Blue eyes Samurai

Anche il cinema italiano lo ha già fatto. Nel 2017 Moglie e marito, con Pierfrancesco Favino e Kasia Smutniak, mette al centro una coppia sposata da dieci anni, ormai in crisi e prossima alla separazione, che a causa di un esperimento scientifico si ritrova improvvisamente l'uno nel corpo dell'altra. Lo scambio li costringe a vivere la quotidianità del partner, affrontandone il lavoro, le difficoltà e il modo in cui viene percepito dagli altri. L'esperienza diventa quindi uno strumento per recuperare empatia e comprensione reciproca.
Nel 2002 "The Hot Chick". con una giovanissima Rachel McAdams, utilizza lo scambio di corpi in una chiave dichiaratamente comica: Jessica, ragazza popolare, bella e troppo superficiale, si ritrova nel corpo di Clive, un criminale trentenne interpretato da Rob Schneider. La trasformazione la obbliga a confrontarsi con una vita completamente diversa dalla propria e, soprattutto, con il modo in cui viene trattata dagli altri quando non possiede più il corpo giovane, bello e socialmente privilegiato con cui era abituata a identificarsi. Nel corso della storia Jessica riconosce anche la propria superficialità e cambia il modo in cui guarda le persone che prima disprezzava (anche qui la migliore amica si innamora di lei nella versione maschile, non avete idea di quanto questo drama abbia attinto da quella commedia americana....).
Ancora , It's a Boy Girl Thing- Questione di... sesso, 2006. Qui lo scambio avviene tra Nell, studentessa brillante e determinata a entrare a Yale, e Woody, il suo vicino di casa e compagno di scuola, quarterback della squadra di football, con cui ha un rapporto di reciproca ostilità. Una maledizione fa sì che i due si sveglino l'uno nel corpo dell'altra e li costringe a vivere la quotidianità del proprio antagonista, avvicinandoli e mostrando la realtà sociale, piena di ipocrisie e relazioni di comodo.

Io invece lo vedrò e poi ti farò sapere cosa ne penso 😊 Naturalmente le emozioni che suscita una serie sono molto soggettive, quindi credo sia normale avere valutazioni diverse. Personalmente, quando do un voto, cerco di considerare anche gli aspetti più tecnici e artistici: come sono le musiche, la scenografia, la regia, la fotografia, le interpretazioni, la scrittura, oltre naturalmente alla chimica tra i protagonisti.

Per questo il tuo voto mi ha incuriosita: mi fa pensare che, al di là della chimica, tu abbia trovato meno convincenti anche alcuni di questi elementi, oppure magari hai semplicemente dato un peso maggiore alla componente emotiva. Quando lo vedrò avremo modo di confrontarci, sperando di leggere qualcosa in più che non sia solo la chimica o le emozioni.

Il modo in cui il drama tratta Jae-yeol, il rivale, è quasi una presa per i fondelli del classico second male lead. Lui ha tutti gli ingredienti del protagonista maschile classico: ricco, potente, bello, tormentato, traumatizzato, innamorato della protagonista da anni eppure perde in amore, perché la serie gli fa fare la scelta più banalmente da Kdrama possibile: sacrificare l'amore per il matrimonio di potere. Poi lo lascia lì con il suo trauma da “ero il protagonista ma evidentemente no”. E tu, lo avevi notato?

Una domanda: perché la recensione viene pubblicata nella sezione italia, se hai scritto in inglese?

AHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAHAHAHA, ma dai!!!! Dissacratrice!

la consonanza è il viaggio temporale indietro nel tempo, l'interpretazione della protagonista per quanto riguarda il primo, e per gli altri due le assonanze sono dopo l'episodio da cui hai droppato, mi pare di ricordare.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zGr0-pQX6JU&list=RDfsi8s-vpppc&index=2

Se vedi extraordinary you è molto simile e forse un po' più originale, se ci fai caso questo lavoro scopiazza questo, twinking watermelon, true beauty di cui cui ripropone persino certe scene iconiche tipo il litigio tra i due spasimanti nel salotto.

mamma mia se sono d'accordo, io ho droppato che mi mancava l'ultimo, il grandissimo successo di questo lavoro sta nel fandom di lui, legato alla sua bellezza , non ha neanche un fisico da nuotatore credibile. La scelta poi di una bellezza comune, in cui qualsiasi ragazzina potesse immedersimarsi. Il tema sulla disabilità poteva essere interessante e non è stato sviluppato, e l'accanimento dello psicopatico per un cellulare ritrovato??? Per citare una mia cara amica che ha scritto una recensione che ti invito a leggere "Neanche Kafka avrebbe osato tanto..".

a disposizione ;) , i wonderfools ... pure quello ho recensito, vai a leggere, magari ci possiamo confrontare, o ti ricredi.

There is a certain vagueness, and it is intentional, precisely to create a sense of estrangement in the viewer. Isn’t it natural that the kiss happens in episode 10 in Icheon, on the seafront where Hong Hui wanted to go in the early episodes, and that she sees them kissing precisely there?

Hong Hui tells Jae Pil that it is obvious he is fragile and will fall apart if he keeps pretending to be strong, and that is exactly what happens to her in the second half. As for her relationship with Yeong Sik, some people have interpreted it as a romance, but that doesn’t necessarily mean there is one.

It is a kind of projective writing. Those of us who may have had a fake-saint friend in our lives see a subtle duplicity in Yeong Rye’s intentions; those who haven’t had that experience identify with her instead.

The more I think about it, the more I realize that the writers deliberately didn’t have the courage to go all the way and actually say: we think female friendship isn’t truly possible; we think that any sacrifice creates an emotional debt; we think that even good people are deeply selfish in their feelings; we think mature love is based on presence; we think that in Korea love isn’t like it is in K-dramas, but that there are also lazy people, people who simply don’t make a move when they want something — assuming they actually want it in the first place (Yeong Sik).

Thank you for replying to me. I’ll send you the link to my review in a private message; you can translate it using Google Chrome. I’d really like to understand how your perspective differs from mine, and whether I helped you find some of the messages of the series. In the end, I did manage to find a few of them.
P.S. In the end, I also gave it a 7.18. I honestly didn’t think I would give it such a low score, but as I went through the episodes, I kept finding more and more writing problems, especially in the last two episodes. And the ending is painfully cringe — the three of them running on the beach together… an unsettling geometry that brings the triangle back all over again.

temporeggio da un anno, mi ispira anche se lei mi sembra poco calzante in un ruolo che doveva appartenere ad una "bellissima" ma evidentemente avevano finito il cachet pagando lui. Sono sicura che i 9,8 regalati siano TROPPO! DIFFIDO DAI LAVORI osannati all'unanimità, la tua recensione ha puntualizzato cosa aspettarmi e ti ringrazio per questo.
Ps. ovviamente la maggior parte del rating è legato alla generosità delle scene fisiche tra loro, che ho letto essere parecchie (secondo me, ormai conosco i miei polli).

The second half is where the writing starts to frustrate me. After the seven-year time jump, the balance between the two women feels increasingly one-sided. Young Rye is constantly rewarded by the narrative: Jae Pil falls in love with her, another man openly pursues her, she is given the Miss Korea storyline, and even Papa Long Legs is generous with scenes that reinforce her charm and worth. The script seems determined to make sure we understand that she is desirable, admirable and worthy of being chosen.

Jong Hui, on the other hand, is progressively stripped of the qualities that made her so compelling in the first half. The confident, outspoken, dazzling young woman becomes insecure, lonely, emotionally fragile and increasingly desperate for Jae Pil's attention. Even worse, the formation of the Jae Pil–Young Rye couple receives far more narrative investment than the relationship between Jong Hui and Young Sik, which is barely developed at all. And there you have the explanation for why Young Rye goes to Miss Korea, for those who were wondering: the writing shows how one woman progressively gains agency while the other gradually loses it. The series wants to teach you that you have the right to pursue your own happiness, that sacrifices come at a cost and can weigh heavily on you, and that, in the end, the one who stays wins. And it shows all of this in an almost infuriatingly heavy-handed way.

I still give the drama an 8, but these later episodes have become frustrating and, at times, genuinely boring for me. What initially felt like a story about two complementary women increasingly feels like a story determined to crown one of them while diminishing the other.

I completely understand your frustration, because in many ways it is mine too. I’m watching it as well and, at some point, I found myself feeling lost and even getting angry with Yeong Rae for no real reason. And yes: I was also rooting for Jeong Hui and Yeong Sik and, paradoxically, I also reached the point where I felt that Yeong Rae’s happiness was almost “unfair,” even though I knew perfectly well that it wasn’t her fault.

In fact, Yeong Rae is probably, hands down, the morally best character in the entire series. And that is precisely what I find interesting: if a script can make me resent a character whom I rationally know has done the least wrong, then it is playing with something more complex than simply creating a good female lead and a tragic best friend.

I’ll be writing my own review soon, because I interpreted some elements differently from you. I think my reading is somewhere between yours—which I agree with on many points—and what I believe are the director’s intentions. Because yes, something didn’t work. The time jump in particular is genuinely disorienting, and the relationship between Jae Pil and Yeong Rae is told in such an elliptical way that it becomes difficult to emotionally invest in the couple.

However, I can’t say that the writing is simply bad. To me, it is more a very ambiguous script, one that deliberately leaves quite a lot off-screen and forces the viewer to reconstruct relationships through details, glances and omissions. The problem is that this kind of choice can work or not work: in my case, some things worked, while others definitely didn’t.

And honestly, I can’t give a 7 to a work that has such a carefully crafted soundtrack, solid directing, coherent color grading, almost excellent performances, and above all, a story that actually has something to say, even if it doesn’t always manage to say it in the best possible way. I’m quite strict with ratings: if you look at my reviews, out of around 170 dramas I’ve watched, I’ve given only two 10s. A 7, for me, is a work with major limitations, not a drama that has writing problems but also so many other things going for it.

I’ll tell you something that might explain why I reacted a little differently from you. I don’t know where you live, and I don’t know whether you’re familiar with Elena Ferrante, but have you ever watched "My Brilliant Friend"? It’s a series based on her novels and follows the friendship between two women from childhood into old age. One of them is exceptionally intelligent but is born without the means to continue her education; the other is much less gifted, but she is hardworking, studious, and gradually builds her own identity partly by modeling herself on the other woman. Their friendship is incredibly deep, but it is also marked by a fierce competitiveness, often unconscious, and their lives end up being deeply damaged by this dynamic. At one point, they even compete for the same man, and one of them eeaves his hubby and children for him.

Maybe because I had already watched a story built around that kind of relationship, A Hundred Memories*felt, all things considered, almost tame to me. 😅

I actually see a broader discussion about female rivalry here, one that doesn’t necessarily depend on there being a man between them. As if the drama were suggesting that two women can love each other deeply, be willing to give their lives for one another, and at the same time compete, compare themselves to each other, and hurt each other without even fully realizing it.

There are details that, to me, point in exactly that direction: one of them giggling when people call her ugly; the other somehow pushing her away just when she becomes the “queen bee” of the dorm and the group of friends. Is it protection? Jealousy? Unconscious competition? The script never completely settles the question. And I think that ambiguity is precisely what makes both interpretations possible.

Jae Pil is another example. I agree with you: we are not shown the journey that should lead him to fall in love with Jeong Hui, and the final montage is far too little to fill that gap. But there are some elements that could explain why he noticed her: he meets a beautiful girl who seems to actually see him, defends him, and gives him a kind of attention he apparently doesn’t receive elsewhere. For a teenage boy, that might be enough to trigger a huge crush. What the drama fails to build is the transition from teenage fascination to adult love. And honestly, I didn’t care much about Jae Pil and Yeong Rae either.

What I find even more interesting is Yeong Sik.

Because the writing is ambiguous with him too. He is caring, attentive, kind, always there. But in the first half, he never seems genuinely determined to pursue Yeong Rae. When he sees her, he is clearly a little flustered, but that’s about it. He doesn’t really ask about her, doesn’t seem to make any concrete moves and, most importantly, when he realizes that Jae Pil has a crush on her, his behavior doesn’t change for her.
And yet the camera shows us the disappointment when, “Long-Legged Daddy” realizes that Yeong Rae is interested in someone else but not for Yeong Sik.
And this is where I think the drama may be saying something different from simply “there isn’t enough romantic development.”
Maybe the theme is precisely that life passes us by while we are busy doing other things.
Almost nobody actually does anything to obtain the relationship they truly want. Yeong Rae is the one who, in a way, tries to pursue what she wants, while everyone else hesitates, gives up, protects, sacrifices, or convinces themselves that things are better this way. And in the process, they lose exactly what they should have held on to.
Jeong Hui loses Jae Pil.
Yeong Sik loses Jeong Hui.
“Long-Legged Daddy” loses Yeong Rae.
And Jae Pil, paradoxically, ends up with a relationship that perhaps doesn’t even come from great passion, but from something much more concrete, stable and reliable.
It is almost a series of missed opportunities.
That is why, even though I share many of your criticisms, I still can’t dismiss the drama as a failure of writing. I think it is trying to say something quite specific about choice, sacrifice, friendship, and especially how dangerous it can be to make decisions for other people while believing you are protecting them.
The problem is that sometimes it tells us all of this so far off-screen that we are left staring at the screen thinking: “Okay, but… WHEN exactly did all of this happen?” 😂
And that, in my opinion, is a completely legitimate criticism.

Tuttavia man mano che procedono gli episodi mi rendo conto che il drama di pochi episodi copre più di 7 anni di vita dei personaggi,così c'è un brusco stacco a metà drama che riprende mostrandoci la vita di questi che è totalmente mutata senza mostrarci come, è come vedere due lavori diversi , poco integrati, e questo purtroppo è vero.

Nulla da eccepire rispetto a quanto hai scritto, mi riferivo al voto globale di 10, io quell’opera l’ho vista, tempo fa ed ha un finale “terribile”.
Per me 10 é un voto che si da ai capolavori, solo a 2 lavori l’ho dato personalmente.
Poi ripeto ognuno faccia come vuole ☺️.

Ovviamente ognuno è libero di valutare come preferisce, ma personalmente ritengo che, quando si esprime una valutazione, sarebbe opportuno attenersi il più possibile all'obiettività. Le emozioni che un'opera suscita sono inevitabilmente soggettive: ciò che coinvolge profondamente una persona non è detto che produca lo stesso effetto su un'altra.
Per questo, credo che il contributo più utile e concreto che possiamo dare al gruppo sia quello di fornire elementi tecnici, oggettivamente riscontrabili e condivisibili. Questo, naturalmente, non significa sminuire le emozioni provate: quelle restano assolutamente legittime e personali. Semplicemente, non possono costituire l'unico parametro attraverso cui valutare un'opera.

Tristezza

fammi sapere come va, lui è un bravo attore secondo me, ma anche l'altro di blossom of power anche se mi ricorda troppo Neo Hu.

non è tra i miei preferiti in effetti, l'ho visto molto tempo fa quando ancora non scrivevo recensioni e infatti non. ricordo manco se l'ho finito o meno, ricordo che però lui mi lasciò quell'impressione.