This review may contain spoilers
A cynical, satirical, burlesque portrayal of glaring disparities between poor and wealthy in society
This is quite the interesting drama, I was prompted to watch it by the extreme publicity and international hype that it's received since it won the coveted Palme D'Or.Storywise I'd say there's nothing out of the ordinary about this story ( I mean the implied and overt conflict between the rich and poor) the ingenuity comes in with the way the simple subject matter of socio economic disparity between societal strata is tackled. The way a straightforward tutoring job of one family member morphs into the entire poor family of mother, father, son and daughter being employed by the same wealthy family. What struck me the most was the entitled mindset of the poor family, their apparent lack of remorse or shame for their dishonest actions; my attention was drawn to the unusual portrayal of poor people as unscrupulous and dishonourable, this was particularly evident in the behaviour of Kim Ji Sung (the daughter) After watching many a KDrama where poor people are portrayed as principled, hard working and honourable, this aspect of the story was jarring. In this case poverty was debilitating to the extent that they were prepared to do anything to overcome it.
The portrayal of the wealthy family in my opinion was nothing out of the ordinary, just your average rich people living in their comfortable and nice smelling bubble, a bubble where poor people are there as a mod con to make their lives even more luxurious and fuss free. This was excellently portrayed in the scene where Madame calls from the car on their way from the aborted camping trip and instructs the maid that she should start preparing "ram-don" so that as they literally walk into the house, the ram-don will be just ready to eat.
The collision of these two worlds is what makes this movie fascinating; three separate groups of people each with their own set of expectations on what they were hoping to get from their interaction with each other. The fact that the reality falls short of the expectation is what creates the slow motion train wreck that is this movie.
The cast and acting are superb. special mention goes to Cho Yeo Jung who plays the wealthy and luxuriously oblivious wife, mother and madame of the house. Song Kang Ho is brilliant in his role of the poor husband and father who is so inured to poverty, he has developed a sense of helplessness and resentment which culminates in his crass over-reaction to events at the end of the movie, over-reaction in the sense that had he not already reached boiling point, things may not have gotten so out of hand, the same applies to Moon Gwang's husband Oh Geun Sae.
I didn't pay too much attention to the music.
Rewatch value is quite high 9/10 as I would like to see what other observations I can make on a second viewing.
Overall I give it a 9.
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Political Noir Melodrama
I was intrigued to watch this drama since the leads, and in fact the majority of the cast are well seasoned actors. I dropped it after watching episode 1-4 as well as the final episode.What I appreciate about this drama is the attempt made to address systemic societal issues that are not usually taken on in Kdramas, especially at the prominent level of Ha Ji Won and Jung Ji Hoon.
Elite and Institutional Capture: The drama shows how political, corporate and entertainment elites form power networks where influence flows through alliances, leverage and scandal management.
Ambition: the drama explores whether success within a corrupt system is unethical in itself, suggesting that moral compromise is a requisite in such a system.
Marriage: The protagonists' marriage is used as an instrument of power, it's transactional and politically functional with image management being the face of the marriage.
Psychological Stress and Cost of Success: Ha Ji Won's character appears to be increasingly drowning in the sense that in order to succeed, she must erase herself; in order to achieve revenge, she must become what she hates. Personal cost and moral compromise are a strong theme of the drama.
Overall this drama is very brave in its undertaking of providing a critique of elite political and corporate systems and how the apex (climax) is incompatible with integrity.
I dropped this drama because I found the execution murky and sloppy; I just couldn't enjoy the world that it creates, it's a bit dark for my taste. The story it tells, however, is quite interesting I just wish it had been told better.
I gave this a 3 out of ten for the 5 episodes I watched.
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The phone calls that unravel a carefully constructed life
This drama starts off really strong; the first two episodes are gripping and set up the tension nicely. After that, it slows down a bit and drags through the middle, around episodes 3 to 7 where the pacing feels uneven and some plot threads don't land as well as they should. It found its footing again in the final stretch, with the stakes ramping up and the story pulled me back in.The theme of family secrets is strongly explored in this drama. These secrets are revealed in a gradual, staggered manner, often triggered by the central "phone call" mechanism, which keeps the tension high. The family secrets come out as previously withheld information as well as carefully curated history with altered timelines and suppressed relationships. This is all done to maintain social status and to avoid legal and societal consequences.
The central characters are fundamentally reframed, and their motivations and moral positioning is constantly shaken up with each revelation.
The love story is sweet, but subject to high levels of tension. Initially there is affection between the couple, but it is rarely expressed freely, the couple is guarded with each other. Over time, as they experience events together, trust and intimacy grow until they are able to freely express their love. The chemistry is good between these two.
I found the ending a little, uneven and unexpected, not in concept but in execution. The male lead in particular felt slightly inconsistent in that he reverts to acting for the relationship instead of actively participating in it.
The supporting cast although solid, does just enough to maintain the story, I didn't find any one performance to be particularly great.
Overall, it's a solid watch with a compelling premise and strong moments.
7.5/10
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You know that feeling when you want to sneeze but nothing happens?......
That's exactly how it felt watching the middle to end episodes of this drama. It has a great promising start with lovely chemistry between the leads (Yoon Eun Hye never disappoints when it comes to chemistry with her co-stars) However, the show loses direction and fails to really take off.The story is all over the place in the sense that a lot of things appear to be happening but the plot really goes nowhere. Show lacks momentum and some dramatic situations which should propel the show forward are completely not followed up on and just glossed over. The male lead is most times ineffectual who for most of the story is well and truly hamstrung by the very people he vehemently denounces.
The love story is initially developed very nicely albeit haltingly in the earlier episodes. lt fizzles in the middle episodes because the lovers have little to no interaction with each other at a time that their relationship development could have benefitted from experiencing the tough times as a solid and unified pair; in fact as the story plods on the two leads spend little time together so as a viewer there are very few opportunities to actually enjoy the love story.
Episode 12 is particularly frustrating because so much could have happened but didn't.
The drama should have been shorter, then maybe it would have flowed better. The story is portrayed so inefficiently that I even entertained the thought that the main couple should not end up together.
In a nutshell this drama has an excellent cast with an inadequate script and poor directing.
Overall 6 out of 10, and only because the cast is good.
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Be yourself, flaws and all.
This is a drama which starts off very entertaining, even though the boss -secretary dynamic is quite overdone, I still found myself marathoning the first three quarters of the show.The male lead is superbly portrayed and I enjoyed the full range of his character, especially the unflinching depiction of his vulnerability and uncertainty in his relationship with his mother.
The female lead is very good in the first half of the show, I enjoyed her gutsy yet shy demeanour, especially the way she handled the impersonation of Veronica Park
The last stretch of the show is a bit annoying to watch as the female lead lost her gutsy attitude and had a bit of a personality transplant in that she became defeated and made decisions which were inconsistent with her earlier character trajectory.
The secondary couple of Veronica Park and the second male lead is a tad more enjoyable to watch simply because of Veronica Park; Kim Jae Kyung played this role to perfection, she is so entertaining.
Overall it's a good show for when you want a break from the heavier dramas, It's a drama about forgiveness and being yourself.
Overall 6 out of 10.
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The Power of female friendships.
I wasn't expecting this drama to be so good, but it really is very good.It reminded me of First Half of My Life in a way.
The female lead's outlook and the way she approached her dilemma of a cheating husband was so impressive, graceful, mature and pragmatic; she's also a genuinely nice person so that makes her endearing.
My biggest takeaway from this story is its portrayal of female friendships, the way women support and help each other is what made this story so refreshing. There are many instances where there is genuine animosity between women but the narrative takes us through a journey of the women reaching an understanding of each other and appreciating each other's challenges.
Additional themes are the role of women in marriage, the workplace, familial relationships and society in general. The story shows how difficult it is for women to balance family and career and it also highlights the different and higher expectations placed on women compared to men. Men have fewer expectations placed on them beyond being a financial provider.
This is an excellent drama with a worthwhile message.
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Let's be each other's glory.
I read the book so here I am, I had to watch it to see what they made of it. I've enjoyed this very much, it's a multi faceted story that encompasses gaming, romance, aerospace engineering and the world of celebrity quite coherently. The close lens into the Chinese aerospace industry ended up being very interesting even though I wasn't too keen to see it initially, ditto with the gaming.Apart from reading the book, I'm here for Dilraba because I find her acting so charming; coming into this Yang Yang was not a favourite of mine because I didn't enjoy his robotic performance in Love O2O, but I was pleasantly surprised here. I think a lot can be said for acting opposite a co-star who ups your acting game and Dilraba certainly appears to have done that here for Mr. Yang - he's actually very charming and endearing in this.
I like how they emphasised the concept of excellence in your career and doing what you love to the best of your ability over making tons of money. Jing Jing and Yu Tu are a very well matched couple who understand and support each other very well. There'a an abundance of cute couple moments and the grown up, responsible and drama free dynamic of their relationship is what kept me watching.
If you've read the book you'll enjoy seeing it brought to life so accurately, If you haven't read it you should watch this anyway, it's quite enjoyable.
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