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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The most touching love story

This story has so many value that we can learn from.
I have done watch it but i hope i found this drama early.
The storyline is good, fresh and make me full of anticipation.
Romance, revenge, forgiveness, love between mom & daughter, love between the Main lead has the perfect timing & screen time, its makes me really enjoy & dont want to stop watching this drama.
Everything that happend is because a reason and have enough explanation.
The chemistry between Bella & Mark is unbeatable!!! I hope to see their collaboration soon ?
This story is wort to watch!!! Dont miss it or u'll regret it.

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Entertaining lakorn, likeable FL (Bella) and ML (Mark)

Very easy lakorn to watch. No crazy scheming evil sister/MIL for once, no exasperatingly stupid characters, ML and FL are not morally dubious. The scenes with the long-suffering monk are HILARIOUS ^-^

Good chemistry between Bella and Mark! Although I think Bella and Pope in Love Destiny, and Mark and Yaya in Kleun Cheewit are slightly better pairings with respect to their visual chemistry.

Spoiler alert






In my opinion, the surprise 2ML is actually Chief Songkran :D Who won't want a devoted guy like that! Having said this, I should do some reflection of my own ?

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Ini adalah drama berlapis yang dibuat dengan sangat baik dalam menenun cerita satu sama lain. Seperti sulaman yang sangat halus. Kisah cinta yang ditampilkan imo menyentuh dan sangat mudah untuk ditonton, bcs plotnya fresh; ga ada saudara perempuan yang jahat, male lead role yang licik, dan momen bodoh yg dilakukan oleh ML ataupun FL. Actually, kisah cinta manusia dengan arwah bukan cerita yang terbilang unik, bcs cerita kayak begini udah sering banget diolah di banyak drama dan film, but ternyata, ga peduli berapa kali pun aku nonton drama sejenis ini, tetep aja aku suka wkwkwk. Banyak yang bisa kita nikmati di lakorn ini. Romansa manis, cinta lama, kekuatan ikatan keluarga, persahabatan, kehilangan, balas dendam, dan yang terpenting, harapan.

Untuk plot sebenarnya cukup menarik dan agak masuk akal. Dimana drama lain dengan topik yang sama dan tersendat logika, tapi lakorn yang satu ini works dengan cukup baik untuk mempertahankan kepercayaan penonton. Laju plot mungkin harus ditingkatkan beberapa tingkat dalam kasus tertentu, karena kesan plotnya jadi berlarut-larut. Nah, untuk setiap karakter, I feel ada alasan mengapa mereka melakukan apa yang mereka lakukan. Sangat masuk akal dan tidak berlebihan, sehingga lakorn ini benar-benar seperti memiliki jendela ke sifat dasar manusia.

Interaksi Yeeo-Naamrin ngegemesin banget, meskipun menurutku kurang greget. I feel, chemistry mereka ga sebagus chemistry Yaya-Mark di Kleun Cheewit atau Bella-Pope di Love Destiny. Oh silly me, mungkin aku terlalu cinta sama karakter mereka di lakorn yang sebelumnya udah aku tonton, tapi tetap, bukan Mark Prin namanya kalau ga bikin aku suka. His acting it's just flawless and show many deep expression. Range actingnya udah dalem banget, jadi rasanya mau karakter apapun yang dikasih ke dia udah pasti keren sih, karena apa aja cocok sama dia?? In my opinion, di Pope Rak ini Mark Prin bisa dikasih penghargaan aktor dengan senyum terbanyak, udahlah banyak, manis pulak, wisss lesung pipinya bukan main manis banget cuyyy, bahkan senyumnya itu jadi nular ke Bella. Di awal memang aku ga yakin apakah aku bakalan suka Bella, tapi dia benar-benar menghangat menuju akhir episode. Jadi aku ngerasa keren juga nih actingnya Bella. But jujurly aku tuh nonton ini cuma karena Mark Prin doang. Tapi untuk karakter dan komponen lain dalam lakorn ini good job? Ikatan keluarga antara Yeeo dan neneknya, Naamrin dan ibunya, kasih sayang antara cinta lama semua tertangani dengan sentuhan manis. Bahkan hubungan dengan tempat kerja, pimpinan dan bawahan, kehidupan bertetangga, beneran terstruktur dengan baik. Scene supranatural juga ga terlalu dipaksakan, bcs plotnya bahu-membahu dalam memajukan cerita. Tingkat produksi dan sinematografinya luar biasa tinggi. Backsongnya sangat cocok dengan adegan, especially Yut Wela, sweet? Loksyutnya sangat bagus, aku jadi kepingin punya rumah di tepi sungai. Favorit khusus aku disini ya Bibi Prik! Awalnya emang agak serem sih ngeliatnya, tapi lama-kelamaan jadi lucu. Adegan actionnya cukup bisa dipercaya, tim produksi benar-benar membuat aktornya berkeringat LOL. Tapi, satu nit pick...semua tembakan polisinya begitu buruk, padahal yang handle ini tuh Metta & Mahaniyom.

Terlepas dari itu semua, aku pasti bakal rewatch ini dengan sedikit fast forwarding. And afterall, I enjoy this drama. It's surprisingly good. If you love Mark Prin and Bella Campen, you should watch this one!

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