The Warring States

I decided to watch The Warring States because of Korean actress Kim Hee-Sun, who played the role of Pang Fei the Queen of the State of Wei. Besides, I’ve been quite familiar with the Warring States, solely because of Sun Tzu’s Art of War. As I watched this film, turned out that it’s actually referring to the warring states mentioned in the great ancient book.

The main character was Sun Bin (Sun Honglei), who kept me wondering if he was related to Sun Tzu or if Sun Tzu was also known as Sun Bin. Without concrete answer, I just watched the film being confused from time to time which was the State of Wei and the State of Qi. I remember these states mentioned in Sun Tzu’s Art of War. It helped me understand why there was reference to these states in the ancient book. But I felt bad with how these states and at the same time Sun Bin and Pang Juan (Francis Ng) clashed against each other.

The Warring States was an epic (2011) film, in the sense that it had a slice of everything that happened during this time of Chinese History. I definitely hate those betrayals, and there was one I really wanted to kill. Yes, I got carried away.

I was, however, curious as to why there was a female general. Behold, General Tian Xi (Jing Tian). I’m not familiar with ancient Chinese society. Was it really possible? Uhm, was she pegging Mulan? With such beauty, brain, and body (fighting skills), she’s one fiery fox. Very scary, but not in a monstrous way.

The King of Qi (Nakai Kiichi) was one amusing character. I like his generosity. He reminds me of the kind of king Sun Tzu was referring to about Morale and Righteousness. I thought he was too kind but someone you can’t mess with. It’d be nice to have rulers like him.

In a way The Warring States reminded me of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon though I still prefer the awesome fighting scenes of the latter, I can’t help but be affected in a similar way, especially with the ending. Compared to Ang Lee’s film, Chen Jin’s film ending made me cry a river.

Kim Hee Sun as Pang Fei/Queen of Wei

I’ve read that TWS cause a little or some confusion to people. Perhaps it only happens if you’re not familiar with Chinese History. I can’t really track their history but I didn’t have trouble following because I’ve read Sun Tzu’s Art of War although I was just curious where Sun Tzu was in the picture.

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Originally posted on: 15 March 2013
Reposted on: 3 August 2013

Faith

신의

I first reckoned watching Faith or Shin-eui because of its title. *ehem* But the number of episodes kept me from doing so soon. Well, watching K-Dramas again all started with my boiling prejudice because I’ve watched too much J-Dramas then, so I posted this: J-Drama vs K-Drama. I asked a friend for a recommendation and she gave me Personal Taste/Personal Preference. I haven’t written anything about it yet, but I did enjoy it. Nonetheless, Personal Taste had fueled my desire to watch Faith, because I was impressed with Lee Min-Ho. You could say that he was Matsumoto Jun‘s counterpart in Japanese actors.

Lee Min-Ho as Woodalchi General Choi Young

As Choi Young, regardless of position, I think I could somehow relate to him, especially his excessive sleeping.  I think I’ve known why he could sleep for days, though it may be an exaggeration especially for someone with his post. And that characteristic of him being protective, I know someone like that who fears for others more that fearing for one’s sake even if it can be justified.

Speaking of something technical, I noticed that his latter episode coat was pretty much more modern than tradtional in cut and design. Perhaps I am wrong. It was just something that I couldn’t miss while watching Faith. Another, I think the Aspirin tablets in the bottle were too big compared to a normal one. Aspirins are typically small in size because they have anti-coagulant property. It’s definitely a no-no to someone who has bleeding.

Though the only Lee Min-Ho drama I’ve watched prior to Faith was Personal Taste, I can’t tell if Lee MH had improved or what. I do think though that he was better able to show what he can do. There were too many events and emotions in this K-Drama. Also, like what Matsumoto Jun did in Bambino!, my prejudice towards Lee MH was gone. He’s someone to reckon. The script writer of his next drama or film better be aware of what suits him best.

Personally, I find Faith eye-pleasing. Even if there was no Lee Min-Ho, the casts were just beautiful.  There was the uncle of the king, Prince Duk Heung (Park Yoon Jae).
Truth be told, the moment I saw the trailer for the episode Park would first appear, I was like, “Ang gwapo!” And I haven’t stopped. Yeah, I would always think and say such whenever he had an appearance, with the exclamation mark. Reckon Royal Doctor Jang Bin (Lee Philip) and the Woo Dal Chi.

I know I’ve implied that there are a lot of good looking guys in this drama, but I haven’t forgotten the ladies. However, I might not be writing much about them. So who do we have?

I love the reactions of Yoo Eun-Soo (Kim Hee-Sun) when talking about food. My favourite was when Choi Young took and ate her porridge. Eun-Soo was holding the wooden spoon close to her mouth, hesitant to make a move or not. She said nothing when the General did what he did, but Kim did well for that part. I like those small details. It shows and justifies the personality of the character.

I’ve also read that Kim Hee-Sun spent time with doctors, especially surgeons, to know the profession better. That’s nice.

What to say about the King Gong Min (Ryu Duk-Hwan)? I am not familiar with Korea’s dynasties so I can’t really tell if the king was justified. As far as I know though, Ryu showed me how King Gong-Min would possible react yet having hesitancy that would be seen in his eyes.

My favourite scene for Princess No Gook / Queen In Deok (Park Se-Young) was during the parliament meeting, when she interrupted the undecided statesmen. Such royalty knowing that she’s someone gentle and caring, I admired it. I was surprised though when I found out that Park Se-Young is younger than me.

Gi Chul (Yoo Oh-Sung) reminded me of T-Bag (Prison Break) and Takayama  Hisanobu (Kiritani Kenta) of Ryuusei no Kizuna. He’s effectively annoying. He’s a villain with a soul, just wicked soul of course. He’s just amusing.

As for the Musician Chun Eum Ja (Sung Hoon) and the Fire Lady Hwa Soo-In (Shin Eun-Jung), I prefer Shin. She was scary even when smiling. Talk about femme fatale.

I hope I haven’t missed any of my thought concerning 신의. There were apprehensions in some episodes, especially the explanation regarding the relics and more so on when the “door” opened again. I’m thankful for the explanations, but I hate what happened with someone.

I believe Faith is the longest running one-season drama I’ve watched. I’m glad I enjoyed it. Btw, I’m still having an LSS on its OSTs, especially Ali’s Carry On. I love that song though I only understood very few.

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Originally posted on: 12 March 2013
Reposted on: 2 August 2013