“That Winter, The Wind Blows” – Kdrama Review: I feel so…conflicted ><

September 12, 2013 by Hyunnie 3 Comments

Hi everyone, I AM FINALLY BACK!!! Sadly, not for too long. More essays are due quite soon, so I won’t really have much time to watch anymore dramas. In the meantime, more song/maybe anime reviews will be up very soon. This drama has been delayed for a VERY VERY LONG TIME!!! Today’s review is on “That Winter, The Wind Blows”, which was broadcasted in South Korea between February and April this year. Clearly, I have been quite delayed in watching this but, like I stated before, I never had the chance to get to it.

Smexy picture; I absolutely love it >//<

Okay, let’s Begin!

Initial Thought:

So, I have been eyeing this drama for months now. Why? Well, to be honest, I really just wanted to see Jo In-Sung oppa again after MIA for two years. His last proper project was “A Frozen Flower”, and he did such a wonderful job in it (by the way, great movie and all but..there’s too much sexxxxxxxxx in it for my liking…AWKWARD!!!!!!)

I really liked this movie. It is through this movie that I had first been introduced to so many great actor/actresses (e.g. Song Joong-Ki :D)

Um, um, um ANYWAYS, yes, this drama has been on my list for a while now, and I have to admit I was quite satisfied in watching it. However, not everything is perfect in life, and still as of now (I finished watching this 2 days ago) I’m still feeling quite conflicted by the ending of the drama, but I’ll get to that later.

I did browse around YouTube, praying to find nothing that will ruin the drama for me. I failed, miserably and unconsciously ruined the ending for myself. And, when I mean unconsciously, I mean that I didn’t think about that ending until literally the second last episode, which absoultely ruined the experience for me. So, note to self and everybody else who reads this, DON’T, UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES, LOOK AROUND YOUTUBE FOR INFO ON DRAMAS. NEVER!!!

I should have learnt my lesson the last time I watched a drama LOL

You. Dumb. Idiot. *Facepalm*

Comments:

Okay, I am going to skip doing some sort of summary/synopsis for this because I just didn’t want to ruin this experience for anyone else who was thinking of watching it like I did. I’ll only share with what I thought about the drama, and how I felt after completing it.

So, firstly, this is the first melodrama that I have watched in at least the last three years. The last one that I watched must have been “Cinderella’s Sister” back in 2010. Yes, I feel absolutely guilty, due to the fact that there were so many good looking ones that came out after it (Miss Ripley, 49 Days, A Thousand Days’ Promise, Love Rain – just to name a few) but recently, I haven’t really had the heart and will to watch any dramas that were intentionally out there to make me feel sad and crappy while watching the thing.

So, keeping that in mind, I knew that I wasn’t ready to watch something like this. I’ve only watched a couple of movies recently that are true tear-jerkers, but it has seriously been a while since I had experienced a long period of depressing feelings for fictional characters within a drama. And that definitely played a part in my judgement of the drama.

I feel…satisfied yet pissed off at this drama. And this is all due to the fact that from about the last 5 episodes onwards, nothing seemed to make any perfect sense anymore. Especially in the last 2 episodes of the drama.

Now, I won’t go into too much detail about the drama since the whole mystery surrounding the drama is what makes it worthwhile to watch however, I must discuss about the last episode, which has truly bothered me for quite some time.

The finale of this drama did not seem to make perfect sense in my mind. Sure, many fans of the drama (or main leads, whatever) would have been very satisfied with the ending HOWEVER, as I have seen while researching other fellow bloggers who talk about the drama also, the ending has left many confused with conflicting ideas.

For me, I’m still left in a spot which is surrounded by the colour ‘grey’. When I first watched the ending (on YouTube, that is) I didn’t really think too much about it. After I had finished watching the rest of the drama, and then I am faced with the ending once again, something within me was pressed on, and I became a lost lamb. What, what the hell does this all mean? Oh Young, Oh Soo, WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS??!

The gif says it all.

And, as I watched the ending once more for the sack of this review, my mind was literally blown away. In just three viewings, my thoughts on this drama changed DRAMATICALLY. Since I want to avoid sharing too much, this is all that I will say.

I miss the Oh Soo at the beginning of the drama who would pester Oh Young about being too stubborn, uptight and unwilling to accept the help from another because, as I have come to realise through the drama, Oh Young has not made as many life changes as Oh Soo has for her. He has done so much for her yet, it isn’t until the last hour of the drama that we see much success in the reshaping of Oh Young’s character. She is a nice person at heart, we all know that, but her coldness still overshadows the other good sides of her…which leads to the conclusion that Oh Young, it was never possible for me to ever like you. Oh Soo, from the start, captured my attention (this comment isn’t biased, honest!), and I think that it was clear through the progression of the drama that he truly was the star of the drama (no offence Hye-Kyo -I absolutely adore you but still, In-Sung oppa does a pretty damn good job) and I couldn’t help but be captured by him through his change in character, emotions and true love for Oh Young.

Okay, enough rambling Hyunnie!! Moving on!

OST and cinematography:

I LOVE IT!!! (the OST that is…) I have the entire OST on my iPod, and it is being played non-stop! The highlights for me would have to be Taeyeon’s “And One” and “A Winter Story” by The One. Links for both songs will be below:

As for the cinematography, it is absolutely gorgeous. Watching it in 720p definitely has its advantages 🙂 And the last episode’s filming in particular was beautiful. Here are some screenshots for you guys ❤

How can you not love them being together?? Two of the most sweetest smiles I’ve seen in a LONG time.

The blur surrounding the shot, with the cherry blossoms in the background…KYA!!!!

Rating:

Alright, the final verdict…

I will have to give this drama a……4/5.

I absolutely loved the drama, until we reached the last 2-3 episodes. Up until then, the story flowed, certain moments were just so great to watch (when Oh Young and Oh Soo make the cake…LOVE IT!!! *waving hands whilst fangirling* ><) However, the ending didn’t leave me with a completely satisfied feeling, and instead left me with questions that will never be answered. It was great seeing both Jo In-Sung and Song Hye-Kyo return to the small screen after long years of MIA, and I can’t wait to see what else they have in store for their future projects.

One of my fav scenes out of the entire drama. Their acting was so adorkable in this sequence *squeal*

A more convincing and complete ending wouldn’t lead me to give such a disappointing rating however, I am a type of person who prefers a much more confronting and straight-forward ending rather than an ambiguous ending with no signs of a conclusion what-so-ever.

So, I hope this uber-long review hasn’t tired you all out. I will be doing more of these in the coming future, and hopefully that means quite soon 🙂 Thank you all for reading and I will catch up with you all very soon~~

❤ Yami Hyunnie ^^~

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