‘Forget You Not’ Netflix Series Review - Should Have Been A Film

There is a fantastic melodrama film lurking within René Liu's Forget You Not/Wàngle Wô Jìdé that's unnecessarily and unfortunately stretched into an eight-episode Netflix series that overstays its welcome. Liu knows how to use her actors for melodrama, and with her co-writers, Pao-Chang Tsai and Shing-Ming Ho, she has created an affecting material. It's a pity she doesn't have the good sense to stop at the right moment. If Liu were a stand-up comedian, she would have dragged out and underlined her jokes to the point of tedium. For instance, we get a scene in Forget You Not where a character compares old people to children. Later, we see an old man and a child sitting in their respective wheelchairs at a hospital. And if the point of the last few episodes is to tell you that it's tough to take care of your old parents, then Liu could have achieved her objective without wasting so much time on hitting the same dramatic notes. Yes, we understand that it's not easy for Cheng Le-le (Ying-Hsuan Hsieh) to juggle between her father, Cheng Kuang-chi (Chin Han), and her job. There are so many scenes showing her running from her workplace to her home or hospital for her dad that these moments become repetitious. After some time, all you see is Le-le looking after Kuang-chi and the mental and physical stress this routine inflicts on her. Liu might have wanted us to feel Le-le's exhaustion, but our exhaustion results from the show's habit of indulging in repetitions. Liu could have made her point more sharply by shaving off a few more hours.

Thankfully, she has actors like Ying-Hsuan Hsieh and Chin Han who keep us invested. They infuse vigor into the melodrama - the series remains consistently watchable due to them and even other actors like Esther Liu, Tracy Chou, and Wallace Huo. Liu, too, respects actors and their profession, which is why, in one of the scenes, a character comments that being a thespian requires more skills than just saying lines on the set. This, however, undermines the power of the verbal confrontation that occurs a few minutes later between Le-le and Chang Kai (Huo), her husband. It seems as if Liu is actually trying to prove that you need to be talented to be an actor - that this profession is not just about saying your lines on the sets. Again, the performances save the series from crumbling into pieces. Le-le and Chang Kai constantly raise and lower their voices, giving the scene a nice rhythm. There is something real, something personal in this marital clash. Yet, if it - even if slightly - looks like a showcase for its actors, that's because Le-le's romantic relationship is thinly imagined. It comes across as a piece of the plot. Did Le-le ever discuss her stand-up jokes with her husband? Did she ever ask for his feedback? What about Chang Kai? Did he ever talk about his professional life with Le-le? What was her opinion? What did the couple usually discuss during their free time or while having dinner? Liu displays the blossoming of their romance through cute, bland montages. The images merely convey information: Le-le and Chang Kai have fallen in love and have started living with each other. There is no attachment, no connection between the viewer and the characters. Liu brings out the feelings she wants from within us by pushing the appropriate emotional button(s) and through the performances. We react to Le-le and Chang Kai's verbal fight because Hsieh and Huo deliver their dialogues with verve, and Liu actively listens to them.

Similarly, we respond to Le-le's pain and Kuang-Chi's condition, mainly due to the emotional energy that Hsieh and Han bring to the show. Forget You Not never inquires how much money Le-le earns from her two jobs. We also don't learn how much money is spent on hospital bills and how this expenditure impacts Le-le's lifestyle. Liu proves to be the master of a small domain: Emotional manipulation. To that end, she successfully manages to hit her target here and there. There is a wonderful scene where Le-le, after being fired from her job as a tourist guide, complains about her best friend's lack of support during her stand-up act, and at the same time, her friends spend their time searching for her and worrying about her. In another somewhat similar scene, Le-le chastises her husband for feeling ashamed of her job just when he decides to take them to watch her perform at the club. Le-le can be insensitive and blind - she's imperfect. But Liu neither judges her nor any other character, for that matter. Forget You Not sometimes chooses to explore the lives of Le-le's best friends, yet it shows little interest in them. One of them mentions that she prefers hanging out with her single friends. What do they do together? Do they go to the movies or gossip about other married couples? Another friend has two kids and a husband. What is her marriage like? What kinds of things does she discuss with her husband?

Liu has no answers to the mentioned questions, but the actors look comfortable with each other. There is real chemistry between them, which is why most scenes, despite their facile nature, appear credible. The sentimental touches (the young Le-le sits in front of the older one) can be unbearable, yet now and then, Liu wins you over with some genuinely moving narrative decisions. Just see what she does with a reserved seat - I won't give spoilers. The series also touches on the issue of toxic workplaces, where bosses don't treat their employees as humans. One can find traces of their father in Kuang-Chi, who tries to act all tough, and Le-le's first comic routine is quite witty and clever. Still, Forget You Not fails to leave a deep impact on the viewers because it goes on and on and doesn't know when to bow down. The claps turn into groans, the cheers turn into yawns, but the series self-indulgently continues its act. Instead of drawing the curtains, it obliviously marches forward.

Final Score- [5/10]
Reviewed by - Vikas Yadav
Follow @vikasonorous on Twitter
Publisher at Midgard Times