aimsat
This review may contain spoilers
“No matter which era you live in, life is an agony. There’s no such thing as perfect world”. Indeed life is inevitably a trajectory of agony. So “seize the day!!!” – Carpe Diem. That’s what these hot-blooded youth of ‘30s have done. During the period of convulsion under Japanese colonialism, forgetting everything they jumped into the lion’s den without thinking twice. Revolution is only possible by the youth. This drama is indirectly a wonderful tribute to the martyrs in general. I could feel the selfless strive of these rebellious young people through the depiction of their gallantness. It helped me honour our own national martyrs who sacrificed their precious lives to gift us an independent nation, free of oppression, subjugation and despondency. Chicago Typewriter ignited my ignorant heart to have some realization for those, who gave us this worry free future, for those, we’re breathing free air under this open sky since the country I belong to was under another country’s rule just 45 years ago. I’m utterly grateful towards those brave hearted freedom fighters.These whole 16 episodes did not seem like any drama. It was like an epic elegy which I finished reading with complete satisfaction. I was in a daze for the entire time. The background score and correct blend of beautiful OSTs along with the story gave me a feel of reading an ode. An ode can be classified into three segments: strophe, antistrophe and epode. If CT can be divided into these three segments: strophe (1-5 episodes) produced an excellent feeling; antistrophe (6-11 episodes) produced a neutral feeling and lastly epode (12-16 episodes) produced the most resonant experiences.
The story is nothing new. I remember once Daesung (a member of BigBang band) said in an interview that there’s nothing new under the sky in this era of globalization. We remake it, reproduce it or at best represent in a completely different way with our creativity. Each and every word this singer said is applicable for this exceptional drama. Although story is nothing new but the representation is entirely new. Both 1930 and 2017 scenarios are well construed for the viewers. Having the discernible feature, no confusion is created with the plot.
For instance, if we taste a piece of red velvet cheese cake it might happen that initially the delicate taste doesn’t hit immediately but once swallowed the heavenly taste lingers for long. So, my point is the whole story has an enigmatic texture leaving a palpable aura which may haunt for a longer period of time.
Many attributes of this drama is top-notch, especially acting by the trio ensemble: Yoon Ah In, Im Soo Jung and Go Kyung Po. Their portrayal of every emotion is mesmerizing, especially YAI, this man never seizes to amaze me. Day by day he keeps getting better and better. As a leader he was charismatic and as a modern day writer he was smart, dashing, talented and elegant. ISJ, this lady what can I say ‘bout her? Words fall short to describe her mighty acting skill. Thanks to the writer team who again wrote a valiant woman character. I think no one could live up to the expectation of Jeon Seol character like ISJ did. And GKP, I’m shocked, literally shocked by his power packed performances. He seemed like a cute, lost, adorable and innocent ghost like Casper and at the same time he managed to pull the passionate hot-blooded young rebel, an elegant chaebol of 30s and also a compassionate comrade. Again salute to the casting director who selected these young actors for such roles meticulously. I laughed and cried with the trio’s struggles, happiness and sadness. Kwak Shi Yang did a tremendous job as well as a villain. I pitied his modern antagonist character but had zero tolerance for his character portrayal as “chinilpa” (Korean for traitor). I abominate any traitors in general.
About the technicalities of the drama, cinematography was similar to Goblin which means its extremely wonderful giving a feel of watching cinema. Ambience was on point, based on the necessity of the scene and stories proper lighting and filter has been used. Direction is commendable otherwise CT wouldn't be loved by so many. None of the scenes seemed out of place or just appeared out of nowhere, all of them were well connected. So editing was also good.
On another note, I think CT has also brought out a message on increasing our interests in reading books also. Because of too many distractions in our daily lives, many people are destroying their habit of reading books. So it can be a small showcase to raise our enthusiasm towards reading real pages rather than reading mere virtual pages.
Among the many good points of this drama, I loved the warm friendship, dauntless comradeship and beguiling romanticism among the trio. The relief comedy displayed through the bromance of YAI and GKP is another most amazing thing.
In conclusion, it is an utter satisfaction that their past tragedy did not continue to follow them in the modern time. A small surprising revelation at the end episode was also quite interesting.
I want to keep on writing but it may create disruption as I might give you spoilers unknowingly. So go and watch it without any single doubt. You may not love it like us but you may not regret watching it.
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I'm left with few questions. Definitely romance is the main basis but this time traveling fact hasn't been elucidated which is sort of baffling. The protagonist's froze for some significant number of years but why it happened and why he has to meet a girl in the future for whom his heart never pounded in the past? How come he suddenly become so healthy? Why he has to vanish while hanging out with the girl? Nothing has been explained.
The romance between the leads are even inadequate. They have interesting chemistry, if exuded sufficiently, it would have been exceptionally gorgeous but it was also a failure. I was eagerly waiting for more romance to take place and suddenly it ended. For sure I loved the couple since there are very few couple who can exhibit profound chemistry.
About the pace of the drama, well, it was alright yet not necessary. Although all actors displayed good acting skill, none of them got the chance to show their best because all through it felt like different branches of the story was about to get elongated but was trimmed immediately due to shortage of time.
Had great expectations but turned out to be a disappointment. There were few dynamics of the story if well portrayed or explained then it would have been quite enjoyable to watch.
Watch it at your own risk.
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Yes, it happened to me after I finished Tunnel in one sitting for two days. After the last and final episode I just couldn't see myself in the mirror. Well that doesn't necessarily mean this drama is a perfection or a masterpiece. Despite having number of flaws and loopholes, it could live up to my expectations.
Although practically the concept of time traveling is superfluous and unrealistic but the integration of both past and present to solve the crime is riveting yet not extraordinary. As a viewer I appreciate the way the writers managed to maintain a cliff-hanger per episode and how one by one a particular mystery unraveled. Any sort of art/literature/entertainment can be preposterous but to make it credulous to the viewers is where the makers can show their creativity. All the credit goes to the scriptwriters who managed it pretty nicely.
In the beginning, few episodes have individual crime story which were solved meticulously by the detective team, however, the main story was there and gradually each puzzle pieces were weaved in a single thread. Though all the bits and pieces were scattered initially but the story maintained coherence till the end. Much confusion was not created with the time traveling factor. The whole drama is like a web of riddle solved rigorously. Overall the story writing was commendable but during episodes 12-16 it became excessive. For instance, if we squeeze too much lemon juice in our rice rather than giving a slight sour flavor, the whole rice would turn bitter in taste. This is what happened with Tunnel during these episodes. The flow was fascinating but due to excessive twists and turns for finding the main culprit, it kind of lost the ultimate thrilling essence in the middle part in my opinion.
One interesting thing is, they tried to depict prisoner's dilemma (a concept of game theory in economics) in a theft case but did not show it vividly. I can remember clearly this whole concept was portrayed exquisitely in the drama named "I Hear Your Voice".
On another note, indignation is inevitable upon any murderers or in general any wrong doers, nonetheless it made me ponder upon a particular thing. That is, giving a child a healthy and fine environment to grow up is extremely crucial. It is true that all the heinous murders took over negligible issues but when the culprit was a little boy from then on he had nurtured grave darkness inside him. From his early childhood the unsound experiences he gathered, later triggered him to exploit himself in a psychotic manner towards gaining aberrant pleasure. It all comes down to the upbringing, nurturing and giving a child a loving environment. Compassion can change a person at a tender age.
Moreover, I appreciate the depiction of the female character, Professor Shin Jae Yi. For goodness sake, they refrained for at least once by not showing a sassy, unintelligent and screaming woman. Shin Jae Yi is stoic but a smart, competent and educated woman who came up with brilliant clues regarding solving the cases. Loved the tough at the same time sweet bromance of Gwang Ho and Sun Jae. Love the comradeship among the fellow colleagues. As I always say Korean writers are best at portraying human relationship and emotion among each other. Hats off to the writers for that. All the casts more or less shown good acting skill though not phenomenal.
Necessary to mention that the last episode is utterly heart wrenching and is beautifully wrapped up. Especially visiting every victim's home and paying respect to each of their family was wonderfully done. This little message "Saving Life is important" is laudable.
On the other hand, background score is reasonable with the situation and I could find only one OST named Circle of Life by Kim Dong Uk. It's soft rock which gets slightly heavy at the end sounds superb.
In conclusion, this drama has the characteristics to put a viewer at the edge of their sit but comes with few flaws. If the errors and flaws can be overlooked, it's pretty interesting. I felt like I have completed reading a thriller novel. For a crime drama genre lover, I don't think it would be a bad choice for giving it a shot.
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