dangermousie | I am not sure I have ever seen anything so beautiful...

You know, I don't really have any pretentions about dramas I watch - usually it's popcorn. Sometimes funny popcorn and sometimes popcorn with angst, but that's what it is. But occasionally, very rarely, but sometimes, I stumble into something I would, at the risk of sounding pompous and silly, qualify as art.

You know what? Friend qualifies. It just might be visually the most beautiful drama I have ever seen - every shot is perfect. But its loopy structure, its tale of friendships lost and dreams bent out of shape is also art - it's just...it's like watching an impeccably crafted, intelligent, nuanced movie - only that movie is 16 hours long.

GUH.

Seriously.

So far, it is, literally, perfect.

I capped this scene a lot because even though I barely met him and this was the first time I met her, and I had no idea what the past was, the scene was so very intense.

You know, Hyun Bin is amazing in this - he freaks me the hell out (seriously, he scares me) and then one wet-eyed look and I melt again.

This drama has a lot of shots of slolitude.

I loved the little touch of little Dong Suh hiding a stone in his pocket to use during the fight - even as a little kid, there is something off-kilter about him - it's not evil or anything but it is violent and rule-breaking; it does show how he could end up in the mob.

There is literally no bad shot in this - it's insane.

I really really want to make everyone watch it, even people who normally have no interest in dramas.

This is a Mob story, but also not really...at its center are former friends who work for rival Mob organizations now, and a third friend who is helplessly observing their destruction.