Review on Korean Drama: I’m Sorry, I Love You or Misa (Mianghada, Saranghada) (2005)

Title: I’m Sorry, I Love You or Misa (Mianghada, Saranghada) (2005)

Genre:  drama, romance

Duration:  16 episodes

Cast:

So Ji Sup as Choo Mo Hyuk

Lim So Jeong as Song Eun Chae

Jung Kyung Ho as Choi Yoon

Lee Hye Young as Oh Deul Lee

Yoon Soo Kyung as Jun Hye Jin

Park Gun Tae as Kim Galchi

“We will meet again in the next life.  And when I see you again, I will hold you tight and not let you go.”

Synopsis:  How do you comfort the love of your life, knowing you only have a short time left? This will be one of the longer ones because making it shorter would give injustice to the drama. 

Choo Mo Hyuk (So Ji Sup) was an orphan who was adopted and brought to Australia.Unfortunate circumstances led him to flee from his adoptive parents and forced him to learn the ways of the street to survive. Wandering on the streets and dealing with all kinds of difficulties, he never harboured ill feelings for his parents believing they abandoned him due to poverty and so swore to go back to Korea and give his mother a wonderful life.  Before he could do so though, his girlfriend decided to marry a rich mafia confessing though that she loves him but being practical, she needed the money.  Beset by frustration, he attends the wedding and was shot in the head in shielding his ex-girlfriend from the assassin.  The doctor was not able to remove all the bullets since the last one’s position is too delicate that could bring him instant death.  He only has a few months to live.  The girlfriend beset with guilt gives him a lot of money and persuades him to return to Korea to die.

Song Eunchae (Lim So Jeong) is a naive, simple-minded coordinator for the popular singer Choi Yoon (Jung Kyung Ho) who she’s secretly loved for the last 20 years of her life.  Everything she does is for him so even when he asks her to help him with his love life, she does his bidding regardless of how much pain it brought her.  Her every waking moment is filled with thoughts of him and in her eyes, she can only see him.  She is at his beck and is prepared to make any sacrifice to ensure his happiness.

Yoon takes her devotion for granted though, believing she would always stay by his side and support him like his security blanket.  Because she is there to support him, he can do anything and pursue his great love who is known to be a player Min Joo.  Though he sometimes come across as a self-absorbed brat, it is apparent though that Yoon loves his mother very much and is devoted to her.  In the latter part, it was also because of this devotion between mother and son that pains Mo Hyuk deeply and fuels his desire for revenge.

They were in Australia filming a commercial thus; Yoon can’t be more excited to have the opportunity to actively pursue Min Joo.  Thinking she should give them more time together, Eunchae planned to come back to Korea ahead of them but in the process, she was conned and all her things were stolen including her passport.  Wandering on the street, Mo Hyuk found her sobbing in one corner and initially thought of taking advantage of her by selling her as a prostitute.  Eunchae not realizing this was just too happy to find another Korean and went with him.  He got her drunk because she believed that he would not take advantage of her.  After getting the money, Mo Hyuk was beset with his conscience and decided to go back and save her thus a chase follows and one of my favourite moments when he realized they were holding each other’s hand tightly which he awkwardly removes his hand.  They sleep on the street and in the morning, he returns all her things including her money which allowed her to get the ticket for her flight back to Korea.  Yoon and Min Joo has already become a couple by then.

Mi Hyuk arrives in Korea fully expecting to find a poverty-stricken mother of his waiting for salvation.  Instead, he found that his mother is a famous actress who also has a son who’s popular who she can’t seem to love more.  This fills him with anger and fury specially after discovering that he actually has a twin sister who became deranged due to a car accident when she was five years old.  Taking care of her is her son who seems to be very smart and caring who seems a lot older for his age.

Mo Hyuk schemes to get the best revenge especially since he only has a few months to live.  He starts his plan by befriending Choi Yoon and becomes his manager.  In his way to revenge, Eunchae seemed to unconsciously disturb his thoughts enough to even entertain the notion of giving up the revenge.  Against his will, he started to slowly and hopelessly fall in love with her that before his mind can even comprehend, his body is already moving out to help her in all circumstances disregarding his disposition.  She however only has eyes for Choi Yoon and treats Mo Hyuk no more than a nuisance. 

Would he ever feel the gratification of his plans coming true or would he give it all up for love?  Would he die never knowing the truth behind his birth and abandonment?   

Review: How can u not love him when he loves you with a burning passion? When he loves you with utmost devotion?

There are only a couple of actors who are able to portray a wide range of emotions without even trying to do so.  So Ji Sup is definitely one of those elite actors who are able to reflect grief and misery in their eyes, and cry beautifully.  He was so intense in his character you forget that it’s just a drama and he sucks you right into the story.  His character is so scary, so pitiful, wrought with raw emotions, beset with conflicting emotions for his mother, and how he abandons himself to the one he loves.  He definitely is an exceptional actor, a one-of-a-kind.  After raving about what I love about him, I can tell you what I hate about him.  His hair when it’s growing long and fuzzy it becomes too distracting.  But his eyes have the intense, haunted gaze that I quickly and completely forget about his hair and lose myself in them.

I love that the development of the love story of Mo Hyuk and Eunchae was very subtle that it gave me a chance to fall in love with the characters first and to cheer them on.  The character of Choi Yoon although childish was never mean.  He has the cute and adorable character that one can’t help but like him too.

If there was anything I didn’t like about this drama would have been the mother.  I felt there were moments between her and Yoon that it felt unreal, no chemistry and just showing off.  I was kind of hoping for some warmth since her character is the kind that would have given her life for her son, I was hoping for some more.  I do admit though that when she shed tears after feeding Mo Hyuk without understanding the reason why she is crying, she also moved me to tears. 

My favourite scene is when they were at the bar and right before he kissed her, a tear glistened and was silently shed.  It was so poignant, so moving and so heartfelt.  That moment, I think I can watch it over and over and can never get tired of it.  Also, when they were in the subway and Eunchae was telling him I love you over and over again till she has no strength left, I felt she has never looked more beautiful and sadder. There were also a lot of moments in the drama that there were no need for words.  So many moments when Mo Hyuk and Eunchae sat beside each other and never spoke a word yet able to say so much.

I also would like to commend the little boy portraying Galchi because he brought me to tears when they were in the kimbap store and  Mo Hyuk was telling his sister he’ll buy the store, Galchi started weeping telling him they didn’t need the store so if he can just not die.

I’m a little confused with the ending though because I think Eunchae also died but was it because of a broken heart or was it suicide?

The biggest suspense for me was not the conflict between the two lovers but the question whether he would tell his mother about his birth thus giving her the pain he believes she deserves for abandoning her two children.  Until the last episode, it kept me guessing.

Anyhow, I definitely found this drama beautiful, poignant and moving.  I give this 9.5 stars out of 10 just and definitely one that will become classic.

Review on Korean Movie: Lovers for Six Years or Six Years In Love

Title: Lovers for Six Years

Genre:  Drama, Romance

Duration:  1:52:22

Cast:

Ha-Neul Kim as Daejin

Gye-Sang Yun as Jae-Young

Seong-rok Shin as Jin-Seong Lee

Hyeon-Jeon Cha as Ji-Eun

Synopsis:  Plot for the movie is not very complicated.  It captures the nuances of a relationship that has gone stale over the years and is on a brink of a breakdown.

Daejin (Ha-Neul Kim) and Jae-Young (Gye-Sang Yun) has been together for six years and has been living next to each other.  Since they have been together for a long time, they practically know everything about each other and have fostered a very comfortable, but at times dull relationship.

Daejin works as an editor at a publishing company while Jae-Young works as a producer for a home shopping network. On their 6^th year anniversary, Jae-Young gives Daejin fake bouquet of flowers and lingerie while Daejin gives him the watch he wanted for a long time. 

While their relationship becomes too predictable, Jae-Young meets Ji-Eun(Hyeon-Jeon), a part-timer who seemed to be full of energy, exciting and most importantly, she offers him new thrills.  He starts to play around with her and begins to see Daejin more of a nuisance and their relationship boring.

Daejin on the other hand is too busy to notice the difference in Jae-Young or at times chooses to ignore the nuances.  She was pursuing Jin-Seong Lee(Seong-Rok) who is bent to ignore her and her calls as she continues to pester him to do a cover for one of the books. 

While both of them continue to question the legitimacy of their relationship and their future, the new people adds more confusion to their already tenuous relationship.

Review:

I understand how the relationship has gone stale after a couple of years together.  They have been too comfortable beside each other that each have begun to question their feeling and ultimately their relationship.  Six years is a long time to be with someone that it’s easy to assume that being together is already a sure thing.

I guess it’s easy to understand how guys at this stage would take the relationship for granted and even treat it as a joke.  Jae-Young shows signs of impatience whenever Daejin complains of chest pains and thinks she’s just being difficult, using it as an excuse not to sleep together, or when she asks him to buy something for her, demands him to eat dinner with her at home, show more concern for her...stuffs that women would expect their men to do in a relationship but what guys would rather not do because it takes too much effort.

It was very apparent that there was a disconnect and that both parties are just too comfortable in their relationship it’s harder to move out or move on.  If anything though, I like the idea that Daejin rejected Jin-Seong Lee because she wanted to find herself but abhorred the conclusion that she would be with Jae-Young again.

But then again, maybe they are fated together.

I give this movie 7 out of 10 stars.

Review on Korean Drama: Swallow the Sun (2009)

Title: Swallow the Sun (2009)

Genre: Drama, Action, Romance

Duration: 25 episodes

Cast:

Ji Sung as Kim Jung Woo

Jun Kwang Ryul as Jang Min Ho/Il Hwan

Sung Yu Ri as Lee Soo Hyun

Lee Wan as Jang Tae Hyeok

Yoo Oh-seong as Jaek Seun-ri

Im Jung Eun as Mi Yeon

Synopsis:

Considered to be the most notorious convict, Il Hwan (Jin Goo), escapes prison when the worst of criminals were brought to the Jeju Island to construct the highway. He meets a kind-hearted, naive Mi Yeon(Im Jung Eun) who saves him from death and helps him recuperate after sustaining a gun wound and jumping from a cliff trying to escape the pursuing military officers. 

Il Hwan was used to people's reaction of dread and disgust when they initially meet him but he was surprised that the girl didn't fear him but instead pitied him and wanted to help him despite the danger he poses for her. The attraction was instant but the girl was in denial since she knew her mother would never accept him.  When he asked her to run away with him, she turned him down and decided it would be the last time she'll meet with him.  Unfortunately, her mother thought she was kidnapped and called for help from the same soldiers that were hunting for him. He was brought back to camp and she went home with her mother not knowing she actually got pregnant.  Her mother decided to give the baby away as soon as he was born and told her that he died in childbirth.

The baby is Kim Jung Woo and the story fast-forwards to when he's all grown up to be a man who is engaged in petty crimes with his local gangster buddies, has no idea about his identity, has no ambitions and could not understand why his family would abandon him.

One day, he accidentally saves Jang Min Ho who is the richest man on the island and also the most notorious and the most dreaded.  Nobody seems to know about his past and why he is on the island but every businessman in the island knows the manner on which he conducts his business.  He decides to hire Kim Jung Woo to guard his wayward son, who is more than happy just to party and spend his father's money.  Jang Min Ho was hoping that Jung Woo would somehow influence his son, Jang Tae Hyeok who is on his opinion as useless as his mother.  He hoped that Jung Woo would be able to influence him with the same fighting spirit he saw in the guy's eyes.  Jung Woo agrees to stay with him and was charmed by the way the rich lead their lives. Jung Woo considered the working for Jang Min Ho as an opportunity of a lifetime and was determined to be loyal to him to the extent he tried everything to win the heart of the woman he had loved for a long time for Tae Hyeok and even took the fall for the crime that Jang Woo commits. 

All get involved in a story of passionate pursuit of revenge, love, sacrifice, forgiveness and blind faith in love and friendship.

Review:

Absolutely disappointing after reading so many good reviews, I found myself skipping a lot of the episodes because I just felt that I was about to die of boredom.  The story was ambitious however, the execution was poor specially the casting.  The acting felt wooden specially the female leads.  I felt they were too conscious of the camera and I felt distracted that Soo Hyun always wear either very short skirt or shorty shorts even on occasions I felt she shouldn’t have.  The love story was boring and I felt it was a waste of good money that could have been spent on a good production. The only ones that saved me from skipping it altogether was Jun Kwang Ryul and Ji Sung although Ji Sung also made me yawn a couple of times.

I give this 6 out of 10 stars because the male lead is hot...hehehe

Review on Korean Movie: Sympathy for Lady Vengeance (2005)

Title: Sympathy for Lady Vengeance (2005)

Genre: Drama, Action

Duration: 1 hr 58mins

Directed by: Chan Wook Park

Cast:

Lee Young-ae as Lee Geum Ja

Choi Min-sik as Mr Baek

Kwon Yea-young as Jenny

Kim Shi-hu as Geun-shik

Synopsis:

The nation was shook with the news of a young boy of 5 who was kidnapped and killed senselessly.  It was disturbing though that the alleged kidnapper is a young, beautiful woman, who looked like an angel but showed no signs of remorse for the crime she committed.  When she confessed to the crime, even the detective investigating the crime did not believe her but felt that she had a strong reason to confess to the crime she did not commit.  13 years later, she is released from prison and she immediately goes into action for the culmination of the revenge she planned for 13 years.  While inside prison, she was consumed by her plan for revenge and did everything necessary to achieve her goal even donating kidney to her inmate and killing the bull-dyke which has made a sex slave of her inmate.  She was later on dubbed as the witch which was kind hearted and everyone was more than happy to oblige to her requests including one woman who marries Mr Baek as part of Geum Ja's plan.

It would later on be revealed that her daughter was kidnapped by Mr Baek, a private school teacher, to force her to confess to the crime.  She later on discovers that her daughter, Jenny, was adopted by foreigners and was brought to Australia.  She visits her daughter in Australia and although wanting to be with her, Geum ja knows that she has to leave her behind since she still has some unfinished business to do in Seoul.  Unfortunately, Jenny wanted to go to Korea with her and convinces her adoptive parents to allow her to go with Geum Ja. 

While the mother-daughter bond becomes deeper, her plan for revenge is set to full gear.  It became evident though that Mr Baek was aware of her plans and sent two thugs to kidnap Geum Ja and attack his wife, who was a former inmate of Geum Ja.  Thereafter, Geum Ja kills both thugs and binds Mr Baek who was knocked unconscious by the drug given to him by his wife. 

The next scene shows Geum Ja eager to take her revenge yet hesitant to kill Mr Baek but then discovers the his cell phone is decorated by several children's toys including the favourite marble of the boy Geum Ja supposedly kidnapped and killed.  She was devastated by the discovery so she calls on the previous detective who handled her case$, feeling more burdened by the fact that she inadvertently aided Mr Baek because she confessed to the crime and allowed him to be free to kidnap those other kids and kill them.  The police was then led to discover the bodies of the kidnapped children who were all killed by Mr Baek.  Rummaging through his things, Geum Ja discovers that Mr Baek filmed the killing of each child he kidnaps and kept them for his record.  She then decides to involve the family of each kidnapped child and shows them the painful film of how their children pleaded and were killed. 

It brought me to tears when she showed how each child pleaded and was killed without remorse.  It showed the pain of each family as they watched their child killed before their eyes making them filled with renewed hatred.  Geum Ja then gives them the option of either turning him over to the authorities or to take the matter with their own hands.  As they were discussing each course of action, the film showed that Geum Ja has setup a speaker in the room so that Mr Baek could hear everything they were discussing in the other room.  The film also showed that although each family were filled with deep hatred initially, they also hesitated a bit when they were really confronted with the issue of exacting their vengeance but they each were able to overcome the hesitation and goes for the kill. After which a picture of everyone was taken and they buried his body together with the weapons they used to kill him.

Even after she has exacted her revenge, the movie showed that she was still filled with remorse and confusion until she meets with her daughter on the road.  She tells Jenny to live white and Jenny in turn tells her to live whiter. 

This film was unbelievably, showed genuine human emotions and forced me to meditate on the issues at hand including the morality of revenge, of forgiveness, atonement and remorse.  As each of us would like to lead a life that is white and pure, how would you be able to forgive a man who killed children without remorse and let him live another day?

I give this 9 out of 10 stars.

Review on Korean Movie: A Moment to Remember (2004)

Title: A Moment to Remember (2004)

Genre: Korean Movie

Duration: 2 hrs

Directed by: John H. Lee

Cast:

Jung Woo-sung as Choi Chul Soo

Sohn Ye-jin as Su Jin

Baek Jong-hak as Young Min

Synopsis:

Movie starts with Su Jin at the train station heartbroken after being dumped by her previous married lover.  Feeling lost and abandoned, she goes to a store to buy soda but she forgets both the soda and her wallet.  She goes back to the store but was met by Chul Soo holding a can of soda.  She grabs the soda and drinks it in front of him thinking he took her soda and then takes her leave.  He was amused by her display of courage since people usually stay wary of him having the look of a troublemaker.  Su Jin goes back again to the store remembering she did not get her wallet and the attendant gives her back her wallet and soda making her realize her earlier mistake and feeling embarrassed about it. 

Later on, she realizes that he works for her father as a foul-mouthed, bad tempered, perfectionist foreman.  She felt herself drawn to him more especially when he rescues her from the snatcher.  There isn't much of courting as they agreed to be together over a glass of liquor but Su Jin was obviously so much in love and they were both in bliss.

Chul soo had a bad past making him cynical about life, love and people.  He doesn't believe in love and marriage but changes his mind after Su Jin collapses the night he met her family.

They live a life of bliss after with hints of her illness manifesting early on.  She consults a doctor and was confirmed to have a rare disease of Alzheimer's.  She was advised to quit her job immediately since she would not be able to continue working.  She tells Chul soo she'll quit her job and will stay home to do chores.  Chul soo only discovers her illness after she prepared his lunch with two bowls of rice.  Su Jin gets disoriented while on her way to meet her ex-lover while Chul soo frantically looks for her in the street, discovering her at the batting station.  Su Jin asks for a breakup realizing that sooner, she would not even be able to recognize him and would eventually forget the feelings she has for him.

As her situation worsens, Chul Soo begins doubting her feelings for him after she calls him by her ex-lovers name and tells him that she loves him.  He then realizes that he has never told her that he loves her.

More tearjerker scenes follow...

Review:

I knew it was a mistake to watch this movie.  I knew it would be a good one but I knew I would be crying for this movie so I have been avoiding it for the last couple of months.  I just momentarily forgot that I'm not supposed to watch it and when I realized my mistake, I thought I could stop while the story was still happy but I was sucked right in.

Given that she has alzheimer's, I knew it won't be a happy ending.  There is no cure for this disease and there is no happy ending either.  It would just be a movie filled with sadness, being so young and beautiful yet her life is about to end when it's just supposed to be starting.

The actors were superb specially Jung Woo portraying the raw emotions of a man who was hunted by his past but has so much love for his wife that he was able to forgive his mother for abandoning him and making peace with his past.  He is the epitome of the dangerous, ruggedly handsome yet gentle with his lover type of guy who would never leave your side.  He was able to perfectly convey the emotions of a husband torn with the love for his wife, wanting to be with her and yet knowing she needs more than what he can offer.  I made a realization though after the movie, he is also made of pure fiction...listen girls, HE DOES NOT EXIST (hehehe).

While watching the movie, I can't help staring into Sohn Ye-Jin's doe eyes as they show only innocence and happiness until she discovers her illness then it drowns me in sadness and tears.  This movie made her so heart wrenchingly beautiful, so gentle and so innocent...almost ethereal.

I felt that the ending was good since there really isn't anything he can do for her except love her even though her memory of him has been long gone and to not doubt her feelings for him.

I won't recommend watching this movie unless you're prepared to shed some tears and share some happy moments in love. It made my head ache though from crying...LOL

I give this movie 9 out of 10 stars.