Love, Lies | Korean Drama | A Sad, Painful and Tragic Love Story

Love, Lies is a 2016 Korean drama film, that is the saddest, most painful, and most tragic love story ever made into a movie. So glad it was not a true love story. This is another K-drama gem found on the streaming site called Tubi TV.  (What is a movie gem?)

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WARNING!! DO NOT watch this movie if you don’t want to be bummed out!

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THE LOVE TRIANGLE

Korean dramas almost always have a love triangle. It’s expected. However, this is the saddest, most painful, most sorrowful, and most tragic love triangle I have ever seen IN MY LIFE! (And I have watched a lot of sad love stories over the years.)

One young Korean man ~ Kim Yoon-woo (played by Yoo Yeon-seok) ~ who is a song-writer. But he writes popular songs for the common people ~ “Joseon’s Heart”. Not the traditional music (jeongga, or classical Korean songs) the girls have been trained to sing for the upper-class Korean society and the Japanese occupiers.

Two young Korean girls ~ Jung So-yul (played by Han Hyo-joo), and Seo Yeon-hee (played by Chun Woo-hee) ~ who have beautiful voices were raised to be “artists”. (That’s what they were told. One of them found out later that they were just beautified to be “artful prostitutes” for the Japanese men.) The mother of So-yul explained her “special training” to her this way: “…We’re flowers meant to be picked by men …”.

WHO LOVES, WHO LIES

Kim Yoon-woo says he is in love with one girl but then he meets her best friend. You might want to call the guy “a jive turkey”. But as the relationships develop, you almost feel like … he didn’t really do anything wrong.

WHY? I always say that if you are in a relationship, it is best that you find out BEFORE you get married that you don’t want to be in that relationship. No matter how much it may hurt the other person, you really should not marry somebody that you don’t love. Because that means two (2) people will be miserable in the relationship. Break it off before you marry so that the other person can … maybe … find someone else to be happy with.

I won’t tell you details of how this story unfolds but it was so so so so so so so … painful!!

YOU WILL NOT STOP WATCHING, EVEN THOUGH YOUR HEART IS BREAKING

As I watched this movie, my mind was tormented and divided. Part of my brain kept telling me to … Look away! You don’t want to know what happens in The End. The other part of my mind was saying … LOOK! You have just got to know what happens in The End. I watched it until The End and my heart was breaking for all three of them! I was totally shattered.

The cruelty that resulted from a woman’s bitterness, anger, and jealousy …?? I searched for one word to describe the things she did to get her revenge. But I came up with two words. INSANELY VICIOUS!!

FACT OR FICTION?

I tried researching this but can’t find the answer. There is one thing I am curious about in this movie. Maybe my readers can enlighten me. Were the red and blue parasols given to the artists when they completed their training historical fact or historical fiction? 

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THERE’S A BONUS!

The movie costumes and scenery are visually stunning.  The film was about two female singers with two different singing styles. Both ladies released a record album and the artwork for both album covers is incredible! The artwork for the album covers is a BONUS!  I wouldn’t mind buying an art print.  In fact, that’s how the movie begins. Some people found an old record album and wanted to know the whole story behind it. (Kind of like that popular American movie “Titanic” (1997) where they found that art portrait and wanted to know who the woman was.)

WHAT OTHERS THOUGHT ABOUT THIS MOVIE

Many reviewers praised the movie. I also thought the acting was superb! In addition to the stellar acting by the three (3) main characters, this movie also gets my 5-star rating for the music, the scenery, and the costumes. Especially, the traditional Hanbok clothing and the modern westernized clothing that both ladies wore. In every outfit, they were both gorgeous and extremely stylish. Their hairstyles, whether long hair or short hair, looked exquisite and elegant.

The majority of reviewers gave this movie 4.8 stars out of 5. I agree.