mind blowing
there are only two words to describe this piece of art and that is Mind Blowing. it was super good... the thrill and suspense of the movie locks your mind and holds your gut!!! it was soooo superb!!! fucking good!!! screenplay, music , directions and the cast every thing was on point and couldn’t been better!!both actors had great chemistry and the suspense and thrill controls the audience... the variations in scenes ... it had all the aspects of life.. light , darkness, grey and even blue!
the concept of the play "unchained" was epic in itself.
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Interesting premise and ideas! Heavy on melodrama though
I don’t think the primary theme is a new one to cover/explore; I do think maybe some of the way it was explored was novel. I really like the ambiguity that the end leaves as to the more complicated main character's (hint: his name ends in "woo") motivations and intentions. I think this could have been a great mini series if 1) it gave us more background on both characters, 2) it toned down the melodrama or at least gave it the meat and development to feel plausible, and 3) it gave the wife more room to be a person (I think the actress was wasted a bit in this movie).I hate that the acting in the acting (story is about a play within the movie itself) relies so much on screaming - if screaming is the only way your character knows how to express intensity, it's a boring, badly written character.
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I can't say too much about the plot. I try to be as clear as possible.
'Method' was captivating, because the gap between reality and acting (in the film itself) was almost nowhere to be seen. Jae-Ha and Young-Woo acted as if they were Walter and Singer, and sometimes they acted as if they were Walter and Singer looking for Jae-Ha and Young-Woo. It's admirable how an actor can act that he's acting. That's the best thing about the entire film. They change their mindset all the time, but it never gets confusing.
There are also some things that need attention, like the book that Jae-Ha keeps with him all day. The director of the play tells Young-Woo that he always write things in it when he is preparing for a play, but later you can see that there isn't anything in it. The wife of Jae-Ha knows it's a warning for Jae-Ha's behaviour.
Now I watched it again, I don't want to watch another movie, because now I want to maintain my feeling about it.
I found out that the director of this film is a Bang Eun-Jin, and I can't wait to see more of her works. This film needs an Oscar for sure.
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This review may contain spoilers
This was pretty much a small budget version of Farewell My Concubine without the historical elements. The film is about two actors falling in love with each other while making a play about a tragedy love affair that ends in suicide. And, spoilers, Yoong-woo, one of the characters, tries to do just that only to just be saved by Jae-ha. Now this was not Farewell My Concubine though. This was just any interesting film that's rushed in crucial parts which prevent this from being anything better than intriguing. This has the appeal of being a LGBTQ film in Korea with a credible, mainstream actor, Park Sung Woong starring in the role. Oh Seung-hoon was immense in the third act, though. That’s worth watching. Was this review helpful to you?
Intense Drama
The film was very interesting in that this drama was about forbidden love and the stigma of LGBTQ relationships in Korea. I really enjoyed this drama. The storyline is similar to an anime that I've seen but it's different that there are so much unexpectedness and kind of edge of your seat feeling constantly. The acting was spectacular in that they acted a play within a movie. The main characters acted so well. I really enjoyed the plot and the climax with its twists but there were some plot holes and some things I didn't understand.Was this review helpful to you?
If you search for a romantic 'gay' movie, just don't watch it.
I personally love this, apart from its being 'not so romantic' according to some criticism. The reason is simply that it is not, and the focus of it is on the actor's psychological side while doing the method acting.The story was awesome, it has distinct characteristics, they build it so unclear but direct it to the way that people supposed to understand it. Simply, it would make us wonder what happened. The cast's acting, I don't really have a grudge towards it. As it supposed to be, the music is so helpful to construct the scene, I love it, but some of them weirded me out. it might be that I do not really know about musical drama music.
Am I going to rewatch it? yes, when I forgot about the story. But I think, this kinda movie is supposed to watch just once. After you understand the story, the second experience will never be the same.
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This review may contain spoilers
Well Balanced Love & Life story
As soon as I finished watching this movie, my first thought was it could have been better if they made this into a series. Only flaw I saw here is that it seemed rushed. It’s like “you are enjoying the story and the characters telling their story and then it ended.” …… you wanted more.All artists who worked on this film portrayed their role exceptionally well. The relationships (both male & lead male & his gf/wife) were told in a well balanced manner giving you a sense that this is not a clear BL film. To me it is more of a love & life story. It also gave viewers a suspense ride. I was hook towards the end holding my breath for a moment.
The ending leaves viewers to form their own interpretation as to how it may have gone after the play.
It is highly recommended. This is a great movie. It was done the way the writer wanted to tell the story. We may not agree that it doesn’t pattern after real life in some areas but we can’t fault a movie based on how we see real life. It is a movie done from a story written by the writer. It was well directed!
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This review may contain spoilers
This movie was pretty good although the ending was a little iffy because it was not what I personally wanted, it ended perfectly. The pace is fast and quick and gets right to the relationship immediately. I will say there are a few spicy scenes and it's not mature, but it definitely is more than I have seen in most k-dramas. If you are looking for sweet romance then this is NOT for you. Would definitely rewatch for the actors and their characters together.-- Spoilers Below --
Jae Ha is a seasoned actor who takes his job and craft seriously. He is a method actor and gets deep into his characters and who they are and literally becomes them. He is harsh and cold, openly showing his disdain towards Young Woo in the beginning of the play. Young Woo is a famous idol who is tired from his daily schedule and then adding the play on top of it. He starts out super childish and very obviously does not care about the play nor what any part of it. That all changes when he starts taking a liking to Jae Ha, wanting to be around him and wanting to take in and learn everything he can from him. Jae Ha pushes Young Woo to take the play seriously and while doing so, ends up falling for Young Woo himself.. getting caught into a whirlwind relationship between the two. It's hot and sneaky, and you can see them falling for each other more and more as they go deeper into their characters and play. Jae Ha becomes cold and angry towards his wife who begins to have doubts about Jae Ha and how he is dealing with his character Walter. She sneaks around to try to read his method acting journal, which she finds blank, and even tries to catch some practice scenes to which Jae Ha tells her to just stop. She eventually catches them kissing in the theater and stays quiet about it. After her catching them, she tries to initiate sex with Jae Ha but he refuses and shows no interest. My one downfall with the plot and storyline is, they run away and go on a day adventure out to a beach and Young Woo posts pictures to his Instagram. They find him and Young Woo cuddling together in a van sleeping and accuse him of kidnapping Young Woo. The rumors of the dynamic of their relationship and "supposed" kidnapping gets out to the news outlets and they become slightly distant. How exactly did he kidnap Young Woo if he went voluntarily with him and is an adult? - His wife finds him at the beach too and gets into an altercation with him alluding to that this isn't the first time that Jae Ha has gotten too deep into a role. Things start escalating as their home is broken into and things start getting darker between the 2. Young Woo wants to be in a relationship with Jae Ha and to be out and open with him, to tell the truth to the press and let it be known how they feel, but Jae Ha doesn't want to do that at all. He pushes his feelings for him down, so Young Woo does the same and puts on the "chains" of hiding his sexuality and never getting to be with the person he loves. During the play, Jae Ha shares a passionate kiss that wasn't in the script with Young Woo, and continues on. The play is dark, emotional, and heavy, but has a great reaction. After the play, Young Woo coldly says that he is the best Singer and Jae Ha is just Walter. It ends with him getting into his limo and driving off obviously saddened and still with his feelings for Jae Ha, while Jae Ha's wife shows up to the theater and they leave together hand in hand.
Most of the reviews I read before watching were mostly about how the ending could've been better and I want to agree because the few "love" scenes we did get between Jae Ha and Young Woo were passionate and left you yearning for more, but I can also see the realism in their love story in South Korea. Especially in the year this came out, LGBTQ+ is not totally accepted there and is looked down upon, and I can imagine that is even more-so true for idols and actors. They are left with their feelings that they both obviously fell for each other hard. The play is called unchained, which I feel hits the story in another way meaning their feelings, but in the end they are both still chained due to them.
Would 100% watch again, I loved all the actors and characters and just couldn't get enough of it in the hour that we did have.
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Intentional Nudge in the Right Direction
For all intensive purposes, I was rather impressed with this movie. It had been sitting in my To Watch list for at least 2-3 years. I might have watched the beginning of the movie in the past, but just never committed to finishing it. Finally sat down and watched the whole thing.It took a very poetic approach, which I wasn't expecting. Even though this is about a director that wrote a play about two men that have a romantic relationship with each other, the movie doesn't go in depth about it, but it should of, because the play talks about very important issues, like what its like being in a toxic relationship, and how the dynamic of the two actors shifts drastically because of the nature of the play. Its also about having such a strong hold on someone, like your chained to them, and you can't escape, and that is what made this movie so suspenseful to watch.
Something that also impressed me was how the older ML takes method acting very literally, and how that is reflected off stage. I could almost sense what Jae Ha was feeling in the moments when he was alone and there were no cameras, and in that way, this movie shed a light on societal pressures on how men are expected to behave and conduct themselves. A part of me wanted to believe that he wanted to be the person he was suppressing, but in a unique, unexpected way, he was just always in character.
If anything, I wish it could've been longer, and had more to say. It was a very light watch.
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Story-
The story is excellent. It gets more and more intense and intriguing as time goes by- the second half absorbs you into the story and you just can't stop watching. The things that happen in this movie reach from somewhat cute to almost disturbing. The realms of reality and method acting mix and at times you, as a watcher, and the characters themselves don't even know what is just staying in character and what is not.
Method is also filled with symbolism, it would take hours to unpack everything.
At the beginning i thought it was kind of rushed but i think it further strengthened the conclusion of the movie. And while we're at it- the ending of the movie was perfect, it fit the story to a T and i couldn't have imagined it ending any other way.
Acting/cast-
The characters in Method are all so very well constructed, written and developed, alot of care is put into them. They aren't really good people but their actions are still understandable.
As for the acting- it was amazing. Every actor excelled in their role, simply put.
Music-
It helped set the scene for the events of the story. I loved the score and i got chills sometimes. Method also makes perfect use of silence, sometimes it's just quiet but it fits perfectly into the atmosphere.
Rewatch Value-
Method has alot of rewatch value. As i mentioned earlier, the movie is filled with symbolism and on there are just a few things you miss and/or don't understand on the first watch.
Overall-
Method is a masterpiece, simply put. Everything about this film is excellent, i literally don't have anything negative to say. This movie is rather hard to recommend to everyone though, alot of people will not enjoy it. I would still say that you should watch it, even if you're not really a fan of bl.
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Good movie.
I enjoyed “Method”. It was complex, interesting, and heart-wrenching at times. I would have liked to see more intimacy between Jae Ha and Young Woo. The film seemed to end too quickly. It begs the question of who really was the perfect method actor? Were both their actions really done solely to get into their characters more subversively? Or was that line blurred, into actual feelings? The end didn’t really clear this up, and I suppose it’s up to the viewer to decide who was playing who. I got the impression that at least Young Woo got in a bit over his head, and really did feel something more for Jae Ha. Hee Won expressed that Jae Ha always behaved completely submersed in his characters when he acted, but I think maybe he felt more than he let on, too. It’s a good movie. I would definitely recommend.Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
Method, in my opinion was one of those movies that have two storylines happening at the same time. It might be a bit confusing and at times rushed, as you're watching it but the revelation comes at the ending. I'll explain what I mean:Story - 9.5/10
For the storyline, as I was saying about having two different series of events happening at the same time, Method does an amazing job with combining the two worlds. As you are watching, you see it as a forbidden romance between two male actors that doesn't end well. However, on the other hand, it is about a play. Similar to Hamlet where there is a play within a play, Method shows how the actors of the on stage play 'Unchain', take on their role completely. While forming a bond between each other, they diverse themselves into their characters and truly become method actors. While I'm not saying that their attraction was completely untrue, their roles in the play (that were at the time influencing their mindset) did deeply affect it. Many watchers mention that they didn't really enjoy this movie because of how Korea constantly has unhappy endings for their gay couples, but I don't think that this was just a cop out for queerbaiting. I think that the writers and directors wanted to show a sinister twist to an affair between actors. The actors in question ust happened to be both males. When you watch the movie with this perspective, I think that Method did a great job.
Acting/Cast - 10/10
For the cast, I have nothing to say but compliments. I think that the actors did a wonderful job at showcasing their chemistry on screen as well as portraying their emotions incredibly for the storyline. I was pleased to see Park Sung Woong play Jae Ha because he is a relatively known actor. He took on the challenge of this role and I think that he pulled it off perfectly. I was able to see his internal struggle between the temptation of Oh Seung Hoon, the actor who plays Young Woo, and his commitment to Yoon Seung Ah, the actress who plays Hee Won. As for Oh Seung Hoon, despite being a rookie actor, I could not imagine Young Woo being played by anyone else. He was phenomenal at showing an idol overcome with passion and desire for his co-star that led him to losing a part of himself and his sanity completely. For the acting, I say well done.
Music - 9.0/10
Music is never a big concern for me when it comes to the storyline as long as it somewhat fits the mood of the scene. The music of this movie never took away from the scene and even added a suspenseful and sinister vibe to many moments with the violin undertone so I was pleasantly surprised.
Rewatch Value - 8.0/10
I can't say with my whole heart that Method is my favourite movie to watch over and over again, so I gave it an 8 out of 10. I would say however, that it is a fairly light movie, in the sense that you don't necessarily need to sit down and think about all the hidden eggs and metaphors as well as the meaning of life after watching it lol.
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