Oasis (2023)

ambivalence

"Oasis". Hm. I've thought whether I should continue watching or drop the series... I've also considered more than once whether I want to write something about it... My feelings about this KDrama are ambivalent. However, the ´why is this?´ , is why I actually consider it worth mentioning.

Sure, there were bumpy details, like the boys' artificial skin tanning when they were young, but I don't want to dwell on those.
>> The decisive factor for me, not rooting so much for this show, was and is that I really do NOT care so much for ANYBODY in this story. I understand, yes. There is empathy, yes. But sympathy? I couldn't care less. I've never had that before. I actually didn’t care. Neither the love story, nor the incorrigible rival, nor the girl wanting to bring back her father's cinema – this all and more only had limited impact on me. That's why I was tempted to turn my back on the story. Yet, I don't want to deny the actors' ability. I would do them injustice. They did their job fairly well. There are a number of strong moments. But still, maybe they were not the perfect cast? In any case, I would argue that in “OASIS” the character portraits were simply NOT drawn that well. ...In my view, that's obviously NOT the strength of the script...

Then there is the historical context of the series – the rollercoaster ride of the 80's and 90's. In South Korea, they are the neuralgic interface between dictatorship and democracy. But I don't want to dwell on this either.
>> What was decisive for me was that the STORY of the KDrama really mattered to me – whatever triggered the dynamics, the twists and turns. Intertwined with it were indeed countless moments that touched me deeply. Starting with the seed that underlies the whole drama: the fatal loyalty of the former slave not only to his deceased master, who had fought for independence, but also to his son, whom he now still serves as a free man. And then also the fruits that came out of this seed. Plus a lot more. The circumstances, the constraints, the social context that shines through in how it shapes (or had shaped) people, all of this really had me .
The way these forces of time and history run along in the background as a matter of course and keep stirring up the lives of the protagonists at crucial points, I think the script did THAT quite well. (However, I don't know whether it would have worked that way if I hadn't already known something about the political and social context back then.)

Maybe I could summarize: The portrait of how the historical dynamics are intertwined with personal destinies is well done in "Oasis". The character portrait of the comparatively stale protagonists, on the other hand, is less so. This discrepancy, resulting in my rather indifferent experience of the main characters on the one hand, and the emotional force with which the story keeps lashing out on the other hand, is a phenomenon that I have never experienced in a KDrama before. (But I don't necessarily assume that this has to be the same for others as it is for me.)

Eventually, despite the ambivalence, I watched to the end and was always curious to see what would be next. I can't say I regret watching either. But then I wasn´t all that happy in the end - even though I was partially impressed by the showdown, (yet, again, only partially.)



----------------------- Tiny side note: -------------------------------------

Re: 80's and 90's:
In connection with e.g. the KDramas "Sandglass" and "Giant" I have already given some of the political coulors of the 1980s and 1990s. Much of this applies to the historical context of "Oasis" as well. (you might want to check there.) Here, though, the dubious role of the secret service comes more into focus.

Re. Movie theatre:
The dictatorship was characterized by censorship. In addition, there was no freedom to travel. Accordingly, the cinema was like a window to the rest of the world, and generally offered a canvas to dream away from one's own misery, at least for a while. That may be more or less true wherever you look on this planet. But in South Korea at that time certainly more than i.e. in Europe. The role of the ´cinema´ in "Oasis" not only coincidentally represents liberation (struggle - especially of the female protagonist).
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Ps.:
Because of this KDrama I stumbled over another one - same title, 20 years older: "Oasis (2003) " or "Desert Spring".
I am grateful for this discovery thanks to the name-connection. Actually I liked that older one (despite the specific doing of that time) even more...
Nevertheless I consider "Oasis" (2023) having its moments, too...

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South Korean history lesson

"Oasis" is a dark/noir drama series since it is set in the era of the dictator Chun that set up a concentration camp for "purificatory education". It shows workers/college student movements (represented by supporting character Lee Jeong Ok [Doo Hak's younger sister] and second lead character Choi Cheol Woong) in the 80s and the hideous government education camps (character Choi Cheol Woong experiences the abusive purifying education). The story includes movie theaters in the 80s where movies were so popular (represented by movie theater owners/movie producers character Cha Geum Ok and main female leading character Oh Jung Jin / Sophia in "Oasis"). Historically, some movies became the most entertaining films that are still regularly watched today. It also tells the story of a former slave/servant that does whatever his former master wants him to do, including giving up his second son. I am saddened when Abeoji Lee Joong Ho died (the main character Lee Doo Hak's father, a farmer and a former slave/servant). The scene is so harrowing when his wife, Eomma/Eomoni Jeom Am Daek (main character Lee Doo Hak's mother) sobbing aguishly when her husband died and during the funeral and funeral procession. "Oasis" is a mini series that is a gut-wrenching portrait of the parental sacrifice and the oldest son's filial piety, a complete obedience to his parents (represented by male character Lee Doo Hak). It also tells a story of a manipulative woman Kang Yeo Jin ( "Cheol Woong'mother") that will do unapologetically by any means necessary including lying that "her" son, Choi Cheol Woong is her former lover (Deputy Hwang Chung Seong)'s son, and uses Deputy Hwang Chung Seong to cover her deceit. it also shows the authoritarian leader of Deputy Hwang Chung Seong that has complete control over his subordinate Team Captain/Prosecutor Coordinator Oh Man Ok.

There are many fighting scenes and also when South Korean government forcefully clear low income housing areas, as a strategy to impress the international attention and build sporting facility for upcoming Olympics event in Seoul, South Korea. It tells the story of the main character and his new career as a contractor purchasing land from low income people and the mushrooming of high rise apartment buildings around the Olympics center.

I really like watching and waiting patiently for the next episodes of "Oasis" mini series. It has South Korean history lesson that is interesting and educational for me. The cast are wonderful, including lovely actress Seol In Ah (role Oh Jung Jin), solemnly performed by actor Jang Dong Yoon (role Lee Doo Hak), skillfully performed by actor Choo Young Woo (role Choi Cheol Woong), veteran actor Jeon Noh Min (role Deputy Hwang Chung Seong), veteran actor Kim Myung Soo (role Abeoji Lee Joong Ho), veteran actress So Hee Jung (role Jeom Am Daek), and most notably "Everyman warrior" actor Jin Yi Han (convincingly portrays role Villain Oh Man Ok). Watching "Oasis" can be depressing since it is a noir/dark drama series that has intricate plots and gruesome story during the dictator/dark times era.

I must say I am impressed with actor Choo Young Woo's performance in "Oasis" He is only in his early 20s and is able to deliver a solid complicated and hated character Choi Cheol Woong in "Oasis". He will be the next generation great actor. Also, it is worth noted that Actor Jin Yi Han really immerses himself in his role as a villain Oh Man Ok and he lost so much weight , 11 Kgs, for his role to look more "sinister" in "Oasis (2023)". Additionally his deep resonant voice and intense different facial expressions show he is an excellent actor and is able to deliver his thorough and fine performance.

I rate a 9 out of 10 for the mini series, I highly recommend watching "Oasis (2023). Enjoy the mini series.

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Their personal stories in the waterfall of history

"다 지난 일이야"
You won't find any other drama that was made with such love and tremendous attention as Oasis. You won't find any drama as fine-tuned and organic. You won't find any thing sticking out and spoiling the detailed set or the flow. The first episode rating in Korea for Oasis was 6.3% and the final one peaked at 9.7%. These impressive numbers say it all.
🔹️I confess: I've watched the first episode 3 times simply because it's so immaculate and immersive from the very first second that I couldn't keep from going back to it. That musical sequence in slow motion, serving as a gate to the drama world, is the level above any K-drama we are used to seeing. The creators masterfully weave the music and movies of their childhood and teenage years into the layers of long kept secrets and hurtful passions. As nostalgic as Reply 1988 in some way. They made me fall in love with the music band 해바라기 that was popular back then, they made me explore more Korean movies made at that period of time. (You can find my review on Yeong Ja's Heydays here on MDL and on Letterboxd. That was the age-restricted movie the characters watch for the first time together in a theater) And I am still going through the history of South Korea under Park Jeong Hee and Jeon Doo Hwan, though it doesn't seem like the major historical events affect the story here, only the overall economic and social situation.

🔹️I love the quality of Oasis. I can feel the creators put all their warmest memories and souls in it. Especially the fights choreography is so good! I can track all the movements with my eyes, and camera doesn't shake like if the camera operator had a tremor. The gang wars are rampant and spectacular. Crashing glasses, breaking bones! There is a lot of visual humor: some gangster plays dead to not get his a$s beaten up. 😂

🔹️I tried to track the timeline, which is not always defined. The story starts in the late 70s (I calculated, most probably it's 1975) and ends in 1987, the year the current Sixth Republic of Korea was established and the authoritarian rule finally ended after all the years of struggle. It's a very matching background for the drama story. The unrest in society is passed to the teenagers who are becoming adults and learn to navigate their lives in this hectic environment.

Oh, have I already said that Choo Yeong Woo is an acting genius? Yep, I did. On his debut mini drama. I can't believe anyone else could ever play such a complicated and controversial character as Choi Cheol Woong. I will definitely keep an eye on this shining young talent.

P.S. Goddamn I wish there was a second MDL with only reasonable and mature viewers that I could escape to. Looks like the people here don't appreciate ambiguous characters, only simple entertainment, and for some reason think that the screenwriters have to satisfy their whims. I'm not trying to offend you, only those who wrote the mean comments.

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2 weak 2 die

The drama had no right or reason to get the full 16-episode lengthy runtime. Zooming out to look at the drama as a whole, they turned a movie plot into a fully-fledged 18+ hours of redundant episodes. This was quite apparent, watching the writer struggling immensely at every turn. It's also why the writer incorporated cheap antics to get around the plot, the worst of which were the cowardly sneaked-in time-skips, a deplorable trope. Anyway, the writer must have been wearing his clown costume while scripting the last episode. This drama had no respect for the viewers or their time. We were promised an oasis but we were left stranded in the desert.

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An unique plot after long time

First of all the cast .. i knew the actress for a long time,, she was in mr queen and other dramas..but the actor ,,i never saw him .. his acting is just10/10 .. he doesn’t post anything on his instagram..i wonder why he stopped posting after 2020, it’s already 2023.. i want to watch him more,, i want to watch him in more dramas…. How can a actor like him never showed up that much? I have almost seen every dramas ,,movies .. where was he ,for the last 7 years?? Why I don’t know a actor like him , i have been watching dramas for years now why he wasn’t in the dramas , ….. i have so many many many questions
And 80s drama is my favourite..the triangle thing was a bit annoying to me but when i watched the episodes I finally understood.. I cried in some episodes..I really felt pity for the ml.he deserves the best.. this drama also teach us how cruel life can be.. i am not giving the main twist of the plot but the people who are thinking that it’s a triangle romance drama only ,, for them i am saying no it’s not ,, you can’t feel the thing until you watch it.. there are twists.., even in the episode 10 I thought everything is okay now yet again twist so let’s hope for a happy ending

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Emotional one

We had a happy ending that's matter . It was a very emotional story. All characters nail it , both the mothers were good . The one who play the role of Dak 's friends were also very good. I must say every characters did their best . As it based on old days story so may be sometime felt bore watching it as I felt but I didn't drop it because of the characters ,they did great job . Actually because of them I had watched the whole drama . Story was good no doubt but as I had already written that it was based on ancient time so some scenes may felt bored. They drama had given a very nice ending but I think and I wish if they showed their marriage so may the drama be perfect . For me atleast .
I like it and I hope those watch it may their perspectives change bit by bit as they watch each episode .
For my side a big thumbs up.

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Okay but wouldn’t rewatch

This drama started of sooo good, I loved the suspense at the start and the plot line. + the ROMANCE!

It just takes to long to really get to the plot twists, and the exciting bits of the plots many filler episodes. Also the second male lead has little to no character development until the last episode. I did really enjoy the first few episodes with the dynamic between the female and male leads. If you like dramas like the reply series you would like that aspect of it.

I would have to say the actors did a great job, but the story line just felt as though it was dragging. The part where we find out they are brother also comes later on and it’s unclear on this part of the story line, as FL hears this from the mother when she’s drunk. So I wish there was earlier indication of this part of the story.

I feel like there was so much potential in this drama, but it was just lost towards the end.

Having said all this, if you do want a quick watch with some romance I’d recommend this.

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a hit or a miss, but mostly a miss.

⚠️ this review has been edited, but contains spoilers in terms of plot and character dynamics. read at your own risk. originally posted in April of 2023. ⚠️

i was going to write out a whole long ass, terribly formal review of this (complete with quoting OST lyrics and all) and then stopped halfway, bc with the things this show put me through it deserves nothing less than a review that is as chaotic as possible. (in case you're wondering, the original draft is still sitting in my notes never to see the light of day sksksksk)

so let's get this out here: the plot, for 3/4ths of its run, imo, was sh*t. and then it wasn't, but that was during the last four or so episodes when they made some questionable choices and left me trying to figure out how on earth things could have wrapped up so well and yet so wrong at the same time. like killing off Oh Man Ok, for instance, someone who could be considered the most interesting character after Doo Hak himself (and who i consider, courtesy of Jin Yi Han, as the dark horse of the cast in terms of powerhouse acting—give me back my morally ambiguous team leader with little backstory, a f*ckable voice and fierce loyalty to the man who chose the kid that wasn't even his f*cking son to act as an umbrella for [iykyk]), or separating our favorite "good girl/bad boy" couple after the main ship for no reason other than "a special wedding and a special divorce" (Hyung Joo and Yeon Joo—the JooJoo couple my beloveds 😔).
even Jung Shin and Doo Hak, the two we have been rooting for for so long, can never seem to get to the altar, unlike their on again/off again counterparts. and then, ofc, do not get me started on how the Big Bad never got the justice that was coming for him bc SOMEONE decided it was a good idea to close the f*cking door of the hospital room , or how we thought we should all gather around one man (name redacted) to hear his (supposed) last words and then freak out when he passes out from blood loss when we should have been getting him to a F*CKING DOCTOR IN THE FIRST PLACE. *exhales* but this is k-drama land, and logic sometimes is not in the equation. i am used to this by now
(i will take this opportunity to say that this is not a show that you binge watch. this is a show of makjang-like proportions, where there is one more person to hate every week and you must seethe in your chair for the next six days while awaiting the next episode. as someone who was lucky enough to be able to volunteer on the segmenting and editing team for Viki [the uh *cough* official streamers of the show after Wavve], the upside to this was finishing my assigned portion, watching the rest of the episode, and then heading to the team chat to see the rest of us having mostly the same view of things asfjhslkmkcsncnsq)

the acting was..... ok. Jung Shin, through no fault of her own, might have had the weakest writing here, imo—compared to In Ah's role in Mr. Queen i thought the performance was lacking. Dong Yoon as Doo Hak knocked it out of the f*cking ballpark (no surprise there) but even in this he is neck and neck with Young Woo: the ability to play such an unstable and emotionally damaged character at the age of 23 in what is his first real major, gritty role (after debuting in BL's You Make Me Dance and sticking to mostly light-hearted and slice-of-life offers since then) is something to be acknowledged, and despite my qualms about the final showdown in ep 16 you will have to burn the sight of him screaming that he is sick and tired of things at the woman he thought was his mother out of my braincells bc it's staying there. for a while. (like uh. he's turning 24 this year. the man is five years older than me and he is eating this sh*t up f*cked up script and all) the gang, as i affectionately like to call them, also did an amazing job, and even several members who i was prepared to write off as mortal enemies settled into a "scratch my back i scratch yours" arrangement with Doo Hak by the end.

the ending itself, tho—that was also very vague, but i think that might have been intentional? like we're told there's a warrant to be served but we're not told who it's for. even when Am-daek says that "she's his mother" and that her son is inside the Yeosu theater watching one last film, we have no idea which son she's talking about. for all we know, it could be the system, failing Lee Doo Hak once again. it could be the prosecution, come to take in one of their own. Cheol Woong, for his part once sh*t has hit the fan, wants to spend the rest of his life atoning, but his hyung stops him. "don't," he says. "it's all in the past." is this a quasi-redemption arc, something the writers decided on to tide those of us who hate tragic endings over? idk, but i will not accept it. something in me wants to see Cheol Woong go to therapy but also suffer, have just one more taste of the medicine that Doo Hak has been forced to swallow until now. but then again, maybe i'm being more like Doo Hak throughout the first half of this, and not like the Doo Hak we see when all is said and done.

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Better as a movie not a show

With so many jump and fast-forward in timelines here in this drama, I think it is better if they made this a movie. The plot is not interesting enough to make it a 16 episode show. A lot of narcissist and annoying characters here too. The tandem of Jang Dongyoon and Seol In-A in this drama is also a meh for me. I think they look better as friends than a couple. The weird ties of the two male leads (lee doo hak and choi cheol woong ) is not good too. I find it awful. Props to kang kyunghun's acting, she's so good at acting villain here that I get annoyed everytime she talks. I don't like the OSTs too.

I give this a 3.5/10. The actings are not horrible, just the flow of the story.

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Unlike Snowdrop

The series is over, but if anyone hasn't seen it and wants to see it, I don't recommend it... I had problems with filming and editing it from the beginning, but I liked the story. But little by little, my story had nothing to say. As some people said, characterization was not interesting. I mean, in the last part, I wanted them to be so excited and emotional, but my reaction was really very normal

Spoiler
Now he shot it twice to make the viewer excited

Unlike Snowdrop, which conveyed emotions and excitement from the first episode... I suggest Snowdrop in this model of spaces

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Tengo volutamente un punteggio alto

perché, a mio parere, questa serie merita un voto complessivo molto più alto di quello che vedo ora (7.6)
E' scritta bene, fotografia, attori, musiche, sviluppo sono da cinema di livello alto (per certi versi mi ha ricordato Gangs of New York, di Scorsese, o anche C'era una volta in America, di Sergio Leone ... ) quindi non capisco perché un punteggio basso.
La storia richiama la tragedia di un padre nato servo/schiavo, con una mentalità che ancora non riesce ad adeguarsi ai tempi moderni (1980), che si strappa dal cuore il secondo figlio maschio per "regalarlo" al padrone e tiranneggia il figlio maggiore, estremamente intelligente e talentuoso, a fare da cane da guardia al fratello, stare sempre un passo indietro, assumersi colpe al posto suo ecc. ecc.
Questo è l'incipit. Sullo sfondo il dramma della rivolta popolare di Gwangju (Corea del Sud) del maggio del 1980, in seguito al colpo di stato di Chun Doo-hwan, rivolta soffocata nel sangue. Come pure lo sviluppo immobiliare di grandissime aree extra-urbane che accendono gli appetiti di altri funzionari governativi oltre che dalla Gangs dei gangsters locali. C'è anche una storia d'amore, e una bella storia familiare ... E' da vedere.

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