So many people praising it.. but I disagree.
I saw quite a lot of reviews, and barely any negative ones. I'll be the first then. I did not like this that much. The story was quite boring, and it wasnt really thrilling. Very slow paced. I don't know how they filled it up to make it 2 hours. Could literally be 1 hour. I just felt like it was missing a lot. Not that good imo.Was this review helpful to you?
Powerful immersion of lifelike characters
A story about a North Korean defector who escaped from China en route to Europe, his journey comes with a handful of twists, and there are a few fresh takes on this genre. Acting performances are definitely the most powerful aspect of this movie, the level of immersion into the characters is just insane from all the actors. The story is quite fast paced and lots of details going around, plot development is effective in pushing the emotions to a higher ground every time when uncertainty takes forth. The ending could be a little too dramatic, but in a sense that the director may seem to have wanted to paint the characters some hope, given how lifelike they were written, weren't we all just wanted to be hopeful even during the dreadest situation happening in this unforgiving society.Was this review helpful to you?
kiwanie, you have always looked good in blue!
Totally loved the movie, Song Joong Ki's excellent chemistry with every character that introduces from his mother, his uncle, comrade seon joo and most importantly with marie! SJK ns emotional scenes is top-notch carry a whole tissue box and there are some hard hitting dialogues hereChoi sungeun looked mature for her age and her chemistry with SJK has been top notch! as kmedia said she is a monster rookie will be looking forward to her works.
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A Cinematic Masterpiece
What can I say about this film? As someone who has seen more movies than I can count, it really takes something special to leave a lasting impression on me. And that's exactly what this movie did – it burrowed its way into my mind and heart, creating an experience that will stay with me for years to come.The storytelling was masterful, weaving together multiple narratives into an intricate tapestry that kept me on the edge of my seat. The characters were richly drawn and multi-layered, each with their own struggles and triumphs that resonated deeply. I found myself invested in their journeys, laughing and crying alongside them as the plot unfolded.
But what truly set this movie apart was its visual artistry. The cinematography was nothing short of breathtaking, with every frame composed like a living painting. The use of color, lighting, and camera angles created an immersive atmosphere that transported me to different worlds with each scene. I was in awe of the attention to detail and the seamless blending of practical and visual effects.
Performances were also top-notch across the board, with the ensemble cast delivering nuanced and powerful portrayals that elevated the material. Each actor brought their A-game, and their chemistry was electric, making even the quietest moments crackle with intensity.
In a sea of forgettable, cookie-cutter films, this movie stands out as a true work of art. It's a testament to the power of cinema to challenge, inspire, and entertain on the highest level. I left the theater feeling enriched and invigorated, eager to discuss and dissect every aspect of this cinematic masterpiece.
In conclusion, this film is a testament to the power of storytelling and the magic of cinema. I wholeheartedly recommend it to anyone seeking an engaging and unforgettable cinematic experience. Ignore the naysayers – this is a must-watch masterpiece.
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The movie should be called, "My Name is Marie"
This movie is about a rebellious girl named Marie. Marie has always blamed her father for the death of her mother. Thus, she became rebellious and ran off. Life became a struggle when she became part of a shooting competition gang. She's trying to get out and find her real path in the world. .....Yeah...this is basically the whole movie. Iol! More than half of the movie is just about the girl's drama.Anyway, the story was pretty interesting in beginning. Loved Joong ki's innocent character. The story was flowing along interestly and pretty good showing the male lead's hardships. I was hoping it would continue that way. However, along came the female lead. And the story got dulled and became your boring ol' korean "romance" drama. Like can we just get a good korean movie without turning it into romance?
Yeah, suddenly the story just focused on this girl and how they fell in love. BORING!
They should've just do less of the female lead's story and do more of the male's story. I feel her story is just too much and took away the actual plot of the male lead's story.
The movie should have focused more on his struggles, who he is, but instead more than half of the movie was just focused on the female lead's drama.
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This review may contain spoilers
One of my favourites
Okay, so this movie is pretty fucking good. The concept in itself is really interesting. And how they showed how hard it is for a person who has nowhere to stay, really made me feel bad for him. The backstory with his mother was very emotional and you can understand why he is like he is.The introduction of the female cast really made me angry, when she randomly appears and steals his wallet. The wallet with a picture of his mom in, the only one he has left of her. But after we got to know her situation, I kind of had an understanding for why she did it. After she heard about his wallet and the importance attached to it she understood how important that wallet is to him.
She promises to get it back to him, which she does and it showed that even though on the outside she looked like an asshole at first. She wasn't a bad person.
This show taught me that you can never know what someone is going through. Neither he or she knew what the other one had gone through.
Kiwan truly showed us how a person truly can fight inconveniences to survive. Many people maybe looked at refugees and didn't think any deeper than. "They fled their country and came here" most of us never consider the hardships they've gone through.
I think this movie helped me realise that. I think that I've never been this emotional towards any movie ever.
The romance between the two is adorable, but it felt kind of like it came out of nowhere. I mean, she saved him from an overdose and then he said something like "If you do drugs, I'll do drugs. if you hurt yourself, I'll save you." type shi.
And they just got together. Other than that I kind of feel bad for the Chinese woman. Because she wanted to be able to earn money and she lied about Kiwan to then just get sent back anyway. She ruined her "friendship" with Kiwan and tried to repair it bit never really got the chance. Until she sent that newspaper in the end.
The antagonist who got shot in the end, didn't rat them out and that was honorable.
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Bigger dissapointement than expected
I was looking forward a k-drama shot in Europe. Yet let me tell you that you can see they don't know anything about the crountry where the action did take place.
For a while i thought this was 80' until a saw one of the caractere with some kind of ipad.
Let me remind you this the capital of Europe... so why does the last scenes at the airport looks like a small town train station ?
Also, in Belgium mainly Brussels, everything is always bilingual in French AND Dutch. So here, a bit more research would have helped and avoid casting a vilain with a very thick french accent (and not belgian) or police officier which can't even pronounce the name of the city !
But thumbs up to the korean actor taking on the advocate role , even thought i did not seem the most natural , its speach did sound like a foreign speaking french.
During the whole story there wasn't any "friendly" european, juste one bad encounter after an other one .Instead we got the stereotypical gangster (more russian mafia )
Regarding the plot :
The story touch a lot of topic without going into them or solutions to solve a situation did not make sense ( why pretenting to be chinese to get a job ? also you can get a job without any paper ?!!)
If they wanted to make a "social "interest film, they should have restricted the topics to the refugee theme (
Overall the film felt unrealistic and immature to me.
I rated the music because you have to but I didn’t pay attention to it honestly.
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Emotional
Great work Song Joong Ki! This movie was very emotional and heartbreaking in the treatment of the defector character & the female actor. The performance was exceptional and I am one of those watchers that loves a happy ending. Thanks for the hard work that went into this drama. The conditions depicted were just incredible to fathom. The only complain is that it was just too short but it was an incredible movie that had a heartwarming ending.Was this review helpful to you?
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I would totally recommend it !
I loved it so much ! It was an emotional and super realistic movie about the struggle of refugiees.Kiwan’s lore is so rough and hard yet he overcame it and found happiness. His mother and his uncle were such good characters and litteraly built what he is now.
I felt so bad for him when the money he got from the sold of jis mom’s body was stolen away from him but gladly he took it back and even met fantastic people afterwards.
I love his colleague (the woman with a sick child) eventhough she betrayed him at some point, she explained why and did everything she could to help him because she felt guilty and because she cared for him. Maybe she doesn’t deserve forgiveness but at least she was sincere asking for it and regretting her actions !
Shoutout to Marie and her parents ! They have so much background : she lost her mother and was consistently having troubles with her father but eventually they reconciled ! I’m also glad that Marie succeeded (with kiwan’s help) to get out of this dark world of the shooting competitions and that one man manipulating her !
Once again, I loved how realistic the movie was depicting drug addictions, depression after losing someone important, how hard it is to be a refugee (proving your origin, earning the right to stay in the other country etc…), escaping a mental and physical abuse etc…
One thing that I did liked a little less was the romantic relationship they developed (Marie and Kiwan) because it felt so unnatural and also like most Kdramas, kinda forced. By forced I mean that Kdrama writers ALWAYS feel like we need to see some romance ugh. But at least they found happiness in each other.
I didn’t liked it especially since we had no real grounds to it, it also occurred right after him waking up from an overdose he did because she said in a way ´get lost’. We basically got a few flashbacks of them hanging out on a market, then them litteraly having sex 💀and that was all to establish the relationship for the writers ig 😭.
I LOVED the ending. This project of song joon ki was so good and at the level of his other projects not like ´reborn rich’.
The cast and the acting were ON TOP ! No actual OST though.
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Love
I am not going to review the whole film. It is impactful, it is emotional, it is gritty... great acting. I want to comment on the love reltionship part. There seems to be so much discussion about romance part of the movie and how it was not needed at all and even SJK has refused the script 7 uears prior as he didn't see the point of it. My take on this (as a refugee myself) is that often we seek home. Be it a new country and a new community but often it ends up being a person. The connection. Place to belong to. That is why I am completely ok and feel it is important part of the refugee process to have it in this movie as well.Was this review helpful to you?
A surprising movie that is well done
I vaguely read the summary, I just knew it had Song Joongki so I wasn’t expecting the plot of the movie. At the beginning the movie seems more realistic fiction and the later goes into a more wild experience but is still realistic fiction. And it’s also more of a romance then I expected which I loved. This movie is so well done and as expected Joongki is such a brilliant actor. It’s so sad yet beautiful and inspiring. It gives me a mix of The Good Lie and kind of Flower of Evil. Absolutely loved watching this and will recommend plus rewatch!Was this review helpful to you?
