Winter Sonata

Every once in a while, I get in a mood, thinking that there are certain movies that I have to watch. You know, iconic films that have so entered the lexicon of the culture that you feel like less of an American for not having seen. Brando's "On The Waterfront" ("I coooduh beenuh contenduh!") or "Annie Hall" (Woody Allen....shudder). Can you believe I've never seen Alfred Hitchcock's "Psycho"? Don't get me wrong, I know what the movie is about, I've seen the shower clip (who hasn't?) and I've heard the loving thousand wax poetic. I really don't need to see it...but yeah, I need to see it.

There are some Korean dramas/movies that I think are the same. Last year I watched the canceriffic drama "Stairway to Heaven".... (eh...not so much) and "My Sassy Girl" - which I thoroughly enjoyed. At the time I watched it, I had no idea that "My Name is Kim Sam Soon" was allegorical as well.


Last night and today - I finally watched the much ballyhoo'd television blockbuster "Winter Sonata" starring Bae Yong Joon as the tragic Kang Joon Sang / Lee Min Hyung and Choi Ji Woo as the impacted by loving Mr. Tragic Jung Yu Jin.

Maaaaaan, was this one crazy convoluted complicated boat ride. An attempt to sum up would take pages. But I'm game! BFF loves Angel Face, Angel Face thinks of BFF as a brother. Seriously Depressed Lonely Boy meets Angel Face, Angel Falls in love with Lonely, BFF is pissed. Hair is blown in slow motion, snow folk kiss, bicycles are ridden, angst is shared. BFF is pissed.

Lonely dies, Angel weeps, BFF comforts. Lonely's Doppleganger shows up, with freshly washed highlights in his hair, on the eve of Angel's and BFFs engagement, throws Angel into a tailspin of angst, depression and girly pain. Doppleganger is confused, Angel is a weepy mess, BFF is pissed.

Twists worthy of palace machinations offer swooning, magical hypnosis memory inserts, a car accident, a bus accident, a construction accident, brain aneurysms, maybe-incest, paternity tests, insane mothers wanting to believe the baby they had out of wedlock was the fruit of her love with her forbidden when really it was the illegitimate seed of his best friend, obsession and true "will always remember you because I wasn't stricken with amnesia" love and the inevitable blindness. Blind Guy living ironically in a very real "Land of Shadow" on the continent of the "Perpetual Winter Coat". I don't think BFF is pissed anymore.

Perfectly clear. Let's get on with the review, shall we?

Ponder Angst – The ponder angst killed me. I've never hit the ffd button so much in my life. I don't think the letters are on the remote anymore. I even started speed reading by ffding x4 so I could get through the slow dialogue. WS loses points - first time ever - we got a -10.

Love “ – “ Angles – It's a square of love. Doppleganger loves Angel, Angel loves Dopplganger, BFF loves Angel and B*tch Scag loves Doppleganger. 16 points

Sizzle – The only sizzle in Winter Sonata was when some soju spilled on a grill in a restaurant. Kidding...Sorta. Bae Yong Joon provides the only sizzle the show has. A gifted actor, his man-pain made my chest hurt. His stop dead in the snow "I think I'm falling in love with Angel" moments were wrenching. Some people got it, BYJ's got it. I'll give WS 20 points just because I liked BYJ.

Physical Intimacy – Sweet kisses, lots of hugs. Not a whole lot going on here, but gently typical of k-drama. 10 points

Tragic Heartwrenching Disease and/or Character Death from Same – Mmmmmm, constipation quotient. Like I said, swooning, aneurysms, amnesia, packed with depression and obsessive behavior, Winter Sonata was a pantheon of medical intervention. I'm giving it 25 just for the heartwrenching, loss of balance causing brain haematoma requiring immediate surgery, forcing Doppleganger to sacrifice his love on the altar of medical martyrdom resulting in his eventual and complete blindness. 25 points. Oh, if someone could tell me why he needed glasses after he LOST HIS FRICKIN' EYESIGHT I'D APPRECIATE IT!

Going to the Beach – There was sadly, no real suicidal ideation in the series (unless I ff'd past it) and though beaches were plentiful, no one decided to utilize the ocean as a blessed release from this mortal coil. No bonus.

I will, however, give myself 10 points for recognizing Sam Sik's Buddy from "MNIKSS" and for identifiying the eunich from "Jewel in the Palace". So padded, Winter Sonata gets a big 71 points. I think this will disappoint fans of the show - from what I read, it's well loved. The music was beautiful, made extra special by the Bee Gees "How Deep is Your Love" playing in the background during one scene. (Yeah, that's how much I was paying attention the action and dialogue).

Winter Sonata was OK - which made me sad - I wanted and was ready for another "Thank You" to love.

It's ok. Maybe I'll watch "Psycho" next.

Oooooooooooooo

Bae Yong Jun, getting into character. Oooooooooo, toys and prizes underneath all that kingly garb. Who knew?

"Legend; The Story of the First King's Four Gods"

“Man no longer waits for heaven. Now it is heaven who waits for man.”

I think that was the overarching theme of the series; that man can do good of his own free will. I think fans of the show might question that the writers/producers/directors of “Legend” did “good” with the way the series ended.

There was a lot about “Legend” that I didn’t understand. I had assumed that I found the whole fantasy concept of the White Tiger, Blue Dragon, Black Turtle Snake and Red Phoenix strange because I’m western. I think that was part of it. There is such a long history of Korea, unlike the brief 200 years of United States history.

However, the ending seemed fast and forced and unclear to me. After reading fan comments I felt a little better. It seemed fast and forced and unclear to them as well. The hope had been that Dam Deok and Sujini would be together forever raising little Yuri (it was the kid’s name in Jumong; I can’t remember his name in Legend). But Dam Deok broke the Damul bow, causing all the “gods” to “die”, went toward the light of heaven, and the show was over. Fans were infuriated.

You know, I think the series could have developed more satisfactorily had they not focused so much on the variety of wars, the planning, the stratagems. They could have used exposition through the scribe to do that. It was a noble endeavor on a noble subject with complex characters and situations that needed better treatment than they received. There were some really fine character moments that could have been developed more. It felt like the powers that be fully expected to be able to extend the series (as so often happens) but unforeseen factors stopped it and they were forced to finish sooner than they really hoped.

I read several alternate endings and some sounded like they would have been pretty good. It appears that the cost of the project, coupled with the continued injuries sustained by some of the main characters prohibited extending the series to clarify and bring happy closure to our characters. Bae Yong Joon, God bless him, ripped some ligaments on his index finger (it’s all bandaged up in the last episode) and sustained significant injuries to his knee. BYJ looked like he had lost a lot of weight and just didn't look well.

That ending left holes that I suppose the “Legend” powers that be assumed the fans would fill in themselves. So I filled in explanations that made me happy.

Dam Deok’s father teaches the boy to hide his greatness, to not let others see his abilities so that they will think him a weak fool, thereby protecting him until he’s old enough to deal with palace intrigue. This worked for years (a long freaking 11 episodes btw) until DD becomes a man. DD has an admirable quality of humility and sincerely believes that his cousin Hogae would make a better King. He never sought the title, though it was thrust on him by the Heavens. All signs eventually point to him being the Joo Shin King and he feels forced to accept the role.

But at what cost? He loves his parents, his friends, his family and his people. His method of rule is always geared toward saving lives, to making the lives of his people better. He is a just and kind King using love first and justice when needed, but always tempered with mercy.

His mother dies. He is forced to confront his Aunt's atrocities when he is a young boy and she commits suicide. His father later takes his own life so that DD will become King. He loses his faith in his youthful love Kiha, he loses the love of his cousin Hogae through jealousy and vengeance, the friends from his youth die protecting him, men go to battle for him and die, his people suffer because Hogae tries to gain the throne through force. Sujini leaves to protect DD and his son.

Dam Deok is tired of the Heavens. He says to General Go, “Joo Shin King, do you know how much I resent that title? The many things I have lost because of that title? My mother, my father, my people.” He looks longingly at the last thing that Sujini touched before she left him, so we know that her loss still weighs heavily on his heart 8 years later. He has lost so much, yet has ruled Goguryeo wisely, supporting his people and the clans around him to the benefit of all. His war tactics are always geared toward the least loss of life possible. He hasn’t needed the heavens to help him rule, yet he has lost everything closest to him in sacrifice to the heavens for a rule thrust upon him; one that he never wanted.

In the last battle, Hogae kills the loyal General Go. Dam Deok does not hesitate, he immediately takes the same spear that killed Go and kills Hogae. After Hogae passes, Dam Deok looks at the battle raging all around him and he feels the pointlessness of it all, the killing and dying because of the title the heavens bestowed on him.

He determines in the end that his purpose on earth was to show that mankind could, through his own will, rule with wisdom, with grace, with love and with mercy. They didn’t need the heavens to intervene any longer. The problem was, that as long as heavenly blood coursed through the veins of his descendants, there would always be those intent on usurping power. To prevent others from coming along to claim the heavenly powers through destruction, and to prevent the hold that the Heavens have upon man's free will, he destroys the link between heaven and earth; the Damul Bow.

I don’t think the breaking of the Damul Bow killed the four gods and the Joo Shin King. We don’t see any of them actually die; we see the three gods on the battlefield clutch their hearts, weaken with pain, but we don’t see them die. We don’t even see Kiha actually die, she just floats in her cocoon of cherry Jell-O. I think the breaking of the bow took away the gods and the Joo Shin King’s “CGI” powers; you know, the blue dragon-y spear of death, the Black Turtle Snake cone of lost time, the White Tiger’s ability to – what the hell did that thing do besides save Hogae anyway? – I mean damn, that axe, and the Red Phoenix’s Bic Lighter Fighter Fingers.

In the end, I like to think we get the human Dam Deok, King and husband of Sujini, the perky alcoholic, mother to Yuri, son of Jumong… sorry, I mean Dam Deok. There’s Jumuchi - father of twins, the white robed guy with a cane still hustling people out of money, and poor long faced long javelin spear throwing man who will unrequitedly love Sujini forever but will serve Dam Deok faithfully.

Oh, and I’m not sure about Kiha. She might still be smiling in the cherry Jell-O.

KDrama Review; Legend: Story of the First King's Four Gods

A review:

Ponder Angst – Plenty of pondering, but not too bad. I fast forwarded more through the spectacularly dull talk-o-war / lead-up-to-war/plan-for-war / cleverly-avoiding-war / war-tents / war-smoke / war-horses / war-ships/war-map-scenes. The guys watching the show may have been fascinated by the testosterone soaked war rooms but as a chick…not so much. And what the heck? We had to have five minutes of exposition at the beginning of almost every episode. Sheesh. Afraid it gets a 5.

Love “ – “ Angles – Dam Deok loves Kiha, Kiha loves Dam Deok, Hogae loves Kiha, Kiha never loves Hogae, Sujini loves Dam Deok, Dam Deok eventually loves Sujini and Dam Deok loves his people (he’s a good king). Blue Diamond, I mean, Dragon, loves Sujini, but I’m not counting that because it goes no where except offers a few anguished looks from our quiet long faced dragon man “Legend” gets 24 points.

Sizzle – Bae Yong Jun is a very hot commodity in South Korea. The women apparently go ape over him. My money is all on Hogae though. He was just burning up the screen with that sweaty, “I’m the doomed character” thing going on. That guy was…hot. In fact, he gets all the points since I thought he was the best looking actor in the series (Park Jung Hak as General Go comes in second, and Dam Deok comes a distant third since he didn’t do anything for me until he grew his beard the last couple of episodes) So 15 points for hot hot Hogae.

Physical Intimacy – In good kdrama fashion, no lips were hurt in the making of this series. There was more sizzle between sweet sweet Jumuchi and Dalbi – and THAT took 4 years. We know that at least 2 couples were intimate, since both Kiha and Dalbi get pregnant. Even after Dalbi is large with twins, she seems shy and reserved around her funky-haired man when he wants to snuggle. A chaste movement toward each other’s mouth was all we got for intimacy. Well, other than Kiha and Dam Deok waking up in each other’s arms. 5 points.

Tragic Heartwrenching Disease and/or Character Death from Same – I wasn’t going to give “Legend” any points for this one until I went back and read my definition that includes “arrow/sword/dagger to the heart or eye ball”. There’s no anorexia or cancer, but people get stabbed to the heart in this thing left and right (it’s all that war they keep engaging in). Kids get cut, poison is administered, mothers bleed from their mouth, lots of daggers / javelins to the heart – LOTS of those. I have to give 20 points – this series was just stinking with death.

Going to the Beach – And mommy, did we have SUICIDES! Hogae’s Mom, Hogae’s Dad, Dam Deok’s Dad, several royal elders slit their own throats, a few attempted suicides. Sadly none happened at the beach. I’m going to give 20 points.

All in all, "Legend" gets a respectable 89 points on the E-Scale for Kdrama.

Legend of the First King's Four Gods

“You should be in your palace.”

“From this moment on, my palace will be wherever you are.”

Wooof. What a line. If any guys are reading – FYI – it’s totally what a woman wants to hear.

I mentioned a few blogs ago that I had started watching “Legend; The First King’s Four Gods”. I finished this weekend. “Legend” had been scheduled in 2007 to air head to head against Song Il Guk’s “The Lobbyist” and much had been made in South Korean entertainment about “who would win”.

I was able to finish “Legend”, but “Lobbyist” lost me early on.

As briefly as I can, “Legend” was about the promised Joo Shin King, Crown Prince Dam Deok (Gwanggaeto the Great of Goguryeo); a descendant of King Hwanung (Dangun Wanggeom)…You know what - it’s really complicated. I’m going to have to send you to wikipedia to read a synopsis of the series.

Korean Drama is big on going back to the beginning and “Legend” was no exception. We were treated to our character descendants practically crawling out of the primordial ooze, all fire and brimstone and vengeance and peace and love and healing and sex and vengeance and kids dropped off a cliff. Tough times, tough times. Fast forward (sorta) to “present day”…which was still like 374 AD…here we go, our stories can really begin.

Uhhhhh, not quite. If there is something else I’ve learned, kdrama writers love to start our story back in childhood. Like all kids there are lots of hijinks going on, like sneaking into the library to read books (those crazy kids), curing the King after he’d been poisoned, making the Aunt suicide before she lost face in front of the nation for poisoning the King. Typical pre-pubescent impish deviltry. Little rascals.

Power struggles, secret training to become King (a la Jumong and Haesin), star-crossed lovers, evil Chancellors, nasty Aunties, really super duper eee-ville old guy who is like a billion years old, White Tigers, Green Dragons, Black Turtle Snakes, Red Phoenix, pink hearts, yellow moons, orange stars, green clovers and new blue diamonds! Oh, sorry, that’s a cereal.

Overall, I enjoyed it. Felt as though I had to slog through 11 episodes to like it though. I waited patiently for all our four gods to get together and beat the bad guys up; it took until the 17^th episode for our Blue Dragon to finally open up a can of whoop ass on a bad guy.

I love recognizing actors from some of my favorite sageuks – and there was a lot to love here. Particularly General Go – who played the evil Madam Jami’s henchman in “Emperor of the Sea”. I was always sad that he was a bad buy in that series. I liked his quiet brooding loyalty. The Gramma from Coffee Prince made a cameo appearance too. I'm not sure (someone correct me if I'm wrong) but the little guy who played Dam Deok's son looked an awful lot like the fella who played Jumong's son in that series.

I particularly enjoyed all the tie ins to the history of Jumong, with mentions of Haemosu, Soseono, Yuwha, etc., the Damul Bow and the three legged bird. Not just shout outs, but real bits of Korean history, legend and fantasy all wrapped all up in it.

There were only 24 episodes in “Legend” and that might be part of the reason why I didn’t feel the same level of affection for the characters as I did in “Emperor of the Sea” (51 episodes) or “Jumong” (80-something episodes - I forget). Don’t get me wrong, I was invested, but I compare everything to “Jumong” and “Emperor of the Sea”. I cried watching those series. “Legend” didn’t make me cry, but I watched to the end, and I thoroughly enjoyed the characters.

The "will I watch it again yardstick" says, eh, probably not. But I said that about Coffee Prince too, and now I own the series. Tomorrow, I'll post my score card.