Padam Padam episode 1 - I know I may be precipitous, but this is my drama of 2011

[dangermousie]

Got your attention now? Good.

Below is unspoilery for even ep 1, btw.

GUUUUUUUH

GUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUH

And no, I don't just mean Jung Woo Sung's body.

This is amazing. Not surprising with that cast and Noh Hee Kyung writing, and yet I am still surprised. Padam Padam doesn't feel like a drama at all. It feels, looks, and flows like an indie movie. It's smart but it also makes me feel (perhaps too much - I need to safeguard my heart so I won't spend hours crying if/when something bad happens).



I've heard the reviews on this are mixed and I get that - if Me Too Flower marches to the beat of its own drummer, Padam Padam is marching to the beat of its own ginormous band. It makes me think of Jo In Sung's movie "Dirty Carnival," with some "Friend Our Legend" and "Mawang" dramas thrown in. But that is just me trying to find comparisons - Padam Padam is very much its own thing.



And honestly, this drama is worth checking out if for no other reason than the performances - Kim Bum continues to prove he stands out among the young actors (and he holds his own against Jung Woo Sung, which is something else). Han Ji Min is prickly, off-beat and real (and with marvelous chemistry with JWS). But the drama belongs to Jung Woo Sung and even if nothing else about Padam Padam grabs you, you simply must peek in to see the man showcase his incredible acting chops. This more than makes up for the horror of Athena (I will never forgive the makers for finally getting him to do a drama and then wasting all that power and charisma).














Hey, ockoala, are you watching this yet?

Comments

[timescout.livejournal.com]

Yeah, it's really different from anything else I've seen for a while. I liked it off the bat too but I can understand why some people wouldn't. I could, possibly watch this raw but I've got so many other things on my plate right now so I'm going to wait for several episodes to be subbed before tackling it for real.

I prefer to think that Athena does not exist.

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

Topic-wise, it has nothing to do with Worlds Within but in feel they both remind of of certain 1960s French movies - no idea why.

Yeah, this one definitely needs subs.

It's amazing how Athena got that incredible cast and then proceeded to waste every single one of them.

[quietspring]

/wipes drool off the floor

Uuuuuuuh... I'm gonna have to click Explore>Random Journal more often. I haven't seen any kdramas for a while now, but I really want to check this one out!

[bzoppa.livejournal.com]

It makes me think of Jo In Sung's movie "Dirty Carnival," with some "Friend Our Legend" and "Mawang" dramas thrown in.

How like "Mawang" ? (I'm intrigued. Kim Bum is hot.)

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

The whole conspiracy by a bunch of selfish/rich people buying off justice.

We don't find it out until near the end of ep 1, but the protagonist, Jung Woo Sung, has spent 16 years in prison for murder committed by someone else who is now a powerful DA and a son of a judge slated for the Supreme Court. We only got tantalizing flashes, so we are not sure what exactly is going on. There is basically a conspiracy to keep him in jail forever and a mystery as to why - as he points out, even if he's out, it's not as if he has any power or evidence to bring the real murderer down.

The story 'proper' starts at the end of ep 1, when he's been convicted of murder of a warden (on a whole lot of paid testimony) and was hanged and then flashed back to a month before and got a second chance to relive that month and maybe change his fate...

Kim Bum is his best friend and someone who claims he is (literally) an angel.