This is not a light, fluffy romcom, nor a makjang melodrama. It's a dark satire that pokes holes in a cliched plotline, while focusing on the toll corruption takes on families and people, from the lowliest to the upper echelon. I enjoyed watching this very much and am sorry to see it go, and wish they hadn't cut 2 episodes.
This fully deserved the Baeksang Award :D
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I haven't seen Yoo Joon Sang an anything else that I can think of, but he is pretty spectacular as Han Jeong Ho. His expressions are excellent. I also haven't seen Yoo Jo Jeong in anything. She was ok as Choi Yeon Hee, but I really didn't feel for her character and I thought that I would eventually feel sorry for her. Lee Joon gets better with each role. I like him as boy/man Han In Sang. He portrayed his struggle really well. Where did Go Ah Sung come from? She did Seo Bom proud with strength and dignity. I enjoyed the other actors as well.
The music is pretty good. It doesn't get on my nerves, but nothing stands out.
I won't rewatch this.
I recommend this drama, but it isn't action packed or overly exciting. If you like dramas that make you think then this is for you.
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p. S. The music is as ridiculous as the show esp when something major happens like fight scenes, sneaking...the theme song just sticks to your head i dunno where they came up with that
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Once I started watching her dramas I found it very difficult to go back to the ones I used to watch.
Everything looks so precise, so well thought, so realistic that you end up questioning yourself on how you were able to accept all that clumsiness that is the main ingedient of the average korean drama.
Heard it trough the grapevine is an amazing show that deconstructs the elements at the base of the typical rich marry the poor tale in order to question its moral assumptions.
From the start, the stereotype is reversed. Instead of an inexplicable and adamant purely platonic attraction we are confronted with the complex emotivity of two teenagers that cannot distinguish so clearly between the spiritual and the physical.
The progression of the story is not that through her unjustified pride the heroine, after having met every possible calamity to atone the sin of her poverty, finally enters the word of the riches. It's exactly the opposite.
Even the usual family revenge subplot is treated in a much mature way, without incredibly tragic past events providing material for lenghty heart-rending flashbacks.
I particularly like how the corrupted environment of the upper class, an essential ingredients of this kind of play, is not portrayed in the usual exaggerated manichean way. Instead of being pure evil ready to committ all sorts of crimes the characters walk the ambiguous line between a simple moral misconduct and the crime of corruption. Because in the end we do not expect lawyers to act like gangsters, even when they are shady they would somehow try to manipulate the law instead of openly breaking it. Moreover for once is not that everyone is willing to compromise is moral integrity for money ( As dramas have accustomed us to think), but people are moved by complex and intertwined motivations that can make a corrupted person redeem or vice versa.
In this respect I noticed that usually people appreciate how moral seem dramas or movies in opposing the poor good characters to the evil rich, seeing in this a portrayal of our society.
But firstly I do not think that the good and the evil usually present themselves with such clear distinction, secondly i dislike how the average drama end up teaching us that there is no use opposing the rich ad the powerful because their corruption is so deeply rooted that only ficitve characters with superpowers can oppose them. In Heard it Through the Grapevine, instead, we find a world ( as the one we live in, I suppose) where if you are not to greedy you can choose to be honest, that it is not so worse than being a corrupt rich, and people usually prefer to live honestly so that they can quietly sleep at night. In this respect I find exemplary how the people working for the Han family progressively end up questioning their authority and decide to leave them.
There would be much more to say about this drama, as for instance how it portrays the ambivalent power of education and knowledge to both free and bind people, but I think I'll end this review here.
Just to finish, I have to say that I find the narrative of this drama very compelling, I thought that every character and every subplot were amazingly interesting and in the end I really enjoyed watching it.
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It seems that the series was cut by two episodes, I admit I don't understand why because it really needed those last two to finish the story adequately.
I gave it an 8 because I did enjoy it, however it lost two points in my rating for the hurried incomplete ending :(
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THE LEGENDARY AND GREATEST K DRAMA OF ALL TIME
STRICTLY FOR MATURE AUDIENCECriminally the most underrated and greatest K-drama I've seen.
Deserves Baeksang award for everything category( Though it won for best drama overall)
It haunts me how good this drama was and I'll never find something like this.
To have experienced such a unique direction and style of writing.
The perfect blend of Black comedy.
Everybody in this drama has definite screen time.
Everybody plays an important role.
All I can say is this is the first drama where all the actors have given a STELLAR performance.
It's mind-boggling in away.
To have such an artistic imagination and create something like this, it comes once a decade.
The ending is kinda indefinite but positive.
The social satire is on another level.
You'll start to closely look and ponder at things like Money, Fame, Power, Social difficulties and most important of them all Life in a different manner.
The essence of this drama is the hope some people might need in their lives.
And for some, it might be a reality check.
It depends on what you see and how you see i.e. your perspective.
A must watch for everyone. People should recognize something this brilliant and unique.
This piece of art deserves praise at every moment. :)
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This review may contain spoilers
It's a fools journey
I am Sad to finish another Ahn Pan Seok (APS) drama. I have enjoyed all of his dramas from 2012 onwards. He did not disappoint me and I was very happy with the ending as well. In the past I have criticized APS for ending the drama with unanswered questions but this time he delivered.The drama itself was 30 hours long and it is the longest one I have watched so far, but the 30 hours seemed to have flown by.
I liked this drama because it did not follow a formula. On the surface, it would seem that the drama is about our primary couple (OPC) but I think the drama is more about ML's parents (in-laws). It was evident from the beginning that our FL was a tough young lady and will firmly stand her ground and little change was expected from her as the story unfolded. Her husband came across as weak and the actor playing that role did a superb job and till the end he stayed as a supportive husband. We all knew that he'd choose the family over his inheritance.
All the time, I was wondering how are the parents going to transform? So, really the story is about the in-laws and their domineering/controller characteristics.
I wondered till the end if in-laws would fall in line and value the family over wealth and status. I was happy to see that APC and the writer chose the latter.. I think it would have been too cheesy if in the last 10 minutes of the show, the in-laws mended their way and lived happily ever after with OPF (our primary family). Although sad, the ending fit well the in-laws character which was selfish, controlling and looking good. Children.. what children!! they were their play beings as exhibited by their grand child. Throughout the drama, the in-laws would wake up in the middle of the night and play with their grand child. But when the time came to choose between the family and money, they quickly forgot about the grand child and chose money, status and eventually loneliness.
I would have given this drama a 9 but the length of the drama and the terrible OST just couldn't make it to a 9. I would have like to given it a 8.75 but that option is not available.
I am glad to have the spent the time watching this drama and if you like APS's other dramas, you'd like this one too.
Cons: The English translation was lacking at times and it was difficult to follow all the intricate details of the financial transaction and secretary Yang's dealings. So it became confusing at times.
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This isn't a typical Drama relying on the usual cliches, though of course it has familiar elements. Cinderella story? Heart warming family drama? Revenge story? Romance? Corruption? Seperation?
This ride takes you through many places and the fact you are never quite sure where it'll take you next is part of it's charm.
The humour is surprisingly good, I laughed out loud regularly and chortled more often. As others have said the humour can be a little dark and twisted at times leading you to curse and laugh at the same time in places.
The acting was exceptional all the characters coming to life with seemingly little effort. There are many faces you will recognise in this ensemble cast and a lot of talent on show. Yoo Joon Sang and Choi Yeon Hee were excellent, portraying the terrible In Laws that you should love to hate with enough humanity to make you never lose sight of them as people. They are the focus of the show and they carry it well.
Go Ah Sung was amazing as Seo Bom, following her journey and character growth was a joy.
There has to be a special mention for the baby as well, watching his interactions with the cast kept bringing a smile to my face, they obviously spent a fair bit of time together.
Only Lee Joon really disappointed just feeling substandard in comparison to everyone else.
This program also contains one of the best birth scenes I've watched, it got the point across without seeming too forced and unreal and I actually watched it all the way through, the humour helped.
The Music I really enjoyed, it had me bopping in my seat on a number of occasions I even liked the opening number enough to look it up. The spooky discordant music was a little overused but at least there weren't any dreadful ballads thrown in. Poongmoon Gypsy made me jig everytime it came on.
What I wasn't so keen on was the corruption and political stuff I skipped through plenty of that, occasionally missing plot points entirely - what happened to her leg? There were also a few episodes which seemed like filler with nothing much happening and not enough humour to pull you through.
As has been noted by others the ending is rushed with too many elements being resolved too quickly, apparently due to two episodes being knocked off the run at a late time. Which makes me regret the filler episodes even more.
I would watch various bits of this again, The headbutt! so unexpected but perfect, the duck and run, Hyun Soo telling it like it is and so on . Maybe in a year or two I'll settle down and watch it again.
TLDR: Worth a go if you fancy something different with laugh out loud moments but no need to force yourself to watch every second.
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For Mature Audiences Only
Not knowing what other dramas were in contention for the 2015 -2016 award season, I cannot confidently claim that Heard it through the Grapevine was robbed of any additional awards it should have garnered. What I will write is that it deserved all it achieved and more. The series itself can only be described as a genuine masterpiece and every main actor/actress held their own with respect to the role they played. This includes the lurking household servants who among their other duties were furtive shadows to the goings on in the house. I was surprised that the actress Baek Ji Won's cadence of her voice was so different from that of her character in Be Melodramatic and Do You Like Brahms. Incredible that she has that kind of voice modulation, but I digress. HITTG drama is about a teenage girl (Seo Bom) and her boyfriend (In Sang) who ends up pregnant after their first clumsy sexual encounter at summer camp. What follows is a tearful confession to her mother who is understandably distraught and disappointed, and a distancing from In Sang who has no idea that impending fatherhood is on the horizon as she disappeared from sight. Of course in true melodramatic fashion he combs her high school campus in search of her and through the help of his father's staff member tracks her down at her middle class neighborhood and whisks her off to his family home to emotionally explain to his parents that the baby was conceived in love which was one of the more hilarious moments right out of the gate. So far this synopsis sounds simple right? Wrong! Through the remaining 30 episodes what we experience is a firsthand view of how biases are formed from an extreme conservative bent and how entrenched prejudices and classism can lead to dire consequences. To say that In Sang's parents were shocked and horrified is to put it mildly. In Sang's father (Jun Ho Han), a ruthless egomaniac and his mother a beautiful and elegant but otherwise obtuse woman reluctantly agree to Seo Bom living in their house because afterall In Sang is the male heir to the family fortune. However, this arrangement becomes hell for Seo Bom as despite not knowing prior to their coupling that In Sang was a member of Korea's 1%, tries to fit in as much as possible while still having a voice. I swear if Prince Harry had not met Meghan Markle 2 years after this drama was filmed, I would be convinced that this drama was based on their life. As with the Duchess of Sussex, Seo Bom thought that just being beautiful, smart and poised were enough attributes to win her in-laws favor, but in fact it had the opposite effect as she was looked upon with disdain and disgust for no other reason than she was born of middle class lineage and as such did not deserve a seat at their table. This contradiction of emotion was evident in their doting of their grandchild and so there was never an idea of grudgingly throwing out the baby with the bathwater analogy. While It is said that girls mature faster than boys, we see that with In Sang, who was slow to standing up to his parents for the mistreatment of his now wife and draw lines even as they clung closer to each other and became adults over night. The writer for me does such an excellent job of merging the ridiculous to the sublime with a smattering of soap opera comedic moments and what we get is how the head of a family uses archaic formalities disguised as traditional values to tamp down on their children's right to voice how they wish to live. But as much as I loved the drama, this is not to say that there were no frustrating moments (it's just that HITTG does not come with any chest tightening and throw the remote at the screen scenes nor adversarial sibling rivalries). For example, Seo Bom's uncle's inability to make a final decision about whether or not to sue for his disability annoyed the daylights out of me and went on too long. I am still not sure after 30 episodes what he decided to do and if I am being honest, I think that an episode disappeared between 29 and 30 as the ending seemed unfinished and pitiful somehow. Let me take a minute to talk about the fashions of those catty, superficial moms and as contemptuous as they were, left me green with envy whenever they graced the screen. The wardrobe stylist (him/her) needs a special award just for getting every outfit worn right. Honorable mention, Secretary Lee. My other gripe would be the tendency of this writer and others to sanitize a mother's abhorrent behavior always on the last episode (Something in the Rain anyone) and in this case to absolve In Sang's mother for all the wrongs that she did to Seo Bom for 30 episodes as a willing and downright cruel accomplice. This idea that any mother is still a mother is a fallacy and contrast that with Seo Bom's mother whose support and love of her daughter never waivered and subsequently extended to In Sang. Her emotional scenes anchored the drama for me. I did not spend a lot of time on In Sang's father who is also extremely crucial to the storyline, but I appreciated that Writer Jung did not deviate from his character at all as if sans an act of god humans can easily change from bad to good. Till the very end when he walked into that empty historic and somewhat antebellum house, he remained as defiant and unrepentant as ever. Through the writer's lens, we get to see that Leaders are not born but cultivated and honed and forces the viewer like me to question our own moral compass. Does money really change the core of a person and why. Why does a person or persons continue to be gripped by fear when it becomes necessary to challenge their professional establishment. What is a reasonable expectation from their employer even as we roll through the 21st century. Food for thought. I will leave it here. Across the board this is a solid 10 for me....Was this review helpful to you?
Ho Goo's Love meets SKY Castle
I rarely write reviews, but since this is an underrated drama from 2015, I have made an exception!I absolutely love this drama, it is unique and you can't help fall in love with the characters and their storylines. In Sang and Bom are amazing, as well as the household staff. I want to immediately rewatch the drama all over again, but I think that will make it harder to move on.
I usually stay away from long dramas, and this was 30 episodes, but now I wish it was 30 more. I want to avoid spoilers, so I will just say give it a chance. I was hooked by the first episode, and you probably will be, too.
My heart just aches that it's over. I will miss these characters deeply.
fanmade music video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hjiq9LansjQ
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“No-one can make you feel inferior unless you give them permission.” (Eleanor Roosevelt)
If you are someone who can see through the facade to the merciless pen underneath, then you will love this drama. The writer, Jung Sung Joo, shares Jane Austen’s ability to allow characters to damn themselves through the words that emerge from their own mouths, and she reveals a feast of dangerous stupidity and ignorance, stuffed full of self importance, pompous delusion and total helplessness.The art of good satire is to clearly reveal the self interest and evil hidden behind the veil (such an apt anagram!) which the powerful draw over it. This show does that in spades. Hysterically funny at the start as it draws the lines of battle. Then it inches down the road to seriousness until, twisting the knife, the cost in suffering of the abuse of power is laid bare. However funny it is, this drama is a deeply serious comment on the use and abuse of power in a society in transition to the modern, and the underlying ruthless, self-interested principles that guide it.
The skill of the writer is so much more subtle than simply mocking and attacking. The script, in the wonderful hands of director Ahn Pan Seok, simultaneously unfolds multiple perspectives on a situation. Laughter and anger share the same space. One second judgemental, the next sympathetic towards the same character. The music (by Lee Nam Yeon) is a masterpiece of counterpoint and a character in itself, as is the suffocating environment of the house.
This biting satire on class and privilege may not make a great deal of sense to people from more notionally egalitarian societies without a history of aristocracy. The true aristocracy are not people who have wealth and power because they have made it on their own merit, or through business dealings or corruption, like the chaebol (who also feature in the story). Their wealth, power and status is totally unearned by them individually. They view it as their inalienable/natural birthright and that they are the custodians that must hand their power and values on, intact, to the next generation. Hence, Han Jung Ho’s bizarre insistence that the “children” study Machiavelli’s “The Prince” in scenes that made me cry with both laughter and despair.
Part of the humour and satire stems from the fact that the Han family is not truly aristocratic (the father is third generation nouveau riche) but they ape the values of the aristocracy. They do it with the clumsy, narrow-minded misunderstanding and thoroughness that only the aspiring can have, and in the process wreak devastating havoc on everyone else. The corrupted worship of tradition and ceremony may be ridiculous, but make no mistake, the power is real and dangerous.
The script plays on the blindness at the heart of the Han parents to the privilege that feeds their all consuming self interest. Having never known anything else they cannot think outside the box. In a wonderful moment in Ep 6, the father (Han Jung Ho) claims a spurious egalitarian credibility for himself by smugly announcing that everyone, whatever their status, shares the same style of office space in his law firm and adds, “what does being aristocratic count for these days, we’re all civilians now”. Their ignorance and ego offers much opportunity for manipulative, servile flattery which in writer Jung Sung Joo’s hands becomes a crowning work of art. Especially in the sycophantic performance of a lifetime by Kil Hae Yeon as Secretary Yang. My favourite line of hers being (in the context of imagined alopecia) “Don’t worry, Caesar didn’t have much hair either.” To which Han Jung Ho’s reply is, “Truly, you’re the only one who reads my mind.”
But behind the savagery of the satire lies a humanity that reveals how trapped the Han parents are in the vice-like grip of the world that they have created from their delusion of superiority and the personal price they are condemned to pay for continuing to uphold it.
As with the ending of Secret Love Affair, another exceptional offering by this writer and director combination, the ending is perfect. There is no trite papering over cracks, although I could have wanted the lead up to it to be better. Whoever ordered the cutting of the number of episodes late in the day is a philistine worthy of being employed at Hansong! Having said that, my only criticism is that overall the script could have done with an editor’s pencil. It is expansive in the extreme, and although it mostly holds the attention, it would have been tighter and sharper commissioned for 24 episodes, rather than the 30 it ended up being. The cast and direction are legendary and walk as close as humanly possible to the edge of the cliff without falling over.
As a piece of satire this is 20/10, but as a drama, it has a few pacing faults. I cannot recommend it enough if you are someone who likes to be challenged to think when watching. It is a superb piece of drama.
What my rating means: 9+ A drama I totally fell in love with and is endlessly re-watchable. It ticked all the boxes and had some serious wow factor. It would go on my personally recommended list.
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As close to real as a drama can get
This was pretty phenomenal.My only issue is it was slow at times and although I like the subtly of the storylines, it became kind of a chore to understand the double meanings when characters were talking to each other.
The actors did an amazing job- mains and side characters did their job perfectly.
I HIGHLY recommend this one BUT only for those who have watched a ton of k-dramas with rich families and/ or can understand their dynamics otherwise you will be lost.
This is not a drama to watch for your fav oppa/ unni because the storyline just doesn't really call for that.
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