Anna: Extended Version (2022)

Honestly, we're all just Anna sometimes.

This drama takes us through the life of Anna wherein we discover how little lies along the way can cause irreparable damage and steal your real identity away.

The best thing I loved about this is how it started during the early part of Anna's life and continued through the years as she grew up. The highlights and important events in her life gave me a sense of the nature and development of her character and her personality and in turn, made me understand why she made the decisions she made and why she did the things she did. I'm not justifying her actions, but I do understand.

This started out really strong but I felt like it fell flat in the middle. Anna used to be this unstoppable force in the beginning and in the middle, she was just...there. It was actually something that I can make sense of. She was trying so hard and of course, there will always be that point when you get too exhausted and just don't want to try anymore. However, I don't think this circumstance was carried out in a way that the essence of the message will reach the general audience. It felt close to boring.

Everything kind of fell into place but the ending was unremarkable given the potential. There was this big incident in the ending and I just thought they didn't take the tension and suspense to their advantage because after that, the next events were just "meh". They actually could've ended it with that incident and it would have been exceptional, to be honest.

I know there had been a dispute over this between the director and the streaming platform that aired it but the version I've watched is the director's cut, which is the extended version, so I can't compare.

Suzy is one of my favorite Korean actresses and I do admit that she's not that phenomenal in acting but she delivered such an astounding performance in this! The shift and range in her emotions through her eyes alone, literally breathtaking! She has brought Anna to life and she did a damn good job that's why I really connected with the character. I felt her hope, her sadness, her anger, I felt Anna. The music also added colors to the story and fit the mood.

Honestly, we're all just Anna sometimes. When things don't work out no matter how hard we try, we lie a little sometimes, not only to others, but especially to ourselves. It's easier than admitting that you failed, because we are not only failing ourselves, but those who believe in us. We kept justifying the failures with lies and we kept justifying the lies brought by the failures. This drama has made me realize that if you resist and refuse to admit failure, you will never experience success. Humbling yourself and accepting that you failed is the first step to find your way to success again.

Leia Mais

This is amazing

For the starters I have been seeing people compare this to Eve. Eve comes no where near this. That is a tacky piece of watch with bad acting and writing. Whereas ANNA is a masterpiece.
Please watch it.
By the time I already decided on watching it, the version had already come out so I started with that only, and boi 8 hours went by and I was fully immersed in this.
First of all bae Suzy you're a queen, your acting was so beautiful here, I am in love.
This cinematography was so beautifully shot, they covered the period from the early 1990s till 2020 and woah loved the transition

Leia Mais

Suzy Bae is a really good actor!

The scenario isn't anywhere close to being realist, snowball chance in the Lake of Fire this could have actually happened, hah hah, but then again truth is often stranger than fiction!

I only watched it to see Bae again after watching "Doona" as her acting in that was really good. So was the male lead, Yang Se Jong, who played Lee Won Joon, apart from when he cried. I don't think Yang has cried a lot in his life, but not to say crying is an easy part of acting and sometimes it's due to the director.

While the story is unreal and a bit dark, it's worth a watch IMO. I prefer comedies personally, and think, at least from the very limited exposure thus far, Korean sense of humor in movies and dramas more aligns with American than it does with Japanese. This drama is short (6 episodes or the extended one, this is 8) and has interesting characters.

Leia Mais

What is the moral of the story, writers? :(

One day, a young woman named Anna effortlessly takes on a background that was never hers. She becomes a pathological liar and live well for years successfully. The premise: how far can she go before it all comes crashing down?

Anna: Extended version was recommended to me by a friend, so I have only watched this and not the prequel. In her childhood and teenage years, Anna was seen as a prodigy. She aced in everything she put her mind to. With many talents and excels in her schoolwork and arts. But as she was brought up in poverty, finding recognition was a struggle for her. One day during her first job, she failed to satisfy her boss and she entrapped herself in a web of lies, masking her identity and educational background. We follow her journey to earn her reputation in the rich society.

What I really liked about Anna beyond the plot is how visually stunning it is this is one of those like art house Kdramas, the storytelling, and the plot is delivered as much through visuals as it is with dialogue. For this, I think the rewatch value is quite high, as I noticed that certain mundane scenes are actually quite impactful upon rewatches.
For example, one day she's getting ready for a meeting, there was no dialogue nor explanation as to where she was going or who she was meeting but I learn later that she was getting prepared for a confrontation and that just put everything into context when I think back to that scene where she's getting ready, she's essentially getting ready for war, she is choosing her armor when she's choosing what shoes to wear what shirt to wear and I really really love that detail.

Another pro that hooked me is the OST, which is mostly classic piano music with high energy. It fits the shows and all scenes perfectly. Really propelled me to watch further because of the rush I got from the music.

Although I was invested in watching Anna, the story is quite slow and I wasn't attached to Anna on a personal level, I felt quite distant from her as a character and wasn't care much towards the end. What bothers me most is that even though she's lying all the time, there's no justice, no consequences she has to bear until the finale. So what is all that tension built up for?! I was so unfulfilled at the ending, the writers really write her character to win despite all things. So for that reason, I'm give this show a 5.5/10!

Leia Mais

An excellent psychological thriller/character study. The show threads the needle perfectly of not soft pedaling Anna's behavior as she lies and identity thieves her way from poverty to the upper class, she does legitimately bad things, but it also provides enough context to help us have some sympathy for why she does what she does. Both psychologically and logistically every action the characters take feels authentic. I loved the way the characters and relationship dynamics were written and acted, the social commentary, the general mood and ambience. It’s such a tense watch in the best way. Complex and insightful, all around strong storytelling.

Leia Mais