TheTranquilKnight
天竺/천축
Like many other real cruel stories another cruel story is made into film. This film is based on a rape case known as 'Na-young case'; in which an 8 year old girl was beaten and raped by an old man. I've a problem related to reality...
Now the problem is that the case is only 5 years old. Girl was 8 and now she's just 13 years old. Few years ago someone made a song on this & now this film caught lots of attention and I think it's extremely hard for family to overcome the trauma because of this film. Especially because this film came into light at the point where family was (probably) starting to forget this event. I'm not saying that it's wrong to make films on such cases but this film came too early.
I'll keep this short since I'm still buried under emotions.
Beginning of the film is very sad and can make anyone angry easily. It was painful to watch but those scenes don't last for long. After those painful scenes there is series of many beautiful scenes. Recovery of So-won (Victim), friends helping family, a lot of people trying to restart life of devastated family, family trying to be positive for future and make the daughter happier instead of crying over past that can not be changed. I loved father-daughter relationship most.
What I loved about this film is it's strength in stirring up emotions (of characters & our) in meaningful way. It's not like usual Korean films that force melodrama and turn into joke (Fly High, You're My Sunshine and many more!). Everything in this film is genuine...
Good:
-Genuine & unforced situations-emotions
-Great cast
-Music is excellent. I loved the long track played during recovery scenes of So-won.
Bad:
-Mistimed release (Related to reality, it's bugging me)
-I didn't notice any bad points. I was very busy in watching film.
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Giant caught my attention when I added Salaryman to my list. I watched 5 episodes at that time and I failed to continue. In my second attempt I watched 20 episodes and I had to stop after 20 episodes because of exams. This time I managed to finish it within a week! It was really addictive.
Giant is a period drama set in 70s-90s. It's story of development of Gangnam & Seoul, political environment of Korea Republic at that time. Characters' stories of struggle-rise-fall has a base of revenge & betrayal. Giant has a very detailed business & political plot (not detailed realistically but compared to any motion media there is a good amount of detail). Nice representation of business, money, politics, power & greed. All of it was very dirty (not as dirty as reality). Very smart & unpredictable (mostly).
Other than business & politics another major theme is the sweet family & friendships. Alongside them there are little love stories. However, the love stories are not lovey-dovey but perfect amount for romance lovers.
Every character has depth and reason of their actions & ambitions. Male characters are great but I want to highlight the female characters. Females of Giant are very balanced. They are intelligent in their work & self-assertive in nature...in short they're kickass!
You can't categorise Giant in a genre. It has all kind of content except horror & fantasy. No dull & needless moments. Everything was necessary & strong enough to maintain interest. However, I felt a few episodes in the 40s were a little weak; still weakest episode deserves a 9!
Also it gives a rough idea of political situations and changes of South Korea at that time & construction development of Seoul.
Acting/Casting:
Excellent casting. I watched Salaryman so most of them were familiar. Everyone was great. I especially like Lee Duk-hwa, Lee Ki-young, Lee Mun-shik & Kim Suh-hyung.
Actresses were good. Park Jin-hee was fine & Hwang Jung-eum...well, she felt somewhat like a misfit. Her character was cute & naïve but she overdid it...I think.
Joo Sang-wook was really good but who is my favourite actor choice in Giant? Lee Beom-soo...nope. My favourite actors were Park Sang-min & Jung Bo-suk. At the beginning I was excited because of presence of Beom-soo in the cast and he was great but I didn't like him as much as I liked Park Sang-min & Jung Bo-suk. Beom-soo overacted a few times but Sang-min & Bo-suk both were always natural. Bo-suk was always blossomed; so was Sang-min! But Sang-min was extra special in family scenes.
I wanted to go into the screen and beat Bo-suk's character to the pulp & to hug Sang-min's character.
Music:
Soundtrack & songs used in the whole show were awesome. Soundtracks synchronised well with the situations.
Also in the first 40 episodes you'll frequently listen to some parts of classic Korean songs...I liked most of them.
Who should watch this?
-If you like business & political themes.
-Romance fans
-Everyone except following
Who should avoid this?
-Romance fans (those who want lovey-dovey romance in each & every episode)
-Those who can't handle family conflicts (minor)
-Those who can't handle tension (not depression)
-Those who can't breathe in ahjussi/grandpa/ahjumma galore & want pleasant sceneries of actors/actress to survive.
-Low tolerance of evil. Those who think that 'Boys Over Flowers'/'Secret Garden' moms & 'I Hear Your Voice'/'City Hunter' ahjussis or any other popular evil characters are the most evil then you should think twice before watching Giant....because those mentioned characters are just foetus of evil. In Giant you'll face complete evil.
Re-watch value:
Definitely a re-watch material! Despite being a 60 episode long show; I'll definitely go through this excitement many times in future.
Giant has everything...I laughed, cried, became tense &…....cursed like I never did (I realised that my tongue is dirtier than I thought!).
Giant is best in revenge, business & political category (not just Korea) & my 2nd best Korean show!
I recommend this to everyone, if you're afraid of length then don't be; it's addictive and you'll feel 60 episodes are less.
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Underlying message of the film Is importance of primary education. I was amazed by it's realism when I started the movie. Setup is genuine, no need to check I can tell by seeing it. Heartbreaking conditions, ruined building, no facilities, poverty. It's 100% authentic portrayal of rural schooling, sufferings of rural students and people. It demonstrates how hard life is in a developing country. Everything is almost the same like the place from where I come; from village life to school.
With this kind of storyline it's obvious that it's very moving. Story may look depressing but it's full of extremely happy moments throughout the movie. A little girl writing a diary and caring about her teacher's views, when they were trying to solve the bus problem and they actually applied education in practical use, when they were using chalks and writing characters on the board...many scenes that can easily make you cry!
I read on the web & IMDB boards...many people got the feelings of movie and many didn't. I won't say more about the real feelings of movie because it may spoil you. Over analysing a movie is never good so don't try to over analyse the story and character's actions. Just follow the lead girl and you'll get what she was feeling, what she was doing and why. If you're from a developing country and especially from rural area you'll probably catch it in an instant and won't question character's decisions. Note that I'm not saying others won't get it easily. Be patient and you'll get the meaning.
Most amazing fact about this movie is it's rookie cast. None of the actors are professional actors. They all are just ordinary civilians; and on top of that the role of everyone is same as what they do in real world!! Every character has same name of the actor playing respective character...Like Teacher Gao was really teacher Gao, Mayor Tian is really Mayor Tian, TV show host was actually TV show host, TV station manager was deputy manager of TV station...you can see each person's real world work and their role on Wikipedia page of the movie. Wei Meizhi...the lead girl of the movie, is a village girl of China. With help of her brilliant performance she became famous. It's sad that after such strong start of her career she left acting career because she doesn't have beautiful face and body.
I came across this movie after watching 'The Road Home'. I was amazed by the movie and it's soundtrack. So I picked this movie because of the composer and it was a great choice...music is just like I expected! However, it's not filled with music but whatever there is...it's top quality!
Who should avoid this?
-You felt "eeeww" while reading this. Even if you felt it once avoid movie...
-Impatient, who don't prefer slow movies
-People who want to only pass the time
Who should watch this?
-A cinephile
-Someone looking for a moving film
-Someone looking for realistic material
-If you're still reading this...
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Believe me I can enjoy and admire art films but this is totally different case...there is nothing artsy. Story looked interesting from synopsis but there is nothing in the story. A girl trying to find a man & just walks around city then goes to another city and try to find man, walks more aimlessly, sleeps somewhere and again cycle repeats. During her journey something happens to her by a masked man (played by director himself). Director explained that masked character, still it's pointless character.
Handheld camerawork is extremely irritating. I've seen handheld camerawork in 1-2 more movies; those movies had something appealing in their filming but Amen's camerawork is just garbage. Crew of only two; one is actress and another one is director. Everything from camerawork to editing is done by ‘cine-expert’ Mr. Kim & actress (filming masked thief).
Only positive aspect of movie is actress. Forgot her name but she’s really good.
Kim Ki-duk's '3-Iron' is one of my favourite movies and now Mr. Kim registered his 'Amen' in my worst 10 movies ever!
Overall 3 because of good acting of actress...
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Story is very simple but endearing, moving and very romantic! Without too many unnecessary romance scenes this movie is classic romance! Well balanced with sad and joyful scenes but mostly it’s a movie that will make you smile. With the least amount of dialogues it felt very calm. Visuals were stunning and music was tranquil! Overall background was serene and only natural sounds were present but when the music played…it was just beautiful!
Another reason why I love this movie was the village setup and tradition of ‘The Way Home’. This movie reminded me of days of my life in village, whole setup was quite similar to the village in which I lived. Also the tradition of ‘The Way Home’ is exactly the same in my country; I was moved during those scenes.
Main attraction of the movie is Zhang Ziyi, brilliant in her debut movie. She’s not our usual sexy goddess and kick ass Zhang Ziyi but instead she played a very innocent, sweet, charming girl with pigtails! When she ran, when she smiled and when she spoke…everything made me smile!
…and at the end I was crying…
Notes:
Suitable and can be enjoyed by all ages.
Don’t watch it to pass the time.
This movie can be a good way to enter in the world of those ‘artsy’ movies.
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Eun-ho (SYJ) and Dong-jin’s (KWS) views in narration on their life and love are inspiring and can be lessons for most people. Their views can be useful for any person-any age, those who are in love, those who were in love and especially those who yet to be in love!
Acting/cast:
Almost everyone was A+ in acting including guest roles!
Gong Hyung-Jin is brilliant and funny as an unconfident gynecologist and played an important role as best friend of main lead.
Son Ye-Jin: I don’t need to talk about her. She’s proven actress. She is flawless throughout whole show but her best performance was in the last two episodes.
Lee Ha-Na: I’m very very impressed by this actress! This was her first role in her career still she managed to perform it brilliantly. She was very natural, great expressions and dialogue delivery. Sometimes she was suppressed by the presence of Son Ye-Jin but still she outclassed SYJ in many scenes! She definitely deserved her New Star award.
Kam Woo Sung: Poor guy, every other actor in this drama got acknowledgement for their acting by getting either best actress; top excellence, New Star or supporting actor-actress awards but this poor man missed it! I think his acting was best in the whole cast! Clever dialogue delivery! BEST!
Music:
Music was mesmerizing. I couldn't find OST album yet so I don't know specific track names to point out but I loved the music!
Pros:
-Very realistic
-Romantic!
-No angst and typical Asian show riddles
-Excellent combination of all emotions
-Perfect casting & acting!
-Strong and likable characters
-No idols
-0% nonsense
-No annoying characters
-Stable pace
Cons:
None, still I couldn't find anything negative except this was highly addictive. It felt like a 16 hour long movie!
Who should watch this?
As I said it’s mature so it'll definitely suit mature audience but I think it’s more advisable to recommend it to younger audience (I'm also in this group!) to give slight idea about love! So in short everyone! Highly recommended for everyone!
If someone wants to watch a Korean show and wants to watch only one then I'd recommend Alone in Love. I'd easily sideline my previous joint #1 Salaryman and Evasive Inquiry Agency!
Who should avoid this?
-Those who want adrenaline rush in everything.
-Those who want to live in fantasy.
-Those who want to watch mushy, kiddo’s, ‘Love @ 1st sight’, “I love you…I love you too!”/”I can't live without you…” kind of romance.
-Those who want to watch kissing scenes should totally avoid this. There aren't any actual kissing scenes.
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It’s directed by Kar Wai Wong (Director of ‘In the Mood for Love’). 2046 looks like sequel of ‘In the Mood for Love’ which also features Tony Leung. Well, it’s sequel but 2046 is not totally dependent on ‘In the Mood for Love’.
2046 is a beautiful movie about romance and regret. It is an art film so it’s very poetic, slow paced and also sensual and unlike ‘IMFL’ it’s very complicated. Sometimes it’s really hard to understand the events happening. Time jumps are very puzzling; I read somewhere “2046 is a beautiful mess!” Also there are many similarities between ‘IMFL’ and 2046.
Visually it’s really good, mostly filmed in green and red tone with classy retro setup. Cinematography is beautiful but some special effects are really weird.
I’m Tony, Ziyi, Maggie and Li Gong fan, so I expected impressive performances. Most impressive is Zhang Ziyi. She’s not only beautiful but very talented too. I saw her great performances in ‘The Road Home’ and ‘Memoirs of a Geisha’; she gave her one of the best performance. Tony Leung is as great as always, he portrayed his ‘womanizer jerk trapped in sadness’ character very well. Same goes for Li Gong. Her screen time is less compared to Ziyi and Tony but she’s equally powerful. Faye Wong, Carina Lau and Kimura Takuya – I heard many good things about these three but this is first time I watched them. Faye Wong is very likable and Kimura Takuya and Carina are also good in their tiny role.
Like ‘IMFL’ music is really beautiful. It nostalgic and creates emotional environment.
I like this movie very much but it’s not a re-watch material, it’s quite heavy film to watch again so if I may watch it again after few years.
It’s a must watch for those who love poetic, slow art films and especially for those who enjoyed ‘In the Mood for Love’! 2046 is better than ‘IMFL’.
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Story of this drama is very serious. Writers brought up very unusual and sensitive humanity related topics like child abuse, abandoning child, foster parents and adoption. Story is quite realistic and has strong sub plots of background of some characters. Story is strong enough to keep you glued to screen from very first moment to very last moment. It’s soft and warm. It’s slow but to enjoy beauty of this kind of drama slow pace is required.
It has one of the most beautiful endings I've ever seen. Writers gave best possible ending.
There isn't overacting like other Asian dramas. Matsuyuki Yasuko is great as Suzuhara Nao. Wonder kid Ashida Mana is incredible at such young age. She is charming and cute. Chemistry between her and Matsuyuki Yasuko is really beautiful. Supporting cast is great too.
With amazing sensitive and moving topic, great acting and superb music makes this drama one of my most favorite dramas.
Mother is a drama which won’t suit many people’s taste. So if you’re bored of sappy and unrealistic dramas or looking for a drama related with humanity and realism, watch it!!
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This story is based on actual historical figures of China. The story is simple but its crafting is done by some skillful hand. It’s genius and witty story. The way story flows makes this story a masterpiece. You can’t tell its specific genre, It’s full of comedy, suspense, some action, romance and melodrama and it’s all about power. It’s unique in its own way and totally unpredictable. This is a serious tale about power struggle in corporate world. It is all about serious corporate battle but it has killer funny scenes that’ll make you laugh hard and you’ll shed tears by laughing and there is also balanced melodrama. And for romance fans there are sweet romantic scenes too.
Casting is brilliant. There aren't any flat or one-dimensional characters, all characters are dynamic. The relationship between four main characters is really interesting. It’s very unusual kind of relationship. Here you won’t find any female lead quivering in fear; female leads are hot-shot. And supporting characters and side characters are also great. You may find one or two characters bit stupid at first but it’s because of story and they’ll develop in strong characters later. It’s really hard to pick a favorite character, including supporting characters because I also loved all supporting characters including villains.
Other interesting thing is that every episode has something to learn…You’ll also learn many things from Korean sayings.
One of the best things about this drama is....ending of every episode!! Don’t miss them!!
Soundtrack is also very good and well matched with all situations. It’s catchy. And also dance in war background is extremely funny.
I definitely recommend this drama even if you don’t like corporate plot. If you are bit interested in comedy then you’ll like it because it’s "LOLIEST" drama till date. I changed my opinion for BEST OF 2012, now best of 2012 is HISTORY OF THE SALARYMAN!! DO NOT MISS IT!!
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A MESSAGE TO THOSE WHO DROPPED OR HESITATING TO START THIS DRAMA BECAUSE OF ITS SAD STORY:
If you’ve dropped this drama or hesitating in starting because of sad story then I consider this as the biggest mistake in drama world. You’re missing a truly amazing show. You can’t expect happy ending every time. Sometimes happy endings can’t satisfy you but bittersweet or sad endings can satisfy. This is the one that satisfies everything, it’s sad but really beautiful glance at life. After all death is the reality of everyone’s life. SOME OF YOU MIGHT HAVE THOUGHT THAT THIS DRAMA IS DEPRESSING BECAUSE OF SAD BACKGROUND BUT THIS DRAMA ISN’T DEPRESSING AT ALL.
The story is original and it contains both happiness and sadness. Because this story is mainly focused on Aya Kito’s life there isn’t much romance but it’s balanced. The story is based on the real life story of Aya Kito (Ikeuchi in this drama) from her diary, a 15 year old girl with Spinocerebellar Ataxia. Spinocerebellar Ataxia causes to lose control over body. Aya wrote diary when she was fighting against this illness. She kept writing this diary till she was able to write. Most lovely thing about Aya is that she managed to face her cruel fate with very lively positive attitude.
Another great thing about this drama is it’s ending of each episode with photos of Aya Kito and quotes from her diary….that added extra touch in this drama.
After watching this show you’ll realize how precious and beautiful life is…This show will teach you different aspects of life, motivates you, makes you to rethink about your life and makes you to live every moment of your life.
Erika Sawajiri wonderfully performs as Aya in this show. She was brilliant, pure, genuine and graceful. Not only Erika but everyone was great Mother, Father, and little girl, her friends, Asou and her sister Ako. One thing I want to mention is that Asou is the totally fictional character. He was added because Aya’s mother wanted him in this series because Aya couldn’t have romance when she was alive.
The theme song, Kona-Yuki, by the Japanese band Remioromen and Only Human by K fits well with the drama and the emotions that the characters go through. Other soundtracks are as great as Kona-Yuki and Only Human.
I won’t say to have a box of tissues while watching this drama. Just feel the depths of emotions, let the tears shed-don’t wipe them and feel the great feeling of tears…. But I recommend having an entire litre jug of water by your side if possible; you’re going to be that dehydrated from crying.
And remember how great your life is….family….friends….love….hope….”Just being alive is such a lovely and wonderful thing.”
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It’s mixing of romantic comedy and melodrama. I laughed a lot while watching it and I felt very sad too. First few episodes are incredibly funny and after that it becomes sadder and more mature. I enjoyed every moments of it.
Acting/Casting is the best thing about this drama. Before starting this drama I didn't know who is Lee Min Ho, I knew only about Son Ye Jin and actor performing Director Choi. Son Ye Jin is great as always. I expected great performance from her and she gave it!! Who said she is annoying?? I didn’t find her annoying a bit or maybe I don’t know the meaning of annoying. In my view Park Kae In was the best character of the drama; she is heart of the drama. Without her this drama is nothing.
I loved friendship between Jo Eun Ji and Jung Sung Hwa, it was great fun to watch them. Other supporting cast is also good especially Kim In Hee, her character is really powerful and makes you to hate her.
And finally Lee Min Ho, he was very good.
Music of Personal Taste is the reason, why I started watching it. Music is really great!! It fits this drama very well. Almost every track is great and instrumentals are in my favorite playlist.
I’ve already seen this drama twice and one of two dramas that I watched again.
I admit some parts are boring but overall it was a great drama, a must watch!!
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A short and sweet (ignore sweet, its habit to write sweet with short!) but incredibly awesome 3 episode mini-drama.
Killer K is a bit different show than other Korean shows. This show isn't cheesy-cutie romantic comedy or melodrama but this show is full of blood, intense violence and nudity. But believe me it’s not MINDLESS drama.
The plot is simple – REVENGE like City Hunter and The Bridal Mask but in my view it easily overtakes both in REVENGE. The story is nice and well-paced. Its every second is thrilling. It isn't everything about action and violence but there are few soft and funny scenes too. There is small amount of melodrama too but it’s not too melodramatic.
This show ended in a way that suggests that there are chances of sequel but it’s over a year and still there is no news for second season so I think there isn't any chance for second season.
Killer K is full of violence and ‘ALMOST’ realistic action scenes. Truly this show scores 10 in actions including many incredible fist fights, sword fights and gun fights, BANG BANG BANG!! My favorite is “What’s this??”…..”This is Glock 17 C type…” and bang!!!
If you give 10 to Killer K for actions then Bridal Mask will get 5 and City Hunter 4 for the action (I know comparing action of 1930 with 2010 is idiotic but still overall action feeling). Both looks like kids in front of K. I haven’t seen many action dramas but I think this is best Korean action.
Han Groo is awesome as a KICK ASS high schoolgirl assassin. I don’t know why but I found her incredibly cute even in bloodbaths. Like a reviewer said here ‘She’s BLOODY AWESOME!!’ Can’t wait to see her in more dramas and movies.
Supporting cast is also very good and after long time I saw villains that are actually creepy.
And about music….it matches the story very well. There isn't any song like other dramas but background music is really catchy and makes you excited about fight.
I usually don’t re-watch dramas but this one is the only second drama that I've seen more than one time. I've seen this drama 4 times already and every time I was very excited to watch it like first time.
So, conclusion: If you want to take break from typical genres or want a bloodbath or satisfy your desire of realistic action or blood with awesome girl assassin then this show is for you. You won’t be disappointed and you won’t waste your precious time.
And if you can’t handle (or offended by) some blood, cruel violence, sex and nudity then please don’t watch it.
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Xu Jiao was great as Mei and Eric Lin was also good as Jay.
Starry Starry Night is a sweet and simple story of adolescence, personal development and innocent love.
This movie is filled with rich visuals. Visual effects like paper animals and three legged elephant have connection with characters’ emotions and that adds extra charm to this movie.
There isn't anything more to tell about this movie. Its just beautiful...simple yet effective.
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Love Letter is an unconventional love story. Many people say it has slow pace but in my opinion it is perfectly paced. It seems boring first (I didn't find any part of it boring) but when story starts to unfolds it won’t seem boring. Unfolding of story is great. The storyline can be a bit confusing at first but stick with it and you will be amazed by it. It is touching and sometimes it is very funny also. You can feel the true love from this film.
Nakayama Miho is wonderful in double role. Sometimes I got confused between her double roles.
Its soundtrack is melodic and perfect.
Highly recommended!! Love Letter is an earnest, pure, sentimental, and undeniably moving film. In addition you can see really beautiful sceneries of Japan.
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I saw this movie when I was in early stage of exploration Korean movies. I didn't know what to expect from this. I watched this movie when my taste of movie was changing and it contributed very much in changing my movie taste. This is my favorite love story.
Failan has a very solid story. It’s a new kind of romance/drama story. At first glance it doesn’t look like a story which can grab you next to screen for 115 minutes and sometimes it is slow but believe me it has ability to grab you for almost 2 hours. It is a realistic story and after watching this movie many people will have a question about characters’ love.
The acting and cast is excellent. This movie is equipped with super talented Choi Min-Shik and Cecilia Cheung. Both are great and gave amazing performance.
And about ending…..I won’t say whether it is sad or happy but it’s one of the best endings I’ve seen so far. It is the most beautiful ending.
I’ve to say that this movie is not for everyone because it is really slow. But if you want to see a movie that truly touches your heart then this is the movie for you. This is really a great movie and any movie lover should watch this movie at-least once. This is highly recommended movie for those who seeks a different kind of story and new type of love story.
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