Cruel City (2013)

Thriller genre beginner can go for it? OVERRATED!! for regular watch.

Overly dramatic
Poorly written one.

Characters felt unlogically witty as if writer told them what's gonna happened next in the drama.

Main Villen was quite obvious from the moment I first saw him.
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Character development is too POOR
That I almost dropped it.
Only kept going for Soo, Lee jun sook (except her liking *** )
Bromance was quite good.
Soo min character was too annoying
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**Not as engaging as a thriller should be. Felt like they just won't tell me the thing till last.
Don't have that flow.
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Actor did their best with this kind of script.
I can’t blame them.
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By the way the same writer wrote My beautiful bride.
That should get Higher ratings than this one.
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I at least enjoyed that story more.

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The hilarity of this show is that all the cops know all the gangstas personally from their past.
And it kind of makes me laugh about the head nods. How do the hench men know what each one means? The head hench men actually stood out to me. There were pretty cool/weird/interesting.
I liked that the espionage life is acknowledged as being so difficult and soul-crushing. They really explored this idea. I really liked seeing the relationships and how they developed and revealed themselves. Another theme is how everyone just wants to protect someone they love.
I find I am all about that atmosphere. If the drama can convince me of their premise, then I'll totally get on board with whatever's going down. The intensity and the plot is so strong. The story just pulls you in and the drama makes connections repeatedly so you have to find out who is connected and how. When people describe this as a smart drama it's not because it's smart, it's because the drama let's the viewer put two and two together and doesn't spell everything out. I like that. It says a lot because it doesn't say much. You gotta love a drama like that, right? There were so many little things that really impacted me. That scary moment when Eun Soo smiled for instance.
All the characters are quite intense and I found them rather compelling. The music did amazing things to support those emotional and significant moments.
I like that I didn't know how much each character knew and how their responses to situations was unpredictable. I didn't know how they were going to react.
Just when you think one character is in trouble, they reveal what they know and the tables are turned.
I really like how the plot sets traps for the other characters and doesn't explain it to the viewer so you really are on the edge of your seat wondering what they're up to.
I like that for the most part the men treat their female colleagues like any human being and that they sometimes are put off when someone treats these women as females.

Doctor’s Son
The doctor has the Batman instincts. You can definitely see the charisma that is Jung Kyung Ho. He suffers so much tragedy but he is consistently tantalising whether he’s being a badass, being vulnerable or in a tumult of grief and loss.

So there is waffling before things get nail biting again. Actually, I have never experienced sweaty palms when watching a show ever. And this show got me so worked up I was freaked the hell out.

THERE IS NO LOVE TRIANGLE. I just lumped Soo Min’s interactions with the two guys in this one section.
At first I thought any romance with that puppy of a girl would be so ridiculous with the seriousness and intensity of the men. But for some reason, I liked it. Maybe because it offered a different avenue after the waffling. Also, it makes no sense, so I guess it’s the quirk factor. I also think I have a thing for that “one happiness” kind of concept where everything is going shit but there’s this one positive thing in their lives that is nice and sweet. It’s funny how everyone is “ahjussi” to Soo Min. I like that it doesn’t have an ahjussi romance feel though. The guys don’t really have the tendency to lord over Soo Min or baby her.
The guys communicate a lot with their body language very subtly. Like the way they turn towards her or look at her in just one little instance. It’s a big deal for them to show any kind of interest when they are so stuck and focused in their own world of corruption and pain. I like that there is no playing games with them. And limited wrist grabbing! Even though sometimes it seems called for and I was just waiting for them to manhandle her.

Jin Sook
Jin Sook’s character is pretty ho hum. I like how she looks after Soo Min. I also like how she knows how to live like a gangsta even when she’s scared. She demands respect.
Towards the end they really show how human she is. And you can see how much she loves Shi Hyun.

Soo Min – Baby Cop
Soo Min doesn’t shy away from the reality of life, so I guess that’s appealing. No wide eyed kissing with her. Her relationship with Jin Hyung Min is so fascinating. I really enjoyed their flashbacks. “That’s not a sister but a gangster.” She of course has her immature moments but she really started growing towards the middle of the drama. It’s like she stops thinking about herself all the time.

Hyung Min
I really liked how Hyung Min softened. How he let his anger and revenge die down and started seeing the people around him. His stern personality kind of made me laugh. He was so consistent even when he was doing a good deed. “Are you hurting? It’ll continue to hurt. It’ll still hurt but you have to make up your mind whether you are going to hurt alone and go on or are you going to burden others and hurt them like you’re doing now. I hope you’ll decide soon and hopefully you won’t burden others anymore.”

The thing about this show is that you have someone to root for on the cop side and the gangsta side. So even if it's dark and dirty, at least you get the satisfaction that the person you're rooting for is winning.

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Une histoire palpitante menée par des acteurs plus que convaincants.

Tout d'abord, un scénario parfaitement construit, avec une histoire qui se développe petit à petit sans qu'on puisse en saisir tous les aboutissants avant le moment fatidique. De nombreux rebondissements, un peu de romance sans trop en faire et des relations complexes entre les personnages, comme l'étrange relation entre Si Hyeon et Jin Suk qui est particulièrement difficile à définir. De quoi nous envoyer une bonne bombe émotionnelle sans virer dans le drame.

Les acteurs apportent tous un petit plus à l'histoire, mais avec un gros coup de cœur pour Jeong Gyeong Ho et Nam Gyu Ri qui forment un couple étonnant mais touchant. Le premier avec son côté froid et sans pitié et la seconde avec sa naïveté, qui évoluent tous deux au fur et à mesure de leur relation et de l'avancement de l'histoire. Une relation également complexe car couverte par des mensonges et des secrets. Clairement un des meilleurs baisers de drama et celui qui m'a le plus marquée.

Une très belle bromance entre Si Hyeon et Hyeon Su qui contraste avec cet univers où la trahison est partout et où le profit passe avant les amis.

Un final qui suit la logique du drama et qui n'aurait pu être différent, avec tout de même une ouverture qui laisse libre court à l'imagination.

Des musiques sombres et tristes qui collent parfaitement à l'ambiance du drama, particulièrement "Wound" de Kim Yong Jin.

En conclusion, un drama sombre qui vous fait passer par toutes les émotions et qui se dévore sans restriction. Une véritable découverte avec des acteurs bluffants dans leurs rôles.

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Not bad. Heartless City is pretty violent but there is also some unintentional hilarity. I always wonder, for example, why much of the fighting in these crime dramas is done with sticks and knives. I would have thought that a crime organization capable of running a major drug ring and co-opting any number of people in the police and prosecutor’s office could manage to acquire a few guns. Instead, their shiny batons and Brooks Brothers suits made the “thugs” look like, well, like conductors in search of an orchestra. That, plus their tendency to wait their turn politely before attacking one by one make them insufficiently terrifying. It’s no wonder that they seldom managed to assassinate the person that the drug kingpin of the moment had selected, despite the fact that the intended victim would be wandering all over town. That aside, Heartless City is a fun stylish noir guilty pleasure.

Although Lee Jae Yoon probably is the designated hunk in this drama (but Dude, seriously, you should go up a size in T-Shirts, at least around the office!), I declare Jung Kyung Ho the winner of the Hottest Guy contest here.

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This review appears on: https://frommelbtoseoul.wordpress.com/2020/04/12/heartless-city-cruel-city-2013/

The drama is amazing from the get go. It relies on a lot of flashbacks throughout the drama to explain the characters more but I actually like it that way because there’s no excessive introductions. The drama just starts and flows on, without ever stopping to explain what the viewers already know. Also, the flashbacks add to the element of surprise in which the drama executes remarkably well.

I love how they decided to go with a noir style filming instead of typical Korean crime dramas. It’s darker, more violent and doesn’t shy away from subjects that is normally hidden in the conservative world of Korea. There’s a prostitute neighbourhood that’s tainted by corruption but also creates bonds between people. There’s escorts, who have lavish rooms and wardrobes but seem so professional, it’s almost luring me into trying it out. Okay, not really. I just want the clothes. You watch the drama knowing that there’s no light at the end of the tunnel, only glimpses yet, it’s still satisfying.

The characters in Heartless City have actually been the best I have seen in quite a long while. There’s so much depth to each character that even attachments can be formed with the minor characters. In fact, I grew to love the minor characters much more than the mains. Except for Si Hyun because he will forever be number one. His two companions, Lee Jin Sook (Kim Yu Mi) and Kim Hyun Soo (Yoon Hyun Min) had me eating out of their palms.

What makes it so much better is how the actors portrayed their characters. I’m pretty sure everyone nailed who they were suppose to be. Kim Joong Go played Chairman Jo, a ruthless and insensitive killer. He deserves to be mentioned. Kim Yu Mi as Lee Jin Sook – honourable mention. Choi Moo Sung as Moon Deok Bae (Safari) – outsanding ovation. His character won me over and I’d have to say his acting was one of the best. For his first drama since release from the army, Jang Kyung Ho played his role excellently. It was a different role to other dramas he’s starred in but it shows how versatile he is. Yes, he is cold and intelligent in Princess Ja Myung Go but he was never as badass as he is playing Shi Hyun.

The relationships in the drama take you places. I think it made the drama so much more successful. It wasn’t just simple links between people but bonds made upon levels and levels of trust, loyalty, fear and love. For those who expect to have countless scenes with Shi Hyun and Soo Min building their relationship, you’ll be disappointed. The plot does involve a love story between the two but it’s not central, just a device used to develop the characters and add to the plot. Their cute though, I can say that. Also, watch out for Shi Hyun and Soo’s bromance. It is to die for.

The ending makes or breaks a drama for me. But with this, I think the ending was done well. It’s not everyones cup of tea but it worked for me. I wasn’t left feeling confused or angry at having wasted my time on the show. Instead, it just made my feelings for the drama stronger. It was realistic, the most accurate interpretation of real-life I’ve seen in a drama, but it wasn’t disappointing. There was an alternative ending but after reading it I felt like maybe the writer did the right thing by changing it.

The show wasn’t without it’s flaws but then again, what isn’t. However, the pace, characters, plot and even the music is enough to look past it. I can see myself re-watching (in fact, I have been when my dad watches it) and it’s probably risen to be in my top favourite dramas. Granted, sometimes the moments could be expected or stereotypical, even totally absurd but in drama land it’s okay.

I’m just telling you to watch it. That’s it. Go, now.

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Jung. Kyung. Ho. Baksa. This is the role of his life. I've fallen for him as a comedic performer in Falling for Innocence, but his badass coolness factor here as Baksa is unparalled. Baksa definitely went up my list of fave tortured heroes.

Cruel City tackles the dark world of druglords and undercover agents. It's crime noir, a genre I'm not usually invested in, but nonetheless Baksa and his tragic story gripped me. He is almost superhero like here, saving his loved ones, fighting 10, 20 men at once, and looking stylishly cool doing so.

That OST Hurt will haunt me, it's so good! You can feel the pain of our protagonist's life in Kim Yong Jin's voice. For the romance with Soo Min, I love the concept, but maybe it's their pairing, or how little scenes they have together, and I was not swept away by it. I was more invested in Baksa's true friendship with Soo, Jin Sook despite all the lies, (I'm mesmerized by her beauty, why isn't she in more dramas) and even his complicated relationship with Safari.

That's what's good about this show, it's always grey, it's never black and white. Are the prosecutors and the police really the good guys? Are their enemies really the bad ones? It's way more complicated than that, and sadly that's life for you.

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Nothing can compare

Being a lover of kdrama, noir, crime and bromance themes, Cruel city is one of my top tv series, regardless of genre. I am not as eloquent as other reviewers. Suffice to say, I didn’t want to leave the world of Cruel City when the series concluded. I was completely immersed in this dark, violent and beautiful world. I would have given this 10/10 all the way except for one female character, whose scenes I skipped on rewatching ( which I did multiple times). The relationship between doctor's son and Soo was utterly compelling and beautiful, hence the bromance tag. The overall tone was wonderfully dark and rich, no humour whatsoever. Please dont misunderstand.. I love comedies too, but I prefer my noir unsweetened. It is beautiful, stylish, violent, sexy and heartwarming. Minimal romance thank goodness, but a very healthy dose of bromance 💙. One of the main reasons Im still thinking about Cruel City...

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This is one of the best drama that is full of intrigue, deception, betrayal, sacrifice and also loyalty.

This is a story of how someone could sacrifice almost anything in search of the truth and revenge. Full of deception and schemes. It portrays the world as shades of grey.

The main protagonists, Jung Si Hyun, is written and acted very well. In the beginning he may seem like a really cold person, but as the story goes, we began to see a lot of different side of him. We begin to understand what made him did what he did and sympathize with his fight for revenge.

I’m not a big fan of Yoon Soo Min character, it’s not developed enough and I didn’t believe in the love story between her and Si Hyun.

Detective Ji Hyung Min character is well written and developed, I love how every interaction between him and Si Hyun bring something more to the story. How he grow from the naive detective to realize that nothing is black and white.

All the people around Si Hyun have a really good background story and development, well other than Soo Min. Love Lee Jin Sook and Safari character development. You could never guess what they are going to do and you keep doubting whether they are a good guy or a bad guy.

All the cast is superb.. The music compliment the story..

The cinematography is also very nice, all grimey and dirty.

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So many twists and turns, every episode is keeping you wondering who „you“ can trust, who’s the bad guy, who’s the good guy. I was on the edge of my seat the whole time…. Not knowing who ist he puppet master till the late episodes… the writers knew very well how to deceive us!

Story-telling:

Watching this show feels like trying to piece together a rotating puzzle that’s made up of constantly shifting pieces. You constantly feel like you’re trying to maintain a sense of balance, while standing on quickly shifting sand. It’s fascinating and challenging.

The narrative point-of-view shifts a lot, from the point-of-view of the cops, to the point-of-view of the members of the shadowy and secretive drug organization the cops are trying to crack, and then back again. Which consistently messes with us as an audience, since it affects who we feel we want to root for.

The world that the writer paints, is one in which there is no black or white. Everything is a mass of varying shades of gray, in a drama world that seems to just keep unfurling, to reveal hidden recesses and a magnitude that we never expected it to have.

Messing with our heads seems to be one of writers main aims, and I must say that Show succeeds at it, and very well too.

One of the things that Show does well, is turning stuff on its head. Essentially, as key information is revealed to us, everything in its new context looks entirely different, like it does when a kaleidoscope turns. It makes the mind spin, as our brains furiously work with each new piece of information, to dismiss old connections that are no longer valid, and make new ones.

Jung Kyung Ho as Jung Shi Hyun / Baksa / Doctor‘Son:

Jung Kyung Ho is, in a word, perfection, in this show.
As Baksa, Jung Kyung Ho comes across as flawlessly multi-layered, enigmatic and intense. He doesn’t look like a gangster, what with his sharp suits and impeccably coiffed hair, but he’s got a quietly dangerous air about him that’s unmistakeable and quite chilling.

From channeling a cold-as-ice crime lord, to unleashing his quick-as-the-wind ass-kicking badassery, to revealing Baksa’s inner vulnerabilities, Jung Kyung Ho nails it all.

Perfection, I say.

I love that Baksa is cool and unruffled most of the time, except for sudden bursts of necessary violence. It just makes him feel all the more dangerous, coz you just never know when he’ll unleash his latent inner ninja. Yet, that hawk-eyed inner ninja is always there beneath the surface; watching, processing, and sharply judging whether his intervention is necessary. It’s so freaking scary-cool.

I also love the fact that Baksa is a hands-on yet mysterious sort of crime lord, a combination that I find intriguing and very compelling. I mean, you’d expect someone as sharply suited and as perfectly coiffed as he, to give all the orders and let his minion do all the dirty work. Not so Baksa.

It gives me a bit of a thrill, that Baksa’s name is so revered by many, but his face is known to so few. Which makes it possible for him to walk among people to do his own investigations, without anyone suspecting that he is Baksa.

The bromance:

The bromance between Baksa and Soo is the stuff of sageuks; the two men are so devoted to each other, that they literally – and regularly – lay their lives down for each other. Nothing screams bromance quite like being willing to die for each other, right?

Cinematography, music, tone, vibe:

Dark and beautiful are two words that keep coming to mind, when I think about this show’s tone and presentation. The crisp, polished cinematography is dark and beautiful; the music is dark and beautiful; the general tone and vibe of any given scene is also dark and beautiful.

Likewise, the OST has the same languid mood to it. The tracks often have a touch of mournful to them, and yet, always possess a bit of edge. Mostly, the rhythm is measured, yet unrelentingly driving, washed over with a trance-like flavor. It’s atmospheric and quite hypnotic, and is a perfect fit for this drama’s cryptic world.

Now, excuse me, I need to google pictures of sunflowers and puppies to not feel numb anymore *lies down in the corner and silently cries*

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Comment résister au Doctor'sSon et à son mystère ?

Je m'aperçois que j'ai fini "Heartless city" sans être venue donner mon avis. Je dois avouer que ce drama a souffert du fait que je l'ai interrompu pour voir "stranger", enfin, au départ je voulais les mener en parallèle, mais impossible une fois que j'ai été happée par Stranger et le duo d'acteurs géniaux qui s'y trouvent.

Du coup en reprenant HC, le côté bling bling qu'ont souvent les dramas coréens m'a sauté aux yeux : les tenues et les chaussures invraisemblables de l'héroïne "infiltrée", les coiffures trop étudiées, le maquillage excessif (jamais ils ne se réveillent sans être passés d'abord chez le maquilleur et sortent du lit comme d'une boîte) etc etc. C'est qu'il n'y a aucun de ces défauts dans "Stranger" les personnages sont tous vrais... Donc la comparaison lui a nui. J'aimais pourtant énormément le personnage sombre et tourmenté du Doc, (là le maquillage était justifié justement ! )et le personnage ambigu et si intéressant de Safari, tous les deux magnifiquement interprétés, ainsi que le policier pourri et manipulateur , c'était un trio superbe ! Le reste de la distribution était un poil en dessous, surtout le policier qui en fait n'était que le faire-valoir du Doc, donc l'acteur a fait de son mieux mais parfois c'était difficile d'y croire !
Et vraiment j'ai eu du mal avec l'héroïne infiltrée, qui donnait l'impression de beaucoup plus se soucier de son apparence que de son rôle ! L'autre femme était bien meilleure, malheureusement le scénariste ne lui a pas laissé grand chose à faire sauf se déplacer régulièrement d'une pièce à l'autre, alors que théoriquement c'est une chef de bande, chose dont ne voit pratiquement jamais les effets ! Et puis j'ai trouvé que la mort de Doc était parfaitement inutile, au moment où elle se produit ! tout est réglé, le flic est par terre, tout le monde sait qu'il est coupable, le Doc n'a plus rien à révéler sur lui, pourquoi l'abattre sauf pour créer une (très belle) scène émouvante ? Cette même scène aurait dû se passer un peu plus tôt, quand le flic avait encore un secret à garder, elle aurait été utile dans le scénario, mais tant qu'à faire d'en arriver là, il fallait le laisser vivre et enfin sortir du cercle infernal où on l'avait enfermé !!

Bref, c'est quand même, dans son genre, un bon drama, prenant, qu'il faut voir sans s'interrompre pour trop réfléchir aux défauts, se laisser prendre par la poésie nocturne du Doctor's son, son regard noir et son rare sourire !

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An overall great, philosophical crime drama

There is a certain greek tragedy quality to this drama, which offers up one of the most righteous, tortured lead character I've ever seen in a drama. Jung Kyung Ho makes even the most unbelievable gaps of logic or stylized moments feel emotionally resonant and somehow grippingly real. He carries the drama on his back, even though it's filled out by a largely solid cast. Kim Yoo Mi as Lee Jin Sook and Choi Moo Sung as Safari are particularly good, but there are other gems. Even the immature and wooden acting of Nam Guy Ri (Yoon Soo Mi) can't capsize the sheer power of the ensemble cast, or the potency of the story.

Even though this is about cops and criminals and the legal system, it's also more a story of one man trying to find justice in a world that is unjust. Every character is struggling with some great, weighty past that has them in chains, while simultaneously trying to forge some kind of future for themselves and the ones they love. The environment of the show is so precarious and so dangerous that the tension is always high, and characters are walking on a knife edge.

There are problems with the drama. It's not always realistic, there is a somewhat unnecessary love story thrown into the middle of it, and a lot of plot points hinging on coincidences, but ultimately it works. If you stop wanting this to be a documentary style crime drama and look at it more as a stylistic, philosophical rumination on human nature while being set in the criminal underworld, then suddenly nothing bothers you. All the over-the-top story telling choices just feel like poignant, tragic moments in a mythic story.

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