Secret (2007)

The Worst Film Ever

People are voting emotionally.

Great Film overall

In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

This movie was so glorious and heart touching.One of the best movie ever made and one of my favorite film of all time.

When this romantic movie was released for the first time in Korea, there wasn't big media hype. However, it became famous gradually through word-of-mouth so that it was shown again a few months after it went off the air. Also it pulled down big amount of money. Many reviewers said, 'If you miss this movie, it would be one of the goofiest things you've done throughout your life as a movie-goer.' I found it true for myself after watching it.To cut to the chase, it's a romantic movie. However if you expect just a bog standard chick flick, it would be pretty different from what you've expected because it doesn't have only sweet love story and humor, but also the touching plot, unpredictable fantasy, and even a twist. Also when it comes to its music, couldn't be better! It's been considered as one of the movies which have the best music with 'August Rush' and 'The Pianist'. Some commercials were takeoffs on its stunning piano performance scenes.Thus it would make people who like romantic stories and sweet music be glued in front of the screen, but I'm not sure in the case of people who anticipate cutting edge special effects, spectacle and action scenes. The story goes pretty slow in the first-half part and some graphic effects at the last part is sort of cheesy (It was awarded the prize for visual effects, though). Nevertheless, I still want to recommend it strongly to even these people. At least, I'm not afraid it'll let them down. I can rattle on for hours about the reasons followed by.First, let's get down to characters. Main characters are Jay (Jay Chou) and Rain (Kwai Lunmei). The two players seemed to have chemistry. Jay Chou is already famous as a good singer and an actor in East Asia. He played lots of roles in this movie. He starred in it as a main character who had a talent for piano. Also the story was based on his first love. Moreover it was his debut movie as a director. He was a composer of this O.S.T as well. He'd studied piano until high school, so he could make amazing scenes in which he played the piano by himself. His calm and gentle appearance went well with the sweet dialog.Rain is a mysterious girl in the same piano department with Jay. She has innocent looks that could make many guys remind of their first love. Kwai Lunmei played the role of the girl, which I think is the most difficult role to express the character's complicated emotion without a flaw. Plus, the quite cheerful supporting actors add zest to the movie.The story takes place at one arts high school in Taiwan. It seems to be the late 20th century or the early 21th century. One day, Jay(Jay Chou), who has just transferred this school, follows the unknown tune from the old piano practice room. He tracks down one lovely girl who is playing the piano there. They have good feelings toward each other right from the word 'go', and they fall in love with each other gradually. However, she sometimes disappears, saying 'It's a secret.' Next? I don't want to spoil your pleasure. All that I can say is that the director hid some special factors, such as fantasy and dramatic reversals in the last part and locked down the cover good and tight until the climax. Actually, the first part seems to have something in common with other romantic movies. However, the ending part will lead you to the unknown world.It's no exaggeration to say that its background music is another main character. Even if you hate soft music, once you try to listen to its music, it would begin to wear down your defenses. It won't let your ears close even for a minute. Especially, the scene, called 'Piano Battle' between Jay and the talented student at the school, is considered to be the killer part of the movie. Jay copied it correctly by ear right after the talented boy played one piece. This was how the battle went. They played three pieces each, and two of them were arranged Chopin's works. I bet over ninety percent of people, who watch it, would find themselves searching for the video clip of this scene on the Internet afterward. I even signed up for the piano institute right after watching it, and mastered Chopin's Impromptu.The cinematography also pulled its weight. It tried to play down its involvement in the story. I thought first it was nothing to write home about, but I realized it helped me to concentrate on the story, not on less important things. I don't mean it was lousy. The subdued lighting matched perfectly with the atmosphere. Also, certain scenes were shot dynamically. While two boys were having the piano battle in particular, the camera chased their alive and dynamic performances very effectively.Are you still hesitating to watch it? Well, I'm a girl in twenties who loves romantic comedy and classical music. This movie which has all these things was beyond amazing to me. I know arts can't be judged if one is better or worse than another. However, a lot of film festivals acknowledged 'Secret' through giving it many awards. It means that many people thought it was very worth watching.Also one experience sometimes changes people's tastes by accident. There might be a chance 'Secret' could be this experience to somebody. Shake off your prejudice and just expose yourself to the variety of arts. I hope my review change your mind. Lovely music, striking scenery, interesting stories...'Secret', which was made out of this, will stimulate your sensibility. It's time to hunker down and dive into the romantic world!

I just watched this movie last night for the first time, and I was expecting a decent foreign film, one that would be merely entertaining. What I got instead was likely the most interesting, attention-grabbing, thoughtful movies I have seen in some time. What I thought, originally, to be a decent plot, one that's been done over and over again, turned out to have me glued to the screen from the first scene. The characters weren't just believable, they were very easy to relate to and they were superbly acted out. What I also liked about the characters is that there is not necessarily any one with antagonist intentions. Every character is easy to relate to, which only compliments the characters of Jay and Rain. The music was riveting, really helped with the characterization. I never felt like the movie was moving too slow, or too fast, it just felt right and I lost myself in it. This is a prime example of what movies should be, something everyone can like. Maybe I'm just reacting from my initial shock at how good it was, but even if I am, I don't think I'll feel like I need to retract anything I've said here. This is just a really good movie, and I highly recommend it.

I was recommended highly of this movie by a friend from Taiwan who is a fan of Jay Chou. It's been a while since I've seen a Chinese flick other than those that made it to Hollywood by big name directors like Ang Lee, so I decided to check out this comparably more local film to see if the quality has improved from what I remember.My take after watching is that it was overrated by Jay Chou's overly-zealous fans, and skewed by his popularity. He is not a bad actor at all compared to some of the sideline characters (such as the piano battle referee, which I must say is casted poorly and was embarrassingly bad at reciting his lines). The story is cliché and the interaction between the 2 main characters were not developed enough for the audience to feel the bond needed. The dialogue between the 2 main characters were rather cheesy and not heart-felt. There were some decently comedic parts to the movie, I enjoyed the father-son relationship more. The father is one of the better cast in the movie. Story concept has some similarity to the Lake House, with a bit of a twist in the end, but can hardly be described as original. Beautiful scenery and backdrop, but the digitally enhanced portion where the building was crumbling down looked cheaply done.