NutsyNoona
Dramaland
I can already hear some of you thinking "A sad movie about students falling in love, well that's a first...". Don't be fooled by the movie's summary, even if at first Secret looks like your average romance, it's not. Obviously it's a romantic movie starring students so you won't escape the mushiness BUT (thankfully) the way the story was handled is far more interesting and makes the movie stand out. At the end of the movie you finally get some things that you thought were iffy and most of your questions are answered, leaving just a few things unsettled. Not that the lack of answers is a bad thing, on the contrary it makes room for your imagination (and also yes a little bit of brain) without detriment to the plot. The flaws, if there are any, are pretty much trivial. And let's be honest this movie is an eye-candy.
The acting is good but the cast is not paramount. You could alter it and still enjoy the movie. The same however could not be said of the soundtrack. Music is the essence of this movie. The right song is played at the right time, music and pictures just fit each other perfectly.
Overall Secret is a movie that is eye- and ear-candy and it allows your brain to work a little so yes you should definitely watch it, especially a day you don't have anything to do so you can enjoy it fully.
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I remember watching the trailer and thinking that I needed to see the movie because it looked hilarious and now that I finally watched it, well it was funny but that's it. The story in itself is good but the way it was handled was definitely not so appealing. The movie fails to make you want to invest yourself in it. While watching, you can enjoy the movie but nonetheless once it ends you won't have any emotional link left between you and the characters, the soundtrack won't be stuck in your head, you won't be blown away by anyone's acting. You're just going to go on with your life.
This vampire movie is nice but very forgettable so if you are searching for a gem, keep looking.
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STORY: Let's be honest, the first few minutes of this drama were (and will be) for many a turn off and even cringeworthy but what follows is oh so totally worth the pain! I can't add anything more for fear of inadvertently spoiling the whole story but let's just say that the story in itself has everything you could hope for in a drama.
ACTING/CAST: I could dwell for hours about Im Joo Hwan's brilliant acting and I'm definitely not the only one (Team Park Kyu!). No one could have portrayed Park Kyu better than him. Same goes for his female counterpart. I know not everyone will agree with me but I actually love Seo Woo's portraying of Beo Jin. She gives her character this childish innocence that makes you forgive all her "brainless actions" even if she tends to cry and not see the pain she causes others. I'm not gonna lie, Im Joo Hwan and Seo Woo's chemistry gives me butterflies and just for that the casting director has all my love and then some more. The acting is also very strong from Kim Mi Kyun's part because even tho she may play a secondary character, she gives BeoJin's mother such "raw depth" that you cannot not end up loving her character. The rest of the cast didn't stand out as much but it was good nonetheless....except for the "non-Korean" actors. Watching this drama makes you feel like Korea doesn't have a lot of foreigners and definitely none of them are decent actors. Pierre Deporte's acting (well the fact that it's a French portraying an Englishman with blonde-dyed hair doesn't help) was the most painful thing to watch for me. As a character, I actually like William a lot but Pierre Deporte just doesn't fit the part. Thankfully the pain gets somewhat numbened throughout the drama though I'm not sure if it's because his acting gets better or if it's just because you get used to it.
MUSIC: The whole soundtrack is pretty strong. You can enjoy the whole ost without having to watch Tamra the Island but both of them blend so well that it would be a shame not to enjoy its use on the show. Especially "Your Tears" (main theme), which makes me want to drown in an ocean of feels.
REWATCH VALUE: As I said earlier, the foreigners of this show make me want to punch myself in the face. This drama has some flaws but my real problem will always be the foreigners and especially William. However, this show is (thank god) not focused on him. In a way this drama is a tribute to Tamra (actual Jeju) and its inhabitants. You get attached to all these characters and in the end even your aversion to William's character can't overpower that. 16 or 21-episode long doesn't matter. Everything is Tamra the Island and nothing hurts.
OVERALL: Yes Tamra the Island has flaws but everything the drama stands for and how it is handled offset it. It's a little gem and like most of them, it's not very popular because many people don't feel like looking past the cover and miss an opportunity. Don't be one of them, watch it! And if for some unknown reason you end up disliking this drama, well at least you would have learned some history thanks to it.
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STORY: The storyline is pretty simple and I even thought there were some "holes" in it but -as I said before- the -frightening- existencial question behind it draws the viewer's attention and makes him wonder "what if...".
ACTING/CAST: The acting is pretty average but it's actually a good thing because if the actors had acted too well the movie would have been unbearable to watch (I still shiver when I think of the delirious smile of the students-turned-crazy-murderers).
MUSIC: What I liked the more about the music isn't the music itself but its use. Classical music when used in a movie/series about normal-people-turning-cray-because-they-have-to-face-death adds something twisted/dark/cynical to it. The use of the slow, peaceful and beautiful music contrasts with what is happening and helps build this almost suffacating athmosphere.
REWATCH VALUE: I don't think this movie could be watched on a daily basis "just for fun". Like I said, the movie in itself isn't that good but it's this question behind it.
OVERALL: The movie is definitely a must-watch (except if you are already a freaking murderer or murderer-to-be). Points of view may differ but I believe the "best" part of it all isn't the blood and the killing but the way each character faced this bloody game and thus it makes us reflect on us.
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STORY: The story is simple but the way it is unwinding prevents it from being a random story just for the sake of making a movie. The way the story handles the people of the village's daily life (though it's more about the students and teachers) and the unrequited love of both the young teacher and the student is raw but smooth at the same time. There's like a touch of poetry in this movie that makes the viewer continue watching it even if it may be long and kind of bittersweet. And the way the movie begins and then ends is just perfect...at least it was for me.
ACTING/CAST: I think the cast was just perfect. Seriously, while watching the movie I really thought this could be a documentary. Every single character has its flaws and qualities that were depicted with such...realness. Yes realness is the right word.
MUSIC: Though the movie is Korean and the story takes place in 1963, the main songs we hear are old songs in English. This is quite surprising but in a good way, what better way to begin a movie about unrequited love than with “Don't Break My Heart"? I am personally a huge sucker for "old songs" so I truly appreciated the soundtrack. Of course they are songs in Korean too and the song played when the ending credits roll stayed in my head for quite a long time. In fact, I loved all the songs in this movie and if I could I would have every single of them on my Ipod.
REWATCH VALUE: I don't think this is a movie one will watch on a daily basis especially because of its length but still THIMM is a movie you can easily watch if you have time and feel nostalgic about your childhood with your crush on your teacher or just to admire the amazing actors in this movie.
OVERALL: The movie is very well done. It may have flaws but it doesn't prevent it from being very lovable. I think everyone should watch it at least once. The movie may be long but you definitely won't regret the time spent in front of it. You may not love it but you definitely cannot not like it.
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STORY: The story may be flawed (just tiny flaws but still you have to call a spade a spade), however it so bright and fresh that you cannot NOT be touched by it. The story is simple, I dare say even childish, but in the end it gives you this warm feeling that life is life, you can't change the past but it doesn't mean you can't enjoy the future. In short, the story is simple, full of life, a bit different from your lambda movie and with a sweet moral. I really think this movie has for goal to make people go forward in life and it kinda does.
ACTING/CAST: The only actor I "knew" was the young version of Tae Hoon -Yu Geon played in Prosecutor Princess- and it was a nice surprise to see him play here (I'm shallow.Sue.Me). He played the nerdy character so well it was hard for me not to forget he was the hottie from PP, which means that his acting was pretty damn good.
I did see the adult version of Tae Hoon play in More Than Blue but honestly MTB was a joke, a blank one at that, so of course it's not surprising that he looks a hundred times more dashing here.
The woman who played Jeong Ju's mother stole my heart. I don't know if it was the way the actress played the mother or the actress's charisma but the character gave me a lot of feelings.
Overall the actors did a very good job with their characters and one should give credits to the people who held the casting since except maybe Tae Hoon, the actors playing the older versions really look like the older versions of the actors playing the younger ones (omg I don't know how to explain it well but I hope you managed to understand anyway).
MUSIC: The music was good, quite catchy in fact but nothing exceptional either.
REWATCH VALUE: It's the kind of movie that you should rewatch when you think your life is a disaster because you didn't make the "right choice" because it gives you hope and strengh to believe in yourself.
OVERALL: If it wasn't clear enough, I really like this movie. It is bound to brighten one's mood. Of course, if you are some kind of old man who hates happiness and hope, you shouldn't watch it...but if you're not you defintely should (watch this movie I mean, not go all grumpy).
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STORY: The story is plain to say the least.
It feels like the screenwriter said "Hey, I'm a sadist and I want to make bitches cry. What's the best way to make bitches cry? I just have to put a guy on the edge of dying, some unselfish love on top of that and, of course, a loooooooooot of crying scenes. Bitches love this kind of things." And maybe he was right since so many people seem utterly in love with this movie but I personnally think it's not enough.
The dialogues are plain but I guess it's logical since every single character is plain with no real personality...so don't expect to find any witty quotes in this movie. Of course the main character uses pretty good metaphors to explain love (and damn doesn't he love toothbrushes?) but even this isn't enough.
And all these unneeded scenes. It feels like they wanted to fill the lack of action by adding random scenes. And, once again, it failed.
Honestly speaking, the more I look at it, the more I feel like the screenwriter really thought a movie only needs someone dying, some twisted way of loving and, of course, crying scenes to be a good movie. But it doesn't, it simply doesn't.
And talking about the crying scenes, all this makes it so obvious that they want to make you cry your soul out and so we have a epic fail because all this is just ridiculous...story why you so plain and obvious?
However, I have to say that the base of the story wasn't bad, it had some potential but still, not enough is not enough.
ACTING/CAST: I have to admit the cast was good. Not flawless but good. But, again, it's hard to judge since the characters were so plain. It would have been hard, even for a outstanding actor, not to look just "okay" in this kind of movie. Because of the storyline and the way it's handled, everything is dragged down.
MUSIC: There are movies that when they end you just search like crazy for their soundtrack...More Than Blue isn't one of them. The soundtrack is just average. It goes well with the movie and this is it. It's not bad but it's not exceptional either.
REWATCH VALUE: Personnaly, I will never rewatch this movie and if I do, it will only be because I really love the way it was filmed...which leads us to my last point.
OVERALL: Everything is average in this movie. Everything? Maybe not...
Indeed, you just can't deny the film director has some really good ideas: the random beginning which leads to the story being told, the silent countdown, the use of the clocks...I have to say I really enjoyed it. It's too bad the rest didn't follow because More Than Blue could have really been a masterpiece if they handled the story differently. So to put it in a nutshell, yes MTB is bad, no it won't make you cry (except if you really feel like crying...but if it's the case, I guess even watching a tomato on a table can have the same effect) but you should still watch this movie because:
1) I have my opinion but I'm not you
2) The realisation is really good
3) I'm a troll and I want you to suffer as much as me from all this plainness
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