Intense but meaningless in the end
Joseon-ish supernatural horror. Royal family and palace are terrorized by spirits and given what all's gone on there, it's no wonder. The King brings in a ghost hunter and pairs him up with his daughter who has been ostracized because she can hear spirits, but the King figures she can be of help in this instance. Meanwhile, a rival nobleman hires a shaman to rile up any vengeful spirits that might be around, thereby improving his own chances of grabbing power for his family.Our ghost hunter goes to and from the spirit world of Gwi, which is a lurid, chaotic mess where it's hard to see what's going on, whereas the "real world" scenes are beautifully and crisply shot. Unfortunately, we spend an inordinate amount of time in Gwi in indistinct, if intense, combat between ghost hunter and spirits.
Throughout, this drama tries very hard to be something--but what? Important? Meaningful? Unfortunately, it just swirls and roils, intensely, forcefully, and sometimes beautifully, but in the end goes nowhere. Except for the ghost hunter and the princess, there's not a sympathetic character to be found or anything to be learned. The evil shaman's rituals were impressive, though. I liked those.
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A thinking person's drama
This one is hard to rate. It is a complex mystery set in the Ming dynasty. No idol actors here. A series of murders in 1609 is somehow connected to a fire that wiped out a family twenty years previously, a connection a lowly constable discovers as he delves into the murder of his mentor. The connections and motivations are complex, and the drama requires one's full attention throughout. The script is excellent and the plotting meticulous and coherent. Everything makes sense without requiring suspension of belief at any point. The reason I find it hard to rate is that it really does take commitment on the part of the viewer without any of the usual eye candy, romance, and excitement of the typical C-drama, so I know it's not for everyone. I may have to watch it again to comprehend it fully because I failed to give it 100% of my attention 100% of the time. I highly recommend this drama, but only to serious drama watchers because it's deep and it spends no energy on entertaining the viewer with the usual tricks and shiny people. Nevertheless, it is excellent and unique--a thinking person's drama--and I should definitely mention that the cinematography is remarkable, too.Was this review helpful to you?
