Show Review: ‘Vincenzo’ - An Insight into the Life of an Anti-Hero



Picture Credits: Instagram 


Vincenzo is 2021’s anti-hero. Bonny looking anti-hero is a testament to the fact that Vincenzo is probably 2021’s best show. 


Introduction


Show Name - Vincenzo


Created By - Kim Hee


Starring - Song Joong Ki, Jeon Yeo Bin, Ok Taeyceon, Kim Yeo Jin


Seasons - 1


Episodes - 17


Genre - K-Drama, Dark Comedy


Language - English, Korean


Plot - Spoiler Alert !


Vincenzo is the adopted son and consigliere of the Cassano family.  He flees from Italy when the biological heir tries to kill him. His decided course of action on arriving in Seoul is to recover the gold he had once helped a businessman stow in the basement of Guemga Plaza.


To his vexation, the building is illegally owned by the corporate giant Babel Group. In order to retrieve his fortune Vincenzo is plunged into the murky world of politics, law and corporate business. 


This show is a dark comedy tiptoeing into noir from time to time. A farce that delves into the theme of sin and redemption. Hong Yoo Chan, the righteous lawyer  who initially takes Vincenzo under his wings, lays the founding thought of the series:”only evil can punish evil”. 


G.R. Strange’s words “ criminality is a condition of life” ring true. None of the characters have a working moral compass. Vincenzo and the leader of Babel Group, the antagonist, have the same motive on the onset-greed for money and power. The eccentric Geumga Plaza inhabitants act out of self preservation. On the whole everyone does questionable deeds and get their hands dirty.  


Unlike ‘The Godfather’ which served as the source material for Vincenzo’s background the women are not sealed in the domestic spaces away from crime. The show has interesting female characters.


In fact, Hong Cha Young the wronged daughter could have turned into Choi Myung Hee., ruthlessly killing people left and right only to serve the powerful if not for personal tragedy. She chooses to serve revenge coolly with her partner in crime Vincenzo. 


The Geunga Plaza horde with the Jipuragi Law firm form an odd team. Every character leaves an impression with their quirks. The glint of warmth in a show dealing with rampant corruption and injustice remains with you. 


For Song Joong Ki the audience’s love for his character brings  bitter sweet success. When he read the script he thought it was sad that the viewers had to cheer for Vincenzo, a villain. But this is the yardstick for accomplishment as an antihero - to bring out the empathy and love where it is hard to find. 


Why Should You Watch Vincenzo?


Credits- Instagram 


One may ponder that maybe the guy in the expensive Boolaroo wouldn't be much of a perilous creature. A menace to society, if you may. But well within time as the characters' arcs are laid down for us, we see that he is not your traditional, conventionally righteous hero. 


Vincenzo says in furbished Italian “un diavolo punisce un altro diavolo” which translates to “a devil punishes another Devil” and this quote is amiably seen in interplay throughout the series. He is honest enough to admit this not only to himself but also his fellow attorney Hong Cha Young. 


A conventional in your face romance story would have distanced the woman from a person like him by now. But neither Vincenzo nor Cha Young are like that. We see she embraced the wicked and sometimes simply nefarious ways in which Vincenzo encounters the corporate Babel group .


Performances 


Viewers were ghastly impressed by the performances delivered by Kim Yeo Jin who played Choi Myung Hee, Wusang’s senior prosecutor who is the human form of behemoth to say the least.


Ok Taeyeon who did a splendid job playing a blood thirsty sociopath. You know the antagonist actors are doing their job well when you resent their character.  


Just when you think they are the bad guys Vincenzo reminds us that he is also here to pay an undying ode to his promised persona. One that embraces that he is no good and he won't be. He burns Choi Myung Hee in a rather rigorous manner with parallels and euphemism of doom.


The Bottom Line  


Apart from the overall malevolence from both the good and the evil ends, the writers of Vincenzo leave no detail unattended. If viewers notice the white board where Mr Nam, Cha Young, and Vincenzo very sweetly plot against Babel they had witnessed the key chemical formula for ‘codeine’ which is an extremely strong highly supervised anesthetic. A direct nod to Babels very own BLSD. 


Therefore it is not a regular stoic-heroic tale where the unkempt dude redeems himself towards the end or has an enlightening breakthrough. Vincenzo doesn't give a shit. Heck, this man had his gold under a Buddhist temple...like bro ironical much ?  


My rating for the show - 4.5 on 5


Written By - Manika Gupta 


 


 



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