The story was planned out very well, and it kept me on the edge of my seat whenever something unexpected happen, which happened a fair bit (but in a good way!) The story is just so emotional and beautiful that I couldn’t help shedding a few tears (just kidding A LOT of tears!) it’s one of those drama’s that would be great to binge watch, it was honestly so hard to wait a whole week for then new episodes! Also at times its really funny (the chemistry between Lee Sung Min and Lee Jun Ho) and just the themes of family, life and romance, it really has something for everyone.
I REALLY recommend this drama, it was pulled off exceptionally well. I really liked the music, especially If You Love Again and More Than A Memory, every time I heard the first note of More Than A Memory like man the feels ;-;
It has to be one of the best drama’s I’ve ever watched, and I’m honestly so sad it’s come to an end! I would definitely re watch this drama in the future however, and I hope you’ll enjoy it as much as I did! <3
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“A wise man once said that getting lost in life is an opportunity to find new way. But that’s only a saying I might end up remembering today as the day when I realized that such a saying doesn’t make me feel better at all”. Park Tae Suk.
“The heart I tried so hard to ignore gives a command to my brain “Please Persevere As Long As You Can, Persevere As Long As Your Heart Is Still Beating”. Park Tae Suk.
You take a look at the synopsis and read “Alzheimer” and immediately think to yourself “What? Alzheimer again? And what is even worse there is no romance, no fairytale, no young faces… nah I won’t bother this is clearly a tearjerker and I know how it’s going to end anyway so what’s the point?” Well, you have the right to walk away if you think “Alzheimer” is depressing topic I won’t blame you BUT please bare with me here and let me try to sell this drama for you, would you?
Yes, this topic has been used countless and countless of times in dramas, in movies….etc, so what makes Memory special? There is nothing special with the story itself or the elements it has presented. Family, regret, changing the way you lived your life, sorrowful past that you want to run away from, locking away your painful memories and the pain of losing someone…etc these aren’t new topics but let’s face it how many topics can be brand new? Searching for totally brand new topics is almost like a mission impossible honestly. The trick isn’t in the topic but rather in the way it is used and presented. Memory has brought in over-used topics and turned them into a wonderful emotional ride with diverse emotions that will leave you breathless and heavyhearted. The ride was raw, real and very consuming both mentally and emotionally!
I loved how the drama made me feel for each character without leaving the show feeling depressed myself. It is clearly isn’t happy go lucky drama, it has a lot of unfortunate events but it avoids feeling over the top and it also avoids feeling like stuff happens to force viewers tears. It takes you along and you just feel all of it naturally. Doesn’t that scream “different”? I feel bad if someone would call it a tearjerker (not that I have a problem with tearjerker dramas) it is just not what Memory really is.
The best and most important two aspects that made Memory strong felt drama is the award winning acting and the wonderful cinematography/scenery and direction. Usually it is hard enough to find a drama that is excelling in one of these aspects let alone all 3 of them. Even for those of you who never notice scenery or direction you will be forced to notice them here because it is just too good, simply beautiful. The feels that this drama possesses it is all driven from the acting performance. Acting has played the most essential part in this drama along with the heart-wrenching dialogues. I loved each and every sentence spoken here especially the scenes between Park Tae Suk and his wife and Park Tae Suk and his son. Those scenes are one of the most memorable scenes in the entire drama and I wouldn’t be exaggerating when I tell you to watch it for the sake of those scenes only because they are indeed EXQUISITE.
I would love to mention each and every member of this stellar cast because they really deserve the appreciation but that would just make my review endless and words won’t do them justice. I will just mention my favourite ones. First my most favorite misters of all times and our hero here,Lee Sung Min (Park Tae Suk). Kudos to this man, let me just say to the those of you who already know how precious this actor is “congratulations he NAILED THE HELL OUT OF HIS FIRST MAIN LEAD!!” And to those who still haven’t met this man in drama land “PLEASE don’t let my review stop you and go ahead STALK DOWN his profile”. It is sad if you decide to pass on Memory but at least pick one thing for this man and make the time to watch it please. He belongs to those class actors whom you as a drama fan have to watch something for because trust me “acting” doesn’t get any better than this. This man has no limits; every minute spent on watching him he makes it all worthwhile. I also want to mention the rest of my favorites two wonderful surprises Lee Ki Woo and Lee Jun Ho. Their performance both took me by surprise, I have seen Lee Ki Woo before but not as a despicable sorry excuse of human being (which he did WONDERFULLY) and I have seen Lee Jun Ho in a movie and he was likeable then but I had no idea what kind of hidden talent this boy had until I watched him in Memory (his first drama) and boy am I still surprised that he is actually an idol, very impressive! Looking forward to their future projects.
This is one of the few dramas that are blessed with storytelling OSTs and great ones if I may say. There are many great OSTs out there but I appreciate it even more when the OSTs speak the story too this way it gets me even more emotionally invested in the story than I already am.
I generally do not rewatch dramas but I do have very few ones that I'd rewatch. However even for those who do rewatch dramas I don't think Memory is rewatchable material considering how heavy and intense the content is I think once is enough to appreciate it throughly but I also could be wrong so that's for you to decide.
Overall
Clearly this will be one of the underrated dramas here on MDL, nonetheless I have faith that there will be fans out there who are meant for this drama and hopefully will appreciate it the way it should be appreciated. If you are willing to go in an emotional ride and if you don’t mind the predetermined ending, if you are looking for well crafted story, award winning performance and beautiful heartfelt dialogues then this drama should definitely be on your plan to watch list ^^
Don’t let “Alzheimer” keep you away from a great drama such as Memory. Realising what are our priorities in life this is something which never gets old nor boring no matter how old we get we still learn and there will always be a chance to set those priorities right even with little time. "The end is soon HOPE. With the strength you have now be happy" Memory.
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Brilliant role of Lee Sung Min!
If you like 'Miseng' or 'My Ajusshi' - you won't be disappointed. 'Memory' has the same touch of real life, brilliant script and amazing actors' performances!The biggest advantage of the drama is the acting role of the main character. Lee Sung Min portrayed 40 years old ajusshi who has to review his life and has to deal with the past. It's a crime-lawyer drama and it has a dark, intense and sad side.
Lee Sung Min brings a film impression to the drama because we watch a deep character shown in a natural way, his everyday life that slowly goes far away with his memory.
I have to mention young actors who nowadays are big stars already. Junho and Yoon So Hee create a sweet and light story together, and Nam Da Reum - perfect with acting as always.
I recommend 'Memory' - it's a well-made drama and has one of the best actors' performances of the main leads I've ever seen.
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Serious drama about early onset Alzheimer's
I liked the topic of this drama. The drama is for someone who prefers more serious topics. It also portrays individuals' ethical struggles, which is also interesting. The drama portrays very well the experiences and behavior of someone getting Alzheimer's in their 40s. The subplot about the mystery around the male lead son's death and the changes in his attitudes toward his law cases are also interesting.ML is a great actor, and it's good to see him even in a bigger role than in Misaeng. The problem in this drama is that there are just too many flashbacks and scenes centered around the painful moments of confusion and distress caused by the disease. We would have got it with much less time spent in those moments and the endless repetition of them. Also the family theme gets too much space. It's more central even than the law cases, understandable, but not something that could well carry a drama and keep it interesting. Yes, discovering the importance of family is basically a nice theme but I just ended up skipping almost half of the scenes in the latter half of the drama.
Junho in the role of the junior lawyer doesn't get much screen time and slowly advancing relationship between the secretary and Junho also gets very little screen time. Junho is just in a balancing support role as the ML's wingman, he brings some fun and relief into the drama within its overall darker theme. There's not much there for him to show his talents (although he's very good in the drama nevertheless), since we get no background story about Junho or the secretary. That's an opportunity lost, as they were basically the most interesting characters and knowing more about them would have been nice. The two female leads, the ML's current and ex-wife, get a lot of individual time, but also nothing much to work on, so the time spent on them is too much compared to the law cases.
Overall, I'm still glad I watched the drama. Because of the poignancy of the topic I give it an 8, although the drama obviously has severe flaws - the worst is that there is too much empty time, just background music playing and nothing happening or advancing plotwise.
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Hands down one of the best kdramas I have ever watched. Periodt!
I have been trying to find a really good adult Kdrama to watch this year and I found Memory from 2016.This is honestly, one of the best series I have ever watched Korean or otherwise. From the first episode to the last, the acting, the writing, the revelations were all on point. Easily and believably woven together to give an exceptionally, meaningful 16 episodes to the viewers. This story about a prominent lawyer learning he has early onset Alzheimer's is so damn good. It has aspects of a great family drama, legal drama and thriller.
Lee Sung Min as Park Tae-seok was absolutely brilliant. This was the first series I have seen him in and I can't get over how great he was in this role. The whole cast is really good though and I genuinely loved everyone in their roles. Kim Jee Soo as Young joo, Tae-Seok wife was stellar. One of my favorite people in the show was Yoon So Hee as Sun Hwa. She was such a great legal assistant and I loved that she respected her boss and was looking out for him/ had his back. She is such a great female character.
The theme song More than a memory by Kim Kyung Hee is beautiful and perfect. It played a lot but I was happy hearing it.
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This review may contain spoilers
Memory is fleeting.
Memory was well done, except for the most asinine, ridiculous editing flaw and some shaky camera. In every episode, a scene would have a hiccup. They would say a few lines, and they would instantly repeat the sequence. It served no purpose, because it was not the ML having an Alzheimers moment. It would appear at random, and would involve other characters, as well. It felt as if the viewer was having a brain fart or Alzheimers moment.Lee Sung Min did a realistic portrayal of a man being tested by his creeping illness and the conspiracies popping out of the woodwork. The writer made Park Tae Song (...LSM) earn his pay. Lee Jun Ho and Song So Hee were excellent as Jung Jin and Sun Hwa, the guardian angels to Park Taek Seo during his good or bad times. The Memory castlist was perfect. The main and supporting actors gave memorable performances.
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Perdre la mémoire peut parfois permettrede commencer par se retrouver.
J’ai beaucoup aimé ce drama qui mêle très habilement les problèmes créés par cette maladie, (comment l’accepter, comment vivre avec, comment l’entourage va vivre avec), avec des intrigues typiquement juridiques autour de la traditionnelle histoire de corruption sur fond de crimes qu’on a dissimulés à grands renforts d’agent et de pouvoir.Les histoires s’entrelacent habilement, ce qui fait qu’on ne s’ennuie pas. Les scènes où les premiers symptômes de la maladie se manifestent sont très bouleversantes, l’angoisse de Tae-suk perdu dans une rue de Séoul est palpable, surtout que l’acteur Lee Sung Min y est particulièrement excellent.
La réaction de son entourage, (sa femme, son fils, ses deux assistants) est aussi très émouvante par le mur invisible de protection qu’ils vont bâtir autour de lui et leur soutien sans faille.
Belle bande son, chansons à la fois discrètes et belles, bien en situation, interprétation générale excellente. Comme toujours on voudrait piétiner le méchant, mais comme l’acteur mesure 1,95 m on hésitera !
la fin est très bien, très juste, avec ce qu’il faut d’espoir et suffisamment de réalisme !
Donc tout à fait recommandable !!
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