Persona

Persona pleasantly surprised me. I didn't expect this mini-series to be so interesting, unique and of high quality!

Each episode had its own unique story, the common factor being the persona. (IU) She appears in each episode as the central point of the storyline. What I noticed was that she was always in control, assertive and had a dominant character in each persona.

The acting wasn't anything special. I could rate it average.

What really stood out to me was the montage, light and sound editing. In those aspects, the episodes were put together almost perfectly, my favourite being the fourth and final one.

Though such short storylines could be a bother to some, it didn't stop the mini-series from being very artistic and well put together. The editing made a great impact on me and each storyline left me wondering afterwards. Not because of a cliffhanger, but because I wanted to know more about the persona.

Overall, this is worth a 10 to me. Considering shows like these are gems in the Korean tv show industry.

This is 4 short films told in a a surreal and black mirror-ish way. IU is great with her acting skills, which she has proven multiple times (specially with 'my mister' IMO)

The 4 films span out to roughly to 1 hour and 20 minutes. And are each directed in a different way as they are directed by different directors.

If you liked IU from "Moon Lovers" and other kdramas like "Dream high" you might not find the same charm.

Don't fret about the low ratings as the sample size is quite low (while I'm writing it)

Its a must watch if you like movies and series which are weird and sometimes create more questions than answers them.

Don't miss it

All four short films were shot in different styles. The first "Love Zero" is a temptation that represents the seduction between maturity and maturity. It reminds me of iu's previous song "Everyone Has a Secret." The second "Long-No-Corruption" is a woman who plays with men and fleeting love. There is a saying I like, "A man chats with a woman to go to bed with her, and a woman wants to chat with a man before going to bed with him. "The third" Kiss is Sin "is an interesting and naughty short film. It means that boys and girls are always full of illusions about whatever they want in their youth, often because their unintentional actions hurt others without knowing it. The fourth "Walking in the Night" is my favorite. The story is set in a dream of walking with the dead at night. I think this method of dealing with the subject of death is very special, although dreams and the like often appear. Scene, but I was the first time to see the dream as a main story directly. In addition, director Jin Zongguan used black and white photography to make the entire film more poetic.

Overall, Persona is an interesting and well-done miniseries that mostly succeeds in exploring its themes.

The miniseries explores what it means to love or care deeply for someone, across the span of four episodes. Each episode is stylistically distinct and unique due to the artistic freedom the four directors were given.

Although the same actress plays the main role in all four episodes, she convincingly portrays four very different characters and aspects of love. This serves as a pleasant thematic connection across all four episodes.

The shortcomings of this project lie in the overall varied quality. Episode 2 and 3 are undoubtedly the strongest. Maybe it was just me but episode 2 reminded me of Under the Skin (2013). Episode 1 fell short due to its bad pacing and jarring use of English, while episode 4 never got interesting, mostly because of its dull script.

Despite this, it is well worth a watch.

PERSONA (2019) was a well made Korean anthology of stories, but due to the one episode length span of each story there is only so much that can be conveyed in terms of character development and depth, and only so much that can take place, per story, so they don't really hit too deep not as other Korean dramas might. However, they were still well made and acted, visually stunning and intriguing. In my opinion the writing struggled in these episodes, but still does give the viewer pause to think.

Worth the watch mainly for the quality of the production and the acting by Eun-Ji Lee (IU) and Doona Bae, as well as the capable directing and visual effects.

Episode Rating: LOVE SET [5/10] COLLECTOR [7/10] KISS BURN [8/10] WALKING AT NIGHT [8/10]