Word: bitters
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Chihwaseon is a sweeping historical epic that centers on the legendary nineteenth century Korean painter Jang Seung-up. Seung-up’s personal drama—his alcoholism, womanizing, and bitter struggle against the conservative academy that scorned his humble birth and unschooled talent—takes place in the milieu of the political and social upheaval resulting from and feeding into the Sino-Japanese...
...inside us, screenwriters allow for a painfully predictable plot. Unfortunately, the assumption fails and the writing comes off as formulaic and superficial. Lines like “I don’t want you ruining your life the way I did,” spoken to Anne by her bitter mother Maisie (Charlotte Bradley), sound like they would be better placed in daytime television. And the film’s end, full of morals like John Joe’s “when you got music, you got friends for life,” becomes intolerably preachy and unbelievably...
...becomes simply difficult to handle, as the truth behind A’s nostalgic ramblings during the first act becomes apparent. As the characters’ tongues become sharper (the second act largely consists of C asking the other two women to account for why they are so bitter), so do the themes— and the play subtly builds into a warning that one can never truly get beyond past mistakes, except in death...
...Last time Easterns were here [in 2002], we lost,” Cole said. “Last time HYP was in our pool [in 2003], we lost. That left a bitter taste in our mouths...
...three major roles. Deftly switching from narrating as Voltaire to philosophizing as Pangloss, Nicholas even became the cynical, angry Martin for a song. The casting choice in this respect is interesting, and it is noticeably incongruent to see one actor starting off as the eternally optimistic Pangloss become the bitter Pangloss ravaged by syphilis, and finally, the cynical Martin sweeping, and laughing (or crying) with hysteria. Nicholas’s success in these roles is a great credit to his acting talent...