the director. Motivations are consistent and clear, even when they're not explained straight away. Maki is acting out because of x, a boy does what he does because of y, Akira is kind.There are many small touches evoking place, like views of the countryside and the beautiful ice cream serving technique of a grandmother. It all feels very real and grounded. This is my favourite film of all the ones I've seen in this autumn's JFF+ Independent Cinema festival. If you like youth drama and film with realistic portrayals of the difficulties young people struggle with as they grow up, this is well worth seeking out. Maki especially is a character I'll remember and I hope to see Nagasawa Itsuki, Nakagawa Tsubasa and some of the others again.
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1This review may contain spoilers
Director's Cut Completes The Story (watch this, not the series!)
Realistic, honest, and overall heart-warming.General spoilers. The biggest thing is that this director's cut has an extra 10 min that makes the end immensely more satisfying than the rushed & abrupt series end! (There's a great & helpful review by MusicalVeggies too.)
The cinematography and coloring were symbolic and beautifully done. Yuuki is like the sun and brings soft orange warmth. When he and Akira aren't together, life is a lonely cold-blue.
The mental conflict Akira went through was so realistic and hit home for me. Though it was hard to forgive the character it was an honest portrayal of a struggle that, sadly, not everyone conquers. At least Akira finds a way through it, as messy as it is for multiple people's lives.
The screenplay did a great job with that moment one realizes the ideology behind their thoughts and actions are not actually their own, but rather learned from family or society. And then also with the moment where something snaps and the determination to finally accept and choose what's best for oneself leads to the resolve to stop pretending to be "normal" and stand up for oneself.
For those struggling to understand certain actions of Akira, keep in mind that in Asian culture especially, there is tremendous pressure to marry and have children because society (and even status) is extremely family-oriented. This pressure is not emphasized in the screenplay because, I believe, it is already a cultural understanding.
Raiku as Yuuki was perfect. Yuuki didn't have as big of an arc in character growth to go through, but Raiku embodied all of his emotions deeply. It came through in his face, voice, and body. Every emotion he felt, especially when he was hurting, I felt deeply too.
Shirasu Jin was very good but his emotional experience as Akira felt flatter even though the character had more emotional arcs to go through. There was just a little something missing in nuances and behind the eyes for me. It was largely because of this that the shorter series end wasn't satisfying. Continued below but there is a spoiler on the ending...
ENDING SPOILER.
I needed to see more than 1min of them being happy in their life together to be able to feel their happiness myself after the 8(?) years of pain Akira put Yuuki through before going back to him. The director's cut gave me that.
The music fit well and was often beautiful. There were two specific songs I added to my playlist.
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