Melo Movie: A Ponderous Exploration Of Grief And Love

This ten episode #kdrama #MeloMovie on @Netflix written by Lee Na-eun, directed by Oh Chung-hwan and starring Choi Woo-shik, Park Bo-young, Lee Jun-young, Jeon So-nee, and Kim Jae Uck is pure cinema. Over ten hours, we are acquainted with and eventually get to know intimately all the characters.

What is love?
What is grief?
What is passion?
What is success?

The questions are omnipresent in this show. With each poignant moment, the camera lingers when we expect it to fade. It pauses, making us sit in discomfort and mull over the questions asked. The camera is invisible as we take the role of the fly on the wall. The grief is all encompassing. A daughter missing her father, a wife missing her partner, a little boy missing his hyung, a boyfriend missing his girlfriend. In the ache these relationships leave behind when they evaporate, we find ourselves relating to the pain in our lives.

The camera work is exceptional, employing light as a weapon. The shots are beautifully framed employing metaphors literally and figuratively. We end one episode going into a tunnel and start another coming out into the light. We watch lovers separate and a lonely leaf falls from the tree. A car breaks down and we get our leads kissing against golden sunset framed with yellow wildflowers.

The original soundtrack and the background music elevate the experience to make it cinematic. The solitary strings, the soaring notes, the stillness before a particularly poignant moment, they each take pride of place. The attention to detail in each shot is immaculate. The house with accommodations for the newly disabled brother, the sharing of liquor in coffee cups, the posters on the walls of the studio our budding musician rents, the title of each episode borrowed from films. The list is endless.

This show begs a rewatch to catch the nuances missed, the tiny details that make it a masterpiece.

If you have a weekend to spare and a thirst for a show that will make you smile, cry and think, do not sleep on this one.

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