Reviews

Duality of love

Asako I & II is one of those movies that completely enchants you from the moment you start watching, pulling you back to reality only when the credits begin to roll.
Honestly, I find it difficult to categorize this story as either a love story with a happy ending or a tragedy from start to finish.

Spoilers ahead ***

The narrative centers around Asako, who meets Baku one day while she is out and about. Their encounter is unlike any other; Baku kisses her right away, setting off a dreamlike sequence of events. Baku feels like an alien creature; something you can't hold but desperately want to keep, like an exotic animal you long to hold in your hands, yet cannot.

When Baku disappears, Asako meets Ryohei and falls in love with him. Ryohei offers her stable love, the kind of love that is understanding, trusting, and genuine. Even though Asako realizes she may have fallen for Ryohei in part because he resembles Baku, Ryohei embraces this and sees it as a positive. He truly loves her for who she is and feels he is the right man for her.

However, when Baku returns and reenters her life, we witness how even the most perfect love can be disrupted by unforeseen circumstances. Despite the many years that have passed since Baku left, seeing him again brings Asako back to her former self, making her believe she has never really changed. In a whirlwind of events that feel like a fever dream, she follows Baku. But upon waking from this dreamlike state, she confronts the reality that Baku is not Ryohei, and ultimately, it is Ryohei who she truly needs and loves.

In a way, I could describe this as a beautiful love story centered on imperfect humans, or as a tragedy that was destined to unfold from the beginning.

Since this narrative was adapted from a book, I am now very curious to read it. In terms of acting, I found the main lead's performance captivating. He conveyed a wide range of emotions and layers, while Asako's character felt impenetrable and difficult to decode; I often felt unsure of what she truly felt. However, at the end, when I saw her running for Ryohei, I realized just how unique her character is.

Moreover, the movie features stunning visuals; the cinematography and the natural blend of colors and landscapes create a calming experience. It captures the essence of an ordinary day in Japan, leaving you eager to explore it further. Said this I strongly believe this is type of movie that some people will undestand it while other will miss it, so I hope you find thi.

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An extremely gripping, well-paced series. We're given all the elements we need to solve the enigma, and we're taken from twist to twist. It's truly incredible to see something so catchy, with such a stratospheric level of acting.

But promoting eugenics is a big no-no for me. So I'll add a few remarks :
_Genetics can't identify a so-called psychopath gene.
_Lie detectors have never been proven effective.
_IQ tests have no scientific value.
_No, prison is not a place of comfort and rest.
_Body language is not a science.
_Of course, there are points in the script that go quite far, but in these cases, it's completely assumed. I won't say more to avoid spoilers.

On the other hand, did you know that the police spend only 4% of their time investigating crime and violence ? And only 4 out of 10 investigations are solved ? These are American figures, but I doubt things are much better elsewhere.

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If I hear one more note of Clair de Lune, I'll make a killing. There are composers for your series, you know ? The same three truncated excerpts from Bach, Mozart and Debussy are a no-no. I know the pieces, I listen to them myself if I want : in their entirety ! It's almost less annoying than scenes and flashbacks repeated three or more times because we're obviously stupid... And the plot only progresses by deliberately not giving us the info, an artificial way of creating interest. 4 episodes of seeing the same scene without ever adding anything to the story ? I didn't get to the end without skipping scenes. Sorry about that. (it may be disrespectful of me but respect goes both ways)

Otherwise, the story begins a bit like Pasolini's Teorema. Except that here it's an unbearable character, Su Yeon, who yells at everyone and breaks your face but... becomes your friend ?! I've seen Weak Hero too, and I solemnly ask : are Korean schoolchildren all right ?

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So this series was the first milestone in Jin Ki-Joo's “I'm an adult pretending to be a student” universe.

I too wish my mother had never met my father. And that she'd live a better life than she had. (Look, I didn't cry at the end, okay ? I'll sue you for libel)

It takes place in 1987, and it's good to have brought in this political dimension. We were expecting it, and it arrives in a rather intelligent way. It's one element among others.
Having said that, the local cops are portrayed as good guys who are a bit dim-witted, especially the uncle inspector ; but he lets his colleagues beat up his nephew. This dirty cop blames himself ? you can blame yourself, scumbag.
And let's never forget that everyone hates the police.

(ps: surprising presence of a small bust of Lenin in episode 11. Nothing escapes me. yep. I saw it)

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Satisfying and Thorough, but also Horrific

Everything about this drama is good--acting, story, production, suspense. I watched a dubbed version on Netflix and I usually hate dubs, but even the VO acting was good enough not to detract from the tension and depth of the story and acting.

Moon Dong Eun is just one victim of 5 kids who spent their high school years and beyond terrorising anyone they deemed unworthy. And, apparently, that meant almost everyone around them. The bullying is intense. It's not just words, it's physical torture that leaves deep scars, physical and emotional, on their victims. They push one victim to suicide, and another to drop out of school. Dong Eun isn't a pushover, however. She resists, she fights back, she reports them to everyone around her.

But as bad as the children are, the adults in this world are worse. Teachers, police, even her own parent, either disappoint, or enact their own bullying tactics. There should have been a straw to break Dong Eun's back, but the reality is that there was more than one. Her pleas, her avenues for justice are all slammed shut and the only option she has is to muster her inner strength and get her own revenge.

It takes her 18 years.

Over the course of those years, she finds kindred souls--others who faced injustices and understand her desire for revenge (though, once you see the extent of the abuse Dong Eun suffered, this won't surprise you at all). With the help of these people and with laser-focused attention, she gets a revenge that will please EVERYONE. I love the fact that she uses her abusers' own flawed personalities to bring them down. I love the fact that the screenwriters tied up all the loose ends (though I am a bit confused about the body of Yoon So Hee and why moving it was such an issue).

However, the depiction of the abuse is truly horrific. Is this normal? How is it possible that a child can be physically tortured to such an extent and NO adult will come to her aid (also, the sheer number of burns should have had her hospitalised)? How is it that a teacher is allowed to beat a student in full view of the entire school staff and no one will help her? How is it that the police ignores a student's testimony in a possible murder case?

Is this level of apathy truly what our societies have now become? This is a far more terrifying lesson from the drama than the abuse itself. I'm all for great revenge stories, and this would never have been written if just one person in young Dong Eun's life had a pair of balls. This is this story's greatest tragedy.

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Tough life for the rich. What a bummer to be rich. It can't be easy having all that dough, can it ? I feel like telling them to use all that dough for useful things if their lives are so miserable, instead of wallowing in their pitiful little love woes. It'll give a little meaning to their indecent existence. That's what I said to myself at the start of the first episode. And then the Korean capitalist propaganda got me, again. What a sad life I lead. The flesh is weak, alas.
Even if their thing of torturing themselves over a divorce that the gentleman never asked for and even : abandoned ! it pisses me off. He literally did nothing, but he's going to get rotten as if he'd strangled kittens anyway.

In any case, it's clear how the rich use progressivism to their advantage. They still exert their domination, but we have to thank them because deep down they think that women too can be tyrants like the others. What great values... damned rich. I want the money and your power to go. And your good intentions, keep them to yourself or let them be translated into action. Despite all this, I fall for these damned kdramas every time. Every single time ! God, that was good. The scriptwriter had already ripped me off with Crash Landing on You, I'm going to lodge a complaint. You can't make me love rich people with impunity, you have to pay for it !

Kim Soo Hyun, there's nothing you can do, he looks like a little boy. Throughout the series, I hesitated to denounce Kim Ji-won, but in reality, she's even younger than he is.
I must confess I stopped watching at episode 8 because of the revelation that the actor dated an underage girl who has since committed suicide. If she hadn't taken her own life, he would never have admitted it or apologized. It disgusts me too much.

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What can we say about these learning methods that consist in humiliating and discouraging ? Asking young women to do the impossible and then telling them that they suck for not getting it right the first time is pretty bizarre. Teachers, those damned little cops. And their shows, it's like they discover it by performing it, in the first episodes at least. Don't they ever do real rehearsals ? Too weird.

Kim Tae-ri plays her colorful character with a lot of life and empathy, despite an extremely toxic and invasive entourage. Give her a break ! She exudes energy and has an impressive physical presence. A total commitment. The audition scene, in tears, is intense... But the rest of the cast is not to be outdone. The members of the troupe personalities evolve intelligently, and they don't go from very mean to very nice all at once. They don't even try to justify bad behavior, they simply take responsibility. And then the series manages to make us feel involved in a traditional theater we'd never have seen or even known otherwise. To the point where you don't know where the story ends and the theater begins.
As we say in France: “bravo les lesbiennes !” (courage Jooran)

"You can forget me. I'll remember us, for both of us."

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It's very, very hard to see the injustice suffered by some of the characters. Even if the aim of the series is to show situations of harassment and abuse in the workplace and then seek redress, it's still hard to watch (although the solidarity between the workers in the warehouse was great to see, despite the grim fate that awaited them). To say that it's a comedy series... I'm having my emotions played with here. The humour helps to get the message across, of course. A series that's both useful and entertaining.

The three of them are great. And the lawyer is flawed, a bit lost, but he's also gifted with a relentless and unconditional empathy that's all Christian. And when we learn more about his life, it's hard not to shed a tear...

It's high time we abolished work, comrades. And it looks like Buddha is on our side. Long live the strike and down with the cops and the bosses!

(We're hoping for a season 2)

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