This review may contain spoilers
A Sleeper That Should Become A 'Masterpiece'!
First of all, one reviewer said that there was nudity; the worst thing shown in this movie was the back of a female's body and her side in bed view; definitely not enough to complain about nudity as a reason for not watching this masterpiece!Actually, in my opinion, the first two times they make love are two of the most erotic moments in Korean cinema!
And, as another reviewer stated it, "The mild sexual content was tasteful and beautifully filmed, as well as was there for a purpose not just for thirsty eyes." I agree completely!
The two act as if they are scared of each other and are still cheating on their hospitalized spouses; they seem to be in high school and afraid to get caught 'doing it' for the first time, but their "need" for sex forces them to continue the taboo act...sex, and psychological release, from their forced-upon-them ordeal.
Each of them would have never thought of cheating on their spouse had they met in the same situation and their spouses' actions had not been discovered.
Also, the version most people had access to cut out important pieces of the rest of the story; what happened to In Soo (Bae Yong Joon) was cut from the readily-available version on YouTube. I was told that in the director's cut In Soo did divorce his wife, Su Jin (Lim Sang-Hyo, the female who survived the crash) and marry Seo Young (Son Ye Jin).
Since I only had the edited version to watch I thought the two were just cheating on their spouses again - the director's version makes the two going out on a road trip during a snow in spring (April) more acceptable.
I personally would have also divorced Su Jin after her action following her realization about her lover, Kwang-il {Kim Kwang-Il).
For this movie, you have to think like the wronged spouses here:
Both surviving spouses found out about their partner's being in a hospital through someone else calling them; they had no idea that his/her spouse was cheating on them!
Can you imagine the thoughts, doubts, and questions that were going through each other's minds
as they read the text messages of their partner's cell phones (as the hospital turned the cell phones
over to each of them?
Can you imagine the self-doubts of each of the leading cast members as they probably questioned
their self-worth as a partner, knowing that they (both) were being cheated on, and then to have to
meet the spouse of that person who was doing the cheating with their partner as well?
Can you imagine both partners wanting to (as I would have been prone to do) take a pillow and simply
smothering their spouse, solving a cornucopia of future problems that would have come about with
the cheating spouse recovering? In Soo even suggested this to his wife that she just die!
Can you imagine living in a guest house or nearby hotel/motel to a hospital as your spouse is (hopefully)
recovering, with nothing to do except ask yourself questions over and over again; and the only other
person who understands what you are going through is the spouse of the person your loved one was
cheating with in the first place?
These type questions are being asked by the two main leads minute by minute, and the answers to these questions form the basis of this wonderful movie!
As this movie slowly develops, we are shown that these very, and other, questions are plaguing both main leads, and ultimately, they only have each other to turn to in trying to find and maintain some form of sanity while waiting for their individual spouses to survive...or die!
Both leads are not sleeping; and both leads need someone desperately to talk to about their situation, someone who understands what they themselves are going through.
Both leads want to understand what was going on in the minds of their spouse, and how long it had been going on; this 'need' to find out more drives them to overcome their initial wariness of talking to each other and asking each other to see whatever records they may have to help them understand what their cheating spouse was thinking.
I saw much respect in the approach of the two toward each other as they knew the other may have information about the affair which the other didn't: In Soo was very polite and courteous to Seo Young as he initiated the request to share the cell phone text of her injured husband; Seo Young was equally respectful of In Soo in sharing this info...and her giving him property which she knew didn't belong to her husband.
This is not a movie that kills a person every 5 minutes, but it is about the psychological process of each of the wronged spouses is what makes this movie special!
Woven intricately by the director is a metamorphosis of the main characters' understanding of the situation they are dealt and how that affects them, the cheated-on spouse: you can see their bodies and actions "change" and become more stressed as these revelations take their toll on them, they become more pessimistic, cannot sleep and desperately need someone else to share their feelings; in In Soo's case one of the support cast sees these changes and how it affects him early on.
You also are dealing with two spouses who are in the prime of their life, especially Seo Young; had their spouses not wrecked a vehicle on their cheating vacation, the cheating spouses probably would have gone home and had sex with their waiting spouses, leaving the at-home spouse ignorant of their activities on their 'business trip.'
Sex is also a great way to relieve stress as you watch these individuals become more disillusioned, they NEED to relieve that built-up stress somehow; you can almost see it in their eyes as they find out that their partners' affair may have been since their college years.
Seo Young holds off her tears until after the funeral of the young man whose death was caused by the vehicle used by her husband and In Soo's cheating wife...you can almost feel the tension being released as she gets the build-up stress out of her system finally. Her exceptional ability to show emotion also came out in her portrayal of both the mother and her daughter in The Classic (2003)
It is shown over a time-lapse shot of the interval needed of her tension being released.
Each time I watch this, I see more of the carefully-placed emotional gestures of the two grieving, and wronged, spouses.
Only after Seo Young finally starts to accept what had happened, can she start being human again; her character is very quiet until this moment!
What follows is the remainder of the movie as these two draws closer to each other, out of necessity and desperation!
This is a movie that needs to be watched several times to pick up the nuances embedded by the director/screenwriter Hur Jin Ho, and I recommend the long list of several other hits he has been a part of in the past...and hopefully in the future!
The main cast makes their characters come alive and makes you forget that you are watching a movie; the sign that every great movie has in common with each other.
The support cast act professionally and in the background as they should, giving the two main leads the limelight and thus doing their part in supporting the movie's story.
The music, cinematography and props all make you feel you are in the presence of everyday people living their lives as tragedy strikes!
RE-WATCH VALUE: Don't get me wrong, you can watch this once only if you desire, but I believe that it would be a mistake only to watch it once! It definitely gets my vote for a re-watch!
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Idiot Who Wrote Synopsis Never Saw This Movie!
First of all, this is a classic, that will outlive all of the performers in the movie for generations!ONE OF THE FEW MOVIE SITES TO GET THE SYNOPSIS RIGHT ON THIS MOVIE!
"Watch Beauty in Rope Hell (1983) Synopsis : During World War II, Kazu, a lifeless postman who lives alone, becomes obsessed with the beautiful Mitsuko, newly married to Ekichi. When Eikichi was summoned by the army, he saw his chance and abducted her. He bound her and tortured her in his attic where she became his sex toy."
18+ Beauty In Rope Hell (1983) - ดูหนัง2022 หนังHD ดูหนังออนไลน์ หนังเต็มเรื่อง หนังเต็มเรื่อง หนังใหม่
Mitsuko Hiyama (Takakura Miki) is betrothed to her lover and future husband, Eikichi (Nuibe Kenji); but hwo also receives his military draft notice on the day of his official engagement to Mitsuko. Needless to say, a short honeymoon!
While Mitsuko is missing her new husband, a postman Kazu (Yamaji Kazuhiro) who is physically challenged, prepares an upper room , NOT HIS BASEMENT, in order ot kidnap, torture and rape the new bride.
What is funny is the three twists in the end, which finally frees Mitsuko and punishes Kazu the way he should have been!
My Drama List will not allow me to upload screenshots which shows the room Kazu uses to illegally hold Mitsuko is an upoper room and not a basment! Watch the movie between time checks
The main cast were superb together, and the support cast did their job especially well, including Kaya [House madam] (played by Ito Maya) and Kazu's original girfriend!
I give it top scores in script written for a movie, editing, acting by both mani ans support cast, ,akeu[p, casting, direction, and backfround music!
Why so techinical you ask? This is also the favorite film of a local movie critic I am friends with; he has written and posted many articles on this movie and other movies by Dan Oniroku, one of his favorite writers as well!
A mailman becomes obsessed with a pretty, young wife. He captures the woman, tortures her and keeps her in his basement dungeon where she becomes his private sex toy.
Also Known As: Dan Oniroku: My Journey to the Future , Dan Oniroku: Bijo Nawa Jigoku
Screenwriter: Saeki Toshimichi
Director: Nakamura Genji
Genres: Romance, Drama, Mature
Tags: Prostitute, Pink Film, Stockholm Syndrome, Torture, Sexual Content, Erotic, Rape, Nudity, Kidnapping, BDSM
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This review may contain spoilers
Needed more time to develop plot, characters...
This was a great little film, full of family love and the relationship between a father who gets custody of his lost daughter after her mother dies His wife took her daughter to live with the her family in the daughter's early years. The mother left Taipei and took her to the island of Kinmen...A beautiful relationship develops between Chen Shinwoo (Shaowu)/Ally Chiu and her estranged father, Keigo (Jack Kao) but leave it to a corrupt police officer to acuse problems with Keigo's former gang members...
The cinematography and music are not bad in this movie and all the cast, main and support, make you feel as if you are dealing with a real gangster setting; however, the movie turns very voilent near the end and I woujd not recomment it to anyone under 18 years of age.
You have to watch the last 16 minutes a few times to catch everything that happened!
My main complaint is that the movie should have been longer to better develop the characters and not rush through the plot the way they did.
While the actors and story were really good, the music and rushing of the plot made is 'so-so'; hence a lower rating from me!
I would have really liked for it to have been more developed and also not have the cop indiscriminately kill everyone left after the shootout in the bar!
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This review may contain spoilers
A timeless movie that will outlive us all!
This is one of the first movies I saw after seeing the bit part actress (in this movie, that is), Moon Geun-young, in "My Little Bride (2004).This, in my opinion, ranks in the Top Ten of Korean love stories, along with Wedding Dress, (2010), More Than Blue (2019) Always (2011),
The combination of casts, director, screenwriter, support cast and crew plus cinematography created a timeless piece of drama with just the right amount of comedy, sadness, et al, to create a tearjerker that will be remembered and watched for ages after the present Korean population and I are dead!
The only sad part is the suicide of one of the two main actresses for this movie, Lee Eun-Ju, some years later...It makes the re-watching of this timeless piece so much more heart-breaking!
P.S. Please bring your girlfriend and you will get brownie points...and ABSOLUTELY DO NOT start watching this movie without at least a full and partial box of Kleenex handy!
NOTE: There are three places that have the FULL MOVIE; the movie was edited by the YouTube uploader, he cut off 10 minutes of the original movie to make it look like the second female lead did not die! Do not watch his version of the movie, please.
RE-WATCH: definitely!
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This review may contain spoilers
History thrown out for showing couple's perfection...
I am about to start the Legend of Dugu to compare with this series.All in all, the whole series could have been reduced to 40 episodes and still tell the same story.
Also, I have a pet peeve as to dramas changing history:
First , oldest son did not go mad; his mother didn't like the fact that he had so many concubines, and had second son appointed Crown Prince (who, by the way, destroyed their dynasty!).
The maid that slept with the emperor did not kill herself as portrayed by this series; historically, Queen Dugu had it done for her!
There are several other places where it replaced history with drama, but I am not going to list them all here.
I don't care how "good" the couple were, they could not have been as PERFECT as this series suggests...
I agree with the comments by other reviewers on the overall series: couple too perfect; historical facts were replaced with drama; and it was too long!
It started out good until the death of the corrupt Prime Minister; afterward, it relied on a boring story coupled with inaccurate history in an attempt to save itself!
The main cast all worked well together, with the male and female lead \making you think that they were a couple; the 'competition' between them was hilarious and there were enough scenes for you to be reminded that they still cared about each otehr until the end, and most of the kisd also made you fdeel that they were an intact family (If you watch it, you know which one is the 'exception' to this rule!).
The support cast did an excellent job in their roles and supporting Dugu and her husband; below are some kudos to teh individual support cast:
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"The Most Beautiful Thigs Is Not The Rainy Day; But The Shelter We Took From The Rain."
First, it was not until I started typing up this review that I realized that everyone used their own real names in this movie! Even Guo Hao Yu changed is name back to his own name.
This series is mainly for a pre-teen and teenage viewing audience, but it is still a good break between action, horror, and period dramas. Also, there is absolutely no adult "action" whatsoever in this movies, so don't expect it! The main female lead os so cute and well worth the time just watching her suffer from her own self-talk! (Just kidding!).
If you liked Ditto (2000), Drama Special Season 5: The Three Female Runaways (2014), Jenny & Juno (2005), Who Slept with Her (2006), or Su-ki-da (Japan, 2005) then you would probably like this one as well!
This drama reminds me of Su-ki-da (2005), a Japanese movie where the two main cast members only declare their love for one another at the last scene of the movie in the hospital, I also wondered if the main male lead would actually "live" until it happened! https://mydramalist.com/2536-su-ki-da
Guo Hao Yu, now Guo Jia Nan (Guo Jia Nan), a high school basketball player who is also as good in the classroom as he is on the basketball court is the secret crush of one Zhang Mu Xi (played by Zhang Mu Xi), a shy slightly introverted female who talks to herself (more on this later) and who also keeps telling herself that she isn't 'pretty' enough for her high school, then college, crush/heart-throb Guo Jia Nan.
On top of that, Mu Xi keeps tripping over herself, literally, every time she gets within a mile of him!
Also, since every movie with a "girl likes boy but doesn't think she is good enough for him" plot, there has to be a second female lead for Mu XI to beat herself up over occasionally: enter, who else, but Mu Xi roommate, Liu Yuan Yuan (played by some actress by the name of 'Liu Yuan Yuan'): Yuan Yuan is taller, better-looking as far as Mu Xi is concerned, and is one of the most popular girls on campus, and more horrible, had Guo Jia Nan's phone number before he did!
Last but not least, our possible femme fatale is being pursued by another young man, Yu Xuan Chen (played by some guy by the name of Yu Xuan Chen!).
Following for most of the rest of the movie are feelings of euphoria by Mu Xi while she is within breathing distance of Guo Jia Nan, followed by feelings of depression if for some reason or the other Guo Jia Nan tells her he is busy, he doesn't answer his phone, etc. He finally asks her ot to eat, but again, she blows it there as well!
I kept yelling at Jia Nan, "For Christ's sake, TELL HER you like her and you enjoy being with her!' But for some reason or the other, Jia Nan either didn't hear me, or ignored me.
This movie reminds me of "If I Can Love You So (2019)" a great drama where world-renowned pianist Geng Mochi, and popular radio host, Bai Kao’er, keep messing up being together or getting married because little misunderstandings keep cropping up between them: same with Mu XI and Guo Jia Nan, but the movies would have ended after the first 10-minute episode had they not!
After going back and forth between euphoria and depression, Mu xi becomes a basket case who does nothing but go to class, eat some and cry her heart out!
Thanks to Mu Xi's roommate and rival to her, Yuan Yuan finally tells Jia Nan to either drop her altogether or ask her to be his steady girlfriend. However, Jia Nana also messes this up as well, due to Mu xi's misunderstanding!
While this couple's lives are going nowhere, Yuan Yuan has her own problems with her ever-present worshipper, Xuan Chen.
However, things take a surprising turn there when Yaun Yuan finds out that she is not the one on Jia Nan's mind all the time!
I really love the endings for both couples, but one of the girls is not the only one daydreaming about the perfect partner, even since high school!
Episodes of this series are only 10 minutes long and a combined episode's movie is available on YouTube. Eng sub et al, are available as well there.
Everything was great about this movie, but it was a little 'corny', if you know what I mean. It would be great for boys or girl s who is scared of telling that 'special one' how they really feel.
Music, cinematography, was great. Main cast actually made the audience feel as if they had a romantic connection, and they both played the role of hormone-ravaged kids trying to figure out exactly how to get with the one they wanted to date without falling on your face every step! Guo Jia Nan acted as if Mu XI was growing on him, and he smiled more during the last part of the movie more.
The supporting cast also played their parts well, and gave the main cast what they needed to keep focused on the main plot of the movie.
I liked it when Jia Nan and Xuan Chen were alone and talking about telling a girl how they felt; neither up until then were able to do it!
I loved the way that they showed Mu XI (literally) talking to herself when it was needed in the movie; as most love-lorn girls, she was her worst enemy when it came to giving herself pep talks! Guo Jia Nan also was great at playing a young man who wasn't exactly sure how to deal with the girl he wanted to be his main squeeze; and he played his part very well.
I liked the way Yuan Yuan played the second girl, and finally came around to realizing what was important in her own relationship with another.
I also liked how Xuan Chen got Mu Xi to try to get Yuan Yuan jealous, and how the reaction of Yuan Yuan and Jia Nan after their attempts!.The interplay between the 'non-couples was exceeding well done!
I especially like how the two couples "summarized' the lessons they learned over the time period of the movie at its end.
I also liked how Jia Nan "gave of himself" and occasionally changed his plans to make Mu XI feel good about herself and be with her; this is what true love is - part of YOU dying for the one you want to be with!
This is a less-than half a box of Kleenex movie but it is still great to watch occasionally.
If you want more of this type entertainment, please try 'All I Want for Love is You'. One reviewer said that this short drama was nothing more than a 'shortened' version of 'All I Want for Love is You'.
RE-WATCH VALUE: Occasionally, yes.
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I must be a "psychopath" to have enjoyed this!
First of all, this movie made absolutely no sense at all! The aged teacher (Lee Kyung Young) is the only cast member with any common sense to his name...
Deok Gi (Lee Byung Hun), the traitor and Sul Rang (Jeon Do Yeon, the mother and the last of the surviving Three Swordmen, had absolutely no common sense at all; I wonder if Poong Chun (Bae Soo Bin, the first of the trio to die) was also lacking in common sense as well?
More on this later...
The music and cinematography were excellent; they went out of their way to make this a movie with great scenery on the level of Mural (2011) or The White-Haired Witch of Lunar Kingdom (2014), sparing no expense on this part.
The acting was second to none: all three of the main cast did an excellent job in their portrayal of the above-mentioned roles and their interactions. You would even have thought, if they all lived in the same house, they could have been considered a family: a "dysfunctional" family, but a family nonetheless! Some criticized Sul Hee's (Kim Go Eun) acting ability in her swordplay, but since I have never seen her before in a swordfight movie, I cannot judge this.
The support cast also did their jobs well, although no one except the aged teacher tried to talk any sense into the main cast's heads. The support cast excellently allowed the main cast to fulfill their psychopathic roles in this movie.
The music was very good; it many a time foreshadowed changes in the coming scenes in the movie.
The problem is, I don't think anyone actually knew what Park Heung Sik was trying to do in this movie.
I usually don't read other people's reviews of a movie until I have done my own, but I have to admit I had to see what others thought about this movie...and I wasn't disappointed!
Was Park Heung Sik smoking "weed"/marijuana or high on acid when he wrote the screenplay of this movie?
Both of the older main cast members, even though they seemed to have done what the director wanted them to do, were complete PSYCHOPATHS in this movie...Deok Gi at least had a rationale for being a psychopath in his lust for power.
If I was a Psychology professor, I would have my students watch this movie to show what a 'psychopath' looks like, mixed with a little Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) and Passive-Aggressiveness thrown in!
Both Deok Gi, for his undying lust for power and Sul Rang, for her undying lust for revenge were total psychopaths from the death of Poong Chun until the end of the movie; Sul Hee (Kim Go Eun), the bastard daughter of the two, was psychotic in her relentless quest for revenge; however, if I read the movie right, Sul Rang raised her this way!
If she had any commonsense Sul Hee could have just traveled in the opposite direction of the Palace; and simply forgot about the vengeance her mother instilled in her.
Deok Gi could have worn his armor before fighting his daughter, and Sul Rang would have sooner or later returned to her tea house; Deok Gi even loved her so much at the end that he would have let her go eventually.
What makes so little sense than any other part of this movie is the LOVE that the two older main characters, the remaining couple of the initial trio, had to each other. Both admitted their love, but both anticipated their death as well.
Both ALLOWED Sul Hee to kill them.... self-preservation is the first and foremost characteristic of all members of the Animal Kingdom.
This movie isn't about common sense, though; and as much as I hated it, it would be a good re-watch in the future...
Does that make me a 'psychopath' as well? Or did it just hit a chord in my mind?
However, there are a few other psychopaths out there that liked the movie as well!
Park Heung Sik is going to have to make a follow-up movie about how Sul Hee was a recluse the remainder of her life, moving around China and mindlessly killing people who remind her of her parents, then asking for their forgiveness!
This is a 3/4ths of a box of Kleenex movie, by the way.
RE-WATCH VALUE: only if you are a psychopath as well!
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A thinking-person's movie!
I started watching this movie and noticed how SLOW it was...it was like having a toothache and the dentist looks in your mouth and just looks...and looks...and looks...After observing the two, I wanted to tell her, "Tell him you like him!" but she didn't; then along came the tragedy! Same thoughts on the male lead as well.
I am thinking as the movie continues, what isn't going? Then it hit me!
Both kids are shy and have trouble communicating their feelings; as if their inability to tell each other their feelings is part of the movie itself. I then remembered young Hirahara Yu (played by Miyazaki Aoi) and her conversation with herself after kissing the boy. The boy's reaction is also quite indicative of young Yosuke (played by Nagayama Eita) that he as well is not well-versed in communicating with young girls in society.
Both actors were good at saying a lot with little dialogue, and I thought about all the missed opportunity for the two to come closer to each other. Both actor/actress portrayed the insecurity of young teenagers unable to express themselves in a personal, social situation.
Cut to a later time period in a bigger city...
Again, the two meet (quite accidentally, or was it by fate?) and start reminiscing about the past, and the older Hirahara Yu (now played by Nagasaku Hiromi) embarrasses the older Yosuke (now played by Nishijima Hidetoshi) about a typical 'boy' ritual that he performed late at night in his youth, when he thought no one else was around to see him! They also realize that they both wound up in the same industry as well.
The older Yosuke had not forgotten the promise he made the younger girl at the time of the tragedy back in their small town, and yet before he could fulfill his promise, another tragedy struck! I was so upset: he comes this close to fulfilling his promise made years ago, and he is going to die before he does! So I thought...
The ending though was both anti-climatic, yet climatic at the same time; I never thought that it would end this way, since it took so long. When the act happened, I felt of rush of emotion, forgetting that I was watching a movie.
Both actor/actress portraying the older main characters also kept the feeling of their inability to express themselves in a personal, social situation going in the second half of the movie. Good job both sets of main cast members!
The supporting cast assisted in the main cast's portrayal of the story quite well; special kudos to the criminal (Ryō Kase) for his brief but important two scenes in the movie.
Until recently, I never paid that much attention to music in a movie, but the little music in this film helped set the mood at the appropriate times..
The cinematography was also excellent in this film: the use of light and dark ( and black and white) helped set the appropriate mood for the scenarios, along with the music. I especially like the shots of the small town and then city to differentiate between the two worlds the two main characters are operating in for both parts of the film.
I never read reviews before I watch any movie; yet after watching other Japanese movies. they sometimes use this what I call "delayed action" technique for saying more than if the cast members talked; however, I still feel frustrated until i get the 'gist' of the movie down so I can truly enjoy it. It can make the movie very thrilling if timed just right, which the director of this movie does.
The overall message, to me, is NOT to put off saying what you wish to the people around you; it may be your only chance!
RE-WATCH VALUE: Occasionally...
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Amusing movie with a hilarious ending!
If you have some time to kill, try this movie!The movie is about a group of airline stewards and stewardess who work together, a particular flight to Germany, their "down" time on layover and the "eventful" trip back home!
Beautiful scenery in Germany, by the way!
After reaching the climax near the end, I had an absolutely "Laugh Out Loud" experience...
and I am not going to tell you what it was, either!
I would have rated it higher just for the ending, but some may not have the patience to make it all the way to what happened in the end.
The supposed onboard shots looked realistic, the cast worked together well enough to make you think that they were an actual airline crew that worked together for some time, with a look at innovative ways of handling 'problem" flyers, enough to give you occasional giggles and keep you watching until the end.
I never say anything about the music or cinematography unless I feel that something didn't fit well.
As a matter of fact, what happened to the married male member of the crew after he got home may have been more fun than the midair mishap...
Asiancrush presently offers it for free online.
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This review may contain spoilers
It was the mother, really!
With a background in Religious Studies, mythology and knowledge of shamanism, atheism (and many other ism's) I found this movie fascinating and intriguing.Religiosity can be a strength for many people, but religious fanaticism usually is detrimental to all socio-economic classes, especially the poor!
Over-religiosity can lead to fanatics like David Koresh, Jim Jones and even a mother like Hee Jin's, briliantly played by Kim Bo Yun.
Religious fanaticism can lead to conditions such as OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder) and even worse, such as the disassociation of those close to the practitioners, such as Hee JIn's younger sister, Kang So Jin (Shim Eun Kyung), whose every scene except for the very last one (with mother dead) showed her mother's overbearing impact on her life. It can even lead to residual problems to others, such as Hee Jin's cough at college, which stopped after her mother's death.
Hee Jin's mother, in my opinion, had already crossed the fine line between 'believer' and 'Satan's henchman'.
I admit it was slow at times, but part of that was necessary to set up the interaction of opposing forces in the movie.
The movie started working on the question, "What is faith" to the participants, although it gave up before it go to any conclusion (and it wasn't long enough to come to any definite conclusion as well!). It should have been, possibly, a series instead looking at such topics more thoroughly.
The other reviewer complained about the film being slow at times; I agree, but this movie wasn't so much about action horror, as it was about a continuous philosophical horror which will let down some viewers.
A complaint about the "murders without reason" is answered later on in the film; the tenants of the apartment build from admiring, then fearing, and ultimately condemning Kang So Jin, as she is manipulated by her zealous mother. Enter the shamanass and the tenants find out how powerful, and dangerous, Kang So Jin' mother is!
I admire the use of black and white to make the apartments and complex itself fit the eerie atmosphere of the film during most paranormal scenes. The main and support staff also work well together to create a film that should become a classic in the future.
The director used every inch of film to build on the film's atmosphere (the furnace room lit only by a cell phone light) and did an excellent job. Without so much of a "Gotcha" moment of fright, this movie seems to keep you rather in constant suspense, which I thought the director did a good job.
I could write another 7-8 pages on this movie, but you probably wouldn't stay here that long!
Suffice to say, come here every Halloween or more often and be prepared to be glued to the edge of your seat, rather than being occasionally scared out of it!
I down-voted it due to unanswered questions at the end but really felt it deserved a better score
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Cute little melodrama that doesn't end right...
The setting, music, photography were all good for this time period and I enjoyed the feeling of actually being on a campus during the movie.However, the movie expects you to believe that this intelligent young lady, Yoon So Eun (Kim Ha Neul) is not going to fight for her love , Ji Dong Hee (Park Yong Woo), who she had written countless letters to during his mandatory military service.
It also wants you to believe that the young college student is going to go the rest of her life without a boyfriend, husband and/or lover! Had the ending not been so terrible, I would have given it a higher rating than what I did.
The characters of Yoon So Eun and Ji Dong Hee were believable, but didn't quite measure up to two individuals who knew they liked each other; that is the second reason it didn't really warrant a higher rating from me. The support character Seo Hyeon Ji (Ha Ji Won) was sidelined with a broken foot for the entire first two weeks of the movie; then steals her best friend's boyfriend...don't buy it!
The only bad performance was Heo Seon Mi ( Lee Seung Min) but since she only had two acting performances during the year 2000 (her first two acting stints then), I am not going to criticize her, except she was kind of an anti-girlfriend to the main male lead in the 2000 segment.
Also, another reviewer mentioned that he or she could not stand the way Kim Ha Neul played the young female lead during this movie: she acted as any young-girl-in-love does, going goo-goo-eyed every time her crush came into view, then acted like she was about to faint, hesitated before talking, blushing, grinning ear to ear and occasionally saying something stupid (like she was in the ham radio club when she was spotted by her crush there; she wasn't).
Also her total about-face would never have been done by someone that in love with a guy, without a fight, best friend or not as her rival!
Nor would someone that intelligent live for so many years by herself, without finding another love; she was too intelligent to do that!
WATCH VALUE: definitely: RE-WATCH VALUE: NONE, unless you want to study how not to end a movie!
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Just Turn On The Evening News for the same CRAP!
I cannot justify giving this film any higher of a rating...Sure, the main actresses, both sisters, played theIr parts well, the support cast did an excellent job playing the vilians, and the other bit parts all added to the overall "feeL" of this film...both supporting the main actresses and making the plot believable.
The colors were vivid, especially the over-use of the color 'red', not just the blood, either.
But WHY would anyone in the their right mind would want to sit through a movie that 'insinuates' a 'special needs' teenage girl being raped several times, even though it was most suggestive rather than blatantly excessive; no nudity, thank God! Also, why would anyone want to see a lovely lady, dressed in red (probably to hide her bleeding if she got hurt; I am joking here), but the color 'red' is a major symbol in this movie, but I am not going to go there in this review).
You can watch Clint Eastwood in his DIRTY HARRY series, you can watch Bruce Willis in his John McClan character in the DIE HARD franchise, or a dozen other similar films. Does the 'hero' being a 'heroine' beating everyone up make this film any more worth watching?
The older sister Park In Ae (Lee Si Young) was justified trying to rescue her younger sister (Park Eun Hye, played by Park Se Wan) but other avenue could have been taken: get the media involved and the girl would become so hot that they would gladly give up gettng their money back and protecting their 'business' overall.
I agree with a lot of what was said by other reviewers before me, but my main reason for writing this review is
1) When was the line between justice and overstepping boundaries crossed in this movie?
2) The worst part of this movie is that it shows how GREED and LUST drives the sexual slave market; everyone, including an old man, who wanted to get a piece of the teenage girl and even try to make a buck off of further sexual 'use' of her; it's all I could do to fast forward through the blood and guts and the passing on of the girl to someone else!
I guess my work in emergency services: ambulance attendant, Emergency Room technician, Warm and Hot lines, and Rape Advocacy over the years, took control of me in the opening sequences; I enjoy a good shoot-em-up and 'Dirty Harry'-type movie occasionally, but not involving teenage (especially) special-needs girls being molested time and time again.
I feel that the director 'sold' out to make this movie more appealing to an American audience, my main problem with the way a lot of newer Asian movies are slanted!
RE-WATCH: Never again!
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63 Minutes Of Erotic Fun!
63 Minutes Of Erotic Fun!63 Minutes Of Erotic Fun!
63 Minutes Of Erotic Fun!
63 Minutes Of Erotic Fun!
63 Minutes Of Erotic Fun!
63 Minutes Of Erotic Fun!
63 Minutes Of Erotic Fun!
63 Minutes Of Erotic Fun!
63 Minutes Of Erotic Fun!
63 Minutes Of Erotic Fun!
63 Minutes Of Erotic Fun!
63 Minutes Of Erotic Fun!
63 Minutes Of Erotic Fun!
63 Minutes Of Erotic Fun!
63 Minutes Of Erotic Fun!
63 Minutes Of Erotic Fun!
63 Minutes Of Erotic Fun!
63 Minutes Of Erotic Fun!
63 Minutes Of Erotic Fun!
63 Minutes Of Erotic Fun!
63 Minutes Of Erotic Fun!
63 Minutes Of Erotic Fun!
63 Minutes Of Erotic Fun!
63 Minutes Of Erotic Fun!
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"As Time Passes We Miss People Less, But The Loneliness Stays Forever...""
I always try to put a quote from the movies I review, which I feel could stand the test of time, but this one had too many!"Many People Leaving Means That There Are More People To Miss..."
"As Time Passes We Miss People Less, But The Loneliness Stays Forever...There Are Many People Here To Miss."
...and many more!
First of all, the colors were so VIVID in this movie! It s the first thing that I remembered on the recent re-watch of it.
The cinematography was very good and I loved the relaxed feeling of the small-town atmosphere on this movie set.
I would actually change the primary details and write, " the story of a young girl who finds out that 'life' is what you make it." The story just didn't come together the way it should have, and the ending was terrible, in my opinion.
The young girl, Jeong Min (Jun Ji Hyun) starts to write letters to servicemen (but it never tells you WHY she is writing them!)
She writes a letter to many service men, including one Hyun Jun (Park Shin Yang), who actually makes an attempt to stop in Jeong Min's town and meet her. Even without meeting her, Hyun Jun can tell from her level and style of writing that she is not a teacher with five years of teaching under her belt; but Jeong Min misses her chance to tell the truth to him by being very late for the scheduled meeting!
Jeong Min lives with her grandfather (Jeon Moo Song) who openly criticizes her daily; it is later revealed WHY he is so critical of her, but he never talks to her about this reason at all. No good communication between the two of them.
She finally opens up to him and asks him about her parents and why he was so critical of her father, who seemed to have died in conflict with his father/Jeong Min's grandfather; however, this 'conversation' with her only living family member results in grandfather being admitted to the hospital.
Jeong Min was upset with her grandfather; her grandfather was upset at her;
The only person not upset wIth anyone was the flower shop grandmother (Kim Young Ok) who kinda wanted to 'take care' of grandfather, in his old age! However, she was given only two scenes in the movie.
Han Suk (Yang Dong Geun) was never mentioned by name in the movie, but since the other (younger) support actor was in the military for the most of the movie, and his character name was mentioned once in the movie, Han Suk was Hyun Jun's buddy, the way that Ji-seok (Kim Se-joon) was Jeong Min's friend, especially at the end of the movie.
Jeong Min took longer to develop emotionally as time passed in this movie; but Jun Ji Hyun's performance here is really great, especially in the second half of it!
The support cast and main cast were all amazing; their actions in this movie were good and they supported each other throughout. The movie just didn't have any direction to it.
This was Jun Ji Hyun's first movie and I do not hold her performance to the same standard as her character in Windstruck or other movies: it just seems she was 'wandering' in this movie with no apparent goals in life, besides one.
RE-WATCH VALUE: Not much!
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"If he farts for Se-mi, he'll shit for me!"
The sequel to Wet Dreams (2002); which from what I have learned was a Korean response to America's American Pie (1999).However, instead of just being a sex comedy, both Wet Dreams and this one have a great message to pre-teens about growing up!
Instead of male students trying to score sexual hits on a female teacher (original West Dreams), this one has four female students students who have the HOTS for a male teacher, who for some reason that only the movie director knows, has a mental psychosomatic reaction from getting aroused by a female!
The older sister of Oh Sung-eun {Song Eun Chae) gets married and her and her two friends, Soo-yeon (Jeon Hye-bin) and Mi-sook (Park Seul-ki) sit around wonderig what Oh Sung-eun 's sister and her new husband are doing the night after their wedding (LOL!)..
The next day, a new good-lookikng male student-teacher, Kang Bong Gu (Lee Ji Hoon) who is also the new PE teacher starts at the all-girls school. But Bong Gu has a 'problem' not shared with other men his age: he 'farts' when he becomes sexually aroused!
The comedy that occurs because of this 'problem' is the most hilarious thing I have ever seen!
One reviewer on anohter movie site said that his reaction was very negative of the whole premise he has an 'abnormal' reaction to being aroused by women!
I thought the male lead pulled it off very well, especially the scene in the doctor's office!
Oh Sung-eun, being at the age of having her first menstrual period and being made curious by her sister's weddikg makes up her mind that she is going to make Bong Gu her first 'boyfriend' and lover!
Also, to complicate matters, Oh Sung-eun has a rival for Bong Gu's affection: Baek Se Mi (Shin Joo Ah), who not only has 'matiured' faster than Oh Sung-eun (in the secondary female body characteristics) but also takes a liking for Bong Gu as well.
What follows is a wild, free-for-all between Sung-eun and Se Mi for Bong Gu. It is so hilarious watching Sung-eun trying to act 'gown-up' as she tries different ways to seduce Bong Gu at both school and elsewhere!
Early in the movie, after listening to Bong Gu and another student-teacher talk about Se Mi 's effect on Bong Gu, Sung-eun says the headline phrases that makes you almost fall in the floor from laughing!
What is funny is Oh Sung-eun and her friends know absolutely NOTHING ABOUT SEX or catching a boyfriend! She timidly tries to 'show some skin' in her school uniform in an awkward way, which makes you laugh your head off!
Oh Sung-eun, also tried to lose her virginity to Bong Gu but what her girlfriends give her to boost her confidence made her pass out, and Bong Gu wisely lets her sleep it off insteadof takig advantage of her.
The thing that makes this and the first movie so great is the support of the teacher and parents for the adolescent students trying to work out their feelings at their sexual awakeing; especially so in this movie by
Sung Eun's father (Jung Dong Hwan) and mother (Kim Hae Sook); even though they are wary of Sung Eun's yearing for her teacher, they let her know that they are always there for her, no matter what bad mistakes she may make during her 'growikng up' years between childhood and adulthood.
I especially liked the way Sung Eun's father was shown to away dancing with her: it made me so respectful of a fatehr who (in geh movie at least) takes the time t dance ad tlak to his daughter! The parents deserves keods for their performances as such in this movie!
Bong Gu also deserv es mention of not taking advantage of Sung Eun, and through his talks and guidance, along with her parents' support, Sung Eun matures by the end of the movie and chooses a more 'appropriate-aged' beau for her learnig about love life and sex!
Great direction by Jang Hyun Soo!
GReat performance by all: main and support cast here!
You will need a few Kleenex by the end of the movie, but not that many!
RE-WATCH VALUE: Yes!
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