I stumbled upon a video some time ago that was about Seo Kang Joon's progress as an actor. It was in Korean and there were no subtitles, so I practically understood nothing BUT there were some snippets from this drama special shown. I sensed some good melodrama in there, so my curiosity was sparked for good. I looked it up, wanting to know how a plot that twisted could be executed within an hour. An hour! And here are my impressions of that hour between confusion - because there were no subtitles - and amazement - because there was so much going on:
Plot-wise, Haneuljae's Murder reminds me of a greek tragedy. It comes across as a play almost. Considering the little budget this project had and the short running time, the outcome is pretty impressive. There was much effort spent on the cinematography, I could tell. Even though the production value is not very high, the consistent autumnal color palette is beautiful and it creates a sense of nostalgia and sadness.
Overall, I'm intrigued by these drama specials now! They take on this seemingly impossible and ambitious challenge of cramming plot enough for a 10-16 ep drama into an hour. The result is not exactly satisfying, but interesting and somehow captivating for sure!