Trap of Youth (1999)

Greedy Youth

My first impression is that these 2 male leads weren't suitable to play this type of scenario in this "youthful" setting. It's hard to see them attempting romance even when they were in their 30s. Something doesn't click no matter what! Although the drama was long but it kept you entertained watching the car crash. The revenge was tame, it never went too far but that was the drama's intent to begin with. You can get the gist of that just from reading the synopsis. However, there were some cruel parts in the process which helped selling the injustice, better than a lot of modern ones who attempted similar approach. The dialogue was fairly good, usually we don't get extended dialogues that let the characters to actually talk even if it got a bit melo along the way. The opening theme was good but when I listened to the full version I wasn't a fan of the rest. The characters went through a reasonable development without neglecting the secondary ones which typically get neglected because of their wrong doings. It did such a good job showing the wrongful side being genuine in repenting. The drama wrapped things up better than I expected, it gave an actual proper conclusion to its leads. While the drama isn't perfect but it offered an appealing package.

Read More

Director Was NOT Serious…

I really wanted to like this drama because the premise sounds perfect on paper: betrayal, a secret child, a rich mistress and a woman entering her ex-lover’s new family for revenge. Unfortunately, the execution is painfully lifeless.

The drama takes an absurdly long time to reach the story it is actually supposed to be telling. Dong-woo and Young-joo barely share enough meaningful scenes to establish a believable attraction, yet their relationship is suddenly presented as an irresistible forbidden affair. Their kissing scene was especially awkward. Instead of passion or tension, it looked like two actors falling on top of each other while the camera desperately tried to hide the fact that they were not really kissing.

Yun-hee is equally frustrating. She is supposed to become the emotional centre of a revenge melodrama, but for far too long she does little beyond suffering silently, staring sadly and accepting Dong-woo’s increasingly obvious lies. A slow burn should gradually build tension, motivation and emotional attachment. This drama mostly repeats the same conversations until somebody becomes teary-eyed and the episode ends.

The production is also shockingly poor, even by late-1990s television standards. I love old movies and the hazy atmosphere of early Korean dramas, so age is not the issue. The problem is the complete lack of visual storytelling. The camera angles are flat, the blocking is awkward, the editing has no rhythm and the music rarely adds anything to the scenes. The cast is clearly talented, especially Shim Eun-ha, but the direction somehow makes accomplished actors look stiff and amateurish.

I understand why the premise and dialogue may have felt provocative when it originally aired, but popularity does not automatically make something well made. Korean dramas improved enormously in directing, pacing, music and emotional storytelling during the early 2000s, and Trap of Youth makes that difference painfully obvious. A potentially addictive revenge story is buried underneath lifeless direction, weak romantic development and endless staring.

Not a slow burn. Just a drama that takes forever to begin.

Read More