Love, Lies (2016)

“The song that I madly, deeply wanted to sing... That song should've been mine.”

It's been exactly 3 weeks since I completed this movie, and I've made sure that I'm not emotionally attached or blindingly giving full scores. I can't find any fault in this piece, still. I never had such a hard time trying to put my amazement into words. I hate to spoil or guide you to view this film in a certain way, but I believe that the synopsis and the trailer are already a huge spoiler, so here's my attempt to elaborate:

Let me tell you first that this is not a “journey to stardom” kind of music movie or a story about two girls pulling each other's hair and fighting over a guy. Of course it does revolve around the themes of music and jealousy, but there are more to this than just being another love triangle story between musicians.

There is an absolute charm to how its English title accurately describes what this film has to offer. “Love, Lies” speaks for its entire composition: 50% hope and 50% despair, and I don't say that lightly; this film boldly runs for 1 hour telling the story of love, friendship, hope and dreams while building up the tension, then, later at its 50% mark, turns into a story of lies, jealousy, betrayal and broken heart for another hour. It also wraps up with guilt and consequences at the end, leading you to fully sympathize with every decision made by the main character no matter how crooked she’s become.

The setting in 1943-1945, the very end of Japanese occupation era in Korea, was fully utilized here and it intertwined so well with the music theme. It was the last two years that “gisaengs” existed. It was the most modern period of those Japanese backdrops. Also, Korea's liberation at the end of the story plays a good part. Here is where it could become difficult for some people to give this film a high score; the movie does require a little understanding of “musician mindset”.

Music is a form of art, and by art, it means there's no correct answer. It’s very subjective and personal. One may view music as something suitable for high class, but on the other hand it’s never wrong to think that music should belong to people in every social status. This conflict will set lover conflicts in motion in the story. So, think: What if your musician lover prefers someone else’s voice rather than yours? It’s unfavorable, but it’s not wrong, right?

Because the man in question is a musician – a pop music composer, it somewhat allows his unfavorable choices to slip through. It’s quite a given that his mind does not (need to) function entirely logically. He makes choices based on his artistic hunch. When he, according to the synopsis, “falls in love” with his girlfriend’s best friend, I came to fully accept the fact, although I didn’t support his decision either. And that was just one of the many reasons I loved how thoroughly planned the writing for this film was.

The Korean title for this movie “Hae-eo-hwa” is another old term for “gisaeng”, women who received high education in music to perform in front of and entertain men of high social status. “Hwa” means flower, so “haeeohwa” also means “a flower that understands human’s words”. The term represents how women (gisaengs) were treated as social inferior. This “haeeohwa” theme plays a big part in the film more than just suggesting the leads’ profession. One woman is willing to follow the guidance of a man she loves, and another goes against her own beliefs and throws herself at another man to gain power to take back what she loves.

All of these are combined into great storytelling, and in the end, you will see for yourself whether it was the “artistic mindset”, the social derogation of women, a man’s swayed heart, a friend’s betrayal… or it was entirely something else that ruined it all.

“Why did ____ not know back then that it was good enough?”

Also, don’t forget to keep an eye on the minor character Kim Okhyang. She doesn’t appear often, but she’s another character that will leave you with many thoughts in the end.

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I was stunned by Han Hyojoo’s acting as the sweet yet heartbroken Jung Soyul. Facial expressions were the key to this character’s portrayal, and she was utterly perfect. Casting Chun Woohee as Han Hyojoo’s best friend who needs to look and feel smaller and a bit inferior was also a great decision. Yoo Yeonseok’s laid-back demeanor was definitely suitable for his music composer role. He also deserves compliments for his months of effort in practicing piano just for this movie. Everyone including the supporting cast really made this movie come to life.

As for the music, there are plenty of music movies that fail to deliver an excellent result in the music department. This movie did not just reach my expectation but surpassed it to an exceptional level. Traditional “Jeongga” music and 1940’s trot are not what would appeal to everyone’s ears, but this movie made their music very sweet, easy to listen and memorable. For additional points, the two lead actresses performed every song themselves, and they were spectacular.

Lastly, the artistic department deserves great compliments. Locations, costumes and props were top-notch. Cinematography presented this film in vibrant colors, and the composition was beautiful from the beginning till the end. Everything was grand and aesthetically pleasing here.

I usually don’t rewatch, but I will definitely watch this one many times.
I absolutely recommend this film to everyone.

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God where do i start , for one i loved the music , the music was beautiful. I found this because i wanted to watch a movie with yoo yeon seok in it. I didnt really read what it was about , i thought it was going to be about just some singer and a guy. I really didnt know what i was getting myself into. For one , by the beginning you find out this is actually very tragic , angsty. I cried and cried, i thought it might have gotten better , but it got worst and i cried. Even by the end i couldn't figure out who i hated, or who i thought was in the wrong.But i couldn't blame so yool at all, i just couldn't . The beginning to end was so interesting and so tragic, im still crying.

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IN SHORT: It's now one of my favorite Korean films. It's tragic and heart wrenching, elegant and beautiful, raw and real, be ready to cry if you're emotional and empathetic.

IN LONG:

Holy. I've been a huge fan of Han Hyo Joo for the longest time. I don't know why I didn't bother to watch this film. Well, the reason is because it's not easy watching Korean films in America online because you can't find it easily online. So here I am making a review a whole year later! Holy crap! I've seen almost all of Han Hyo Joo's work and this is by far one of her greatest works... I say that with tears rolling down my face. I can go on and on about all the things I have to say about her character, the story, and everything that happened.

I rated the story 9.5 because I'm not a huge fan of the Japanese Colonization in Korea era in general. I typically don't watch many films or dramas during periods where Eastern countries are becoming more westernized simply because most of those films/dramas give in to the political and revolution stuff which becomes redundant in films in this period. The history there is still sacred and it is very educational in learning how it was like for people during that time. However, despite my bias view on this era I think this era gave one of the most beautiful and heart wrenching background context to the story. The story is so tragic but it's totally my type of genre. It's real and relatable yet at the same time, no one would ever dare to go through these types of experiences.

Cast; I'm not a fan of the main dude. Not because of his role in here but I've seen him in different dramas and films and I just couldn't connect to him as an actor. Indeed he's a great actor, but this is just preference now. It's really not his fault. I haven't seen the other female lead before but her character wasn't as strong as the main female lead. I don't even know if they were really singing, if they were, she was amazing, even the traditional singing. Amazing.

Music was great! I didn't expect much until they started singing, I'm also a huge fan of korean traditional singing, you might even fall in love with the beauty, rawness, and elegance of korean traditional music!

Definitely a rewatch! Sometimes, watching the film again with someone helps them understand who you are. This is now one of my favorite films by Han Hyo Joo!

Overall: I rate it 9.5/10 it upsets me so much what happened but that is what makes the plot and film so great! I wished a different male lead was casted at the beginning because I was never fond of him (Again, it's not his fault that I don't like him, it's just preference) but towards the end I was fine that it was him. You'll see why. lol Just sucks that *****SPOILER****** (you'll understand why once you watch it)

Sigh, Han Hyo Joo, I respect you so much!

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'Why didn't I know... How great it was... Why didn't I know then?'

My review will be split to 2 parts since there is two types of people will be reading this. Some didn't watch the movie yet so they are reading the reviews to find out if the movie worth there time or not, I'll give them the answer and why from my opinion of course, and the second type has already finished the movie and looking for words to express what they are feeling right now through other people reviews, I hope they'll find here what they're looking for.
This is my second time watching this movie and my first review ever, I always get lazy and don't write a review no matter how good the movie/drama was, but since it's a movie that I rewatched and I feel like I need to express my feelings, so I think I'm obligated to give it justice. Excuse my English it’s not my first language but I’ll try my best.


PART 1: For those who didn't watch the movie yet. Does the movie worth watching? YES OF COURSE!!! Why? Let’s see why:
1-->If you like Kmovies/Kdramas that revolve around the period of Japanese occupation of South Korea then you must watch this movie because it transmits the vibe of that era very well: the costumes, the songs and traditions... BUT even if you don't like it, you will appreciate its beauty, because the movie is not about the war even though it's set in 1943-1945, no sword or gun fighting scenes as we usually see in this type of movies.
2-->If you like musical movies where the characters sing some beautiful songs during it, then watch this movie you’ll be satisfied, especially when you know that the ones who are singing the songs are the real cast and the piano too.
3-->If you like movies that focus more on the woman than the guy, this movie is for you
4-->If you’re bored from watching a weak, pure and innocent protagoniste as the FL who has received injustice from the world and still not doing anything about it but crying, then you came to the right place. Our FL fights back to destroy who destroyed her no matter what the cost is.
5-->If you are a fan of Han Hyo Joo, then you’re not a real fan until you watch this movie. I can say that this is one of her best performances if not the best one so far from all of her works (acting, speaking Japanese, singing and dancing) and this is coming from someone who has seen 6 movies and 4 Dramas of hers.
6--> The main trio cast has worked “together” before in another beautiful movie ‘the beauty inside’.
7-->If you like revenge movies then watch it.
8-->If you want to know more about gisaeng’s life since we only see usually a shallow view of them in historical Kdramas.

Some reasons why you may not like it or that movie is not for you:
1-->If you are looking for a movie that will shock you from beginning till end you may be disappointed, as the plot summary spoils a big part of it already. But that doesn’t take much from the movie (I don’t agree tho that jealousy is what consumed So Yul, it was basically because of a betray from her loved ones).
2-->If you hate sad movies you may find this movie too dark for you (I’m don’t like dark movies myself, I find them heart breaking but I still enjoyed this one a lot)
3-->If you are here to watch a platonic love story with romantic scenes then sorry we don’t do that here.

So over all I highly recommend this movie, so stop wasting time and go start watching NOW and don’t continue reading as from now on, the review will include spoilers and details that you can read after finishing the movie.


PART 2: For those who has already finished the movie

_STORY 9,5: Not the first time we see a story revolve around friendship, love, jealousy and betray as those words are the topic of many works that we’ve watched in Kdrama land BUT we usually see the story from the point of view of a character like Seo Yeon-Hee, the poor, innocent and talented protagoniste that couldn’t help but falling in love with her best friend’s lover who helped her break free from the gisaeng’s life to have a more meaningful life as a pop singer who sings to the hall country poor and reach ‘heart of Joseon’ and not just to who pay high, and the ML who falls in love with her as a songwriter/producer first and then as a man, and we follow the story of the two as they suffer from obstacles made by people who try to stood in the face of their love and dreams like So-Yool’s character that usually is an evil second FL who feels jealous from her best friend who’s getting everything she ever wanted (singing and love) and tries to ruin their love and life and so we end up sympathizing with the two protagonists and hating the antagoniste. NO NO THAT’S NOT OUR MOVIE, ‘Love, Lies’ gived us an antagoniste FL that we saw the movie by her eyes wish made it special, I couldn’t hate So-Yool for what she felt or did or even blame her, and I definitely couldn’t like or sympathize with the protagonists as they showed no expression of guilt toward So Yool, they only cared about themselves. I guess that’s what I didn’t like about the movie, So-Yool used to be Yeon-Hee’s best friend since they were children but Yeon-Hee still didn’t show any sort of guilt or hesitation when she fell in love with So-Yool’s lover, and the same goes for Yoon-Woo who claimed that his heart only belongs to So-Yool at the beginning, I feel like we needed more from Yeon-Hee’s character at least, plus some scenes felt rushed a little bit I guess that has something to do with the movie time so I think they couldn’t help it. But overall, the story is very well done, I like the fact that So-Yool and Yeon-Hee are two of the last gisaengs in Joseon which give us the chance to know more about Gisaeng, we don’t see that a lot.

_ACTING/CAST 10: All the cast was outstanding and did a great job from the main cast to the support one, I know it’s a good movie when I see Yoo Yeon-Seok in it, same goes for Han Hyo Joo. I only saw Chun Woo-Hee in the beauty inside and I didn’t even remember her until I saw her in the cast, she did a great job and she has a beautiful voice I hope I’ll see more of her in the future. Yoo Yeon-Seok is wonderful as usual, I loved him with the piano too, for Han Hyo Joo as I said before this maybe her best performance, she portrayed So-Yool’s change of character very well from that innocent kind child who started a friendship with a poor girl, then a beautiful woman who dreams of becoming a singer and a wife to the one she loves, and protect her honor as a Gisaeng, to the vengeance version that can sacrifice anything and sell even her body to take back what she believes belongs to her destroying her friend, lover and herself in the process even after more than 40 years she still tortures herself by taking the name of Chun Woo-Hee and her song, I don’t think that what changed her was jealousy because though she saw her friend achieving what she was dreaming of, she kept trying to support her and smile to her but it was the betray that she felt after seeing Woo-Hee and Yoon-Woo together that broke the last hope she had, she wished to be her so badly that she stole her name after all this years. My two favorite scenes of Han Hyo Joo in this movie were that scene when she was trying to sing Heart of Joseon like Woo-Hee while listening to the record and crying, the second is the scene at the end when she finally heard someone praises her song ‘love lies’ and said 'Why didn't I know... How great it was... Why didn't I know then?'.

_Music 10: Beautiful songs and I think what gave them more value is that they were singed by the cast Han Hyo Joo and Chun Woo Hee, I gived it 10 because I listened to ‘Heart of Joseon’ uncounted times.

_Rewatch value 9: This is my second time watching the movie after I forgot a lot of it over the years, I enjoyed it almost like the first time maybe even more.

_ Overall 10: It’s not easy for me to find a Korean movie that match my taste like that. A masterpiece.

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HEARTBREAKING. I kept mumbling after watching this

Nomu appa !! I watched this solely relying on the title and the actors. And just as it slowly started, I already know how it can possibly end, and even though with that fact that at other dramas/movies it bothered me a lot, it had a different effect here. It bothered me in a way that you would wish what you predicted won't actually happen, I patiently waited for the scenes. And still got so much affected by the outcomes.

Again, it really hurts, for So Yool. I deeply understand why she did what she did. It would literally feel like a stab in the heart after seeing what she saw and hearing what she heard. There's like multiple stabs in her heart already, and for me, the movie added salt in it, because of the emptiness in the scenes where there were really no confrontation , no meetups, no questions were asked after what happened, it just continuously flowed, and they put it when it's about to end. It added more sorrow for my sympathy to So Yool. And I hated Yeon Woo so much. For the men like him, who really, lied a love. For the men who could really swoon you with their deep felt words and their precious promises but then end up a popped bubble, like it didn't even occur. I mean how is it just that easy to break, after Yo Sool fell for the words, long for the promise that he gave, but then pop ! And yes with the cliche fact that the other girl is her best friend ! I mean, seriously, all of these is just heartbreaking. Now I just realized how cliched it was but then how different it still felt while watching it, didn't realized it that much while watching.

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"Why didn't I know, how great it was?"

This wrecks me so much. Angst, pain, beautiful, dark, everything, it's crazy. All 3 characters really are equally evil and pitiful it's soo heartbreaking. With a beautifulll cinematography and 1990s setting that's always extra magnificent, makes it evenmoreee breathtaking.
Started hopeful, a story of love, friendship, dreams and then brutally turned out to be a story of lies, jealousy, wicked betrayal. Can't help but both sympathizing & morally questioning every single of their decisions. Well. Even tragic is an understatement. But Han Hyojoo's character is the most pitiful, that she wasted her life for something that's not hers, losing herself and at the end, identity too.
Can't justify enough how great this movie is with words. Such a shame that this is underrated, more people need to watch this masterpiece.

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Tragic, Heartbreaking, and Raw

I once saw trailer of this movie, and thought I'll watch this when I am in the mood. A year or so passed and I forgot about that. Somedays back I was going through a list and thought I'd watch this, but the IMDB rating was not that great. Since I love tragedies and this one had that vibe, I thought of watching this last night. Why is this so underrated ? This one is a gem of a movie.
Spoilers:
Soyool and Yoonhee are best friends since they were little and they are training to become gisaeng in times of Japanese-Korean war. They both love pop music but are training to sing traditional songs. Soyool has a boyfriend (Yoonwoo) since they were young and they love each other. Yoonwoo is a famous song writer and wants Soyool to sing as a pop singer so that everyone can listen to her voice rather than singing traditional songs only for the high end people of society. Soyool wants to sing for the common people too, but she cannot leave her agency (her mom runs it) but she promises to sing one song for him. Yoonwoo then meets Yoonhee and he loves her singing style, and thinks she is fit to sing for his new album. He convinces Yoonhee to sing for Joseon's common people and be Joseon's Heart (which is what he said to Soyool as well). When Soyool confronts Yoonwoo, he says that he loves Soyool only and will write hundred of songs for her. He assures her of her love for her and tells her that this is only a professional album with Yoonhee. Yoonhee leaves agency and is singing for Yoonwoo and co. when Yoonwoo and Yoonhee fall in love with each other, fully knowing that they are the 2 most important people to Soyool and just how hard it was to just let them be. BUT they don't care, they are in LOVE. lol. What a joke. After all this, they pretend as if they did no wrong and continue dating. When Soyool decides to take revenge (pretty sad affair, you can feel her heartbreak) they don't even bat an eye and tell her the truth. Ugh.
I feel so bad for So Yool, and did not understand why the other main characters thought they were in the right. She was cheated on by the two people she loved and trusted the most. Admittedly she should not have asked the Commissioner to reject Yoonhee's album and should not have sent her to that bar, not saying any of this was right. But people should know that their actions have consequences. If you choose to destroy someone's life, you might be forgiven or you might be punished for it. Humans are not God, they can make your sure you live in hell if you mess them up real bad. Soyool loved them and they cheated on her, stabbed her in the back and even when things went south, they did not tell her the truth. When they get to know that she orchestrated all this, they feel betrayed and sad but they never once feel remorse for their own actions. Their emotions, their lives and their separation matters to them but none of them regrets what they did to her. Poor Soyool. She is the one who suffers till the end of her life because even though what she did was horrible, she knows that, she admits that and also wants to protect those cheaters.
Anyhoo, the movie in itself is amazing. The acting, OST, cast, production, everything is perfect. Beautiful, tragic, heartwrenching and raw. Anyone looking for something to pull on your heartstrings should watch this.

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a captivating journey of love, friendship, and the bitter taste of betrayal

"Love, Lies" intricately weaves a tale of love and betrayal against the backdrop of 1943 Seoul, delving into the complexities of friendship and the bitter sting of deception. Jeon Soo-yeon's (JSY) compelling performance draws empathy as her best friend, portrayed by Song Yeon-hee (SYH), not only steals the spotlight but also the man JSY introduced to her. As the narrative unfolds, we witness the emotional wreckage caused by Kim Yeon-woo (KYW), a man entangled in the web of deceit and commitment issues.

The movie brilliantly captures the essence of its title, portraying love as a delicate web of lies. The stellar cast delivers powerful performances, enhancing the emotional depth of the story. The OST, featuring both traditional and pop songs, adds a hauntingly beautiful dimension to the film. "Love, Lies" is a poignant exploration of love's illusions, leaving audiences reflective on the profound impact of lies, jealousy, and broken hearts in the intricate dance of relationships.

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Gente, que filme maravilhoso! É um filme muito intenso e a atuação dos personagens principais é excelente, sem falar que ele junta duas coisas que eu amo: histórias de amor trágicas e ambientação nas épocas passadas.
Quando eu li a sinopse achei que ia ser um filme totalmente diferente, e eu não imaginava que ia gostar tanto do romance da Yeon-Hee com o Yoon-Woo e muito menos entendê-los, pelo contrário, eu achei que ia detestar a relação deles.
E quanto a So-Yool eu passei a maior parte do filme com raiva dela, mas o final me quebrou, e eu acabei sentindo muita pena dela, por ela ser solitária e nunca ter se valorizado, ela não sabia o próprio valor.
Super recomendo ele!

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