[HanCinema's Drama Review] "Mimi" Episode 3

I think I've finally figured out why "Mimi" is so weird- it's not a drama, it's a music video. You know how most music videos use visuals that tell a story which kind of sort of has something to do with the lyrics- but not really? That's what "Mimi" is. It's why the drama spends so much time in Min-woo's dreamworld, and often doesn't bother telling us the difference between what's real and what's fantasy. The story is not the point- it's background noise to the music and visuals.

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All of this works to put Eun-hye in a pretty strange place, because as far as I can tell she's the only character with motivations that make sense. I mean that relatively speaking. Personally, I wouldn't want to be friends with Min-woo- the guy's kind of weird. But I can at least understand why a person would want to make friends. Min-woo's inability to tell reality from fantasy, or even clearly remember his own backstory, is a problem I imagine only people with mental illnesses have. And Mimi's a ghost. I'm pretty sure ghosts aren't even real.

So, in other words, "Mimi" is the same as usual. The story doesn't really make much sense, but understanding that the story doesn't make sense and that you're just supposed to be watching for the ambience does make the experience a bit more bearable. It's a continuing odd point for me just how clean everything is in this drama. Clean and bright, especially considering the way horror elements predominate for the early portion of the episode.

It begs the question- let's assume that Min-woo gets whatever he wants. Will that make him happy or solve his problems? It's really hard to see how, with just one episode to go. This guy literally appears to be frightened of his own ringtone, but in dealing with actual people barely regards them as anything more than furniture most of the time. His big social interactions with a pack of alumni chums almost seems normal until ghosts enter the conversation and then it's another ride into crazy town.

Considering all the episodes of "Mimi" in total, I don't think the drama is actually that difficult to understand. It's just constructed in a very strange way. This is a very experimental drama, which could be annoying if it was very long, but considering the short length we have here it's decent enough. I do get the sense I'd like the proceedings more if the music was more to my liking. It's a very smooth kind of pop sound that we're stuck with here. Interesting, from an abstract perspective, but much like the rest of the drama abstraction taking us to rather odd places.

Review by William Schwartz

"Mimi" is directed by Song Chang-soo, written by Seo Yoo-seon and features Changmin and Mun Ka-young