There's something about Korean melodramas that keep attracting viewers. Is it the tearjerker moments? Is it the beauty of the leads' romance?
Melodramas are one of Korea's staple. What was the one drama that sparked the Korean Wave? Winter Sonata, which is a melodrama.
So, ...ing, for its quirky name, is a melodrama, but not quite so.
Why so?
Well, for starters, though there was the presence of an imminent death, it is there subtly.
What is this about?
..ing features Im Soo-jung(I'm A Cyborg, But That's Okay; I'm Sorry I Love You) as Kang Mi-na, an introvert and quiet high-school girl with a deformed hand constantly covered with a mitten, Kim Rae-Won(Insadong Scandal; Gourmet) as Lee Young-jae, an outgoing photographer and Lee Mi-suk as Mi-suk, Mi-na's mother.
3 main casts but a beautiful story.
The magic or uniqueness that ...ing has in comparison to its fellow melodrama counterparts is that there was no emphasis on death or the path towards death, unlike some other melodrama. ...ing focuses on the relationships between mom and daughter and boy and girl.
There's a certain bittersweetness to ...ing that is filled with the quiet joyfulness that mom and daughter share, and how boy and girl started off as tentative smoking partners to innocent romantic couple.
Left: the traffic guy
I love how the side story of the school's traffic controller came to connect the story. The man was rumored to have lost his lover on a rainy day on the same street where he was directing traffic. To him, that was where he could remember his love. Young-jae did not know the significance about Mi-na's sudden outburst one day about that man until he received news that Mi-na is not as well as she herself thought she would be.
Okay, my bad habit of telling the story from the end is not very helpful.
Well, from a young age, Mi-na has been in out the hospital frequently. Although she thought her sickness was cured, she has this terminal illness that she knows nothing about but her mother does.
Mom and daughter
Mi-suk, upon realizing that Mi-na has no friends (due to many of them hospital mates die or get well and out the hospital), had come with a lollipop and pigtails to befriend Mi-na (not shown) and so Mi-na calls her mom by her name. I love how Mi-suk tries very hard to make as if everything was okay and how she loved her daughter unconditionally.
The love story between Young-jae and Mi-na was also adorable, thanks to Young-jae's almost childish pranks in trying to woo her. I love how their dates were all captured in photographic sequence as per Young-jae's profession.
The pacing of the story is not rushed but it's not too slow. Although it has this very sad foreboding of death, it is constantly inserted with moments of humor that is not forced and played out very naturally, as if you're watching a documentary-kind of life.
Acting-wise, I think it's repetitive to say that the casts didn't disappoint. Kim Rae-won fits his sluggish yet outgoing personality so well and Im Soo-jung has always been a joy to watch, even in the brain-wack show of "I'm A Cyborg, But It's Okay".
Soundtrack-wise, it's not too shabby either. But I'm a little bias on this one, thanks to Yi Seung Yeol's "Wait" that is just so SAD, like my favorite Loveholic tracks "Echo" and "Sylvia".
...ing is a melodrama done well. I personally like bittersweet stories more than those that extract the sweetness out of the word. Hmm.
Of course, ...ing is not a new story. All melodramas don't differ too much, but its focus on relationships rather than the illness is a refreshing breath of air from the normal fare. It's an old show yes but it sure is beautiful.
No, I'm not talking about competition in terms of box office or which was more interesting, since they are both movies in similar spheres but totally different genres.
2012 = disaster movie Avatar = sci-fi
Alright. That was cleared.
I had the opportunity to watch this 2 shows in the span of 2 days. Avatar first, 2012 next.
Naturally, I was drawn towards Avatar because of rave reviews. People on Facebook and Twitter are praising it to no end, calling it 'awesome'.
On the other hand, 2012 was 'cliche', 'logically flawed', 'any other story', 'boring', 'good effects though', but I wanted to watch 2012 because I watched Haeundae first. And also because I like disaster movies.
Avatar
Now, I never said Avatar was not nice. I liked Avatar with its after flavor. Kinda like perfume and their afterscent thingie. But was I awed to bits? No.
No spoilers here, but yes, I do agree that the CGI or whatever technology that James Cameron was utilizing to create the lifelike blue Na'vi and the forests and all its inhabitants was done incredibly well. It didn't feel like I was watching blue thin Shreks or Woody, though I think Pixar has quite a solid reputation in terms of CGI.
But yes, I digress, as I often do.
I do say that the forest and the glow-in-the-dark effects were almost musical. There's a lot of running, climbing, flying - all the awesome thing that works awesomely in the context of IMAX or 3D for you non-techies.
But anywayz.
And the premise of the story was interesting. Man DNA + Na'vi (Natives) DNA = Avatar
And I loved how the male lead, Jake, goes and record his video logs, making the show sounded from a first person perspective. Perfect for IMAX.
But to me, that's it.
My verdict for this show was that it's nice, yes. But awesome? No. Not really.
Why?
The storyline as a whole.
It was so Hollywood-kinda-story-with-the-hero's-journey-smacked-right-at-your-face kinda story. I wasn't bored thanks to the CGI and the premise of the story, but the storyline was really...meh. Remember the same reason you watched Titanic. You remember the ship and the story but you didn't remember how plain the story was if you took away the ship. Same thing here. Take away the CGI and that premise of the plot and you find it a classic Hollywood story.
But I have to admit that James Cameron is frightfully clever. When he smacks it right at your face, he smacks it real hard that you didn't realize it until the show is over. And the classic deux-ex-machina plot (where the gods or some imaginable backstage hand came and rescue the show) was done so blatantly that the female lead calls out "Jake! Eywa has heard you!" or something to that kind.
However, I may be too harsh. As I said, James Cameron is clever, you gotta hand it to him. But if you want to watch the show, watch it in IMAX/3D. I think 'awesome' will befit the show. But for those who aim for story that is interesting, maybe Salt, the spy(?) thriller featuring Angelina Jolie. Or really, the late Yasmin Ahmad's Muallaf should be quite solid. Though I did mention that this movie followed the Hollywood formula...which goes almost for all movies Hollywood produces.
Avatar may not sit on my stomach during the watch but somehow it leaves this savory aftertaste that may not be too bad after all.
Check out a more thorough "why-you-should-watch-this-show-like-awesome" review here or here.
2012
Okay, next show.
I'll admit: I love disaster movies. But that doesn't mean the discourse has to be shallow either (quoting Javabeans).
Of course 2012 was spectacular on CGI, just as it was in the case of Avatar.
I didn't think there was as many logical flaws as there was in say, The Day After Tomorrow (I can never erase the memory of a big ship floating into downtown Manhattan). Of course, the dexterity and tenacity of the limo, plane and all transportation devices driven by the leads are highly questionable. But seriously, it's not REALLY a disaster movie.
For people like us who have a certain degree of knowledge about end times, apocalypse and Noah's Ark, this story comes with no surprise, though I did "eh" about the end-of-the-world part. Cause it didn't exactly end. But as I've said, it's not REALLY a disaster movie.
That's where 2012 failed me. C'mon, the great flood, again??!
And I do agree with the critics. The storyline was not great, but I stand by my recommendation line: Watch it for the CGI. The rest you can forget.
So which show to watch?
If you want to cry...or at least have some emotional touching scenes, go for 2012. People die and you realize how fragile life is.
But if you want a more cohesive story with its effects, Avatar's your game. But really, watch it in IMAX/3D. That, will be quite awesome.
Other than that, you have great dancing skills and I love your t-shirt and cap.
Just when I want to refrain myself from Kpop, YG Entertainment now pull a GDragon and Taeyang on me.
And did you know that K.Will got diagnosed for swine flu recently? My poor favorite. Hope he gets better soon. And Brian Joo was saying that he might be coming down with a cold. I told him to not get sick by mentioning K.Will's case, without a 'please' even. It's an ORDER! XD
...
My results just came out. Interestingly, I feel sad even though it only has more Bs than As. At least my record has been around there. Hehe.
This time, I try to stop being so practical and be a bit more sentimental.
And so far, it works.
I hope.
I still want to compose or rather fill in the lyrics instead of the other way round...
My style leans more heavily on K-ballads now. The thing bout Korean lyrics is that they are actually quite simple yet poignant. Whereas Mandarin lyrics need to be more poetic. Not that I'm complaining. But what I meant by style is that I'm placing the lyrics as the melody goes regardless of the logical flow of the melody. Uh...okay, I'm not making a very clear explanation here... :(
Verse 1: It almost froze This empty space in my brain This unconscious memories I can't differentiate between day and night Where are you?!
Verse 2: Yet you won't come back From now onwards we are separated into different spaces(literally: zones) I've lost the reason to turn back What I can do is only this
Chorus: I forgot who I was I thought those that I could give then now becomes nothing A lifetime of tears cannot cure my heart's sorrow The best cure doesn't stop at just comfort and solace
I forgot how happiness taste like Maybe when I meet love again when I give again I can find it back At the moment when we broke up I have already made up my mind To forget who I once was
Instrumental voiceover: I loved you but now it's time I forget all
Bridge: Almost frozen This space in my brain The unconscious memories Just let it dissipate away with time
To tell you the truth, I am tired of new groups debuting like flies this year. Especially girl groups who are singing dance pop. We had fiery debuts and comebacks during the second to third quarter of the year, bringing in new names like 4Minute and T-ara, and who can forget SM's new pride and joy, f(x) or YG's lady group 2NE1.
But. oh well. Bring it on and see if you can revolutionize your dance moves like Brown Eyed Girls' "Abracadabra" saucy hip swing or Kara's "Mister" butt dance.
To be honest, I never gave any interest to JYP artistes. Then again, I never gave any interest to SM artistes nor YG artistes either until of late.
Thanks (no thanks?) to Kpop entertainment sites, I got to know the mainstream Kpop, see them on stage, working really hard, sacrificing blood, sweat and tears.
I have not seen other entertainment agencies work their artistes this hard. And suddenly I am filled with this kind of love for them. Not in the fangirl way, rather in a sisterly, motherly way. It's that kind of affection that makes me want to befriend all of them and work with them.
These artistes start off really young. Jo Kwon of 2AM, for example, started training at around the age of 13.
I used to see these artistes in a very different light. When they do crazy and questionable things that went against my perception of guys in general, I was a little put off.
Then...strangely, due to the 2PM Jay's controversy, I began to see artistes as how I see them now. Partly because I'm also training vocally, though I'm not a trainee, per se. Partly because I began to understand them from their viewpoint.
And slowly I grow to love them, not all the time, still. But somehow knowing that I may not be able to give as much as they do, makes me respect them all the more, love them all the more.
I won't agree with everything they do, though they do inspire and encourage me to excel in my talents, grow my wings and fly with confidence.
Thank you, my dear Kpop artistes.
(RE: Video. The guy in the specs singing the most lines is Changmin and has the best voice, imo. I just love his voice and how he carry softness and strength at the same time. And he's pretty witty too! Now that is fangirling...XD)
It's been almost a month when 2PM's Jay's issue was blown out of proportions and garnered so much media and fan/non-fan attention that even I, who never gave a fluff about 2PM or Jay, wrote THREE articles about it.
But this issue has not died down. At all. It may have taken a backseat for a while...scrap that. From what I've been reading, it has not.
A quick update:
After JYP wrote the letter, 2PM fans in Korea (and to a certain extent, international fans as well) started boycotting JYPE, cause they are angry about the lack of responsibility on the part of JYPE not protecting their artiste enough. (a.k.a from a PR standpoint: their PR strategy, if any, failed big time)
So for a while, 2PM is infamously known as 1:59 PM, and banners, posters, post-its have all plastered on JYPE building and on other avenues, fans protesting 7-1=0, meaning without Jay, the other 6 is incomplete.
2PM's activities were all halted.
Then, the announcement that 2PM will continue as 6 members came out, and their fans went on a boycotting mode again, even Thai fans contributed to the boycott.
Then, there had been several people coming out to speak regarding the matter or talking about Jay, including Korean celebrities such as Boom (MC), Baek Ji Young, etc. There was even a family friend that said that Jay wants to go back to Korea but is unsure.
Then, his church had set up a forum some time ago for his fans alike to leave encouraging messages for him, etc, but they had to close it down again since anti-fans were leaving disparaging and negative comments to him.
And the latest news is that JYP had meet up with Jay in Seattle while on the way to NYC from South Korea. Speculations and more speculations arise.
Fans are crossing their fingers to hope for the best, at the same time, they are worried that JYP will tell Jay to leave 2PM forever, while JYPE insists that it was just a dinner to reminisce about old times.
Seeing how things have developed, I am still surprised. The entertainment world is in large, heavily contributed to by fans a.k.a audience. This shows that we humans need each other for support. Celebrities or not, they are still humans. It is a comfort to know that there are people besides family who will stand with them through thick and thin, yet I would think it is also a humbling experience. Not in terms of what they should and should not do, but rather, no man can stay a lone ranger and live. Pride gets you nowhere.
I am saddened however by the state of things, especially when anti-fans roam the virtual world as much as fans do. True, we will never be loved by everyone, but to receive hateful remarks is still heartbreaking. I am glad that Jay's church is providing support to him, and at the same time, understand why there are still anti-fans. Though I think anti-fans are seriously a waste of brain cells, I think they are also the ones who make a celebrity/artiste grow stronger. It's like the Bible saying that suffering produces perseverance, perseverance produces character and character, hope. When you can rise above persecution gracefully, you know that you have developed a mature character. Now that is what I call greatness.
I used to turn my back against the very traditions that shaped me. I didn't like my roots, didn't like how my dad gave so much emphasis to it. Didn't like. Period.
Funny.
Things turned around in my late teens. I became grateful that I had a foundation in Mandarin. I find Mandopop ballads have become more tasteful. Their MVs were done in a poetic, story-like way.
Then I went a step further. Crossing the sea, I reached a peninsula like Malaysia, except everything else is different. It boasts of one race nation, of broadband connected cities, of budding culture arena.
How did I fell in love with the Korean language and its culture? It seems similar to my own roots, except it's so different.
It was subtle, perhaps even a little discreet. I tried to hide the fact that I was learning Korean, all by myself. Then, I couldn't deny it anymore. I was immersed in almost everything Korean. Heck, the most updated playlist information are my Korean albums and singles. (They have things like cyworld which have all albums and their information, so convenient.)
But I admit, part of me wanting to learn more about the language and its culture is because of the disappointment I faced in Western entertainment and Mandarin entertainment.
But I admit still, that immersing in Korean entertainment has brought out the same kind of disappointment, perhaps a little less given their very strong roots in their Confucian traditional values, that holds some part of the value system together.
Yet, as much as I love the Korean culture, I cannot forget my roots. My Mandarin is still most familiar (besides English). My Korean...eh. Really bad, come to think of it. I know my roots most well.
And I will still hold on to the belief that Mandarin is one of the most poetic sounding language. One word means so much. Written well, it's beautiful.
But Korean, to me, still remains as the most expressive language spoken. And it still remains as a beautiful language sung.
My heart opens towards Western ideas but strangely, longs for Eastern comfort. They provoke, comfort, excite and inspire me.
Though I am nowhere near Korean ancestry (minority tribes a HUGE maybe), it does help me to be more firmly rooted in my Asian-ness. Maybe because I, being brought up in a relatively Asian-minded family, is more open to Asian grounded values. But being immersed in Eastern entertainment especially Mandarin and Korean does help improve the Asian-ness.
Not to say that Malaysia isn't part of Asia...but I'm talking about being a Chinese. (Nevertheless, I am better off saying that I'm a Malaysian for the fact that though I'm a Chinese, if you put me in China or Taiwan, I will be as lost as a broken compass)
People often talk about flying West or towards the Asian Pacific region, but somehow, I find Far East intriguing, even appealing.
I think as a lady, there must be a time where dressing up is necessary. What more, going into the working world requires more dressing up since it makes impression on clients and what nots. I for one, though I don't shop so often and quite dissatisfied most of the time with what's in the stores, likes what I see in fashion spreads and mix and matches. I think they are quite inspiring...until you walk into a store and find that you don't fit that look at all.
So for now, until I've earned enough money to burn some credit, I shall just continue to gaze at these spreads and plan my imaginary wardrobe.
Though, I think that you can never go wrong with: big sunnies, big bags, hats...in other words: accessories. NO matter how limited your wardrobe seem to look, accessories will always bling you up nicely. Bad hair day cured by chic fedoras (I think hats is tops on my fashion wishlist right now, I just simply adore them, not that I have bad hair days though...much), bare hands cured by chunky bracelets/charms, plain shirt detailed by chunky necklaces. And I am glad that accessories are cheap most of the time.
Not to forget, shoes. SHOES are so important. They're the ones that glam or glum your outfit. I used to adore heels (not the 5-inchers) then I started uni and didn't like the idea of breaking my neck walking the stairs, being a little taller on the average side. And it's always safer to drive with flat-soled shoes. So that is one way of keeping my feet away from popping veins but quite limit my options, though there are more flat-soled shoe designs nowadays available (gladiator, anyone?). Somehow heels have a bit of that glam factor. Just that I drive so often I'm lazy to switch shoes all the time. Hmm.
As autumn makes its way into full blossom, so new fashion trends come out.
Here are some of my favorites though I'm not too sure if I'll be able to pull them off. Give me the sunnies, the cap and those bracelet, earrings stuff and maybe I can wow you.
Someone please sponsor me clothes. Especially if I get into the competitions next year. XD
(All pictures from YesStyle.com)
I can't really do tube tops but I love this with the studded details. And that cap.
I think the long sleeve shirt is just awesome for working. Then again, you need that nice silver chain and the skirt...
If I wear dresses often enough, I'd go for this. Hides all the flaws well.
Did I tell you I like big shirts sometimes? They are so comfy. And checkered shirts always rock with jeans. You can make it boyish and feminine in both ways. Great buy.
I LOVE JACKETS. They are like the second on my fashion list or the first...I don't know. I don't bother ranking them. But I love jackets. They are also like hats. Anything unfitting, jacket on! But this leather jacket from Style Berry (Korean brand) is crazy expensive. MYR 994. Genuine leather that's why.
The alternative would be faux leather, like this from Puffy (Taiwanese brand) priced only at MYR 182. But the above jacket is more biker chick whereas this is more street chic. But jackets, faux leather or not, are expensive.
This is not exactly a favorite, but it's cool for casual wear, imo.
I dig the hat. And the long tank. Long shirts like these always look best with shorts and leggings.
Racer back tank tops are still in.
See what I mean by checkered big shirts can be so cool?
I also fancy asymmetrical cuts. This cardigan only look nicer in green though. But yes to the beret.
More jackets. This is lapel-ed. A bit more feminine than regular cuts.
As a rule, I hate harem pants or cropped baggy pants but this cropped pants doesn't look bad at all, as long it's coupled with the right top and heels. Must wear heels. Either that or go for peep-toes or gladiators. It's not for the girly feminine type.
Recently, I also started liking hoodies. Again, dig the cap.
This top has been in fashion for so long. I've seen it so many times and looks like it's not dead. But I haven't try one yet. This top, imo, is not an easy top to wear. No defined shoulders and the whole thing look like some misshapen bag. But this top has a V neck, so it's still quite alright.
Same thing. I want to try a top like this though. See how far it can take me. Love the two colored scheme. Haven't seen it for a while.
I like this top though not so much the sleeves. Black is a better color than white. Dig the fedora.
White color makes it look a little too angelic, a little bride-like-puffy at the sleeves. This top is made of chiffon I think.
Ah, the batwing sleeve top that you can wear over almost anything. I want one so I don't need to fret when I want to wear spaghetti straps or halter tops and not catch a cold at the same time. This is made from cotton or polyester. Stuff that is easy to maintain, rather than the chiffon and knitted tops.
I thought this two piece looks very professional. I like the jacket (not so much the color), but take away the jacket and I bleh at the dress.
I have never been so excited just to watch a Korean movie in the local cinemas. I don't watch the horror genre and many highly-acclaimed Korean movies don't get aired here (Old Boy, anyone?). They go straight into DVDs and that's also in limited number.
And so when I heard that this movie was showing in Malaysia, I admit, I just have to watch it!
And so I contribute to the growing numbers of 11 + million viewers of Haeundae.
What is Haeundae?
Known internationally as TSUNAMI at Haeundae (with the Tsunami plastered so big that you'd think 'Tsunami' is the name of the movie instead. I hate it.), Haeundae is Korea's first attempt in disaster movie, directed by Yoon Je-Kyun(Sex Is Zero), written by Kim Hwi. In reality, Haeundae is a beach port in Busan, South Korea, where tourists etc hang out alike.
I'll try to be as objective and spoiler-free as possible. But yeah. And since I hate the international name, I will use the original name.
Spoilers ahead!! :) Don't say I didn't warn you!
Trailer:
Plot:
Haeundae starts at the end of 2004, when the real tsunami struck Indonesia and Thailand on Boxing Day.
Uhm Jung-Hwa and Park Joong-Hoon playing estranged spouses
Then brought up to the year 2009. Kim Hwi (not the scriptwriter, but the Park Joong-Hoon character) is a professor who is an expert in seismic and tsunami activities. He has a wife albeit estranged, Yoo-Jin (played by Uhm Jung-Hwa) and a daughter who doesn't know him. Hwi was adamant that a mega-tsunami was going to hit Korea but was laughed off by his associates.
Seol Kyung-Gu giving free vege to Ha Ji-Won
Choi Man-Sik (Seol Kyung-Gu) is an ex-fisherman who lost his ship and colleague to the 2004 tsunami. Since then, he didn't want to fish anymore and goes help out in his mother's business (I think so, cause I don't really know what is he doing really). Brother Hyung-Sik (Lee Min-Ki!) is a lifeguard at Haeundae beach. Man-Sik's colleague is Yeon-Hee's (Ha Ji-Won) dad. And after the incident, Man-Sik takes care of Yeon-hee. Yeon-hee took on her father's job and continues to fish. Romance starts to bud between the two and it needed Yeon-Hee to drop the bombshell instead ("My heart always beats faster when I see you...")
Reminds you of Day After Tomorrow, no?
Hwi's prediction came true. When the tsunami was striking so close, they made a calculation and said that the tsunami would reach Haeundae in 10 minutes. It was not until Japan made a tsunami alert that Haeundae followed suit...later. Too late. The sea receded so much, birds were in chaos flying and people started screaming.
I realised that there weren't any foreigners on Haeundae
The first to go was the shipping freight and then all hell broke loose, like a nice disaster movie. Everyone runs for their lives. Yoo-Jin runs to get her daughter in the hotel (she is an event coordinator of sorts for some cultural expo) but was stuck in the lift. Who else she calls? Her boyfriend was stuck in the bridge that faced the wrath of the ocean. Hwi leaves the earthquake centre and runs to get the daughter, who nearly fell out of the seventeenth floor hotel windows.
After the first wave, true to the 2004 tsunami, another came faster and higher. People either died being washed away or electrocuted when the electric lines short circuited and uh. yeah. Not satisfied with two, the third and highest wave came, up to over 20 storeys and left Haeundae in literal pieces. Like the mess we saw from the 2004 tsunami.
I don't like how this part got cut short in local cinemas
I won't say who dies and who lives. But from the trailer, you kind of know about Hyung-Sik. :(
Main characters:
Seol Kyung-Gu (Public Enemy Returns, Voice of a Murderer) plays the conflicted hero quite well. His character flows back and forth during the day of the incident to the present him, which still haunted by his past. However, I didn't find a connection with his character much, due to the inadequate writing of his character. Granted, it's a movie and so you can't really see character development. I've seen him in Voice of a Murderer and you don't see the same type of conflicted emotions. But he does aegyo (cute) well without the overboard that makes you wince instead.
Ha Ji-Won (Ba:Bo, Love So Divine) is one of my favorite actress. She is the kind that makes me want to watch her shows regardless of her writing. Her character, Yeon-Hee, is a very simple character that has been harboring a crush on Man-Sik since forever. Though she gets the abusive ahjumma treatment from his mother (pull hair and slapping), she still gets along with Man-Sik. But she is not those over-girly types that cannot fend for themselves. She's that kind that can shout expletives at you if you are not careful.
Park Joong-Hoon (Radio Star, Two Guys) is a guy who realised his priorities after he set his eyes on his daughter, years late. From a guy who is a workaholic, he became a man who wants to reconcile with his daughter, though still kept his identity a secret as his wife did, until the last minute.
Uhm Jung-Hwa (Insadong Scandal, Seducing Mr. Perfect) is a better actress than a singer, imo. Here she plays the "I-love-my-daughter-and-mr.daddy-stay-out-of-our-lives" type of woman. She loves both her career and her daughter and has some disillusion about her boyfriend being more reliable than her husband. But deep in her heart, she still goes back to her husband because who answers her phone calls?
Lee Min-Ki (Really Really Like You, Oishi Man) has to be the highlight of this show for me. His character saves this Seoul girl Hee-Mi (Kang Ye-Won) but injured her in the process. She shows up with a vengeance plan, that goes to the kind of My Sassy Girl date torture type. Hyung-Sik, being a lifesaver, in order to save others during the tsunami, gets swept under the current instead, leaving behind a distraught Hee-Mi and a repentant jerk. This movie has made me pay a lot lot more attention to Lee Min-Ki. :)
Overall, the acting were solid and it was great fun to watch good actors.
Writing:
Let me say this from straight on. It's not a very well-written movie. The main story failed to capture me but some of the side stories did.
The love story between Hyung-Sik and Hee-Mi is fun and so is Hyung-Sik's dedication to his job. That is the only time I shed tears albeit the logic fail at the final part of the scene.
But the love story between Man-Sik and Yeon-Hee is predictable though the great thing is that they are not over the top. It's simple and it's not often that the girl has to be a little more aggressive than the guy.
The reconciliation between Hwi and Yoon-Ji was not done fully, and it was a little disappointing there. I do like how they say "I'm sorry" instead of "I love you" and how Yoon-Ji goes and adjust his tie and say things like "Why are you not taking care of yourself?" But aiks. Not enough.
But I do like how Hwi reconciled with the daughter. That is also tear-inducing.
When daughter still doesn't know ahjusshi is daddy
I also liked the side story of Dong-Choon (Kim In-Kwon of My Father and Love So Divine) and his mother. Dong-Choon is the shipmate of Man-Sik when the incident involving Yeon-Hee's father and so stayed close to Yeon-Hee. I believe he has some form of crush on Yeon-Hee though he's such a bum that he gets slighted most of the time.
But I like how his mother, goes and asks around for a job interview for him, then refuses the picnic with her friends so she can buy her son a pair of new shoes for the job interview. Dong-Choon was impatient with his mother all the way and lost all chances to be good to his mother. It was a subtle way that painted the overall value of the story: Don't wait until your loved ones are gone.
Though I know that you never bring logic in when watching a disaster movie, Haeundae had a lot of logic problems. And that was a little disappointing cause the least you can do in a disaster movie is to make it seem believable.
Another thing is character writing. I believe good movies incorporate some form of character development. Though I'm not saying that Haeundae doesn't have character development, it is done in very very small scale that you're not sure until it's the end of the movie. And that some characters are just written in without much weight, like the in and out of Ock-Jo (Song Jae-Ho of Private Eye and Ba:Bo), which I think given better writing, he would have been a more convincing character and have a better story. I am frustrated that his character seemed to be there just to create some political and emotional dissension cliche. Not enough.
The same thing goes for the emotional attachment of certain characters. I didn't remember that Hyung-Sik was Man-Sik's brother until after the tsunami. And Man-Sik doesn't seem to love his son that much?
However, one good thing about Haeundae's writing is that it balances between the comedy and the tragedy. You don't feel like you're watching a melodrama nor an over-the-top hero saves the day kind of hope stories. Instead, it has that very homely tone, that as if it's just capturing the everyday lives of people staying in Haeundae. It doesn't exaggerate too much but it doesn't dwell on the emotions either.
I LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LEE MINKI'S intense look as he struggles whether to let go
Directing & Cinematography:
Since this is the first Korean disaster movie attempt, I would say it's cool. CGI was done well, especially the part where the water receded. That has to be my most favorite part. The shots were quite well-balanced without those annoying camera shake movement they do in dramas.
The only flaw, like mentioned above, is the logic fail.
Verdict:
Haeundae has a lot of hype. Being the first disaster movie made, it's not bad, really. It learns to focus on people's life stories and relationships with each other and not just only about the tsunami. I think Korean movies tend to focus on interrelationships of characters more than Western movies. Even in thrillers like Open City started about the cops trying to fight a pickpocket ring and ends up having the relationship between mother and son being the spotlight.
But take that away, perhaps you take away the gist of the story. Because truly, it's really not about the tsunami per se. The English tagline for the movie goes something like this: "What do you do if you only have 10 minutes to save everyone?" which I think is totally inapt. Perhaps then it fails since the tagline (being like the purpose of the story) doesn't quite click with the story itself.
I love disaster movies. I watch almost all of them. I watched Day After Tomorrow and think it was not too bad though again, a lot of logic fail (like how in the world does the ship gets shipped into Manhattan with all the buildings still standing strong??). I'm planning to watch 2012. That's how much I love disaster movies.
Haeundae, for a first attempt, is done well. Not the best, but definitely has room for improvement.
And Lee Min-Ki....is the reason to watch this again!
Left: the traffic guy
Mom and daughter
