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tarigwaemirAd Mundo Exteriore,
I've just finished a marathon viewing of "Autumn Story", that Korean drama which almost every single not-Korean-but-Asian friend has recommended me. -_- All right, the boys are pretty, to the point of being utterly unrealistic, and the first few episodes were awfully heartwrenching (young Eunseo is probably played by a better actor than her grown-up counterpart and young Junseo has the longest eyelashes I've ever seen on a boy). But after the childhood scenes, the drama deteriorates rapidly into sentimental mush that not even I, in my most generous and compassionate moments, can tolerate.
I mean, I usually don't mind bad Korean dramas. They're a source of endless amusement, and my parents and I have fun placing bets on what the next major plot twist, romantic scene or even line of dialogue is going to be. The best Korean dramas don't ever "break the mold" or avoid being stereotypical, for there's only a few limited plotlines that a drama can take. They are saved by the details, such as the acting, the dialogue, the breathtaking cinematography, and the ability to wrench nostalgia out of their viewers despite the latter's better common sense.
Now, I have to admit that the actors who play the adult Junseo and Taesuk are pretty gorgeous (can't say the same for the female characters), but eye candy can only carry you so far. After the ten billionth time seeing Junseo's pretty eyes (outlined impecabbly in waterproof eyeliner) fill up with tears, I was pretty sick of his face. -_- And he's my type too. Ugh. Won Bin, the actor who plays Taesuk, was a passable actor, but Song Seunghun, who plays the grownup Junseo, managed to compress his entire emotional range into three expressions throughout the entire series. I think he must have been a model--he poses well, but he couldn't act even if his life depended on it. Honestly, a "hothouse flower", ornamental but utterly useless.
And the dialogue! If you don't understand Korean and saw "Autumn Story" in dubbed or subtitled form, trust me, you were spared a terrible fate. The scriptwriter was such a moron! I mean, the characters keep saying the same lines over and over again. The redundancy was so painful that I could have screamed. One character in particular, Junseo's fiancée Yumi, kept repeating her lines in different degrees of formality. Really impossible to translate the effect in English, but she'd say, "I'm so sorry" in intimate form and then say it again in formal form. Argh! Everyone else too..."Sorry. I'm sorry. I'm really sorry." Or, "Is that so? That's so. Yes, that's so." >_< Not even three-year-olds speak so inanely! What the heck was the scriptwriter on when he/she was composing this thing?
There were a few nice shots of autumn foliage, but nowhere near enough to make up for the utter badness of the series.
Mother and I agree that "Winter Sonata" was much, much better. The plot was just as implausible, but not quite so icky (I still say Junseo and Eunseo have a rather incestuous relationship), and the dialogue had some annoying trademarks, but not the horrible redundancy that plagued "Autumn Story". The actors may not have been so breathtakingly pretty but they could act, which makes a world of difference. Also, even though it was much longer than "Autumn Story", I think I only got tired of "Winter Sonata" about two or three episodes before the end. "Autumn Story" on the other hand already lost my interest by the sixth or seventh episode. -_- I held on and kept watching because I wanted to see the famous crash scene at the end (which in itself was a disappointment), but it was definitely not worth it. What a waste of money. ::shakes head::
In other news, I saw the Nutcracker at the New York City Ballet yesterday. Absolutely charming! Everything was just so ingeniously done, from the choreography to the costumes to the set design...it was really delightful. Plus, we stopped by Barnes and Noble, and Mother bought me David Foster Wallace's book on infinity, Everything and More: A Compact History of ∞, which is an engaging read, complete with postmodernist flourishes and Wallace's characteristic footnotes and abbreviations. I plan to finish it in the next few days. ^_^ I actually know nothing about Cantor and transfinite numbers so it promises to be educational as well.
My inbox is far too full. -_- I wish I had cable, so I wouldn't have to wait a minute for a two-line message to download.
...Tari
Post-script: I ordered contact lenses that only treat my myopia, not my astigmatism. (After all, the ones that also correct astimatism are horribly expensive, too expensive when I'm only going to wear these twice a week.) I'm going to pick up the actual set tomorrow, but I have some sample ones on right now to get used to them. I can't actually focus too well on printed text though my vision is clear when I just stare at things in the distance. They make me really dizzy. I don't think they're all that more comfortable with glasses, although it is nice to have clear peripheral vision and to know what my face looks like without glasses. Ugh...head hurts.
I've just finished a marathon viewing of "Autumn Story", that Korean drama which almost every single not-Korean-but-Asian friend has recommended me. -_- All right, the boys are pretty, to the point of being utterly unrealistic, and the first few episodes were awfully heartwrenching (young Eunseo is probably played by a better actor than her grown-up counterpart and young Junseo has the longest eyelashes I've ever seen on a boy). But after the childhood scenes, the drama deteriorates rapidly into sentimental mush that not even I, in my most generous and compassionate moments, can tolerate.
I mean, I usually don't mind bad Korean dramas. They're a source of endless amusement, and my parents and I have fun placing bets on what the next major plot twist, romantic scene or even line of dialogue is going to be. The best Korean dramas don't ever "break the mold" or avoid being stereotypical, for there's only a few limited plotlines that a drama can take. They are saved by the details, such as the acting, the dialogue, the breathtaking cinematography, and the ability to wrench nostalgia out of their viewers despite the latter's better common sense.
Now, I have to admit that the actors who play the adult Junseo and Taesuk are pretty gorgeous (can't say the same for the female characters), but eye candy can only carry you so far. After the ten billionth time seeing Junseo's pretty eyes (outlined impecabbly in waterproof eyeliner) fill up with tears, I was pretty sick of his face. -_- And he's my type too. Ugh. Won Bin, the actor who plays Taesuk, was a passable actor, but Song Seunghun, who plays the grownup Junseo, managed to compress his entire emotional range into three expressions throughout the entire series. I think he must have been a model--he poses well, but he couldn't act even if his life depended on it. Honestly, a "hothouse flower", ornamental but utterly useless.
And the dialogue! If you don't understand Korean and saw "Autumn Story" in dubbed or subtitled form, trust me, you were spared a terrible fate. The scriptwriter was such a moron! I mean, the characters keep saying the same lines over and over again. The redundancy was so painful that I could have screamed. One character in particular, Junseo's fiancée Yumi, kept repeating her lines in different degrees of formality. Really impossible to translate the effect in English, but she'd say, "I'm so sorry" in intimate form and then say it again in formal form. Argh! Everyone else too..."Sorry. I'm sorry. I'm really sorry." Or, "Is that so? That's so. Yes, that's so." >_< Not even three-year-olds speak so inanely! What the heck was the scriptwriter on when he/she was composing this thing?
There were a few nice shots of autumn foliage, but nowhere near enough to make up for the utter badness of the series.
Mother and I agree that "Winter Sonata" was much, much better. The plot was just as implausible, but not quite so icky (I still say Junseo and Eunseo have a rather incestuous relationship), and the dialogue had some annoying trademarks, but not the horrible redundancy that plagued "Autumn Story". The actors may not have been so breathtakingly pretty but they could act, which makes a world of difference. Also, even though it was much longer than "Autumn Story", I think I only got tired of "Winter Sonata" about two or three episodes before the end. "Autumn Story" on the other hand already lost my interest by the sixth or seventh episode. -_- I held on and kept watching because I wanted to see the famous crash scene at the end (which in itself was a disappointment), but it was definitely not worth it. What a waste of money. ::shakes head::
In other news, I saw the Nutcracker at the New York City Ballet yesterday. Absolutely charming! Everything was just so ingeniously done, from the choreography to the costumes to the set design...it was really delightful. Plus, we stopped by Barnes and Noble, and Mother bought me David Foster Wallace's book on infinity, Everything and More: A Compact History of ∞, which is an engaging read, complete with postmodernist flourishes and Wallace's characteristic footnotes and abbreviations. I plan to finish it in the next few days. ^_^ I actually know nothing about Cantor and transfinite numbers so it promises to be educational as well.
My inbox is far too full. -_- I wish I had cable, so I wouldn't have to wait a minute for a two-line message to download.
...Tari
Post-script: I ordered contact lenses that only treat my myopia, not my astigmatism. (After all, the ones that also correct astimatism are horribly expensive, too expensive when I'm only going to wear these twice a week.) I'm going to pick up the actual set tomorrow, but I have some sample ones on right now to get used to them. I can't actually focus too well on printed text though my vision is clear when I just stare at things in the distance. They make me really dizzy. I don't think they're all that more comfortable with glasses, although it is nice to have clear peripheral vision and to know what my face looks like without glasses. Ugh...head hurts.
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(no subject)
Date: 2003-12-22 03:19 pm (UTC)And oh, well, yeah, it's unrealistic, but interesting xD
(no subject)
Date: 2003-12-23 06:40 am (UTC)...Tari