Airing at the same time as the romantic comedy "Love Next Door" (Jung Hae In, Jung So Min), the movie "Snow White's Death" (Black Out) is gradually coming to an end.
In the last two episodes, the work adapted from the best-selling German mystery novel "Snow White Must Die" (author Nele Neuhaus) recorded viewership ratings of 6.4% and 6.5% - higher than the 4.5% and 5.5% of the film "Mother's Friend's Son".
The film revolves around Go Jung Woo (Byun Yo Han) - a young man accused of murder in a mysterious case where no body was found. 11 years later, he begins a journey to discover the truth about that fateful day.
For director Byun Young Joo, when choosing a script, the goal is not to make it more "Korean" but to focus on the question: "Is the story still unique?".
Accordingly, the adaptation project still retains the main plot - revolving around a young man (Tobias - the character's name in the original) accused of murder. The biggest change of the film compared to the original novel lies in the way the characters are built.
One of the most important changes is the transformation of the police couple Pia Kirchhoff and Oliver von Bodenstein into a single character, the Korea Herald added.
Police officer Noh Sang Chul (Go Joon) in the Korean version is a hot-tempered, aggressive character who is demoted to the town of Mucheon after being involved in an excessive use of force case in Seoul.
Korean newspapers commented that the story development revolving around the police duo and Tobias in the original has been appropriately changed to focus on the joint investigation of Noh Sang Chul and Jung Woo.
The way the show portrays Jung Woo as a more heroic and moral character is convincing. Aside from dating Da Eun (originally Stephanie), he stays away from romantic relationships. Instead, he is dedicated to helping everyone – from Bo Young, a victim of domestic violence, to Suo, who is mentally challenged.
In contrast, Tobias (the original) was romantically involved with several women, including the two murdered girls. He left Laura for Stephanie and also had a relationship with Nadia - his childhood friend - who is now an actress.
In addition to the male lead, other characters have also been changed to suit the Korean audience's perception. According to director Byun, she hopes that with these new points, the film will retain the audience, even though many people are familiar with the ending of the novel.
"I think this kind of work will bring suspense not from knowing the end of the mystery, but from the journey to get there," said the female director.
Meanwhile, the audience believes that "The Death of Snow White" deserves to be known by more people because the film has fast developments, the plot and complexity of the case makes viewers go from one surprise to another.
Byun Yo Han's acting is also a highlight, making them get caught up in the story and feel sympathy, as well as anger because his character doesn't know who to trust, and no one trusts him.
There are 5 more episodes left until the end of the film, but the audience is still "circling" to guess the culprit, because the characters are all related to the case.
