조선X파일: 기찰비록 (Joseon X Files: Secret Book / Secret Investigation Record) is an historical Korean drama that aired on tvN from August 20th to October 29th 2010.
It consists of 12 episodes that are relatively independent.
Story: In 17th Century Korea (Joseon Dynasty) strange things happen. Kim Hyung-do's former mentor Lee Hyeong-wook is sent to prison for "aggrandized his report with mendacious claims of a bizarre flying
object” and “divine retaliation against His Majesty’s alleged lack of
virtue." To save his own and his mentor's life, Kim Hyung-do needs to find an explanation and create a demonstration to a public that's terrified by an Unidentified Flying Object. At the end Kim Hyeong-do becomes an investigator for the secret Shinmuhwe.
During the next episodes the hero and his team consisting of his assistant Heo Yoon-Yi, a librarian, and Magistrate Jang Man is sent to various places to solve mysterious cases about supernatural objects, diseases and phenomena as well as ghosts.
Cast:
Kim Ji-hoon did a really good job as Kim Hyung-do in this one. I've never seen a drama with him before but well, I think acting in a historical drama isn't that easy anyways.
Im Jung-eun can be seen as Assistant Heo Yoon-yi. Damn, I like her character. Either she's a badass hot librarian or just a perfect not-so-nerdy bookworm but she's really really good.
Jo Hee-bong can be seen as Magistrate Jang Man. Sometimes a little cowardly, always trying to save Kim Hyung-do once he's in trouble, so.. a plucky coward? To be honest I had to laugh about Magistrate Jang because it was just completely overdone from time to time. He seemed not to be that smart.. Last but not least I have to name
Kim Gab-soo as Ji Seung who's the leader of the Shinmunhwe (if I remember right, however, he's the one collecting the records so.. I don't know how to describe that.)
YES, the acting was good and usually fit the story. It was relatively nice to see only four characters directly involved in the story, it wasn't too complicated.
Soundtrack: The soundtrack supported the drama. No modern pop music, no modern ballads, just some instrumentals and an effective use of silence as well. Nothing I could really criticize about this.
My personal ranking is
6/10 though. The first point may be that I'm usually not that experienced when it comes to historical dramas. Followed by the second aspect which was like "What the heeeell..." because of the effects. While I think they looked like some of the effects used in the 1990's and kind of old school others say those were awesome. Third thing is.. that I seriously couldn't take some things seriously because even if you do believe in the existence of aliens it's completely absurd.
I think the combination of a Korean historical drama and the X Files just didn't do it for me, I think it's more about the story than the actors who are indeed doing a great job.
