Pope Rak (2014)

This is very well crafted layered drama which does a wonderful job of weaving multiple stories through one another. Like a very fine piece of embroidery. The writer came up with an interesting concept of combining the supernatural with the real world but full credit needs to go to the director and the producers too. The level of production is incredibly high. The action scenes are quite believable, the production team actually makes their actors sweat LOL.
The locations are gorgeous, I would love to have that house by the river!! This has it all fast-paced action, sweet romance, old love, the strength of family bonds, friendship, loss, revenge and above all, hope.
You feel for every character, there was a reason why they did what they did. Everything is so grey, nothing is black and white. Incredible acting by the actors playing the villains that in spite of their evil doings, you still feel a touch of pity and regret for them on a basic human level. In an odd way, the strongest stories were all the ones surrounding the main plot, The characters are so sensible here. no over the top hysterics! This drama was really like having a window into the basic human nature of people. There are certain scenes which just grab you with their intensity of silent emotion and dialogue.
The family ties between Prin and his grandmother, between Bella and her mother, the affection between old loves is all handled with a sweet touch. Even relation ships with the workplace, between the chief and his subordinates, the relationships within the neighbors, was well structured together. Romance takes a back seat initially, the emphasis is on the who-dunniit and what-happened, but Prin is awesome in his expressions and action scenes and Bella's smiles are infectious. The supernatural isn't forced and works hand-in-hand in moving the story forward. My particular favorite had to be Aunt Prik! You will know what I mean when you see her.
The music was very well done, very apt and sweet. I will re-watch this for sure, with a little fast forwarding, the cinematography is outstanding, the open credits and song are amazingly well done, the supernatural is handled deftly. The pace of the drama could be kicked up a few notches in certain instances, a few less weepy scenes would be good but nothing a little fast forward wont take care of :)

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I was surprised by how much I enjoyed this! I really liked it! The story was actually quite compelling and well-reasoned. Where other dramas on similar topic (ghost love stories) faltered with logic (if one can have logic with ghost stories) this one did a pretty good job of maintaining believability. I wasn't sure if I'd like the female actress at the beginning but she really warmed up towards the end - I guess that speaks to her acting. But mostly, I have to be honest and say I watched it for Mark Prin and he was great! This guy is great at subtle facial expressions that convey a lot of depth! I had just come off Kluen Cheewit and Punya Cho Kon Krau and thought he was strong in both lakorns but he did another fantastic job in this one. In all three dramas I never felt that his character was Mark Prin nor did I think his character was Khun Sathit or Khun Tham. His ability to portray different characters so well really speaks to his acting range. I look forward to seeing him in many other lakorns. One nit pick though... why are all the police officers such bad shots?? They couldn't shoot worth a damn. Otherwise, totally rewatching bits of this one. Yeeo and Naamrin were super adorable together!

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