Senhorita Ripley (2011)

What Miss Ripley excels at is the build-up. Jang Miri escaping her life in Japan; her desperation palpable in her wild eyes as she tells the Lie; witnessing her descent as she steals (both diplomas and hearts), lies, schemes---the first half of the drama is absolutely gripping. Miri is the perfect anti-heroine, someone whose face you want to claw each time she tears down naive Hee Joo, while at the same time being someone you root for as she forges documents from Tokyo University and faxes them to her employer. The character of Jang Miri is a wonderful study of a delusional sense of entitlement, and Lee Da Hae did a decent job of portraying Miri's vulnerability and ambition (even if Da Hae tends to act by opening her eyes wide, gasping, and shuddering for every. single. emotion.).



Unfortunately, I felt that as Miri's tower of lies began to falter, so did the intensity of the show. (Perhaps the story was water-downed by Miri's incessant tears?) Characters who were posed to be major threats to Miri during the first half of the show suddenly became utterly ineffectual; no doubt in my mind this is attributed to the story's emphasis on romance toward the latter half. Supposedly, it's love that will redeem Miri in the end, but I found this to be unconvincing, sappy, and a bit incongruent for a show that began with such a dark tone. However, I can't deny the power of love in this drama---it compelled nearly every male character to run with hammer and nails in hand in order to nail themselves to Miri's cross on her behalf. Scratch that: I can't deny the power of a pretty face in this drama.



A special note has to be made of the music here. Which was AWFUL. Violins of Doom; Piano of Remorse; overuse of the opera Carmen (it wasn't particularly clever the first time); funeral march played during an engagement announcement (and many other...unique...music cues); music volume overpowering the drama. This was an almost constant distraction and source of much laughter.



Give Miss Ripley a try. If you make it through the absurd coincidences and soundtrack that mars the first two/three episodes, you'll find yourself ensnared by the labyrinthine psychology of Jang Miri, cheering for her, jeering her, distrusting her, pitying her. However, be prepared for the roar to end on a whimper.

Leia Mais

At first I tell you why I decided to watch this one. Like many others I started this for the same reason: Lee Da Hae and Micky Yoochun. I know it's a shallow reason to start a drama but I'm glad I did.

I started this one in May this year (2012) and marathoned first eight episodes at one go. Then my laptop started to have issues and I was without a laptop for last 2 weeks of May. At the beginning of June I got new laptop and watched other dramas.

Then one day I decided to get back to this one and watched 1st part of ninth episode. I lost interest to this show EVERY time I tried to watch episode nine. I tried to watch that episode for so many times that I don't even remember.

And finally this week (in August) I picked this up again and continued from episode 9. Then 10 and 11. After that I knew I would finish this in no time. After episodes 12 and 13 I was really hooked. And today I finally watched episodes 14, 15 and 16.

This drama basically is a drama that has really amazing and strong start and it gets somewhat boring in the middle. Then after episode 10 it gets really good.

If it wasn't for the strong beginning and superb last 3 episodes I would have given this 6. But thanks to those 2 things I gave this 8.

In my opinion this had a perfect ending. It was a bit rushed but I think it was still perfect. It was different from your usual romantic drama.

Watch it and let me know your thoughts ~~

Leia Mais

If you prefer happy stuff over heavy, dark stories and can't stand watching bad things happening, then don't watch Miss Ripley. I'm warning you now.

Now that that's out of the way:
First of all, Lee Da Hae is amazing in this drama. She really played out her character perfectly, and throughout the whole drama I kept swaying from oozing with hate to feeling a deep sense of pity for her (character). I didn't care much for her acting in My Girl, but her acting in Miss Ripley is absolutely brilliant. Overall, the casting was pretty nice but I don't think Yoochun really served a purpose in that drama (nor did it seem at all like he truly liked her, so Yoochun's acting in this drama wasn't that great although it was cute), and the other man was good, but I wasn't impressed. I was slightly disappointed by the overall acting of the cast, but Lee Da Hae's acting in this drama really pulled me in. I usually can't take melodramas, but I kept watching anyways.

The story is great, because it holds a good message and also stirs up several psychological/moral questions concerning topics such as corruption, motivation for actions, greed, and misanthropy. I hated what Lee Da Hae's character did in this drama, but I couldn't help but pity her at the same time, because there are some (although a bit overexaggerated) real-life issues that are presented in the drama.

The story's purpose (or at least what I analyzed it to be) is ingenious, but the story itself goes downhill. I admit, I stopped after episode 9. Half because I couldn't take the awful things that were happening, and half because the drama started dragging. The story overall was still pretty good though.

I would not rewatch this though, because although the first time was alright, if I rewatched it I'm sure I would feel like the drama was dragging 10x more than it was the first time, and I don't want to go through suffering from nightmares about it again. Although this isn't my type of drama (Out of the 80+ dramas I've watched, all of my favorites are happy-go-lucky fluffy ones), I still liked it. Not sure why.

Leia Mais

I've been delaying to watch this drama influenced by the low popularity and low score given. But I have to say that after watching a few episodes, my impression started to change at the same time that it was growing my interest to know how it will end this story. I think the plot is quite interesting and original. Despite of the common topics like orphan girl with a dark past trying to climb on society and making the rich guy fell in love with her, etc. The development of the characters was brilliant and get the spectator to empathise with them and their dramatic relationships. I specially liked the way these characters were presented in a more wider view than simply bad or good people. For me, these two sides of the personality made them more realistic than in other dramas where normally are classified as the bad or good girl/guy. I disagree with other opinions about Park Yoochun saying that his acting it wasn't good enought. I think he did a good job playing the role of a rich guy who knows nothing about the real world and how his relationship with the woman we fell in love making him to learn about the bitterness of love. Not mentioned that Lee Da Hae was amazing in her interpretation and made me to love and hate her character through this frenetic net of lies. The other main leader, played by Kim Seung Woo it was also great and I loved the fact that It was significant in the plot and not just something to create friction between the other two main characters. I really recommend to watch this drama and not to be influenced by rankings but with a critical and open mind.

Leia Mais

The reason why I decided to watch this drama in the first place was because I was little tired of the typical 'good girl' in Kdramas who were always honest, innocent, and righteous. I was definitely not disappointed when I watched this drama. The complexity of the plot and characters was refreshing and I found it very hard to decide who to hate in this. In that sense, Miss Ripley was brilliant. I liked how there was no black and white clear line between what was right and wrong and how everyone had their own story so instead of just being 'villain' they ended up 'human.' It was heartbreaking in all its truthfulness (kind of ironic since this was mostly about someone's lies.)

plot: The plot was fantastic. the scriptwriter obviously knew exactly where they wanted this to go and the plot was never lost. They did an amazing job at displaying how a person who has never been given love can become lost and unsure of whats right in their quest to find happiness.

characters/actors: the characters in this were brilliantly scripted. Each character had their own view of what is right and what is wrong, and don't even bother looking for someone to blame or hate, everyone in this is at fault while at the same time everyone in this is also a victim. In that aspect, this film really depicted human nature and life in general. The actors and actresses were extremely good at depicting their characters. I really felt their pain and desperation through every scene. With each episode you really start to feel the main characters world start to unravel. You kind of want to hate her for her lies and deception but then you can't help but feel sorry for her and want to love her for all the pain she's been through.

music: okay, the music guy needed to be fired. There were some points when I thought 'hey, this music fits this scene perfectly' because there were a couple of songs that were beautiful and really suited the main girl but then other times, it was a little awkward because here you have this sort of intense moment and all of a sudden a little bit of 80's like music comes on and sort of makes it feel like a bad lifetime movie. luckily, those didn't happen often and the 80's like music was just the intro to an okay song that ended up being suitable enough. so if you hear 80's music, just bear with it, it will end soon haha.

In the end I really enjoyed this drama. Someday I do plan on rewatching it when I want to feel particularly depressed about life. If you want something heartwarming then don't watch this. this is for when you have a box of tissues and you want to use it in one night.

Leia Mais

Is there a difference between the fiction of facts and the facts of fiction? The question poses an etiological conundrum philosophers have tried in vain to answer since the beginning of recorded time. Is anything real? Or, in other words, is everything an illusion?

Who cares is what I say. Just do it: Fall in love, slay your enemy, assess Miss Ripley.

Not bad is my initial reaction.

A drama appeals to its viewer in one of two ways: 1) It grants the viewer a portal into an alien world or 2) It acts as a mirror to the viewer's own world.

To me, Miss Ripley is a case of the former, and I thoroughly enjoyed the depiction of a con artist from a seedy underworld who manages to make fools of the upstanding and the respectable. A drama, however, cannot sustain itself on shock value/edgy content alone. As it often happens in life, the lies with which the con artist gets away with murder catch up to her, and it's here where the drama stretches the seams of plausibility past their resiliency threshold.

Or perhaps I'm being too cynical.

I'll close by paying my complements to the composer of the haunting piano piece the drama features when Kim Seung Woo's character uncover's the titular heroine's seedy past.

Leia Mais

Miss Ripley (2011) - one of the dramas that was aired on our local television network ABS-CBN, and I was intrigued of this because of the trailer. Truthfully this type of genre is quite not the typical at that time for me since I was still a beginner in watching Korean dramas. It’s quite exciting to watch since I was so anxious that the main lead would be discovered with her lies, but I don't really support the decision of the main lead. I give credit to Lee Da Hae for portraying the role perfectly. Not quite convinced with Yoochun as the other main lead, maybe because his character was not given a back story, no character development for him. The other leading man Seung Woo is the more convincing one for me especially towards the romance part of the drama. Hye Yung-kee also didn’t really stood out for me as the other female lead, as I can't see a back story for her, maybe I was not convinced since there is no character development. Overall, the drama itself is really good thanks to Dahae’s acting skills and main plot which is adapted to a true story.

Leia Mais