Reviews

"What's immoral about a man and woman falling in love?"

Director Mizoguchi Kenji precariously balanced The Life of Oharu on the edge of a knife, while touching on melodrama, never slipped off into base sentimentality. His heroine, Oharu, faced degradation after degradation as a woman during the Edo period of Japan. Bound by tradition and gender, with little autonomy, her life was one of hardship created by roles she could not break out of.

Teenage Oharu was in love with a young retainer played by Mifune Toshiro. Katsunosuke refuses to give up on her because of his lower class, believing rank and money don't mean happiness, one has to marry for love. When they are caught in flagrante delicto, she and her parents are banished from Kyoto and the court, a far easier punishment than the lowly man who loved her. As fate would have it in Edo, Lord Matsudaira needs a concubine because his wife is barren. Without a second thought for Oharu, her father sells her to the lord. She blesses the lord with a son, but when the ruler is deemed as becoming weaker for spending too much time in bed with her, she is shown the door with basically the clothes on her back.

Her father sells her to a courtesan house where her attitude gets her thrown out. He then sells her as a maid to a couple, but when they discover her background, the wife becomes jealous and the husband wants "favors." After leaving that household, her parents find her a husband who doesn't care about her background and for a brief time she is happy. But that happiness turns to tragedy and once again she is on the street even lower than before. A group of old prostitutes take her in and set her up as a common prostitute, not an easy or profitable proposition at her age. When fate seems to smile on her it is only to turn the knife. But this cruel last twist strangely leads to a path that brings her peace.

Tanaka Kinuyo at the age of 43 took part in the grand tradition of actresses too old for their role playing a teenager. Her father was played by Sugai Ichiro and her mother who was played by Matsuura Tsukie were both only two years older than she was in real life! The role took her well into middle age, with the prostitutes complaining that you can't make a fifty-year-old woman look twenty. Tanaka may not have had a teenager's youth but she still brought a resiliency and grace to the role even as Oharu's life deteriorated. Mifune Toshiro's role as the retainer in love with her was brief and filled with criticism of classism and advocation for personal choice in something as important as marriage.

Mizoguchi often focused on the plight of women in his pictures. When he was young, his sister was sold to a geisha house because his father had gone into debt. That same sister would later take he and his brother in and pay for their schooling and help him find jobs. His criticism of women being sold and the damage it did to their lives was stinging.

Oharu made one choice for herself, the love for the young retainer and that ended in utter disaster because such a union was unacceptable to society. After that, her life choices were determined by others, for their desires and benefits. When it was found out she had been a courtesan, it meant she was fair game and men took advantage of that. When she was dismissed by the daimyo, there was no compensation for her loss of status, nor when her husband died did she receive anything, it went to his family. She was a woman without power, without status, and without her own agency. Her father sold her three times, as a concubine, a courtesan, and then as a maid. With the brief exceptions of Katsunosuke and her husband, Oharu's dignity and happiness held little to no value to the men who came into her life. There was no guilt in selling her or casting her callously aside. Mizoguchi didn't dwell on the vile acts, he simply pointed them out---repeatedly. Men were the only ones who truly mattered, especially men of power, and they were myopically and self-centeredly exercising their rights. Oharu never wailed at her fate, she simply kept as much dignity as she could as she faced torment after torment. Only at the end, when she made a choice that kept her in control of her own body did she came into her own. What might have been seen as a loss by others, actually freed her for the first time and let her spirit sore.

Mizoguchi resisted an emotionally manipulative, overwrought soundtrack for this sorrowful story. Instead of a swelling impassioned score to highlight the current emotional crisis at hand, stark, traditional Japanese tunes were used, whether it was background music, Buddhist chants, or a beggar on the street playing. He often distanced the audience from Oharu's pain by having her partially cover her face. The beleaguered woman was also recurrently shown from the back so that we didn't see the wounded emotions on her face. The story enacted around her told us of her shame, grief, and anger. Oharu's circumstances were also hidden from other characters in the film. The people who derided her were blind to the depth of her pain and her despair at being powerless to fight the system that held no compassion for her.

The Life of Oharu could be repetitive but also contained an element of truth. In the 17th century, a woman once "ruined", lost her status and value making her vulnerable and leaving her with few alternatives. Oharu's real courage was in surviving and ultimately finding an escape route that freed her from the cruel cage society and family had trapped her in.

7/26/23

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Records Or Memories?

I know I sound like a broken record, but the Koreans are the masters of entertainment! And only the Koreans are masters of combining comedy with drama with a thoughtful message, which in my opinion, represents the next step of evolution in the entertainment industry. We all want to be entertained, but to use the medium of movies and TV shows to convey a message is to really use this medium to inspire and provide awareness.

This movie is a true delight, and you are likely to find yourselves with some absolute laugh-out-loud moments as well as moments that just might tug at your heartstrings.

Yoon Hong Dae is a professional soccer player who ends up in trouble and is placed on probation. His agent—in order to try and restore Dae’s questionable reputation—puts him in charge of organizing and coaching a team—a team of homeless men to compete in the World Cup for Homeless players in Budapest.

Of course, we get a collection of homeless men of varying ages and backgrounds with different sets of skills. Seeing these guys attempting to play soccer is absolutely hilarious! One cheers when he kicks the ball and his shoe flies over the goal! And yet, each player has something to play for. They aren’t proud of being homeless, but this game just might restore the confidence to make some life changes as well as help people become aware that homelessness is a problem that has to be addressed. There are enough resources on this planet to ensure that every single human being has food, water, clothes, and shelter. So, why is it so hard?

Lee So Min is in charge of the documentary she is making to help showcase the team. Of course, she and Hong Dae don’t exactly see eye-to-eye, and their spats and bickering will make you giggle.

At first, Hong Dae is less than thrilled to be coaching a team of homeless men, most of whom have little-to-no skills. He figures he’s wasting his time, but the more he gets to know them, the more he finds a connection between each of them. Perhaps that is a part of the process: not to see a homeless person as a homeless person but as a person. It’s difficult to ignore someone when you’ve developed a connection. It’s even more inspiring when the entire team comes together to try and get Hong Dae out of trouble when he’s wrongfully charged with assault against four teen boys who harassed a woman with a mental disability.

The movie isn’t about winning. It’s about awareness as well as simply doing your best no matter how badly the odds are stacked against you. This is an especially powerful point when dealing with homeless people who may easily feel, “What’s the point? Nothing changes.” But Hong Dae asks them a poignant question, “Are you here for records or for memories?”

One thing I will say is that this movie is certainly memorable, important, and a sheer delight to watch. It reminded me of a combination of the “The Mighty Ducks” and “The Bad News Bears.” “Dream” certainly more than belongs in that kind of company!

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A quirkier version of Kaiji (Japanese ver.)

This is basically Kaiji but with a main character who calls himself crazy because he is obsessed with clowns or something weird like that. He kind of gave off a sober Chinese version of DC's Joker vibe lmao.

Anyhow, like its Japanese counterpart, the story is pretty identical in terms of the first challenge (i loved it btw) and the main character is smart and calculative yet soft-hearted, which actually makes you root for him despite me making fun of him in the first paragraph.

I recommend watching this, but Kaiji is even better and there is no cliff-hanger!

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Different; engaging; surprising

Not at all what I was expecting. I thought it might be some kind of supernatural, light, action/mild horror, comedy. Apart from supernatural, it's none of those.
From the moment Shiro/Makoto wakes up from death, on a slab, in hospital, with no memory of any past events, the story is abruptly explained.
We are introduced to a Guardian, who tells Shiro he has died, now inhabits this body and to stay in it and get a second chance at life, he must find out why that person died too. He's given 100 days and 3 chances at answering the question.
The film then follows Shiro's journey as he gets to know the person behind the body he is inhabiting, and struggles to find out why he passed away.
He meets Makoto's disconnected family, a close friend and a crush.
School life is nondescript and it becomes apparent that Makoto was pretty much invisible, with a quiet, socially awkward and weak spirited personality.
Shiro is nothing like that and this is where the story faulters. Apart from 1 character (who still treats it like no big deal), no one seems the slightest bit surprised by the difference.
He's meant to have total memory loss, of which his family and close friend are aware, yet everyone still expects him to know stuff and the interactions don't fit at all.
Due to what Shiro was told about himself, by the Guardian, I also expected his character to be very different and that puzzled me for the whole film, until it was addressed towards the end. In that respect, the story's direction was not at all obvious and pretty engaging.
The outcome was quite a surprise. I think it's intended to make people think, take stock of themselves and their reality, especially when life gets dark.
I actually felt it was quite harsh and yet it offers another perspective that I've never seen before and perhaps when one's mind is not in a place of reason, a person could miss this themselves.
It isn't a film I'd watch again, but the charm and gentleness that Nagao Kento brought to the main character, and the nicely acted supporting roles, lead me to not regetting having watched it one bit.

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Waste of time

[NOT a BL]

I might be harsh in saying this but this film was a waste of time watching. And I had most of it on 1.25x speed.

Overall, this film was very realisitc in how it was written, filmed and presented. There were no cliches and the plot of the film could happen in real life.
I just found that it was so boring as a viewer. There was no plot, there was no storyline and the film was poorly made.

The storyline follows the 3 characters' journey from high school to college. And with the title being 'Eternal Summer' you would expect it to take place in between the two. But it doesnt. It mainly focuses on high school exams and suddenly, there is a huge time jump, completely skipping the summer and you dont even realise they're in college until the end.

The romance is confusing, as it is in real life, however it wasnt portrayed great here. I find the issue with realistic films is that the viewer experience is lacking. I was bored. The characrers hide things from each other and it causes tension, but its never explored or established or even resolved, so the viewer is left feeling confused and annoyed.

In terms of acting, it was mediocre. There was no emotion apart from the intense scenes, which make me think that the cast are inexperienced. Becuase their facial expressions were boring. I had no idea what the characters were thinking half the time.

This film had so much potential but it was wasted.

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Adapted form a 1984 Manhwa

The story was really interesting and heartbreaking, seeing him get so protective as if she's one of his own, it wasn't boring at all, I laughed alot watching this movie, I also loved how there were Chinese, Koreans and Japanese people speaking different languages.
I didn't know it's that old till I read some comments, and knowing that the Manhwa is from 1984 made things even more interesting for me, the ending was happy sad, but it's okay I liked it, as long as that Bounty Hunter went to china as well to live with them, one thing I didn't understand, is why he was in jail!

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It was fine but I think it could've been better.

I enjoyed the movie, especially the chaotic bickering of the entire cast but mainly IU and Seo-Joon's characters. My only problem with this movie is the way they wrapped up some of the characters' story. I liked In-sun's story so I was kind of anticipating how will they wrap it up but it left me confused at the end; Was his encounter with the girl from the Japan team just an imagination or something? That's how I see it given that he also saw her image on that girl who bought a magazine from him at the very end of the movie. Also, I feel like some of the characters backstory was lacking (the gangster guy and the gay character) compared to the others (the IMF uncle/ the construction worker uncle). All in all I still consider this film worth watching, there are a lot of moments that will make you emotional and ecstatic.

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The KMovie is carefree, harmless and heartily. However, it is not trivial.

"Dream" is about team spirit as a positive force that allows a group to excel itself. The KMovie is carefree, harmless and heartily. However, it is not trivial, as it sides with those commonly referred to in society as the weak.

You shouldn't expect too much, then everything works quite well. Obviously, IU and Park So-joon are the show's carthorses. But that doesn't do justice to the rest of the cast, who all contribute their unique esprit. “Dream” comes across as teamwork through and through.

Although it was filmed at original locations in Budapest, somehow, in my opinion, the casting (unfortunately) often enough doesn't work so well, when Korean productions are dependent on actors from different origin. For whatever reason. Even if it's only supporting roles or extras in this case, they seem to be rather amateurish. Hm.

All in all: “Dream” is a KMovie for high spirits and light fare. Not intrusive. With a few flaws here and there. However, also with some well-placed, wonderful and valuable messages in passing.

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Great Start to Epic Story

I went into this movie having already thoroughly enjoyed the anime and I had some trepidation that a live action film would not re-create something similar.

I was also prepared that this is only the first part of an ongoing story. This is the start of the journey for Shin to become the worlds greatest general and Zheng to unite China.

I'm glad I ignored that trepidation. and began this live action journey. This was a genuine fun watch.

Yes, it didn't re-create every moment of the anime both in story telling and the action scenes, but I never felt short changed. The action scenes were well choreographed and story flowed.

The cast in this movie managed to bring to life the anime characters that I was familiar with. The ending was maybe slightly weak, however in the context of the future films I wasn't overly bothered by this.

An enjoyable watch.

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Good Enough

Korean Movie " Dream " is a classic feel good melodrama with a heartwarming plot.

The movie is enjoyable at first, though it would have been nice if they didn't focus only on a few characters and give some background and some screentime to the rest of the team's players. There were also a few funny jokes that spiced up the story.

It does get a bit boring towards the end, though the ending was a happy and satisfying one full of emotional scenes.

The performances, in addition, were enjoyable by everyone in the cast and the characters were interesting.

So, overall, five out of ten.

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well-executed comedic elements and heartfelt emotions

Dream is an awesome sports comedy on Netflix that's super funny and makes you feel all warm inside. It's got Park Seo-joon and IU, who are just the coolest actors ever. The movie starts with lots of hilarious jokes and funny stuff, especially from Park Seo-joon. He's just a riot!

But then things get serious and touching too. The story is about this underdog homeless team, and you really cheer for them to win. It's not just about winning, though. It's about working together and being a team, which is cool.

The movie doesn't make fun of the homeless people or anything, which is great. It shows their struggles but still makes you laugh and feel good. IU and Park Seo-joon's chemistry is just perfect, even if there's no big romantic story.

Overall, Dream is a movie you gotta see if you want to laugh a lot and also feel inspired. It's got heart, good jokes, and great actors. So grab some popcorn and enjoy

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Not the least bit inspiring, but good enough for an afternoon watch

I am not going to lie, I started this solely for the leads but went in to it with very low expectations about the plot, but honestly it wasn´t that bad as it indeed made me laugh more than one time for its criticism towards exploitation of people in need for entertainment purposes. And IU´s character embodies this lovely for choosing a team based on their story instead of credentials.

Though there are some over top slightly annoying moments I enjoyed most of the characters as well as their characterisation, bluntness and growth in the dialog. Going against all that inspirational crap saying if you work hard enough you may end up in a dumpster and that kind of sucks... Also friendship is nice and it is not about winning or loosing, you can gain sympathy by how you play the game.

Was this a masterpiece by all means no, but watching IU and Park Seo Joon bicker in a slightly passive aggressive way with mimics and fingers is indeed a joy for the eye and ear. which makes this a pretty decent afternoon watch.

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I'm convinced the only people reviewing this with a score above 5 are people below the age of 5.

The story pacing was horrid. The acting felt so odd and confusing at parts. I.U just slowly disappeared in the film ( I guess because she didn't want to be attached to this project anymore) and no matter how handsome Seo Jun is it was terrible.

Plot holes galore. For example it was set in 2010 yet the one football team shown in the start and end didn't even exist until 2020. Weird scene of a woman being sexually harassed just so we could see Seo Jun as a hero? Awful.

I never leave reviews or comments on shows/movies but god seeing the comment section for this film is so biased I thought you future viewers deserved some honesty. It was horrible.

Don't watch it and if you do only watch it for the first 5 minutes to see Kang Haneul.

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I've never seen soccer like it.

Park Seo Joon and IU - their dynamic was fun to watch. He's got a giant chip on his shoulder, and she's got a lot of heart. For the most part, they were like oil and water and that was funny. Thank you, writers, for not trying to bring a romance into this! I felt that the whole cast did a really good job. The rag tag group of soccer players, each with their own heartbreaking story, were brought together for the goal of playing soccer, and in the process, they changed themselves, they changed each other, and they definitely changed the coach.

My problem was with the soccer matches themselves. First, the field in Budapest was tiny, like a kid's soccer field. That necessitated a lot of close shots by the cameras, which I think was supposed to get us to feel like we were in the matches. But the rules of soccer apparently did not apply at all. There was pushing, there was shoving, there was holding onto players, and there were no consequences for any of this. That, do me, diminished the realism of the games.

It was an okay watch for me.

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