Missing is a South Korean film starring Gong Hyo Jin as a Chinese Korean nanny hired by a workaholic divorcee to look after her 12 month old baby daughter. The mother is so busy with her job that she hardly spend any time with her baby or at home and to top it all, she was also in a custody battle with her doctor ex-husband.
One day she came home after another busy day at work only to find the nanny and her baby gone. She search everywhere and found out her nanny has a very mysterious past.
This film is not at all predictable though it does have some similarities to Hollywood’s blockbustre ‘The Hand the Rock The Cradle”. Gong Hyo Jin’s character is more complex. You feel sympathy for her. You wanted to forgive her because she had such a sad life. She was a bride brought from China by an abusive husband and an intolerant mother-in-law. She managed to get away from the family but she was already pregnant. She had to rely on the kindness of strangers but even that is not enough as the baby got seriously ill.
This drama not only tackle prostitution, it also deals with the underworld selling of human organs.
Anyway, I am an old romantic. As I watched the film I thought it would be about the husband turning into a bit of psycho as he finds out his wife is having it off with her downunder neighbour. 🙂 A cliche but I do love a bit of gut-wrenching scenes. 🙂
I wanted them to meet and have a good emotional, heartbreaking confrontation. Instead it meandered from scene to scene.
The husband just continued tailing people connected to his wife and young son.
At the back of my mind I was still hoping for the big confrontation.
There was a scene, where the wife and the guy next-door were engaging in a bit of hanky-panky. Lee Byung-hun’s character stood immobile just outside the door. I was so irritated. I wanted him to knock and disturb his wife’s dalliance with the beefy neighbour, but no such thing.
Instead there was a surprise, which I am not going to tell as it might spoil your appetite to see a good film.
Anyway Lee Byung-hun plays Kang Jae-hoon, who was a fund asset manager. Unfortunately his company declared themselves bankrupt after buying bad loans. He lost his clients, his family and also himself tonnes of money. He then had to take responsibilities to his clients.
Kudos to him, he did feel bad for his clients. So bad that he was on anti-depression drugs.
One night while taking his medication, which he washed down with a large glass of neat whiskey (or was it brandy?) he decided to book himself an e-ticket to Australia.
There he went to see his wife and son. His wife is Soo-jin played by Gong Hyo-jin.
He sent his wife and son to Australia for the son’s education. He believed in the necessity of learning the English language.
Anyway in Australia, he found that his wife and son were happy. Soo-jin has taken the violin again and went as far as to audition for the Sydney Opera House. He felt that he lost them and he was a redundant family member.
It was a very sad ending and if you have not taken stock of everything, you will be surprised with the sad ending.
Lee Byung-hun once again gave a very powerful performance which is ably supported by Gong Hyo-jin
If you are new to Korean Dramas (KDramas), there is no better one to start with than this classic romance drama.
It is a comedy of manners in the celeb-world. It also shows that celebrities are as important and popular as their fans wanted them to be. The fans can put you up and they can also bring you down in a heartbeat.
It stars two of Korea’s most charming and most accomplished actors, Cha Seung-won and Gong Hyo-Jin.
Cha Seung-won plays Dokko Jin, a much loved action film superstar. His character is a caricature of the perceived indulged life of celebrities. He is egotistical, arrogant and self-centred. Cha’s height and frame is perfect for his role.
Gong Hyo-Jin plays Go Ae-Jung, who was once the most popular member of a girl group National Treasure Girls until she was involved in a scandal. Suddenly she lost all her fame and fanbase. She was still in showbiz but as a C-List, taking every minor role going to make a living for her family.
Dokko Jin has an artificial heart transplant and he wears a heartbeat monitor to maintain a normal 60-90 heartbeat per minute.
He then meets Go Ae-Jung and before he knows it his heartbeat is soaring above the hundred. He was attracted to Go Ae-Jung and really bothered by the signature song of National Treasure Girls’ Thump Thump.
Despite his self-importance, he did confess to Go Ae-Jung of his feelings in a very clumsy way. He told Go Ae-Jung that he likes her even though she is not worthy and beneath his level.
Go Ae-Jung agreed with him and just laughed off his confession because she did not feel anything for him.
This turn of events only made Dokko Jin more attracted to Go Ae-Jung and started questioning his persona, physical and mental health but ultimately came to the conclusion that he is just too darn perfect! LOL
Cha Seung-won was just too adorable with his Dokko character. His shower scenes were a gorgeous body of work. Hahaha
The chemistry between the leads was just amazing.
This drama is one of my top 5 Korean dramas and I have watched several hundred or even a thousand of them.
A drama that will be watched again and again – a true classic.
