Swallow the sun: episodes 1-4
Wow! Honestly, I haven't expected this drama to be so good. For various reasons and some of them quite objective, like the fact that the subtitles for the drama weren't released until months after the broadcast, no-one I know (apart from dangermousie) has seen it . But the drama is very very good so far, and if it keeps this way I might transform into an insane recommender of this to anyone and everyone.
What is good? First of all, the drama has plenty of plot. I am not even sure where it is all going, let alone how it ends, and usually I can predict the ending for any Korean drama with high accuracy after the episode 4. But I am intrigued!
Then the drama has characters: so far we have a poor boy (illegitimate child, abandoned in an orphanage), a sweet girl (rich parents died in an accident that might have been a murder), a sociopath chairman who seems to have taken over the land that used to belong to girl's parents (and who wants to take over the rest of Jeju island by any means possible, including murder and blackmail) ,and the chairman's spoiled son.
Also the drama has a beautiful location. If this house is a prop, I applaud the designer. If this is a real house, I want to know where it is. Usually Korean non-period drama houses are rather strange, even the houses of people who are supposed to be affluent. I quite often tend to think : "Why Korean rich live in these horrible interiors? They have no money for anything better?" This is either due to the lack of funds or taste differences.
But Jang Min Ho's house is an absolutely gorgeous place, and at the same time it gives you an eerie feel of displacement . The place looks too empty and strangely cold, and it does not seem to belong in this time, this place, this country.
And the actors are all very good:
Ji sung (as Kim Jung Woo, the orphan boy) : I have never been a big fan of this baby-face actor, may be because I have never found much depth in his other characters. It is always nice to be wrong on the "good" side: there is plenty of depth, vulnerability and against-all-odds strength in the way he plays Kim Jung Woo.
Sung Yu Ri (as Lee Soo Hyun, the girl whose parents were killed) : She was one of the reasons it took me so long to even try to watch this drama. Her role of "stupid girl" in "Hong Gil Dong" rubbed me the wrong way, and to tell the truth, the worst way of all wrong ways. But again, it is so nice to be nicely surprised: her portrayal of Lee Soo Hyun is lovely.
Lee Wan (as Jang Tae Hyuk, spoilt rich boy) : no-one plays dark and tortured as good as Lee Wan does.
Jun Kwang Ryul (as Jang Min Ho, evil chairman): I have seen this actor playing complex (on the evil side) middle-aged characters in so many dramas recently that they all merged a little in my mind. But Jang Min Ho stands out from the rest (it must be the evil moustache :D).
PS: I am trying to stay unspoiled accidentally spoiled myself for an important piece of information, ten minutes ago. Noooooooo!
What is good? First of all, the drama has plenty of plot. I am not even sure where it is all going, let alone how it ends, and usually I can predict the ending for any Korean drama with high accuracy after the episode 4. But I am intrigued!
Then the drama has characters: so far we have a poor boy (illegitimate child, abandoned in an orphanage), a sweet girl (rich parents died in an accident that might have been a murder), a sociopath chairman who seems to have taken over the land that used to belong to girl's parents (and who wants to take over the rest of Jeju island by any means possible, including murder and blackmail) ,and the chairman's spoiled son.
Also the drama has a beautiful location. If this house is a prop, I applaud the designer. If this is a real house, I want to know where it is. Usually Korean non-period drama houses are rather strange, even the houses of people who are supposed to be affluent. I quite often tend to think : "Why Korean rich live in these horrible interiors? They have no money for anything better?" This is either due to the lack of funds or taste differences.
But Jang Min Ho's house is an absolutely gorgeous place, and at the same time it gives you an eerie feel of displacement . The place looks too empty and strangely cold, and it does not seem to belong in this time, this place, this country.
And the actors are all very good:
Ji sung (as Kim Jung Woo, the orphan boy) : I have never been a big fan of this baby-face actor, may be because I have never found much depth in his other characters. It is always nice to be wrong on the "good" side: there is plenty of depth, vulnerability and against-all-odds strength in the way he plays Kim Jung Woo.
Sung Yu Ri (as Lee Soo Hyun, the girl whose parents were killed) : She was one of the reasons it took me so long to even try to watch this drama. Her role of "stupid girl" in "Hong Gil Dong" rubbed me the wrong way, and to tell the truth, the worst way of all wrong ways. But again, it is so nice to be nicely surprised: her portrayal of Lee Soo Hyun is lovely.
Lee Wan (as Jang Tae Hyuk, spoilt rich boy) : no-one plays dark and tortured as good as Lee Wan does.
Jun Kwang Ryul (as Jang Min Ho, evil chairman): I have seen this actor playing complex (on the evil side) middle-aged characters in so many dramas recently that they all merged a little in my mind. But Jang Min Ho stands out from the rest (it must be the evil moustache :D).
PS: I am trying to stay unspoiled accidentally spoiled myself for an important piece of information, ten minutes ago. Noooooooo!