#seung bae park

[nofatclips]

Chukje (Festival) - dir. Im Kwon-taek (1996)

Full movie available on Korean Classic Films YouTube channel

[junkobato]

Upcoming Kdrama October 2023 💖

6/10: the perfect deal with Yoo Seung Ho, Kim Dong Hwi. 8 episodes; thriller, crime. Trailer

7/10: strong girl nam soon with Lee Yu Mi, Ong Seung Wu, Byun Woo Seok. 16 episodes; supernatural, action, rom-com. Trailer

11/10: a good day to be a dog with Cha Eun Woo, Park Gyu Young, Lee Hyun Woo. 14 episodes; fantasy, rom-com. Trailer

13/10: my dearest part 2 with Nam Goong Min, Ahn Eun Jin, Lee Hak Joo. 10 episodes; historical, romance.

14/10: evilive with Shin Ha Kyun, Kim Young Kwang, Shin Jae Ha. 10 episodes; thriller, mystery. Trailer

20/10: doona! with Bae Suzy, Yang Se Jong, Park Se Wan, Lee Jin Wook. 9 episodes; rom-com. Trailer

23/10: high cookie with Nam Ji Hyun, Jung Da Bin, Choi Hyun Wook. 20 episodes; fantasy, mystery, thriller. Trailer

28/10: castaway diva with Park Eun Bin, Chae Jong Hyeop, Cha Hak Yeon, Kim Joo Heon. 12 episodes; music, rom-com. Trailer

30/10: the matchmakers with Ro Woon, Jo Yi Hyun. 16 episodes; historical, rom-com. Trailer

If only I had the time to watch all these shows... 😮‍💨

[kactors-kpop-kdrama]

[binging-asian-dramas]

Castaway Diva. 7

Story: 6-7

Acting: 10

Chemistry: 8

Comparable to: Twenty Five, Twenty One (kdrama); Thirty but Seventeen (kdrama)

Total mixed feelings about this. First half, loved. Second half, a huge disappointment dumpster fire. I hate to say the kids in the first two episodes were better then their counterparts/as the adults. Storyline was exciting at first. Loved the whole island bits. I actually wish they explored a tad more with the younger version of Mok Ha (Lee Re) when she was stuck on the island. Honestly even with 12 episodes the story just drag on. Most characters were in my opinion cliche. Didn’t really care for Park Eun Bin’s take (whoever directed her in doing so) on being stuck with emotions of a teenagers personality. It got old very quickly. It didn’t help that both main leads had zero chemistry together either. Overall the whole series started oh my gosh this is great to meh…..

[stuff-diary]

Wedding Impossible

TV Shows/Dramas watched in 2024

Wedding Impossible (2024, South Korea)

Director: Kwon Young Il

Writers: Oh Hye Won & Park Seul Ki (based on the webtoon by Song Jung Won)

Mini-review:

Well, this drama was entertaining, but nothing more. It was especially funny at the beginning, thanks to that sort of 'rivalry' between the leads. However, once they solved that and started moving into purely romantic territory, the story began to lose steam quickly. Tbh, I kept watching to the very end because of the sizzling chemistry between Jeon Jong Seo and Moon Sang Min. And I guess I wanted to see how in the world they were gonna clear up the mess created by the characters, which was pretty fascinating. I feel like the show would have been better if the director had put more thought into its style, cause the whole thing looked pretty cheap and bland. But still, Wedding Impossible is fun enough, and I can see fans of classic romcoms enjoying it a lot.

[rookie-critic]

Rookie-Critic's Top 25 Films of 2022: Honorable Mentions - Broker (dir. Hirokazu Kore-eda)

If you've seen Hirokazu Kore-eda's 2018 film Shoplifters, the themes of found family and unconventional relationships explored in Broker won't be anything new. What Broker does boast, however, is a story that, in its own way separate from Shoplifters, is profoundly beautiful. The characters and overarching trajectory of the plot in Broker is slightly more straightforward in its positive message and uplifting spirit than Shoplifters was, and, of course, it's yet another great acting showcase for Korean powerhouse Song Kang-ho. It's also an incredible acting showcase for K-pop star Lee Ji-eun, who is probably better known by her stage name IU. I hope Broker is a launchpad to seeing her in more stuff, because she is wildly impressive in this.

Currently available to rent/purchase on digital (iTunes, Amazon, Vudu, etc.) and on DVD & Blu-ray through Decal Releasing.

Read my full review of Broker here.

[korelist]

OUR BLUES // KDRAMA DİZİ YORUMU

UYARI : Yazılar genel olarak spoiler içerebilir. İçermeyedebilir.

İmdb puanı: 8,6 Benim puanım: 9

Drama: Our Blues (literal title)

Hangul: 우리들의 블루스

Director: Kim Kyu-Tae

Writer: No Hee-Kyung

Date: 2022

Language: Korean

Country: South Korea

Cast: Lee Byung-Hun, Shin Min-A, Han Ji-Min, Kim Woo-Bin, Ko Du-Shim, Cho Hye-Jung, Baek Seung-Do, Lee Jung-Eun, Park Ji-Hwan, Choi Young-Joon, Roh Yoon-Seo, Bae Hyun-Sung

 Our Blues izlemeye başladıktan bir süre sonra sizi himayesine alan bir dizi. Neden beğendiğinizi anlamadan beğeniyorsunuz. Slice of life dediğimiz belli bir konu ve durum üzerinde durmayan insanlar üzerinden işlenen sıcak bir hikaye. 20 bölüm olduğu için ilk başta biraz gözünüz korkabilir ama güzel akıyor. Öncelikle oyuncu kadrosu inanılmaz. Her yerde başrol olarak Lee Byung-Hun ve  Shin Min-A görünse de kesinlikle başrol onlar değildi. Benim gözümde başrol kesinlikle Han Ji-Min ve Kim Woo-Bin’di.

Jeju adasındaki yaşantıyı anlatan dizide adanın bütün güzellikleri de gözler önüne serilmişti. Bu kadar durağan dizilerin genellikle hitap ettiği kitle 25yaş hatta 30 yaş sonrası oluyor. O yüzden herkesin bayılarak seyredeceğini düşünmüyorum. Karakterlerin hikayelerine işlenmiş anılar, acılar, mutluluklar en doğal yolla ekrana getirilmişti. Öyle ki izlerken sizde Jeju sakinlerinden biriymiş gibi hissediyorsunuz.

Tek tek karakterlerin üzerinden geçebileceğimiz bir dizi olmadığı için o şekilde bir detaya girmeyi düşünmüyorum. Her biri kendi hikayelerini bizlere anlatarak sahneden ayrılıyorlardı. Her bölümde bir diğerine odaklandık. Bir bölüm balıkçının yalnızlığını, içindeki sevginin büyüklüğünü izlerken bir sonraki bölümde balıkçıyla irtibattaki kahveciye kayıyordu. Her birinde farklı bir konuya dikkat çekiliyordu. Depresyon, velayet, kürtaj, travma, otizm gibi konular ve daha fazlası sırasıyla işlendi.

Bütün bu hikayelere tanık olurken, izleyiciye bir yandan da karakter analizleri yaptırıyor. Bütün izlediğimiz karmaşık dizilerden biraz uzaklaşıp nefes almak istiyorsanız doğru yerdesiniz. Beyninizi yakan bilim kurgulardan, mantığınıza oturmayan doğaüstü hikayelerden, karmaşık olay örgülerinden sıyrılmak için mükemmel bir tercih.

En başta da dediğim gibi, benim gözümde dizinin yıldızı Kim Woo-Bin’di. Daha önce izlediğimde bu kadar dikkatimi çekmemişti ama bu dizide güneş gibi parlıyordu. Özellikle gülümsemesi inanılmazdı. Sadece onun için bile izleyebilirsiniz. Gerek hayatta partneri olan Shin Min-A ise dizideki en arka sıralardaki bir roldeydi. Woo-Bin’e dizide partner olarak eşlik eden isim ise Han Ji-Min oldu. Ben ikilinin enerjisine bayıldım. Ji-Min’i ise oyunculuk anlamında baya başarılı buluyorum.

Lee Byung-Hun gibi bir isim bile bence Woo-Bin’i geçememişti. Tabi ki daha önce dediğim gibi, herkes kendine düşen kısımda hakkını veriyordu. Lee Jung-Eun tecrübesi ile Roh Yoon-Seo ise yeni nesli temsilen şahane iş çıkartmıştı.

İzleyin derim.

 OST:

Jimin (BTS), Ha Sung Woon - With You

Raven Melus

BAŞKA NELER VAR ?

FOTOĞRAFLAR

[kpopscatterbrain]

Kdramas/Movies with strong female characters

Dramas

Eve (2022): Lee La-El (Seo Yea-Ji) When Lee La-El was little, her father died unexpectedly. Powerful people were responsible for his death. After her family was destroyed, Lee La-El prepared for the next 13 years to take revenge. Starting by targeting Kang Yoon-gyeom, one of the main culprits who orchestrated the death of her father. Along the way she becomes torn between her desire for revenge and her feelings for Yoon-gyeom.

It's Okay To Not Be Okay (2020): Ko Moon-Young (Seo Yea-Ji) Ko Moon-Young is a popular children's book author with antisocial personality disorder. She had a troubled childhood and a turbulent relationship with her parents. She develops romantic feelings for a psychiatric caregiver after a coincidental encounter and often goes to extreme lengths to get his attention.

Hotel Del Luna (2019): Jang Man-Wol (IU) Jang Man-Wol is the moody owner of Hotel del Luna. The hotel catering to the dead has been bound to her soul in order to atone for the sins she committed 1,300 years ago. Through the new manager Gu Chan-sung, the mysteries and the secrets behind the hotel and its owner are revealed

My Name (2021): Yoon Ji-Woo (Han So-Hee) Yoon Ji-Woo’s father gets murdered suddenly. She wants to desperately take revenge on whoever is responsible for her father's death. She starts working for a drug crime ring that her father was a part of. Ji-Woo joins the police department as a mole for the drug ring.

Vagabond (2019): Go Hae-Ri (Bae Suzy) Go Hae-Ri is an NIS agent and is currently working undercover at the Korean embassy in Morocco. She is tasked to help the bereaved families of a fatal flight. She helps Cha Dal-Geon whose nephew was on the flight uncover a darker and more sinister conspiracy than they expected.

Sisyphus: The Myth (2021): Gang Seo-Hae (Park Shin-Hye) Gang Seo-Hae is an elite warrior. She can take down the biggest men with just her bare hands. She is a sharpshooter and a bombmaker. She learned these skills to survive in a world that is dominated by gangsters and military cliques. One day she time travels to save a genius engineer.

Mr. Sunshine (2018): Go Ae-Shin (Kim Tae-Ri) Go Ae-Shin is an orphaned noblewoman and a member of the Righteous Army. Her parents were independence fighters who died in Japan due to their colleague's betrayal. She trains as a sniper. An american soldier Eugene meets and falls in love with Go Ae-shin. 

The Glory (2022): Moon Dong-Eun (Song Hye-Kyo) Moon Dong-Eun was a victim of high school violence. She waited for the bully ring leader get married and have a child. Now she is the homeroom teacher of her tormentor's child. Her cruel revenge plot begins.

Tomorrow (2022): Koo Ryeon (Kim Hee-Seon) Grim reaper Koo Ryeon is the leader of a crisis management team. The teams objective is to save suicidal people. Choi Jun-Woong (Ro Woon) is a young job seeker who is unable to secure a job. One night, he accidentally becomes a new member of the crisis management team.

Remarriage & Desires (2022): Seo Hye-Seung (Kim Hee-Seon) Seo Hye-seung who lost everything in an instant after her husbands affair and su*cide. She signs up to a matchmaking company Rex for the upper class, and participates in the race of her desires for her revenge.

Under The Queen's Umbrella (2022): Queen Hwaryeong (Kim Hye-Soo) Queen Hwaryeong is supposed to act with grace and dignity, but she has troublemaker sons. The queen decides to abandon strict protocols to transform her sons into deserving princes through education and personal growth, all while navigating the complexities of motherhood and royal life.

Juvenile Justice (2022): Sim Eun-Seok (Kim Hye-Soo) Sim Eun-Seok is an elite judge with a personality that seems unfriendly to others. She hates juvenile criminals and gets assigned to a local juvenile court. There, she breaks custom and administers her own ways of punishing the offenders.

K-Movies

Kill Boksoon (2023): Gil Bok-Soon (Jeon Do-Yeon) Gil Bok-Soon is a single mother and a contract killer working for M. K. Ent. Highly regarded by her peers, she has a 100% success rate and is one of a few killers rated "A" by her company. Right before Gil Bok-Soon is set to renew her contract, she gets involved in a kill or be killed confrontation.

Ballerina (2023): Jang Ok-Ju (Jun Jong-Seo) Ok-Ju used to work as a bodyguard. Ok-Ju is friends with Min-Hee, who is a ballerina. Min-Hee asks Ok-Ju for a favor. She wants Ok-Ju to take revenge.

The Witch: Subversion (2018): Ja-Yoon (Kim Da-Mi) A young girl escapes from a mysterious laboratory where she was trained to become a murder weapon. 10 years later, the girl, named Ja-yoon, is living a normal life, apparently without any memory of her past, she becomes involved in a crime.

Special Delivery (2022): Eun-Ha (Park So-Dam) Eun-Ha is a special driver for deliveries. She delivers anything or anyone for the right price. Her success rate is 100%, but she gets involved in an unexpected delivery accident.

Brave Citizen (2023): So Shi-Min (Shin Hae-Sun) So Shi-Min used to be a boxer in her student days. She now works as a contract teacher at a high school. She confronts a school bully, who frequently torments other students.

[likeysoob]

little mix who?

Kang Seul Gi

Park Soo Young

Kim Ye Rim

Bae Joo Hyun

Shon Seung Wan

NOTE: i couldn’t fit Y/NS profile in here so shes in other characters

[urmelodysblog]

🌹ღRed velvet Reaction to you Sitting on Their lapꨄ

✳Contains fluff and fluff and fluff✳



Irene/ Bae Ju-Hyun 🌹

GIF by dazzlingkai

Irene's a really muture person so I don't see her freaking out about you sitting on her lap (on the outside at least, internally panicking tho ☠️.)

She'd probably blush a little bit while putting her arms around your waist to make sure you don't fall; but she'd definitely like you sitting in her lap when you guys were alone,but if you try to sit in her lap infront of the other members Irene would go full mom mode and scold you and tell you how it was Innapropriate in front of the kids,members



Kang Seulgi 🌹

GIF by theseulgis

Seulgi would definitely, definitely 100% start blushing like crazy.

Speciflly if it was infront of the members then you best believe she'd start going completrly red while wrapping an arm around you and hidding her face in the crook of your neck as the other members teased her. But that didn't mean she didn't like it.¯\_(ツ)_/¯

But even if you guys were alone she'd still be really flustered and shy ;she'd never really get used to it but she did really loved it when you sat on her lap.

Wendy/Son Seung-Wan 🌹

GIF by beautyidol

like Seulgi, Wendy would be really flustered but unlike Seulgi she would respond really quickly to it by wrapping her hand around your waist. Trying to act as if it didn't even shock her one bit. Infact she might even tease you by saying something along the lines of,"You just can't resist me can you?". Which resulted in you trying to get of her lap but being unsuccessful because of her grip on your waist.

Moral of the story she really loved when you sat on her lap in public or not, it didn't matter.



Joy/Park Soo-Young 🌹

GIF by ot5velvet

Like all the other members Joy would get flustered but she'd immediately start giggling at your adordable action as she wrapped her hand around your waist and probably wouldn't let you go for at least a few hours☠️. And if you tired to get up she'd use all of her strength to pull you back down, but if she was incapable of doing so; then she'd pout until you gave in and sat on her lap.

Yeri/Kim Ye-Rim 🌹

GIF by theseulgis

Yeri would be the most flustered out of all the members like she would be completely red, giggling while trying not to make eye contact because this would all be really new to Yeri .

You would probably try to sit on the couch to tease Yeri because you knew that she liked having you so close to her. And when Yeri asked you why you wanted to sit on the couch while still stuttering and blushing. You decided to tease her even more by saying "I don't wanna bother you" , as an attempt to get her to admit she liked having you on her lap.

[dreamzvelvet]

⋆˚࿔ Red Velvet 𝜗𝜚˚⋆

˚ 𝜗𝜚˚⋆｡☆

Red Velvet is a Korean girl group that consists of five members: Irene, Seulgi, Wendy, Joy, and Yeri. Their fandom name is ReVeluv, and their official fandom color is pastel coral. They debuted as four on august 1, 2014 with the single "Happiness", later in 2015, Yeri joined the group during the "Ice Cream Cake" era.

⋆˚࿔ The members 𝜗𝜚˚⋆

Stage name: Irene

Birth name: Bae Joo-hyun

Position: leader, main rapper, lead dancer, sub vocalist, visual, center

Birthday: march 29th, 1991

Zodiac sign: aries

Representative color: pink

Sub-Unit: IRENE & SEULGI

Instagram: @renebaebae

Stage name: Seulgi

Birth name: Kang Seul-gi

Position: main dancer, lead vocalist

Birthday: february 10th, 1994

Zodiac sign: aquarius

Representative color: yellow

Sub-Unit: IRENE & SEULGI

Instagram: @hi_sseulgi

Stage name: Wendy

Korean name: Son Seung-wan

Position: main vocalist

Birthday: february 21st, 1994

Zodiac sign: pisces

Representative color: blue

Instagram: @todayis_wendy

Stage Name: Joy

Birth Name: Park Soo-young

Position: lead rapper, sub vocalist

Birthday: september 3rd, 1996

Zodiac sign: virgo

Representative color: green

Instagram: @_imyour_joy

TikTok: @__imyour_joy

Stage Name: Yeri

Birth Name: Kim Ye-rim

Position: sub vocalist, sub rapper, maknae

Birthday: march 5th, 1999

Zodiac sign: pisces

Representative color: purple

Instagram: @yerimiese

YouTube: yerimiese

[junkobato]

Upcoming Kdrama June 2023 🩷

5/6: the Villain of Romance with Baro, Ha Seung Ri. 10 episodes; romance. Trailer

9/6: Bloodhounds with Woo Do Hwan, Lee Sang Yi, Park Sung Woong. 8 episodes; action, thriller, crime. Trailer

17/6: See You in My 19th Life with Shin Hye Sun, Ahn Bo Hyun. 12 episodes; rom-com, fantasy. Trailer

17/6: King the Land with Im Yoon Ah, Lee Jun Ho, Go Won Hee. 16 episodes; rom-com. Trailer

19/6: Lies Hidden in My Garden with Kim Tae Hee, Im Ji Yeon, Kim Sung Oh. 8 episodes; thriller, mystery. Trailer

23/6: Numbers with Choi Jin Hyuk, Yeon Woo, Kim Myung Soo. 12 episodes; mystery, business. Trailer

23/6: Revenant with Kim Taeri, Oh Jung Se, Hong Kyung. 12 episodes; mystery, thriller, supernatural. Trailer

26/6: Heartbeat with Taecyeon, Won Ji An, Yoon So Hee. 16 episodes; rom-com fantasy. Trailer

28/6: Miracle Brothers with Jung Woo, Bae Hyun Sung, Lee Ki Woo. 10 episodes; mystery, drama. Trailer

30/6: Celebrity with Park Gyu Young, Kang Min Hyuk, Lee Chung Ah. 12 episodes; thriller, mystery. Trailer

Where can I find the time to watch so many shows? 🥲

*REBLOG FOR UPDATES*

[bidokja]

Weak Hero Character Names

For those who don't know, the Weak Hero webtoon anglicized a bunch of the characters' first names from Korean to English. They don't do this for newly introduced characters anymore AFAIK, but all the names they anglicized initially have been kept that way.

Since I've gotten a few people asking about the names, so I decided to compile a list of their original Korean names. You can find amost of these on their character profiles on the Weak Hero fandom page, but I figured people would appreciate having a quick reference that is all in one place. Hopefully this helps people learn/connect their original names.

Remember, this is not a full character list, it's for finding the Korean names of the characters that had their names anglicized.

The format will be:

Anglicized Name -> Korean Name (common alternative romanizations will be in parenthesis)

Eunjang High

Alex Go -> Go Hyeontak (Hyun-tak)

Ben Park -> Park Humin (Hoo-min)

Colton Choi -> Choi Hyoman (Hyo-man)

Eugene Gale -> Seo Juntae (Jun-tae)

Gerard Jin -> Jin Gayul (Ga-yool)

Gray Yeon -> Yeon Sieun (Shi-eun)

Phillip Kim -> Kim Pilyoung (Pil-young)

Rowan Im -> Im Juyang (Ju-yang)

Teddy Jin -> Jin Taeoh (Tae-oh)

Daehyeon High

Dean Kwon -> Kwon Hyeokjin (Hyuk-jin)

Jake Ji -> Ji Hakho (Hak-ho | Hagho)

Timothy Park -> Park Taegi (Tae-gi)*

Ganghak High

Jared Sun -> Seon Jongwon (Sun Jong-Wan)

Toby Kim -> Kim Dosik (Do-sik)

Wolf Keum -> Keum Seongje (Sung-je)

Hyeongshin High

Forrest Lee -> Lee Sehan (Se-han)

Myles Joo -> Joo Seungjin (Seung-jin)

Robin Ha -> Ha Minjo (Min-jo)

Sam "Grape" Lee -> Lee Gongsam (Gong-sam)

Yeo-il High

Donald Na -> Na Baekjin (Baek-jin)

Kingsley Kwan -> Kwan Seokhyeon (Suk-hyun)

Yoosun High

Harper "Helmet" Ha -> Ha Huicheol (Hee-chul)

Hugo Yoon -> Yun Hoyeong (Yoon Ho-young)

Jack Kang -> Kang Jeongyeon (Jung-yun)

Jimmy Bae -> Bae Jihun (Ji-hun)

Other Recurring/Relevant Characters

Bryce Oh -> Oh Beomseok (Beom-sok)

Julia Chae -> Chae Yujin (Yoo-jin)

Kenny Ji -> Ji Gwangseok (Gwang-seok)

Lala Lee -> Lee Minji (Min-ji)

Lily Nam -> Nam Jeongah (Jung-ah)

Oswald Yang -> Yang Seonghun (Sung-hoon)*

Sean Shin -> Shin Jeongseob (Jung-sub)*

Stephen Ahn -> Ahn Suho (Su-ho)

Wesley Song -> Song Baekkyu (Beak-gyu)

(* These names weren't on the wiki, so I looked at raws.)

[dramastream]

BAE IN HYUK 배인혁 for SINGLES KOREA, Jan. 2023

Photography Park Jae Young Fashion Moon Seung Hee Hair Ji Kyung Mi Makeup Kim Bu Seong

[wiredaughter]

@augustwritingchallenge 13: found footage | @aug-kissed 2: gentle peck

yoon bum×oh sangwoo ♡ au: actors ♡ happy yoon bum ♡ 1,498 words ♡ ao3

They don’t have to wait for long; as the sun sets, they see Oh Sangwoo approaching. And he’s not alone. Seung Bae cannot believe his eyes when he sees the victim from the videos with him. He’s positively bopping around Oh Sangwoo, swinging their joined hands back and forth, running to look at something in the hedges as they walk past, falling back to stare at a bird; and always skipping back to take Sangwoo’s hand. Seung Bae exchanges a look with officer Park before he exits the car to intercept them, there’s no way he could be walking around now, referencing the level of damage he saw in film and the date.

This Is Acting

Yang Seung Bae would like to think he’s got an easy life. Not always the happiest, but simple enough. He’s coping with his father’s passing and just joined the police force after excelling at the academy. He works out regularly and has his daily routine down. Ocassionally happy and uncomplicated, that’s something he can do.

This all changes in a second, at a random traffic stop. Some old man failed to stop at the redlight and scrapped a student’s car. It’s very open and shut, but the student is shifty under examination. He’d be sure to get insurance compensation for his damage if he agreed to temporarily submit some of his car’s contents as evidence, and this is where the hitch is. As adamant as he was about getting his before, he seems strangely unwilling to involve the police now, claiming he's in a hurry.

So Seung Bae insists, and ends up taking both the dashcam and a random videorecorder with him, as the student repeats he’s got no time for this. As soon as he says they’re done there, he jumps in his car and speeds –still mindful of the limit– away.

This is how Seung Bae comes into contact with the video. Not the dashcam, no. That was useful for the collision, it showed everything transpired as the student described. The videorecorder, though. There’s quite a few recordings, and it all seems normal at first. A sunset, sped-up traffic at rush hour from a highpoint, some of the animals at the local zoo.

Then, he clicks on a video that starts on the figure of a young, waifish man laying on the ground, face twisted in fear with his hands raised in a protective motion. From a first person point of view, he sees hands gripping a wooden bat bringing it down on the man’s ankles. He startles at the violence, the pleading screams ringing in his ears. Is this what the student – Oh Sangwoo, he checks – wanted to hide?

He clicks on another video that seems to match the lighting of the previous one, and displays a tight zoom on the victim’s face. He’s puffy like he’s been crying and bruised. There’s rope around his neck, and he gasps for breath mouthing at the camera as the shot widens to him suspended by the noose, toes barely scraping the floor. He’s fighting for air, and using what little he gets to say something. ‘I… I love you- I love you…'

The video ends as the person recording lets go of the rope and the man crumbles to the floor, hacking and gasping. Seung Bae doesn’t want to watch more, but he needs to place Oh Sangwoo in the recordings and he needs to look for any identifiers for the man. So he trudges through the material, showing the smaller man getting brutalised in more ways he could think of. He’s beaten up with objects and the same pair of hands he’s seen before, he gets cut and choked and slammed into walls and, once, into a counter.

It’s the last shot he plays that gives him what he needs. Not the man’s identity, should be easy enough to coax out of Oh Sangwoo once he brings him in - and bring him in he will, for now he’s got confirmation of him as the aggressor in the clips. In the video, the same man is looking at the camera with fear and some sort of anticipation. There’s red marks around his neck and his voice is hoarse when he speaks.

‘You- you can hit me.’

‘What?’ That’s a voice Seung Bae recognises, for it has the same angry inflection as Sangwoo had displayed in the argument with him.

‘I don’t want to make you unhappy… if it’ll make you feel good - you can hit me, Sangw-’

The man breaks off midword with an odd expression, and Sangwoo’s laughter rings for a moment before the recording ends. He isn’t sure it will hold in court on its own, but there’s more evidence in the clips he just hasn’t zeroed into, and there’s bound to be more in Oh Sangwoo’s home.

Officer Park isn’t thrilled about this whole situation. He knows Oh Sangwoo from around, and is sure he’d never attack someone without reason. Still, he cannot drag his feet after seeing one of the clips Seung Bae selected for its violence - the thin man does make for a pitiful figure being shoved around so hard he breaks through a shelf on his fall. And so, they park in front of Oh Sangwoo’s residence, waiting to make their arrest.

They don’t have to wait for long; as the sun sets, they see Oh Sangwoo approaching. And he’s not alone. Seung Bae cannot believe his eyes when he sees the man from the videos with him. He’s positively bopping around Oh Sangwoo, swinging their joined hands back and forth, running to look at something in the hedges as they walk past, falling back to stare at a bird; and always skipping back to take Sangwoo’s hand. Seung Bae exchanges a look with officer Park before he exits the car to intercept them.

Sangwoo gives him an annoyed look, and he knows he’s recognised him, whereas his companion just stares at him, curious but hovering slightly behind Sangwoo.

‘So,’ drawls Sangwoo, ‘Is that old geezer going to pay up or or what?’

‘You…?’ Seung Bae stares at the victim’s legs. There’s no way he could be walking around now, referencing the level of damage he saw in film and the date. The man seems uncomfortable under his attention, and grabs the sleeve of Sangwoo’s jumper with both hands.

‘Me.’ Sangwoo steps in between them, turning to explain. ‘This is the copper who made me late to pick you up, wangyanim. Although whatever his presence here means, I don’t know.

‘Who are you?’’ Seung Bae barks at the smaller man. ‘What is your relationship with this man?’

‘My name is Yoon Bum.’

When he looks at Sangwoo instead of answering his second question, he takes the cue. ‘Bum and I are together. What’s that got to do with my car?’

Seung Bae is disappointed when, instead of whatever cry for help he expected to see in Yoon Bum at that assertion, a warm smile spreads through his face. He gives a small jump where he stands, seems to somehow cling closer to Sangwoo.

‘I need to see your legs.’

‘What?'

Yoon Bum makes a face, and Oh Sangwoo is looking positively murderous. Officer Park chooses this moment to swoop in, paternalistic voice managing to sound soothing. He introduces himself and Seung Bae, explains the reason for their presence and, halfway through his description of the video, twin red dots appear in Yoon Bum’s cheeks as he grins excitedly towards his presumed boyfriend who returns a tired smile before going back to scowling at them.

‘And that’s it? You went through my camera and decided I tried to murder Bum?’

‘Well, the videos…’

‘There’s a film festival at our university.’ Yoon Bum starts, tilting his head to rest on Sangwoo’s shoulder. ‘You saw part of our entry, which you really shouldn't talk about until it's ready, but since it was good enough to convince real policemen… we must really have a chance!’

Sangwoo rolls his eyes. ‘We do have a chance. That doesn’t mean corn syrup and prop knives should convince anyone in law enforcement.’

Officer Park seems satisfied with this explanation, but Seung Bae refuses to back down. ‘But you- you looked really hurt, and… you screamed like you were gonna die!’

‘As you’ve seen, my Bum is an actor.’ Yoon Bum gives an actual twirl at that, then has the decency to look abashed. ‘Is that all it takes to fool you? Didn’t you even notice that take he goofed by using my real name?’

Yoon Bum flushes at that, hiding his face on Oh Sangwoo’s jumper. ‘We reshot that!’

‘We did,’ Sangwoo brushes Yoon Bum’s hair back with his fingers. ‘I just kept the first take too. You look cute when you realise you’ve made a mistake.’

Officer Park clears his throat, and Oh Sangwoo’s loving expression drops as he remembers they’ve got company. He checks his watch, taps Yoon Bum in the shoulder. ‘That docuseries you like is about to begin.’ Then, to the policemen. ‘So if that’s all… I’ll expect information on the crash damages this week.’

Without waiting for a reply, he grabs Yoon Bum’s hand and walks away towards his home. Seung Bae feels officer Park’s eyes on him and, in an attempt to delay the lambasting he’s sure to get, keeps his own trailed on the couple. As Oh Sangwoo types the code for the door, Yoon Bum goes on his tiptoes to press a quick peck to his cheek and Seung Bae could swear he hears him make a surprisingly good imitation of his own voice demanding to see his legs. An actor.

[rookie-critic]

Broker (2022, dir. Hirokazu Kore-eda) - review by Rookie-Critic

Broker is an absolutely beautiful film that touches on both the failings of the adoption system in South Korea (which seem relatively close to how they work here in the States, as well, but I'm not an expert so don't quote me on that) and, much like Kore-eda's previous film Shoplifters, the benefits of found family. Kore-eda is seen deeply set in his comfort zone here, and it's a little hard not to hear the synopsis or watch the trailer and think, "So it's Shoplifters, just this time with Song Kang-ho." After having seen the film, I can say that there are parts of me that still feels that way about it, but Broker has a lot going for it on its own merit to call it its own original, distinctive film. For one, and I wasn't sure this was possible, Broker almost seems even more sentimental than Shoplifters was, which is a pretty tall order all on its own. However, the movie never allows that sentimentality to tip the scales towards sappiness; leaving some of the more cynical characters to drag things back into balance. The acting is also great across the board. It's no surprise to anyone at this point that, if Song Kang-ho is in something, he's brilliant in said thing. That man is an acting force to be reckoned with, and I think one of the film's biggest strengths is that, in spite of this fact, the ensemble doesn't suffer. They all rise up to meet Song's level. I'd specifically like to give props to Lee Ji-eun (who is traditionally a singer, probably better known by her stage name, IU), who gives an outstanding breakout performance to the point where, for most of the movie, your attention is focused on her and not Song. I know that it's kind of just a part of the K-pop idol trajectory to eventually start acting, but that doesn't always mean that the idol in question is successful, or very likely even good at it. However, IU is without a doubt amazingly talented, and gives a performance that is both understated when it needs to be and big when the moment calls for it. Really, everyone just blends so well together and it sells the found family message super well.

If I had a complaint about Broker, and I do, it's that Kore-eda has already made a brilliant movie about found family and the failings of the system, the previously mentioned Shoplifters, and, in this reviewer's opinion, that film is overall better than this one. I found that I never connected with this group of characters in the same deep-rooted way that I did with the family from Shoplifters, and while that movie may have had a slightly less altruistically "happy" ending, it felt maybe just a bit more impactful. That being said, I can't knock Broker hardly at all for that, as there are probably a lot of people whose first of these two films will most likely be this one, due to both Song Kang-ho and IU's presence in it, and I think that Broker is great enough on its own to (mostly) stand up to the comparison, and will likely have fans that do make just as much of a connection, if not more of one, to this group.

Score: 9/10

Currently only in theaters.