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Hello Melodrama, so very nice to see you. I've been drowning in cutsy, moderately angsty rom-com, it's about time someone showed up to bring da Noise and da Funk the Real Drama.
A Love to Kill is a 2005 kdrama starring Bi(Rain) and Shin Min Ah (adorably and most recently of My Girlfriend is a Gumiho). In an attempt not to be spoiled, something kdramas are good at doing right there in the series synopsis, I haven't done too much reading up. What I do know is that the very sexy Bi(Rain) plays K-1 fighter Kang Bok Gu, a man out for revenge. Shin Min Ah plays Cha Eun Seok, an actress nursing a broken heart. Her honey, further down the food chain then she is, has gone MIA. He's moved from his house and won't return her calls. Poor Cha Eun Seok is pretty heartbroken about it all and has turned to tipping the bottle back a little too often. Which leads her into troubles of another kind. The wrong time, wrong place kind of troubles that land our mess of a heroine in the midst of a sex scandal and the announcement of her engagement that, I suspect, is meant to resolve it.
Unlike the more recent rom-com's that I've been watching, A Love to Kill is missing that shiny, slick, primary color-ish feel. The filming is full of tricky camera angles, wide street shots, and artistic cut-aways. The color palette is decidedly washed out, dulled and interspersed with gritty black and white shots that I haven't yet figured out the code for. Initially, I thought they were meant to represent memories, but maybe not so much. They seem to kind of show up to enhance what I can only assume is the overall artsy fartsy vibe. That's not to say that I don't really like it or that I'm not impressed because ... yeah. That closing sequence? Pretty much killer.
I really like the way that the POV's of our male and female lead are intertwined. The opening sequence where Bok Gu jumps into the river to save his apparently suicidal ex gets synced with a scene of Eun Seok walking into and swimming in the ocean. While both women appear to be committing suicide, only one of them really is. As mentioned before, Eun Seok is an actress and this is a film shoot. The images of both Bok Gu and Eun Seok in water get overlaid so that it looks like Bok Gu is saving Eun Seok right up until the moment he breaks the surface of the water with his ex in the red coat tossed over his shoulder.
I really like how that scene gets clipped together. They do that frequently. The leads haven't met yet, but their lives are being aligned in the narrative. They are in two different classes, but there's going to be a clash at some point. And, although it takes some convenient plot contrivance, they do. During one of Bok Gu's fights, we discover that he has a brother who doesn't condone his fighting. He won't see Bok Gu until he stops. What we don't know is that they haven't seen each other in like 10 years. Well, someone chases Bok Gu down to tell him that they've found him. Then guess what ... Yeah, Bok Gu's brother turns out to be Eun Seok's missing honey.
The closing sequence of Episode 1 was pretty awesome. Bok Gu walking up behind and speaking to his long lost brother as the two stand on a rooftop, teases him gently about his apparent adoration for Eun Seok who's image is being displayed on a jumb-o-tron mounted on a building across the way. Kang Min Goo walks towards the image with one hand outstretched, Bok Gu following along behind him. Min Goo doesn't seem to notice when he runs out of roof and drops suddenly over the edge of the building. It's actually rather stunning cause me? Didn't actually see that one quite coming. Neither did Bok Gu. He stands there for a moment in astonished disbelief. Which is understandable. Min Goo is literarly there one moment and gone the next. Without warning and with nary a sound. Bok Gu calls out for his brother, "Hyung." And then he screams for him as the frame freezes and the episode ends.
I'm looking forward to the change in genres. I love the trendy rom-com's but Playful Kiss turned into too much of a mediocre thing. Although, melodramas aren't generally my cup o' tea, I think Bi(Rain) brings the sexy and I really liked Shin Min Ah in My Girlfriend is a Gumiho. Of course, so far, I'm less than impressed by her performance here. The character so far seems pretty standard and Shin Min Ah doesn't do anything to make her stand out. We can only hope. Worse case scenario, I don't make it through all sixteen episodes. But on the plus side, it's only sixteen episodes. If I could make it through Playful Kiss, I should be able to make it through anything.
A Love to Kill is a 2005 kdrama starring Bi(Rain) and Shin Min Ah (adorably and most recently of My Girlfriend is a Gumiho). In an attempt not to be spoiled, something kdramas are good at doing right there in the series synopsis, I haven't done too much reading up. What I do know is that the very sexy Bi(Rain) plays K-1 fighter Kang Bok Gu, a man out for revenge. Shin Min Ah plays Cha Eun Seok, an actress nursing a broken heart. Her honey, further down the food chain then she is, has gone MIA. He's moved from his house and won't return her calls. Poor Cha Eun Seok is pretty heartbroken about it all and has turned to tipping the bottle back a little too often. Which leads her into troubles of another kind. The wrong time, wrong place kind of troubles that land our mess of a heroine in the midst of a sex scandal and the announcement of her engagement that, I suspect, is meant to resolve it.
Unlike the more recent rom-com's that I've been watching, A Love to Kill is missing that shiny, slick, primary color-ish feel. The filming is full of tricky camera angles, wide street shots, and artistic cut-aways. The color palette is decidedly washed out, dulled and interspersed with gritty black and white shots that I haven't yet figured out the code for. Initially, I thought they were meant to represent memories, but maybe not so much. They seem to kind of show up to enhance what I can only assume is the overall artsy fartsy vibe. That's not to say that I don't really like it or that I'm not impressed because ... yeah. That closing sequence? Pretty much killer.
I really like the way that the POV's of our male and female lead are intertwined. The opening sequence where Bok Gu jumps into the river to save his apparently suicidal ex gets synced with a scene of Eun Seok walking into and swimming in the ocean. While both women appear to be committing suicide, only one of them really is. As mentioned before, Eun Seok is an actress and this is a film shoot. The images of both Bok Gu and Eun Seok in water get overlaid so that it looks like Bok Gu is saving Eun Seok right up until the moment he breaks the surface of the water with his ex in the red coat tossed over his shoulder.
I really like how that scene gets clipped together. They do that frequently. The leads haven't met yet, but their lives are being aligned in the narrative. They are in two different classes, but there's going to be a clash at some point. And, although it takes some convenient plot contrivance, they do. During one of Bok Gu's fights, we discover that he has a brother who doesn't condone his fighting. He won't see Bok Gu until he stops. What we don't know is that they haven't seen each other in like 10 years. Well, someone chases Bok Gu down to tell him that they've found him. Then guess what ... Yeah, Bok Gu's brother turns out to be Eun Seok's missing honey.
The closing sequence of Episode 1 was pretty awesome. Bok Gu walking up behind and speaking to his long lost brother as the two stand on a rooftop, teases him gently about his apparent adoration for Eun Seok who's image is being displayed on a jumb-o-tron mounted on a building across the way. Kang Min Goo walks towards the image with one hand outstretched, Bok Gu following along behind him. Min Goo doesn't seem to notice when he runs out of roof and drops suddenly over the edge of the building. It's actually rather stunning cause me? Didn't actually see that one quite coming. Neither did Bok Gu. He stands there for a moment in astonished disbelief. Which is understandable. Min Goo is literarly there one moment and gone the next. Without warning and with nary a sound. Bok Gu calls out for his brother, "Hyung." And then he screams for him as the frame freezes and the episode ends.
I'm looking forward to the change in genres. I love the trendy rom-com's but Playful Kiss turned into too much of a mediocre thing. Although, melodramas aren't generally my cup o' tea, I think Bi(Rain) brings the sexy and I really liked Shin Min Ah in My Girlfriend is a Gumiho. Of course, so far, I'm less than impressed by her performance here. The character so far seems pretty standard and Shin Min Ah doesn't do anything to make her stand out. We can only hope. Worse case scenario, I don't make it through all sixteen episodes. But on the plus side, it's only sixteen episodes. If I could make it through Playful Kiss, I should be able to make it through anything.
