I don’t really come on Tumblr anymore, but when I do, it’s to talk about a drama.
I just finished Uncontrollably Fond. I don’t know why I do this to myself. You’d think me reading the synopsis would keep me away but NO. I WATCHED IT ANYWAY.
I did some research and I guess a lot of people didn’t like it, which seems like such bullshit. I see no reason to not like it. It had:
EDITING Ive never seen before. Literally never, it was so unique.
SHOTS. A lot of them. THEY WERE SO DIFFERENT AND BEAUTIFUL.
PACING. It was perfect. It wasn’t too slow for me. It made sense and progressed really well.
SOUNDTRACK. Because DAMN, I never got tired of it.
BEST KWB performance thus far, holy shit. Give him all the awards.
REALISTIC ENDING. Dodged the cliche one there.
I’ve never cried to much. I feel like I’ll never cry again, I’m so drained. I’m not going to go on and on, just needed to get this out. Definitely one of my new favorites for sure.
Watching the last two episodes back to back is not a good idea. 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭 Love it so much despite the heartache it caused me. #headache #cryfest #dehydrated
Maybe it's petty to complain about a tragedy for being tragic. I knew what I was in for when I picked up this show, I knew the writer's reputation. But coming out of Uncontrollably Fond (aka Lightly, Ardently) I feel like I've been in a fight. Just bruised all over.
Uncontrollably Fond had so much to recommend it right out of the gate, and in part that’s why it’s going to be considered one of the biggest disappointments of the year. It was completely pre-produced, promising higher production values, more polish, and better editing than a drama requiring live shooting. It also boasted a veteran writer with a number of hit melodramas under her belt with Suzy and Woo Bin to headline, almost guaranteeing people would be tuning in for their combined star power alone--despite some netizen concerns about Bae Suzy’s acting. What we were promised was a heartrending, engaging, passionate story about two young lovers separated and reunited through tragedy. What we got was a slow, meandering, disheartening show, full of unlikable characters with unfathomable motivations.
I have previously watched Thank You and I’m Sorry, I Love You by the same writer and I would say my experience with her has been, at best, mixed. But from what I knew about Lee Kyung Hee I full anticipated a heavy, dark melodrama with a sad ending, so my disappointment wasn’t a result of faulty expectations. I unabashedly admit to being here for Kim Woo Bin. He put the show on my radar. He was the thing that kept me watching all the way to the end. To give credit where credit it due, Kim Woo Bin is so good here that he’s almost worth the pain. Almost.
^^This is an actual gif of KWB putting salt in my wounds^^
I don’t think it would be controversial to say that this is his most challenging role to date. It's also the first time he's the uncontested lead in a drama. And he killed it, absolutely killed it. I felt his fear and grief over his diagnosis. I felt his inner conflict between guilt and desire. His denial and fighting for more time. His tenderness toward Eul and his mother. His hero worship and disillusionment with his father. And then, eventually, the agony of the onset of his symptoms. His performance was strong enough that I can't say I regret seeing it. I'm his fan after all, but as a fan it always sucks to see a favorite actor in a project that doesn't allow them to shine (Sung Joon fans know what I'm talking about.) And I fear overall dissatisfaction with UF might follow KWB around for a while, unless his next project wipes it out of our collective memories.
I can't say that the fault lies with the rest of the cast either. Suzy was hit or miss for me. Not great, not horrible. The only other drama I've had the displeasure of seeing her act in was Big, and that atrocity was just a misfortune for all parties. I can't blame her for that. For what it's worth, No Eul has definitely improved Suzy’s standing in my eyes, but I can't say that I'm exactly a fan. There's something about the way she emotes that doesn't strike a cord with me. She can definitely cry for the camera, she can definitely look wistful and longing. But there's something about her line delivery and the way she seems to smile wildly when she's supposed to be looking pained, that threw me off at least once an episode.
As for the supporting and older cast, I was largely satisfied with them. There were some moments with Jin Kyung or Yoo Oh Sung that were breathtaking. I really liked Im Joo Hwan and Im Ju Eun here too, even if their actual characters mostly made me want to scream and throw things. Since I could probably fairly say that about every single character in the drama, that doesn't mean much.
The biggest problem with Uncontrollably Fond is that the story just didn't work. Which is kind of a broad statement, but I'll see if I can narrow it down for you. One common complaint I've seen on tumblr and a number of other places, is that even after watching the long form trailers for UF, it was hard to tell what the show was actually about. Now having watched the entire thing, I'm still not completely sure. I mean yeah, there's terminal illness, there's a romance, there's family strife and corporate corruption. The melodramatic staples are all here an accounted for. But when it comes to trying to give you an orderly plot synopsis, things get a little shaky.
If you’re familiar with the Hallyu mega hit that made Lee Kyung Hee and So Ji Sub’s careers, you might have noticed that I’m Sorry, I Love You follows a lot of the same beats as UF. Both male leads have an expiration date. There’s abandonment and adoption angst between brothers. There’s a subplot where the male lead has to seduce a villainous second female lead for purposes of revenge. Deep-seeded mommy issues. And I think looking at the similarities I understand why ISILY works and UF doesn’t.
It comes down to two things. First, ISILY is nearly 12 years old now. It’s makjang and it shows its age. I know that it’s many people’s favorite drama or at least a formative drama, but unless it was intended to play as satire, there’s no audience for that plot in 2016. UF feels like a script Lee Kyung Hee has had sitting around for at least a decade, prettied up for the modern Korean audience, all the sharp edges sanded off. UF strips out the over the top makjang silliness of ISILY (not all, but most) and what you’re left with is just a muddle of sad events with no point or purpose.
And don’t get me wrong, UF is relentlessly sad. It assaults you with its sadness.
The second thing is, the male lead in ISILY, while no more likable and a fair sight less well-intentioned than Joon Young, always had a clearly defined motivation (revenge) that drove his actions. Even if you didn’t know his thought process all the time, you knew that everything he was doing was in service of that end goal. I spent so much time wondering what Joon Young was even doing. And while I think it’s understandable that the character might not understand what he wants himself, having just received the news he’s dying, it’s unforgivable for the plot to not know where he’s going, or at least to frame compelling events for his indecisive ass to react to.
The Korean title translated Lightly, Ardently or Indiscreetly Fond or Arbitrarily Fond is supposed to be a contradiction in terms, an oxymoron that communicates an intense carelessness, a casual passion. So I think I get what she was trying to do. Having characters with confused and conflicting emotions is fine, if you know how to build a plot out of those contradictions. You can’t leave your characters paralyzed with indecision,vacillating, stagnate. If your characters won’t move, something has to move them. Otherwise you don’t have a story.
I give Uncontrollably Fond a 6/10 because there are good things to say about this show if you’re looking for them. It really is gorgeously shot, and it does have this unifying empty, melancholy, winter feeling that comes through in the sets, the costumes and the framing. I watched every episode without skipping anything, so there was something--even if I’m not entirely sure what--that kept me coming back week after week. As I said above, Kim Woo Bin is phenomenal. And although I can’t go into detail about them (because spoilers) the last two episodes were truly beautiful and will absolutely tear you apart. If the whole show was as powerful and thoughtful as the last two hours this show would have easily been a 9. And perhaps that’s the most disappointing thing of all.
