It is possible to have way too much of a good thing

There are a ton of reviews for this show, so I wasn’t going to add to them, but I feel frustrated enough to want to write one. I’ll try and make it short, in keeping with my critique!

I loved how this show started. Great characters, clever interweaving of flashbacks, beautiful unfolding of relationship etc etc. But as a writer I got really frustrated watching this. There is a natural arc for any story that you write and it has an appropriate length that does it justice. The perfect length states your case and leaves a clear impression in the viewer’s mind that is just enough for them to want to hold it in their hand and gaze at it a while longer, hopefully realising things for themselves, that lead them deeper. In my mind, this is the joy of a story. Not just what is told, but where it leads you afterwards.

However, in order to realise that goal, a writer needs to do two things:
1) have the message precise in their mind;
2) write only enough to illustrate it clearly.

Mostly, too much information is written and the job of editing is the delight of tightening and sharpening and chipping away until that message shines like a cut diamond. When you have cut sufficient away for the brilliance to emerge, then you have found the natural length of your story.

But dramas are commissioned and given a length: write a story that fills 16 episodes. What happens when you need to expand the story to fill the space allotted? Your diamond gets cut to fit the setting and instead of being sparkling and sharp, it becomes cloudy and dull. The writer tried to expand the beauty that was there and in the process went round and around and around the same material until it was trampled underfoot in the endless circularity that was all the middle episodes, by which time I was barely interested enough to follow it through to its inevitable conclusion.

If this had been an 8 or even a 10 episode drama, it could have rated at 8, no trouble. There was stuff that was good. The dialogue, the performances of the leads in particular, the sets, the cinematography, the drawings featured in the show... But sadly, it just has to be a flawed 6.5 for me.

What my rating means: 6+ Some aspects of it were OK but it had serious flaws. It will pass the time but you can find something better.

Read More

When it was good it was very very good, when it was bad ...

A mortal sin for any writer is to undermine the credibility of their characters. But that becomes a cardinal sin when they do it just to try and raise a cheap laugh or serve the demands of the plot. There was so much to like about Fiery Priest and also Vincenzo (same writer), but in the end I couldn’t finish Vincenzo because I refused to watch a great character destroyed by its creator in collaboration with the director and I struggled with Fiery Priest.

In both dramas, the problem really kicked in for me about a third of the way through, when the stakes become increasingly serious. I felt that early in the drama, I had been invited to believe that Kim Hae Il was a bona fide professional, operating in a world where ruthlessness and violence are central. But a little later on, he repeatedly behaved like an amateur, and a stupid amateur at that. This attempt to marry comedy with hard core action failed because the comedy felt forced at the expense of both credibility and (worse) character integrity. The result was to destroy my connection to the main character and leave me confused about how to view him. Instead of being the cool dude that many characters in the drama thought he was, in key scenes, Kim Hae Il was presented to the viewer as an incompetent idiot to be laughed at, not with. To be honest, I was so pissed early on with the writer and director for spoiling what had the potential to be a really good drama that I nearly stopped watching.

But not being someone who wants to give up easily, I found there was enough merit in the cast to keep me going. Around two thirds of the way through, the drama had been reduced to farce. And yes, it is very funny. So I just gave up and went with the flow and enjoyed the comedy and suspended my disbelief when things got serious and his character flipped. However, Kim Hae Il is simply not credible as any sort of cohesive character and I think it would have been much better if I had never been asked to take him seriously. I felt that Kim Nam Gil was as confused about the character as I was, but did his best to convince me.

If you are prepared for your hero to exhibit multiple, contradictory personalities, encompassing super cool action hero, ruthless killer, sexy priest, tortured soul, fluffy bunny, goofy adolescent, angry man, and a totally cringeworthy imitation of Johnny English, then this is absolutely a good drama for you. As many before me have said, it offers up in spades in so many other departments, with some wonderful performances, great characters and inventive fight choreography. A shout out to Lee Ha Nee and Go Jun, who were exceptionally good.

What my rating means: 7+ A watchable drama, but nothing exceptional. Good enough to qualify for the race, but finished with the pack. The sort of thing that promises more than it delivers.

Read More

Hacked away its own feet

However hard great actors try, and you’ve got to admit, Ji Sung is pretty damn good, they can’t quite hide appalling writing. Rather like an oyster creating a pearl from irritating grit, however magnificent, the grit is still there in the middle. This show is full of good actors (with one or two exceptions) wrapping up grit with varying degrees of success.

Cudos also has to go to the director for trying to help in the process by toning down some scenes which could have really got out of hand. But the banal and unintelligent writing drags them all down, again and again. The lines are often so pedestrian and obvious and either do absolutely nothing to reveal the interior emotions and insights of a character or, even worse, vocalise feelings in totally weird and unnatural ways. Stating the obvious is the go-to choice for imparting information and there are plenty of scenes where some of the antagonists behave more like naughty boys rather than credible, disturbed, human beings.

Then there are a whole slew of unfathomable motivations which have to be verbally “explained”, any number of clunky and repetitive plot devices aided and abetted by bad editing choices, an ever growing list of eye-rolling coincidences, an abundance of unbelievable twists and a complete abandonment of any sort of credible legal procedure. There was plenty of tension but the pacing just got slower and slower making it hard going through the middle and it really didn’t need two extra episodes.

The vagaries of memory loss seem to follow no rhyme nor reason. That memories are buried and hidden is something I have personal experience of, but the writer’s use of it coming and going just to serve the plot smacks of total convenience rather than reality. Further, the slow revealing of the crime doesn’t reflect recovered memories, adding to the sense of manipulation rather than suspense.

The actors have to do all the heavy lifting themselves, with body language, facial expression and tone and Ji Sung is the shining light here with a wonderful pearl of a performance that is the one good reason to keep going. His relationship with his daughter was very real and Shin Rin Ah also put in a great performance. Unfortunately though, Uhm Ki Joon and some of the supporting cast are only able to manage mis-shapen lumps of calcium carbonate with their parts.

The cinematographer created ambiance by the bucketload with the use of highlights and shadows. The scenes inside the prison were lit to perfection, utilising low levels to create an atmospheric, metallic, industrial feel in mainly soft golds and blues. There was also imaginative and meaningful use of the shadows cast by window bars and rectangular slabs of light offered by slots in doors. I also loved the opening credits sequence with its overlaid images and washes of blues and golds, picking up on the overall theme.

In the hands of a good writer this could have been a superb drama, because the basic ideas, acting talent and the production values are up there. But instead, all of that is undermined by weak dialogue and unconvincing plot execution, and I was left with a drama that I struggled through rather than enjoyed. In fact, I simply couldn’t get to the end and that’s saying something because when I commit to writing a review I finish the drama. So apologies, but I really can’t see anything salvaging this one!

Read More

Been there, seen it, done it all before... and better

There’s a strange contradiction in the first part of this drama. It centres around sexual abuse and the trauma caused by it, but signally fails to reflect the distress caused from nasty situations created by the plot. In similar situations of threat and vulnerability, the abuse victims experience fear and trauma, whereas the lead characters treat it almost as a joke, particularly Ma Yi Deum, and walk away unmarked. If the viewer accepts the experience of the lead characters, which is technically where their allegiance should lie, then their only option is to belittle the experience of the “victim” characters. It is an uncomfortable marriage of the serious and the trivial, of drama and romance tropes which initially made uncomfortable viewing for me.

I’m not sure what the intention was, to lighten up a heavy topic or to show the character Ma Yi Deum in an unfavourable light so that character development was more pronounced, perhaps. If so, it did itself no favours and the overall impression was that abuse is something that a determined personality can sail through without being seriously affected. Dream on.

Having said that, the tone of the drama changed towards the mid section and I found it easier to warm to the character Ma Yi Deum. Jung Ryeo Wan did a great job and I found her convincing in the part and wonder if this was why she was chosen for “Diary of a Prosecutor/War of Prosecutors”, where she also did a great job in a far superior drama.

Heo Sung Tae as Baek Sang Ho is good in this, and when you look at his filmography you can see he knows how to pick a good drama. He’s an actor that doesn’t bask in the limelight but always turns in a good performance. He completely out-acted Joon Kang Ryul in every scene where they were together. Joon had three facial expressions and thoroughly worked them all into overtime.

The other actors got the job done and to be honest there was little to be explored in the mundane script.

Once the main theme of the drama kicked in it changed into fairly standard thriller in terms of the plot which was predictable and clunky. However there is one moment of ridiculous plotting which defies all credibility and other stupid moments that pissed me off and in the end I just got too bored and gave up. There’s only so many times you can watch this plot when there is nothing original or really engaging in the production to keep you going.

What my rating means: 7+ A watchable drama, but nothing exceptional. Good enough to qualify for the race, but finished with the pack. The sort of thing that promises more than it delivers.

Read More

A wonderful unfolding of layered characters.

I’m wrapped up in a comfort blanket eating too much 70% chocolate, a surfeit of endorphins and caffeine. Netflix has offered two outstanding slice of life dramas and aired them simultaneously. First, “My Liberation Notes” and now “Our Blues”. What more could be asked for? Whereas “My Liberation Notes” was essentially a story built around family, “Our Blues” centres around the members of a community and explores their individual lives and circumstances. Given the title, there is a hint that this drama will tackle the things in life that are difficult. But far from being sad it ultimately strikes an uplifting note.

The stories on offer are not about huge life changing tragedy but the emotional hurdles that life puts up for us to jump over and the hoops we go through. Essentially this is a drama about the good heart that lies at the centre of ordinary human beings. Their generosity, warmth, caring and insecurities.

They are stories set within a community where there is no real privacy and no anonymity. Where caring and interference exist either side of a blurred boundary which is crossed and crossed again. They are essentially about the price individuals are wiling to pay for deeper connection and love, and the confused and contradictory emotions that are experienced when that love and resentment collide.

There is no judgement written into the narrative. Each character has depth, we can love them from one angle and criticise them from another.

Among a slew of excellent performances Lee Byung Hun as Lee Dong Seok was the standout. Even though the writing for the last three episodes concerning his relationship with his mother, did not work as well for me, his performance did not falter.

Next in line was Han Ji Min, who was painfully convincing as the conflicted and hurting Lee Young Ok. Also, Lee Jung Eun as Jung Eun Hee, the stalwart glue of the community. But to be honest there was barely a weak performance in a large cast. Perhaps Shin Min Ah failed to completely convince me as Min Seon Ah, but she came good in the end.

This is the sixth writer (Noh Hee Kyung) /director (KimKyu Tae) collaboration which started in 2008. They include “Live”, “That Winter, The Wind Blows” and “It’s Okay That’s Love”. The long experience of working together brings a sense of seamless harmony and easy expression to the end result. In a drama of so many parts there can sometimes be an unevenness of tone, but here the actors were helped to bring a consistent feel that unified the whole production.

One of the most challenging things to write is the slow unfolding of emotions for a character. Peeling back the disparate layers to find out what is underneath. To reveal the unexpected, that often surprises us. This writer has done a magnificent job of just that, particularly with the story of the twin sisters which explores deeply complex and conflicting emotions and reveals them beautifully.

The cinematography is simple and what I loved about this show was the relief from artificially beautified faces. People were shown in their ordinariness with limited makeup and occasionally, deliberately unflattering lighting. In terms of camerawork, it was Jeju Island itself that became the star of the show with all its natural beauty on display.

The music was a weak point for me, with too much use of hotel-lobby style background music that failed to do justice to the emotional depth of the action. Thankfully, there were times when silence carried the pathos and did justice to the acting.

This drama comes highly recommended.

What my rating means: 8+ A great drama with interesting content and good writing, direction, acting, OST, cinematography. But didn’t quite have the requisite sparkle to bump it into my all-time fave list. Worth watching.

Read More

Underrated and undervalued

I wanted to write a review for this drama because I think it is vastly underrated. Reading the comments it was clear that the toxic elements in the main relationship were a serious problem for a lot of people. As far as I’m concerned, showing toxic relationships is not a problem as long as the consequences are also honestly shown. And for me, this drama does that. There is a beautiful moment of show-not-tell in the very last scene which I will write at at the bottom as a spoiler. And that moment spoke volumes to me.

I thought it a beautifully insightful show about the types of relationships that happen in your inexperienced early twenties, when you are trying to live the fantasy of your adolescence and start to realise that a great deal more is required of you than you had expected. That however much you assumed it was going to be possible, you can’t have your cake and eat it too. Love it seems, is not some magical thing that waves its wand over you and suddenly Cinderella is dressed for the ball. Excitement is not the only necessary ingredient or even the main ingredient. Trust, not manipulation, must be there and that is something that you need to work out how to build and then maintain.

Song Kang did a masterful job as the fb Park Jae Eon. So good in fact that there were many times I just wanted to slap him (metaphorically speaking). His character’s arc is about reliance on sex as the answer to all problems and what it takes for him to realise it is not the only answer and sometimes absolutely the wrong answer. A criticism would be that not enough time was spent on Park Jae Eon. His character transitions were there, but I could have done with a little more help, especially towards the end, in recognising them and understanding them. Time could have been stolen for it by omitting the somewhat bland relationship taking place in the office. As a viewer you need to work a bit, don’t just notice Jae Eon’s jealousy or his domesticity, but realise what those things mean.

Similarly, Han So Hee was also very good as the conflicted and self-doubting Yoo Na Bi. Again her reasoning was not always explicitly stated but hinted at all the time. Of the leads, only Chae Jong Heop as Yang Do Hyuk had a straightforward role which was because there was no significant character development. He played the nice guy nicely, what more can be said. It was not a demanding role. There was lots to like in the relationships of the supporting characters, which looked at different hurdles to be crossed in the relationship game. In particular Lee Ho Jung as Yoon Sol stood out.

This drama is not a romance about getting love right and living happily ever after. It’s about getting love wrong. It invites the viewer to observe the mess that we make of things with each other and what might be required to muddle along in a better way.

It is a good script, with credible dialogue, brought convincingly to life by an able female director and good actors. It showcased some great artworks (Na Bi’s sculpture at the end was stunning) and some beautiful cinematography. And for once, because it was a Netflix original, the sex scenes were realistic and believable.

This drama does not lay it all out for you, but requires your attention to detail and some thought. To really get the most from it I would recommend that you watch it twice (it’s only 10 episodes long, so not too onerous to do that) and track the development the second time round. You will see and understand much more once you know where it’s headed. If you are prepared to put in a little effort, it will not disappoint.

Spoiler ahead…



Spoiler ahead…



In the last scene, Na Bi almost drops Jae Eon’s hand when she sees Do Hyuk in a cafe with another girl. The look of naked panic and vulnerability on Song Kang’s face is what spoke volumes to me. Na Bi will leave Jae Eon behind quite quickly and he knows it. It is not Na Bi who will be hurt by this relationship. On the contrary she will gain confidence. He is the one who will be licking his wounds. I just hope to any sort of god that he doesn’t go to Paris with her, that would be just too painful!

What my rating means: 8+ A great drama with interesting content and good writing, direction, acting, OST, cinematography. But didn’t quite have the requisite sparkle to bump it into my all-time fave list. Worth watching.

Read More

Nothing new, but a good place to start

I decided to watch this series because I wanted to understand more about what drives the gender dynamics that I sometimes find quite confronting in Japanese romance dramas. It was only the last episode that began to address that question for me when the hosts chatted with four Japanese people who didn’t have a direct connection to the adult entertainment industry about societal expectations and couple dynamics. I can't say it helped greatly, but it did give me a bit of insight into why Japanese men in these dramas sometimes take the initiative in a forceful way.

The first five episodes concentrated on exploring different aspects of the sex industry with the exception of sex workers. If you have watched any documentaries about this topic, or participated in the activities it covers, it is unlikely that you will learn anything new here. But for those who have no knowledge it will serve as a good introduction.

The tone of the series was to break through embarrassment and talk directly about what was on offer. The participants all displayed a professional dignity which created an atmosphere of easiness in which direct questions could be asked and answered openly and frankly. Sung Shin Kyung in particular did a good job of hosting and hit the right note in both his manners and his general demeanour to ease conversations and interactions.

Unfortunately, it did still include the Korean variety show habit of extensive use of overlaid squiggles and emoticons, but if you grit your teeth you can get past them.

What my rating means: 7+ A watchable drama, but nothing exceptional. Good enough to qualify for the race, but finished with the pack. The sort of thing that promises more than it delivers.

Read More

From the sauna to the ice bath and back

Whether you enjoy this drama or not is probably more about your expectations going into it, than the drama itself. It’s not an emotional roller-coaster of a thriller but rather a piece that is two thirds cerebral chess and one third comedic camaraderie. They make strange bedfellows and perhaps attract different types of audience hence my comment about prior expectations.

The plot concerning the standard chaebol rivalries is a complete contrast to the fun-filled dynamics of Violent Crime Team 2 and sometimes the constant shifting is like plunging from the sauna into the ice-bath. (I did that once and thought I was having a heart attack!)

Let’s deal with the cerebral chess first. Although complexity is good, too much complexity can interfere with the flow and pace of the drama. It gets a bit tangled up with itself and there are a lot scenes that use a lot of names to explain the intricacies of who knows what about who said what about who threatened who because of what was done about what who ordered…

There is a balance to be struck by the writer when constructing the plot and here I think the tendency to keep explaining is counterproductive as it breaks the both the tension/suspense and the flow of the viewer’s emotional connections to the characters and story. I wasn’t totally convinced that it was necessary and at times things felt a bit repetitive. The downside of not explaining is that the viewer sometimes get lost but it allows you to keep up the pace and tension. I think this was done very effectively in “Insider” where an equally (if not more) complex plot swept along and carried you with it.

As the drama progresses it gets bogged down in the nitty gritty and where it is going has been obvious for a while, with the result that it becomes somewhat tedious and struggles in the last half to capture interest. This is partly because it is rooted in a slice of life approach that sort-of abides by the rules of investigation which slows everything down and keeps it grounded. It also emphasises dialogue over action and there are too many static scenes of people sitting around on chairs and talking.

Having plunged into the ice bath let’s go back to the sauna, and what a fantastic sauna it is. Especially in the first half the camaraderie of Violent Crime Team 2 is a total delight. It’s wonderfully funny and so warm. All of the detectives have distinct personalities and are given opportunities to shine. It totally enlivens the first half of the drama and makes it such a enjoyable watch. If it ended half way through the drama would definitely be a higher rating.

Along with the performances by the detectives, the standout for me was Jung Moon Sung as Woo Tae Ho. I was really riveted by his performance and he totally convinced me that he was a man surrounded on all sides with only his wits to aid him to survive. And lastly, just a nod to casting for actually finding someone (Jasper Cho) who can speak English convincingly, even though his accent is Canadian not American, but we’ll forgive that - nothing’s perfect…

What my rating means: 7+ A watchable drama, but nothing exceptional. Good enough to qualify for the race, but finished with the pack. The sort of thing that promises more than it delivers.

Read More

Even excess cheese can sometimes be good.

This is a romcom that wants to take itself seriously and there are moments when it succeeds in doing that and moments when it seriously doesn’t. I suppose I’m just a bit too old and a bit too relationship-wise to hack this type of cinderella-who-pretends-to-be-in-need-of-protection-meets-prince-charming-primed-to-give-it drama. And I must admit to being a tad confused about how our prince humble-charming could also be such a prince narcissus and switch between the two with such apparent ease. I was waiting for a good reason for it, but in vain… However, to the drama’s credit, I got through all sixteen episodes of it. Mostly I don’t.

So in its favour, it’s a good example of the genre. The performances are quality, the comedy isn’t too embarrassing, and the script (if you accept the premises in the first place) stands up to scrutiny. There’s a bucket-load of kissing and touchy-feely and enough chemistry between the leads to be convincing.

Things do get pretty unbearable in the cheesy nausea stakes, aided and abetted by an excruciating glut of long, lingering looking into eyes (bad choices in the editing suite). Then by Episodes 10 & 11 the product placement is off the wall and the false smiles and general niceness is at imminently-about-to-throw-up stage. The scripted sexual interactions are often painfully naive and delayed to the point of ridiculousness, but that’s par for the course in k-drama romances. In fact, at times the relationship dynamics (and I’m not talking about the sexual ones) were pretty off between the lead roles and there were a few occasions where I was just screaming at the screen, “Back off! Get off her case, mate. That’s way over the line you’re stepping!”

The core plot is pretty much over by Episode 12, so the last 4 episodes meander along fossicking around with emotional trajectories and sort of trying to tie up loose ends in a long-winded but amiable way. Unless you’re really into sugary fluff the last episode is a total bore.

However, despite the dodgy predilections of the writer for uncomfortable relationship dynamics, Park Seo Joon carried the role with aplomb and has to be congratulated for doing the best (most believable) totally wasted (Episode 15) that I’ve seen in any K-drama. That’s not something you learn by getting very pissed yourself, it’s something you know by hanging around sober whilst those around you descend into mumbling wrecks. He’s an actor, like Ji Chang Wook, who is capable of so much more than these romcom scripts demand. “Itaewon Class” was a step in the right direction as far as I’m concerned and I’m looking forward to “K Project”. I think Park Min Young also hides her light. She plays pretty much the same person in every drama, but occasionally, she can bring it with just a look. Which is more than can be said for Lee Tae Hwan, who was unconvincingly lightweight. However, the day was totally saved by Hwang Bo Ra (playing Bong Se Ra) whose luscious, mobile lips have a comedic life and excellence all of their own. She made me lol on numerous occasions and her time on screen was a total joy.

What my rating means: 7+ A watchable drama, but nothing exceptional. Good enough to qualify for the race, but finished with the pack. The sort of thing that promises more than it delivers.

Read More

Intriguing, but a bit too clever for its own good in the end.

There’s a warning about the nature of memory in episode two that is worth bearing in mind. As someone who has dissociative amnesia I found that the way the show played with the individual’s experience of reality very resonant. Memory, and therefore identity, is not such a solid, real thing as we need it to be. The mechanisms of memory are also the mechanisms of imagination and are susceptible to both suggestion and doubt. The only thing we can really be sure of is what is happening right now and sometimes we are even mistaken about that.

To be honest, the first fifteen minutes of this drama did not endear itself to me. I’m not really convinced by baddies that are ridiculously evil—involving children— in the first five minutes, particularly when they look dirty and have really bad teeth just in case you might mistake them for good guys. And especially when the scene is organ trafficking, because let’s face it, if you’re selling organs on, the buyers expect uncontaminated product, not bits of offal left behind by marauding hyenas. Such a big bang beginning can signal an unnecessarily over-the-top approach that kicks you in the guts rather than credits your intelligence. But thankfully, this did not prove the case in this complex drama.

There was a lot of general psychotic nastiness in the first few episodes and some completely off the wall, over the top baddies. Had it continued unabated I would probably have given up as I’m not really a blood, gore and gratuitous violence sort of person and tend not to watch violent dramas unless they are offering significant brain stimulation as well. Which this one did. However, in an effort to alleviate the distressing effect, I took an unusual interest in how successfully the make-up department managed to convince me of the damage. They had a field day and most of the time they got the blood colour near enough, if not the consistency. Plus there were some believable after-effects on faces, even though they faded away too quickly. Something I hate is when violence is portrayed as having no visible effect. It amazes me that realistic kissing is censored on Korean TV, but hacking up bodies is fine… Something’s a bit skewed there.

I liked the way it was written. By keeping the dialogue realistic it didn’t over-explain but, in the main, moved at a pace that you could gather the thread by paying attention. And you do need to pay attention and remember. There are no throw away lines in this 12 episode drama, the shorter length has cut out the fat and each scene pretty well earns its place. Every nugget of information will be utilised. There were a few times, especially in the middle, when I did feel like I was clinging on by my fingertips, desperately scrabbling for a memory of where some tiny flashback happened and who was involved, or what some character had to do with anything. No doubt this will up the rewatch value for those who are interested enough. The cast was very large and new characters with small parts were often introduced, none of them are superfluous. (I simply love the cast list on MDL. Where would I be without it? Lost in a sea of who-the-f**k-is-he, that’s where…)

It was written as though doing a jigsaw rather than printing a picture. Things were not sequentially built over time. The disparate elements of the picture were built up individually before coming together. This may not suit everyone. It requires you to hold things in your head floating freely, not necessarily attached to other things that you have seen. So if you are someone who likes to slot stuff into place as you go this drama probably won’t suit you. You might describe it as haphazard. However, I’m OK about going with the flow and being in a state of suspended ignorance/confusion, so in the main I enjoyed the ride. But it it took off for the stratosphere at the end and I must admit, I stayed earthbound.

There were quite a few REALLY??!! YOU’VE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME??!!! moments that were shoehorned in to serve the plot. You know the sort of thing: keeping someone alive when in fact they would just have been killed straight off; underestimating a known hacker; a psychiatrist spilling the beans on her client to a stranger, impossible information gathering etc. And sometimes the introduction of new threads was strangely convenient and followed no real logic. As a whole it required a fair amount of suspension of disbelief but the complexity rewarded you. I got some of the twists, but there were plenty of other things that I didn’t anticipate. In general I found if I left it too long between watching episodes I couldn’t remember the fine detail, but if I watched them close together there was no working-things-out time, so it kept me intrigued. Basically, if you like a challenge this is a good drama for you and maybe watching it with a mate would help—larger data bank to store all the information…

When the plot is the central focus, there is not really time for character depth and development, so in this genre stand-out performances are rare. This is the third drama I’ve seen Namkoong Min in and I’m beginning to realise that he plays characters pretty much the same way whoever they are. If you like his style it’s sort of comforting to know exactly what you are going to get. He is good at delivering it, but so far I’m yet to see his acting talents really stretched. He’s had a long career, maybe someone can suggest a part when he offers something different to the slow delivery, stern-faced thoughtful look. Even Hot Stove League was short on smiles. I liked what Kim Ji Eun did with Yoo Je Yi, however the script sometimes made her naive beyond belief.

There is an interesting aspect to the title and its translation. The original direct translation is Black Sun, which describes an eclipse, where something completely opaque crosses something bright and blots it out. The title, The Veil, is much more subtle implying semi-transparency. The memory loss of the protagonist is like an eclipse, but his journey of remembering is through a glass darkly — veiled. I noted that the cinematography followed the title and shot scenes of revealing secrets through “veils” such as clear plastic blinds, windows or reflected in mirrors. Often short clips were filmed from angles where the viewer becomes a covert observer.

Although I liked the music, especially the breathiness in the voice of the female singer, I’m not sure it married up well with the content. Nothing really stood out for me.

What my rating means: 7+ A watchable drama, but nothing exceptional. Good enough to qualify for the race, but finished with the pack. The sort of thing that promises more than it delivers.

Read More

A little heavy on the melo, but an original take on juvenile justice

It is a common fault for writers to try too hard. To think that the more emotion they put into the writing, the more the viewer will feel it. Paradoxically, it is the opposite.

The art of moving a viewer is to leave enough space for a reaction to arise within them through their own volition. The more the viewer is told how to think and feel, the less they actually will think and feel. This is not just because we all hate being told what to do, but because it is coming overwhelmingly from the outside, pushing against us and closing down the available space for our own response. We need only enough to peak our empathy, then we will naturally do the rest. And because it is not the emotion of the actor but our own emotional response arising from our own understanding, we will feel it twice as much. Knowing where the trigger point is and just how much is enough for any particular audience,is the thing that separates a brilliant director from an average one.

Here, the director (Hong Jong Chan) did the writer (Kim Min Sook) no favours in overplaying the melodrama. Trauma does not automatically lead to excessive and noisy crying. It can lead to anger, denial, confusion and often numbness and silence. This range of responses can also be utilised by a good director to emphasise the horror of a situation but they were not featured in this drama. By the time we reached episode 9, character after character was either crying or wailing in a string of consecutive scenes that became less and less effective as they rolled by. The result was to distance me rather than draw me in. Which is a pity because this was a powerful drama and had the potential to be more so.

Music also plays an important part in evoking emotion, and here the swelling orchestral music was way too heavy. There was far too much of it, it was far too loud and far too emotive. I found it oppressive.

Having said all that, there was much to appreciate in this production. The characters of the two leads are interesting and well fleshed out. Kim Hye Soo and Kim Mu Yeon gave convincing performances. They represented opposite ends of the spectrum in terms of their attitudes and judgements. It was a wise choice not to have them as adversaries but genuine colleagues who maintained respectful regard for each other. This gave an opportunity for a more rounded viewpoint of the case scenarios, and highlighted the ambivalence that is always present. It meant that the focus remained on the ethics and morals of the action and was not diverted by inter-personal conflict. As a result, there was plenty for the viewer to reflect on.

The treatment of the young people also aimed at more realism than is common in k-dramas, especially in terms of their language, behaviour and attitudes. At times there was confronting material to watch but it was never gratuitous.

This was a deliberately victim-centred presentation and constantly emphasised the impact of anti-social and violent behaviour. As most court and crime dramas are heavily focused on the perpetrators this was a refreshing take on things.

A lot of the dialogue was educational in tone. Some of it out of character for the professional environment it took place in, but not so much that it was irritating. It was forgivable in the circumstances as the juvenile court is rarely depicted and little understood. As a piece of social commentary the show was very successful. As a drama, slightly less so but well worth watching.

What my rating means: 7+ A watchable drama, but nothing exceptional. Good enough to qualify for the race, but finished with the pack. The sort of thing that promises more than it delivers.

Read More

Less would have been so much more…

The problem with trying to do too much is that you don’t do enough. There was not enough depth to really make this drama memorable. We were introduced to a number of relationships, all of which had promise, but none of which were fully explored. We were given the overall picture, but what totally draws you in and keeps you there long after the last episode, is not the obvious, but the small moments of unexpected revelation that can only happen when you spend time with characters.

With so much going on there was not enough time to explore big transitions, let alone small ones. Some of the developments required by the plot, which were complex emotional transitions, were skipped through on a wing and a prayer. Worse, motivations were explained in retrospect with large chunks of repetition and telling rather than showing. This is such bad writing and the fault lies in a weak structure.

I don’t think that increasing the number of episodes would necessarily have helped. All of the character interactions had large amounts of emotional baggage, and if they had all been fully explored, it would simply have become too much. There’s only so much emotional pay-off that you can squeeze from story or from a viewer. When this has to be divided across too many characters it can get very thin, with the result that the viewer feels less all round intensity and therefore empathy.

I was not convinced of why there was a need to tell this story in two time-streams with two sets of loosely connected characters. The periods of time that were spent in each time-stream were frequently too long, which broke your connection to the other story-line. I couldn’t find a strong enough reason to think that it merited this treatment, they just seemed to run in parallel rather than intersecting with each other. Neither did one story enhance our understanding of the other, both seemed to say the same thing.

For this to be a special drama, and I think that the themes and concept had the potential to be so, the first half desperately needed to be pruned of some of its intensity around non-core relationships and to focus more on the central ones. As for the second half, the structural faults in the plot needed to be resolved. Maybe it’s just that I like clean lines and deep thoughts, but KISS is an aphorism for a reason folks!

Having said all that there were things to like about it too. The sombre colour palette with great lighting designs that provided highlights and supportive context for the action. The colours were rich and intense, particularly in the night scenes and the definition had a beautiful clarity to it. Some of the cinematography (enhanced by CGI) was breathtakingly beautiful, particularly at the beach.

The standard of acting from all four of the main cast was good, particularly from K and Cream although I think that the director took the melo too far in places. The characters themselves were interesting and varied although I wasn’t convinced by the character of Li Na, or Phoebe Yuan’s performance - she was no Elizabeth Taylor…

I didn’t find the OST that inspiring to be honest, which was a pity as it was set in the music industry and an opportunity was missed. But maybe I’m not that qualified to judge as I’m not a great fan of Asian music in general, which often sounds too smooth, bland and overproduced for my taste.

Overall, my interest waned as the episodes progressed and more and more flaws were revealed.

What my rating means: 6+ Some aspects of it were OK but it had serious flaws. It will pass the time but you can find something better.

Read More