Unfortunately, I felt that as Miri's tower of lies began to falter, so did the intensity of the show. (Perhaps the story was water-downed by Miri's incessant tears?) Characters who were posed to be major threats to Miri during the first half of the show suddenly became utterly ineffectual; no doubt in my mind this is attributed to the story's emphasis on romance toward the latter half. Supposedly, it's love that will redeem Miri in the end, but I found this to be unconvincing, sappy, and a bit incongruent for a show that began with such a dark tone. However, I can't deny the power of love in this drama---it compelled nearly every male character to run with hammer and nails in hand in order to nail themselves to Miri's cross on her behalf. Scratch that: I can't deny the power of a pretty face in this drama.
A special note has to be made of the music here. Which was AWFUL. Violins of Doom; Piano of Remorse; overuse of the opera Carmen (it wasn't particularly clever the first time); funeral march played during an engagement announcement (and many other...unique...music cues); music volume overpowering the drama. This was an almost constant distraction and source of much laughter.
Give Miss Ripley a try. If you make it through the absurd coincidences and soundtrack that mars the first two/three episodes, you'll find yourself ensnared by the labyrinthine psychology of Jang Miri, cheering for her, jeering her, distrusting her, pitying her. However, be prepared for the roar to end on a whimper.
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I started this one in May this year (2012) and marathoned first eight episodes at one go. Then my laptop started to have issues and I was without a laptop for last 2 weeks of May. At the beginning of June I got new laptop and watched other dramas.
Then one day I decided to get back to this one and watched 1st part of ninth episode. I lost interest to this show EVERY time I tried to watch episode nine. I tried to watch that episode for so many times that I don't even remember.
And finally this week (in August) I picked this up again and continued from episode 9. Then 10 and 11. After that I knew I would finish this in no time. After episodes 12 and 13 I was really hooked. And today I finally watched episodes 14, 15 and 16.
This drama basically is a drama that has really amazing and strong start and it gets somewhat boring in the middle. Then after episode 10 it gets really good.
If it wasn't for the strong beginning and superb last 3 episodes I would have given this 6. But thanks to those 2 things I gave this 8.
In my opinion this had a perfect ending. It was a bit rushed but I think it was still perfect. It was different from your usual romantic drama.
Watch it and let me know your thoughts ~~
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Now that that's out of the way:
First of all, Lee Da Hae is amazing in this drama. She really played out her character perfectly, and throughout the whole drama I kept swaying from oozing with hate to feeling a deep sense of pity for her (character). I didn't care much for her acting in My Girl, but her acting in Miss Ripley is absolutely brilliant. Overall, the casting was pretty nice but I don't think Yoochun really served a purpose in that drama (nor did it seem at all like he truly liked her, so Yoochun's acting in this drama wasn't that great although it was cute), and the other man was good, but I wasn't impressed. I was slightly disappointed by the overall acting of the cast, but Lee Da Hae's acting in this drama really pulled me in. I usually can't take melodramas, but I kept watching anyways.
The story is great, because it holds a good message and also stirs up several psychological/moral questions concerning topics such as corruption, motivation for actions, greed, and misanthropy. I hated what Lee Da Hae's character did in this drama, but I couldn't help but pity her at the same time, because there are some (although a bit overexaggerated) real-life issues that are presented in the drama.
The story's purpose (or at least what I analyzed it to be) is ingenious, but the story itself goes downhill. I admit, I stopped after episode 9. Half because I couldn't take the awful things that were happening, and half because the drama started dragging. The story overall was still pretty good though.
I would not rewatch this though, because although the first time was alright, if I rewatched it I'm sure I would feel like the drama was dragging 10x more than it was the first time, and I don't want to go through suffering from nightmares about it again. Although this isn't my type of drama (Out of the 80+ dramas I've watched, all of my favorites are happy-go-lucky fluffy ones), I still liked it. Not sure why.
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plot: The plot was fantastic. the scriptwriter obviously knew exactly where they wanted this to go and the plot was never lost. They did an amazing job at displaying how a person who has never been given love can become lost and unsure of whats right in their quest to find happiness.
characters/actors: the characters in this were brilliantly scripted. Each character had their own view of what is right and what is wrong, and don't even bother looking for someone to blame or hate, everyone in this is at fault while at the same time everyone in this is also a victim. In that aspect, this film really depicted human nature and life in general. The actors and actresses were extremely good at depicting their characters. I really felt their pain and desperation through every scene. With each episode you really start to feel the main characters world start to unravel. You kind of want to hate her for her lies and deception but then you can't help but feel sorry for her and want to love her for all the pain she's been through.
music: okay, the music guy needed to be fired. There were some points when I thought 'hey, this music fits this scene perfectly' because there were a couple of songs that were beautiful and really suited the main girl but then other times, it was a little awkward because here you have this sort of intense moment and all of a sudden a little bit of 80's like music comes on and sort of makes it feel like a bad lifetime movie. luckily, those didn't happen often and the 80's like music was just the intro to an okay song that ended up being suitable enough. so if you hear 80's music, just bear with it, it will end soon haha.
In the end I really enjoyed this drama. Someday I do plan on rewatching it when I want to feel particularly depressed about life. If you want something heartwarming then don't watch this. this is for when you have a box of tissues and you want to use it in one night.
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Who cares is what I say. Just do it: Fall in love, slay your enemy, assess Miss Ripley.
Not bad is my initial reaction.
A drama appeals to its viewer in one of two ways: 1) It grants the viewer a portal into an alien world or 2) It acts as a mirror to the viewer's own world.
To me, Miss Ripley is a case of the former, and I thoroughly enjoyed the depiction of a con artist from a seedy underworld who manages to make fools of the upstanding and the respectable. A drama, however, cannot sustain itself on shock value/edgy content alone. As it often happens in life, the lies with which the con artist gets away with murder catch up to her, and it's here where the drama stretches the seams of plausibility past their resiliency threshold.
Or perhaps I'm being too cynical.
I'll close by paying my complements to the composer of the haunting piano piece the drama features when Kim Seung Woo's character uncover's the titular heroine's seedy past.
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Utter Waste of Time!
Not one character evoked any empathy or interest - dull acting and saint vs thief storyline with assorted folks of equally dull character.But yes so much stylish clothing for the FL .. Fashion Eye Candy! Beautiful FL
Such a bunch of angelic characters who fall backwards to please / look past and forgive the most crooked, sob story carrying lead.
I eye-rolled so frequently that I gave myself a headache.
Finished 16 episodes by FFWDing - in less than half the time
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