A Man's Story (2009)

Without a doubt one of the best Kdramas I have ever watched (I'm at over 300 now). The story was edge of the seat, heart pounding and addictive. Kim Kang Woo gave the performance of a lifetime in this. By anyone's standards he was stunningly good (or evil). Some Kdramas you get so sick of the over dramatization of the bad guy you want to fast forward through their scenes, but he was riveting. It was a painful agony to watch him. And, while he was the star of the show for me, the sight of Park Young Ha, every moment he was on the screen, was an utter heartbreak for me. Knowing that this dear sweet man would commit suicide barely 6 months later had me in tears throughout most of the show. Such a brilliant and well loved person, how could he not know how much he was loved and how much he is still missed to this day. His memory, his dramas, but most of all his beautiful voice and songs will forever be a testament to the tremendous talent of this young man who was lost too soon.

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Story::

Wow. Just wow. It starts off kind of slow, but when it picks up..good golly does it pick up. The story revolves around revenge, then moves from that to just standing up for whats right. Pretty much from revenge to Good Vs. Evil. Really really well written, I loved it. End was good aswell. Not a major love store here guys, if you're looking for that move on along. I, myself, usually watch only romcoms, but this...this is really good.

Characters/Actors::

Actors performed really well. Hats off to Kim Kang Woo though, really well played psychopath. Right till the end. Every role he played was played really well.

Music::
I have the OST on my playlist, its freaking amazing.

Rewatch::

I dont.

OVerall 10/10 Awesome!

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I try to keep the number of "10" dramas I have to minimum, but no matter how I parsed it, I had to give this a 10. It is just about as perfect a Kdrama as I've watched. If I had to rank the best features of this drama I'd probably say:

1. Acting
2. Characters
3. Directing
4. Story

The acting in this drama is stellar across the board. I mean really, really amazing. I already new Kim Kang Woo was one of the best actors in Korea. (Ever seen The Railroad, no? Well then go find it, now!) But he takes it to another level in this playing the antagonist Chae Do Woo. This is such a unique and intricate character, not at all your cookie-cutter bad guy (for a perfect example of a cookie-cutter, 1-dimentional bad guy, see Jo Gwan Woong in currently airing Gu Family Book). For a drama to be truly great, the bad guy has to be as interesting as the good guy. This bad guy is way more interesting than the good guy. He is definitely right there with Lee Jin Pyo (City Hunter) as one of the most interesting bad guys ever. And over time you almost start to want to feel for him, almost.

I could go on all day about KKW, but the rest of the cast is just as good. From Park Ki Woong's autistic Mazinger Hunter (props to him because playing that roll had to be exhausting with all of his twitches and odd eye movements) to Jang Hang Sun, who absolutely kills it as Do Woo and Eun Soo's father -- everyone is great.

But I have to really express my love and sadness over Park Yong Ha's performance. I had never seen him act before this and never heard any of his music either, but I was just blown away with his acting and wanted to see more. So it was with a very heavy heart that I found out he had killed himself not all that long after this drama aired. I cried when I found this out because he was so talented and it was such a great loss to the world. But at least there is this amazing performance to remember him by.

The acting may be my favorite thing about this drama but even the best acting can be ruined by bad directing. The PD, Yoon Sung Sik also directed Gaksital and I'm not sure what else, but I'll be watching whatever he does from now on because the directing here is excellent. A great director doesn't get in the way of the story and the acting and let's the drama unfold organically, and in some cases should present us with some really beautiful cinematography, and that is what PD Yoon did. This drama has some truly beautiful shots and no glaring directorial errors or jarring transitions. One scene I particularly enjoy (without giving anything away) is when Seo Kyung Ah and Chairman Chae are entering a long dark hallway to go see some of his business associates. The way that brief scene is lit and directed is just soooooo cool!

Finally, what good is great acting and directing without a decent story to tell and witty dialogue? This drama has all that and a bag of dried squid. The story is so complex and compelling. I found myself always on the edge of my seat wondering when the next shoe would drop. This isn't just a revenge drama. It's a revenge drama that becomes a redemption story and is laced with philosophical themes that keep you thinking long after it's over.

As for the music, I don't pay much attention to OSTs so if the music doesn't annoy me and they know how to use silence properly, then I score the music high. I hate it when there is music playing (and loudly) at inappropriate times, and Story of a Man does a good job of tempering the soundtrack so it is not distracting.

I gave this an 8 rewatch value only because there are a lot of twists and surprises that won't be as fun the second time around. That said, there are also a lot of really neat details that I think one would only see on a second viewing so it would be worth it. This drama is intricate and pays so much attention to detail. The details are something that really set it apart from most dramas.

In conclusion, watch this drama, NOW! It is just so perfect. And it probably would be a good drama for a newbie who's used to American tv too because of the high quality production and acting.

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Recently I was in the mood for a more serious drama and happened to see a review of A Man's Story. I'm really glad I gave it a try!

First of all the plot of the drama is very well written. I'm really into these revenge stories where one party is more powerful than the other and A Man's Story is a very good example of that. I loved that the drama seemed very realistic, especially the decisions that the characters made. There's none of those totally angsty "I'll just tell nobody anything and suffer through everything alone"-moments; in a way the drama shows how important it is to stick together in order to achieve anything. This drama also has one of my favourite drama endings because it leaves some things unsaid that make you wonder how the story would continue!

The cast in this drama was truly amazing! Everyone from the lead roles to the smallest supporting roles acted really well and very believable. I loved the group of people around Kim Shin as well as the interesting character of the villain and this is really the most important thing for me when watching a drama because the best story doesn't matter if I don't really care about and can relate to the characters. I was really impressed by Kim Kang Woo's performance as the villain (especially in the last episode) and props also to Park Ki Woong - it probably wasn't easy to act as that character without seeming ridiculous but he nailed it.

After all these positive things I want to mention why I didn't give this drama more than 8 points overall: After watching 2 episodes I was expecting it to be really intense but the pacing of the drama was actually not that fast. It's not like the drama ever got boring to watch but it wasn't as emotionally intense or so gripping that I couldn't stop watching. At the same time the slower pacing has the positive aspect that you got to know the characters better because not every scene was focused on driving the plot forward.

All in all, A Man's Story is a very good revenge drama with a well-written plot and great characters that make the drama definitely worth watching!

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A Man’s Story can’t decide what type of show it wants to be. It starts out as an angst-y revenge thriller, morphs into an Ocean’s Eleven-style heist caper, and then shifts into anti-corporate social justice mode with extra helpings of psychological case study. Some of these narrative threads are more compelling than others (I was particularly fond of the band of misfits caper plot), but the show’s inability to pick one gives it a disjointed feel. This is a shame, since the acting and directing are generally strong and self-assured. There is a cool, jazz-tinted vibe to the whole affair that nicely mirrors the icy charm of its antagonist, compellingly played by Kim Kang Woo. I also appreciated the quirky, well-drawn side characters, including a gruff female detective, a folksy mayor, and Park Ki Woong in a lovely performance as an autistic savant.

Unfortunately, the tonal and thematic shifts kept me from fully engaging with the show. As an indictment of corporate greed, it felt preachy and unfocused, especially since the primary representative of “The Man” was presented as a very singular individual with a diagnosed mental illness. Its attempts to address broader social issues never quite gelled with the personal grudges, warped family relationships, and cat-and-mouse brinksmanship that made up the bulk of its plot. When it was content to be entertaining it was a lot of fun. When it tried for “serious” and “relevant” it lost me. The personal may be political, but in this case, the politics felt like more weight than the specific human dramas of the show could carry.

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Main + of drama: Anti hero SML who isn't like to any character we've seen

NO SPOILER: This is good watch, intense plot, twists and turns, not so great production value (it's old), revenge story, ML good guy, fights against SML bad guy, nothing we haven't seen, but really good watch.
Main thing what makes this Drama special and really original is SML, he and his story is really different from any character that I've seen (though I love anti heroes, not good guys, revenge stories and dramas with dark vibes). Also FL she is different too, and her story isn't what you can expect too.
so maybe there are lots of dramas with best production value or best acting, even more interesting, but this one has characters and plot lines, like no other, so at list you never forget them. unless if you like standard melodramas and dramas with strong line between good/bad white/black hero/antihero - you will like it...


SPOILERS:
as I said SML and FL are really different, their stories and how they end up isn't what you expect. yes there are dramas where FL chooses SML but I can remember maximum 1-2 drama where this chosen SML is bad guy/anti hero, but I can't remember any dramas where anti hero hasn't redemption/regrets but doesn't looses anyway (doesn't looses in battle with hero, doesn't dies, goes to jail, gets the girl). In this drama every single character are against SML but he wins anyway, he is really strong and smart. I loved that he didn't changed, writers didn't made him "see the truth and become good, or want to answer for his sins", he is realistic character... FL is realistic too, she knows that isn't angel and doesn't tries to be angel, life is hard and she wants make it easy, and many helps with it always - this is true. also she likes that coldhearted not good person SML, he is handsome successful rich smart guy, who wouldn't like him )))

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