After watching nearly a dozen of Korean dramas, I got the impression that they are highly polished, commercialised, and cater predominantly to family audience with conservative values. In comparison, the Korean films I have watched so far, such as Shiri, 200 Pounds Beauty, Memories of Murder, Sad Movies, A Brand New Life, My Sassy Girl, The Servant, Wedding Dress and Once in a Summer, do not only have a more 'realistic' look but also far more diverse in terms of subject matters and styles. Overall though, they are commercially driven. It therefore comes as a surprise when I came across films like 3-iron and Bunjee Jumping of Their Own that are experimental, ambiguous and unconventional.
Noted for the complete lack of any verbal (or written for that matter) communications between its two protagonists, 3-iron hinders our understanding on why they act in the way they do: for example, why the smart college graduate in his twenties chooses to while away his life in such an unconventional manner; why he takes the risk of being imprisoned while he can free himself by revealing the simple truth to the police; why he chooses being beaten while it is such an easier option just to play by the rule in prison; and who is he trying to impress by adhering to his noncooperative prociple? The film ends with him living 'happily' as a ghost with his lover in her house shared with her husband. From their silent smiles, it appears that they enjoy the game they are playing but as an audience, it remains a myth as to why they refuse to follow conventions and give up the apparent freedom that is open to them? Is it so important to act on one's will and impulse to the extend of marginalising oneself? Is there something we do not know as an outsider of Korean society and its value in order to understand them?
In a society that is still deep rooted in its traditional family values (that is, based on what the popular Korean dramas have informed us), Bunjee Jumping of Their Own is singing a rather disconcerted tone. Although the 'gay' teacher is ousted by the principal, he is seen to be reunited with the reincarnation of the love of his life in a seventeen year old boy. Despite little indication of the exact nature of their relationship, it is clear that the ambiguity itself is bad enough and will never be tolerated in the mainstream culture. It is not clear if they have ended their lives together following the act of bunjee jumping far away from their homeland.
These two films, together with A Brand New Life, suggest to a new audience that there is much to be expected from contemporary Korean cinema.
June 26, 2011
June 20, 2011
Once in a summer
Students' movement, political trauma, the intellectual youth visiting the rural areas, two young people from entirely different backgrounds/camps meet in a circumstance of instability, fall in love and are caught up in a social upheaval in an historical moment. The further into the film, the more it feels like a Chinese one that depicts the confusion, joys, suffering and pain of the youth who were sent down to the countryside during the Cultural Revolution. History can teach us nothing.
June 19, 2011
Signpost
Since I was introduced to Korean dramas a few months ago, I must have been lent more than a dozen of them by my neighbours. Some, like the highly popular You are Beautiful and Boys over Flowers, I dislike so much that I gave up after just one episode; some, like Pizza, I stopped watching after several episodes despite my best efforts to do otherwise. Some, like Coffee Shop, could keep me watching till the last episode but with the benefit of hindsight, does not register so well. The following is a list of Korean dramas that I would like to remember for various reasons:
1 My Lovely Sam Soon:
A 'fresh air' in Korean drama in many ways: a leading actress with less than perfect appearance, a 30 year old from the lower-middle class in pursuit of love and is never shy in fighting for what she wants. Great performance from all, especially that of Kim Sun-ah and the then, newcomer, Hyun Bin, with lots of memorable sequences and comic moments. A Cinderella story with lots of twists.
2 Wedding:
A surprisingly low profile one despite its excellent script and convincing performance, it is a focused and fine exploration on how we allow the past to haunt our relationships.
3 My Girl:
How two people fall in love despite their differences in background and temperaments and their determination to stay away from each other. The last two episodes are the most enjoyable one when the protagonist ignores the emotional blackmail of the patriarch and fights for himself. A typical Cinderella story. Lee Da-Hae is simply excellent.
4 Winter Sonata:
Doesn't the final scene look similar to that in Jane Eyre when the well-off hero becomes blind and the love of his life has risen to become, presumably, a successful architect?
5 Stairways to Heaven:
Again a typical Cinderella story albeit with a sad ending. An absolute tearjerker. I watched all the episodes when the heroine is tortured by her step mother and step sister in fast forward mode.
6 Full House:
Rain's performance is the highlight in a story that relies too much on impossible plots. It does grip you though despite the silly lines.
7 World within:
An unusual Korean drama in its exploration of the behind-the-scene stories of the making of Korean dramas. It is however not the sort of insightful story that one might expect. Could definitely have been much better if the director had better ideas of what he wanted and stayed focused on it.
8 Snow Queen:
The only reason I can come up with on why Hyun Bin picked this project is that the character he plays is almost the exact opposite of the one in his last project My Lovely Sam Soon. What kept me watching though was not just because of Hyun Bin, but also because I wanted to find out how long his character could keep on denying his own ambition and bury his talents.
9 Beautiful Days
In watching Korean dramas, I have been kept pleasantly surprised by just how closely related the Korean languages is to Chinese, or its dialects to be exact. The first time I realised this was when a character counted numbers from one to ten which sounds almost identical to Hakka. Due to the lack of fluency of Hakka, I cannot tell how close Korean is to it, but what I can tell is that while there are many words that share similar pronunciations with Hakka,there are times they sound like, say, Mandarin or Cantonese, such as the word for hubby. This keeps me wonder if there is a Chinese linguistics who knows all the dialect in China whether the myths would be solved in regard to the similarities between Korean and Chinese languages.
Another aspect of Korean drama that impresses me most is how talented those involved in the industry are: from screenwriter, director, music editor, to the actors and actresses. This high quality of the team has certainly contributed to the overall good quality of their production.
1 My Lovely Sam Soon:
A 'fresh air' in Korean drama in many ways: a leading actress with less than perfect appearance, a 30 year old from the lower-middle class in pursuit of love and is never shy in fighting for what she wants. Great performance from all, especially that of Kim Sun-ah and the then, newcomer, Hyun Bin, with lots of memorable sequences and comic moments. A Cinderella story with lots of twists.
2 Wedding:
A surprisingly low profile one despite its excellent script and convincing performance, it is a focused and fine exploration on how we allow the past to haunt our relationships.
3 My Girl:
How two people fall in love despite their differences in background and temperaments and their determination to stay away from each other. The last two episodes are the most enjoyable one when the protagonist ignores the emotional blackmail of the patriarch and fights for himself. A typical Cinderella story. Lee Da-Hae is simply excellent.
4 Winter Sonata:
Doesn't the final scene look similar to that in Jane Eyre when the well-off hero becomes blind and the love of his life has risen to become, presumably, a successful architect?
5 Stairways to Heaven:
Again a typical Cinderella story albeit with a sad ending. An absolute tearjerker. I watched all the episodes when the heroine is tortured by her step mother and step sister in fast forward mode.
6 Full House:
Rain's performance is the highlight in a story that relies too much on impossible plots. It does grip you though despite the silly lines.
7 World within:
An unusual Korean drama in its exploration of the behind-the-scene stories of the making of Korean dramas. It is however not the sort of insightful story that one might expect. Could definitely have been much better if the director had better ideas of what he wanted and stayed focused on it.
8 Snow Queen:
The only reason I can come up with on why Hyun Bin picked this project is that the character he plays is almost the exact opposite of the one in his last project My Lovely Sam Soon. What kept me watching though was not just because of Hyun Bin, but also because I wanted to find out how long his character could keep on denying his own ambition and bury his talents.
9 Beautiful Days
In watching Korean dramas, I have been kept pleasantly surprised by just how closely related the Korean languages is to Chinese, or its dialects to be exact. The first time I realised this was when a character counted numbers from one to ten which sounds almost identical to Hakka. Due to the lack of fluency of Hakka, I cannot tell how close Korean is to it, but what I can tell is that while there are many words that share similar pronunciations with Hakka,there are times they sound like, say, Mandarin or Cantonese, such as the word for hubby. This keeps me wonder if there is a Chinese linguistics who knows all the dialect in China whether the myths would be solved in regard to the similarities between Korean and Chinese languages.
Another aspect of Korean drama that impresses me most is how talented those involved in the industry are: from screenwriter, director, music editor, to the actors and actresses. This high quality of the team has certainly contributed to the overall good quality of their production.
Wedding
Exploring how far we can allow the past relationships to interfere with the new ones, Wedding, an 18 episode Korean drama, is well written and performed. Yet if the little on-line information or its non-existence on any of the top rating Koran drama lists are to go by, then it seems to have been overlooked.
The four protagonists are all honest,highly likable and well educated characters. However in their attempts to treat their loved ones in the kindest way possible, they end up distancing from and even hurting each other. Wedding follows their respective journeys to find truth happiness in fine and mundane details, and it is a rare example where the characters all behave in a measured way, and which does not rely too much on the immature bahaviours of its protagonist in the storyline.
The four protagonists are all honest,highly likable and well educated characters. However in their attempts to treat their loved ones in the kindest way possible, they end up distancing from and even hurting each other. Wedding follows their respective journeys to find truth happiness in fine and mundane details, and it is a rare example where the characters all behave in a measured way, and which does not rely too much on the immature bahaviours of its protagonist in the storyline.
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