Intro
One of the most anticipated Korean dramas of 2021 is Vincenzo. My expectations for the drama were really high because so many of the people I follow have been talking about it. I was hoping for an action drama mixed in with romance and suspense.
The tale centres on Italian mafia consigliere Vincenzo Cassano, who, following the death of his boss, returns to Korea. He comes back for a few months with the intention of leaving after obtaining some hidden gold.
His original aim is derailed when he finds himself embroiled in the conflict with Babel, an extremely dishonest conglomerate. With the assistance of Hong Cha-Young, a Korean attorney, he ends up representing and aiding a motley crew of residents at Geumga Plaza.
In a society where the law is insufficient and justice is nonexistent, the drama puts villains against villains. With a big ensemble, there’s comedy, drama, action, and thrills.
Plot: An Amazing One
The central story of the villain-turned-unlikely-hero battling a strong corporation and developing relationships with individuals he otherwise wouldn’t have cared about was great.
There were several lesser overlapping strands that added to the intrigue even though the main plot was constantly in the forefront. Each of the characters had a well-developed and realistic agenda.
The drama is clearly plot-driven, though. While characters have selfish goals which complicate things, the story never felt character-driven. Some things were obviously put in just to further the story.
Length of the Episodes
The twenty episodes run for about ninety minutes each. It defies common belief that a drama would receive so much airtime if it were truly necessary.
Kdramas are one of my favourite genres since they are able to pack a lot of content into (usually) 16 or 20 hours. An hour flies by, and a lot happens in that time.
I experienced every minute with Vincenzo. And I was conscious of every minute I lost on this drama. It didn’t need to be eighty minutes lengthy. It was devoid of the appropriate content. To make sequences last longer on screen, they were frequently slowed down and stretched.
There were also filler segments in almost every episode. Even yet, they were not funny enough to qualify as comedic interludes. Watching moments that have no purpose whatsoever is one of my least favourite things to do.
Vincenzo
Director- Kim Hee-won
Writer- Park Jae-beom
No. of episodes- 20
Cast- Song Joong-ki as the title character alongside Jeon Yeo-been, Ok Taec-yeon, Kim Yeo-jin, and Kwak Dong-yeon.
The Soundtrack
OSTs for Kdramas are usually excellent, but Vincenzo’s was awful. The songs that stood out were from Italian operas, and neither the directing nor the scenes were appropriate for them. There was not a single well-known Korean song.
A drama’s soundtrack has the power to make or break it, and this one’s creators decided to go with a “cool idea” rather than test it out first. While playing the music from an Italian opera seems like a nice idea, it wasn’t always successful. I felt really let down.
Main Characters
Vincenzo Cassano
Vincenzo was raised by Italians when his mother abandoned him when he was a small child. However, once they were slain, he joined the mafia and became a vicious consigliere.
He does receive more attention and airtime than other characters because he is the most popular. Better work was also done on his character. But it was insufficient. I’ve watched dramas where the supporting cast has developed more than Vincenzo.
The fact that they had a plot device that could have given his character more nuance but was only utilised for the storyline really irritated me. It wasn’t employed to further highlight his persona. How wasteful.
Hong Cha-Young
One of the most underwhelming main leads I have ever seen is Hong Cha-young. She was so full of potential, and it was all WASTED. She possessed confidence, was a badass, and had a tender side, but she did nothing with them.
Though it’s obvious that Vincenzo is the main character, the writers gave her a strong enough character to be matched with him. He was superior to her at all times. She never had the opportunity to really shine. Cha-young was never the main character. Vincenzo intervened and took the front stage even after she had promised to take action. It irritated me so much.
Conclusion
Rating: 3 out of 5
It’s obvious that I didn’t like the drama. Vincenzo is overrated and doesn’t merit the fanfare, in my opinion. It is not without its merits. It’s not all that horrible; a lot of people have appreciated it as well. However, it was a huge disappointment for me since it destroyed everything I enjoyed watching and more.
I would advise against viewing this drama. If so, please do yourself a favour and watch it as quickly as you can. 1.5 times would be preferable.