Eintagsfliege
Austria
Outstanding actors.
I gave Rewatch Value "only" 7 points not because this isn't a great movie, but you definitely need some time to process this heavy topic.
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Story-telling:
Watching this show feels like trying to piece together a rotating puzzle that’s made up of constantly shifting pieces. You constantly feel like you’re trying to maintain a sense of balance, while standing on quickly shifting sand. It’s fascinating and challenging.
The narrative point-of-view shifts a lot, from the point-of-view of the cops, to the point-of-view of the members of the shadowy and secretive drug organization the cops are trying to crack, and then back again. Which consistently messes with us as an audience, since it affects who we feel we want to root for.
The world that the writer paints, is one in which there is no black or white. Everything is a mass of varying shades of gray, in a drama world that seems to just keep unfurling, to reveal hidden recesses and a magnitude that we never expected it to have.
Messing with our heads seems to be one of writers main aims, and I must say that Show succeeds at it, and very well too.
One of the things that Show does well, is turning stuff on its head. Essentially, as key information is revealed to us, everything in its new context looks entirely different, like it does when a kaleidoscope turns. It makes the mind spin, as our brains furiously work with each new piece of information, to dismiss old connections that are no longer valid, and make new ones.
Jung Kyung Ho as Jung Shi Hyun / Baksa / Doctor‘Son:
Jung Kyung Ho is, in a word, perfection, in this show.
As Baksa, Jung Kyung Ho comes across as flawlessly multi-layered, enigmatic and intense. He doesn’t look like a gangster, what with his sharp suits and impeccably coiffed hair, but he’s got a quietly dangerous air about him that’s unmistakeable and quite chilling.
From channeling a cold-as-ice crime lord, to unleashing his quick-as-the-wind ass-kicking badassery, to revealing Baksa’s inner vulnerabilities, Jung Kyung Ho nails it all.
Perfection, I say.
I love that Baksa is cool and unruffled most of the time, except for sudden bursts of necessary violence. It just makes him feel all the more dangerous, coz you just never know when he’ll unleash his latent inner ninja. Yet, that hawk-eyed inner ninja is always there beneath the surface; watching, processing, and sharply judging whether his intervention is necessary. It’s so freaking scary-cool.
I also love the fact that Baksa is a hands-on yet mysterious sort of crime lord, a combination that I find intriguing and very compelling. I mean, you’d expect someone as sharply suited and as perfectly coiffed as he, to give all the orders and let his minion do all the dirty work. Not so Baksa.
It gives me a bit of a thrill, that Baksa’s name is so revered by many, but his face is known to so few. Which makes it possible for him to walk among people to do his own investigations, without anyone suspecting that he is Baksa.
The bromance:
The bromance between Baksa and Soo is the stuff of sageuks; the two men are so devoted to each other, that they literally – and regularly – lay their lives down for each other. Nothing screams bromance quite like being willing to die for each other, right?
Cinematography, music, tone, vibe:
Dark and beautiful are two words that keep coming to mind, when I think about this show’s tone and presentation. The crisp, polished cinematography is dark and beautiful; the music is dark and beautiful; the general tone and vibe of any given scene is also dark and beautiful.
Likewise, the OST has the same languid mood to it. The tracks often have a touch of mournful to them, and yet, always possess a bit of edge. Mostly, the rhythm is measured, yet unrelentingly driving, washed over with a trance-like flavor. It’s atmospheric and quite hypnotic, and is a perfect fit for this drama’s cryptic world.
Now, excuse me, I need to google pictures of sunflowers and puppies to not feel numb anymore *lies down in the corner and silently cries*
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