kdrama: Hwang Jin Yi
Feb. 16th, 2007 02:20 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
meganbmooreI just finished the korean period drama, Hwang Jin Yi, which is about the life of a gisaeng(Korean version of the geisha, though I THINK the gisaeng's came first. But don't quote me on that) named Hwang Jin Yi, who was famous for her music, poetry, dancing, and rather tragic love life. It was extremely good, almost painfully beautiful, and had more romantic angst that you could shake a stick at. I understand it got nominated for for a lot of awards(including best couple) though I dfon't know how many it won. It also stars Ha Ji Won, who is by far my favorite korean actress. Anyway, because it's so very very pretty(and because a proper writeup would take WAAAY too long) I'm doing a picpost with lotsa commentary.
Incidentally, DO NOT get the stuff on ebay...wait for the fansubs to be finished, or get the YesAsia version when it comes out(I'm getting it...after I get the Damo) What's on ebay has about 10 episodes of almost perfect fansubs, then subs that you can follow, but mostly you have to be glad that it's a very visual series. Some scenes, though, are completely lost and need context clues.
Incidentally, DO NOT get the stuff on ebay...wait for the fansubs to be finished, or get the YesAsia version when it comes out(I'm getting it...after I get the Damo) What's on ebay has about 10 episodes of almost perfect fansubs, then subs that you can follow, but mostly you have to be glad that it's a very visual series. Some scenes, though, are completely lost and need context clues.
Some random pretties of Ha Ji Won as Jin Yi:
With her best friend, Dan Shin(sneaking off to meet Eun Ho)
Eun Ho with his mother, comforting her after his father makes a huge fuss about installing another concubine in the house:
Training to sing and dance:
Local boys spying on training. Legend is that if you study(or was it take the exam?) while sitting on a courtesan's skirt, you'll pass the scholarship exam. They get caught, of course.
Her mother, Hyon-keum, who is a blind musician...she has a very sad love story with JinYi music teacher, who is like a father to Jin Yi. One of the most wrenching moments in the series is after Hyon-keum's death, when Jin Yi realizes she hasn't seen him all day. She says "father" and runs to his room, only to find his belongings gone and the strings of his instrument are cut, and as he walks away from his old life, he remembers Hyon-keum telling him that she hoped that they would be reborn in a world where she would be able to love him.
Jin Yi and her first love, Eun Ho. I liked their story, but, like Baek Moo, Jin Yi's mentor, I'm not convinced they would have lasted. While they did truly love each other, they WERE children. As Baek Moo said, they only really had a chance if Eun Ho was able to completely sever all his ties so that he would have as little chance to returtn to his past life as Jin Yi would, and he choked at the last second. Now, yes, he was a child, and put in an impossible position and could never be blamed or accused of not loving her enough, but that was the point...that they were children and as such, not completely ready to face the world like they thought, Her methods were cruel, yes, but in the end, I agree with her that she did the right thing, despite the tragic results that she never could have predicted. But they were a very cute but very tragic story about young love forbidden by social circumstances(and an evil mother...I understand that she is pretty justified in her hatred of courtesans and concubines given her husband, but she lost all my sympathy when she went to the Song Do house and insulted them, attacked Jin Yi, then through scalding water at Jin Yi but got Baek Moo's back instead when she shielded Jin Yi)
"EEEE!!! We're holding hands! We're holding hands!"
Kim Jung Han, the greatest love of Jin Yi's life. They're drawn to each other for their wit and mutual love of the arts, but she tries to deny her love for him at first because he reminds her of Eun Ho, but she gives in eventually. Cue 9 episodes(after that...5 or so before) of romantic angst of the us-against-the-world-and-duty angst. As I said earlier, I think they were nominated for the "bvest couple" award, and they deserved it.
With her mentor, Baek Moo. Of her relationships, this is, IMO, the one the most important to Jin Yi, as Baek Moo was the person Jin Yi both loved and hated the most. Jin Yi blamed Baek Moo for Eun Ho's death(personally, I blame his mother a lot more) and nerver forgave her, but at the same time, I think the real reason was that Baek Moo forced Jin Yi to realize that, while she couldn't live without her art, she could live without her love, which was a reality that stripped Jin Yi of her innocence. Baek Moo knew and understood Jin Yi better than anyone else, though(expect maybe Lee Shang, though that was more acceptance) and in the end, she sacrifices her life so that Jin Yi won't have to betray her art. In the end, Baek Moo's death was the most wrenching thing to Jin Yi, and even drove her mad, for a time, as she finally realized how much she meant to her, and how much time she'd spent hating Baek Moo. Baek Moo, incidentally, is my 3rd favorite character. The actress reminds me of the actress who played Lady Jami in Emperor of the Sea, but I don't think it's her.
Lee Shang, my favorite character after Jin Yi. He devoted his life to protecting her even though he knew she may never return his love. At one point, when Jin Yi was trying to deny her love for Kim Jung Han, she asked him to be her lover. His response was that he would stand beside her and protect her and love her every day for the rest of her life and if she ever asked him to be her lover because she wanted him, he would, and happily, but that he'd never leave her even if she never returned his love. When she went mad from her mentor, Baek Moo's death, he was the only one who never left her side(to be fair, her mother was blind and physically weak, so she couldn't help an enormous lot if Jin Yi wouldn't let her, and while Kin Jung Han knew she was taking it hard, his duties called him away so he didn't know how hard she was taking it uintil Lee Shang came and got him, but still...) and he was the one who brought Kim Jung Han to Jin Yi at that point, even though he knew that all that would help Jin Yi then was if Kim Jung Han took her away, which would take him out of his life. Later, when Kim Jung Han has been condemned to death, he goes to his father, an official, and begs him to save Kin Jung Han, even though it means returning to a life he despises. Of the men who love Jin Yi, he is, I think, the only one who was truly able to accept her as both a woman and an artist. This is not remotely to undermine Kim Jung Han or Eun Ho's love for her, but being with either of them meant leaving her art. To Lee Shang, the most important thing was that she was happy and safe. If that meant never being able to be first with her, or sending her to another man, then that's would he would do, because she came first. Even though he's a master swordman, he usually fights unarmed(likely so no one will guess his true identity) and is pretty good at taking on multiple opponents at once(man uses his legs quite well)
Bu Yong, Jin Yi's rival. Probably one of the harder character's to play. She's extremely ambitious and is often flat out unlikeable, but her main problem is that she's always too aware that there's someone who could be better than her. That's also her greatest strength, though, as it's also what continually pushes her to make herself be better and better. Her speech at the end(one of the last lines of the series) is one of the best(from what I could make out of it) because she refers to Jin Yi as the greatest friend she's ever had, and for as long as Jin Yi lives, she(Bu Dong) can never be the best, and because of that, she will never stop striving to improve her art to reach an unattainable goal, which will let her pass on even better art.
Couple snippets from a dance before I stop: Jin Yi dances in public for the first time in 4 years, after several months of grueling training. Bu Dong and the other dancers(from what I gathered from the subs) believe she's unworthy because she refused to dance for years, then suddenly got special priovileges, so they abruptly stop the dance to make her fail(if she could'nt pull it off, she had to become a slave) her response is to take up a real sword(DANGEROUS) and dance a supposedly impossible dance:
With her best friend, Dan Shin(sneaking off to meet Eun Ho)
Eun Ho with his mother, comforting her after his father makes a huge fuss about installing another concubine in the house:
Training to sing and dance:
Local boys spying on training. Legend is that if you study(or was it take the exam?) while sitting on a courtesan's skirt, you'll pass the scholarship exam. They get caught, of course.
Her mother, Hyon-keum, who is a blind musician...she has a very sad love story with JinYi music teacher, who is like a father to Jin Yi. One of the most wrenching moments in the series is after Hyon-keum's death, when Jin Yi realizes she hasn't seen him all day. She says "father" and runs to his room, only to find his belongings gone and the strings of his instrument are cut, and as he walks away from his old life, he remembers Hyon-keum telling him that she hoped that they would be reborn in a world where she would be able to love him.
Jin Yi and her first love, Eun Ho. I liked their story, but, like Baek Moo, Jin Yi's mentor, I'm not convinced they would have lasted. While they did truly love each other, they WERE children. As Baek Moo said, they only really had a chance if Eun Ho was able to completely sever all his ties so that he would have as little chance to returtn to his past life as Jin Yi would, and he choked at the last second. Now, yes, he was a child, and put in an impossible position and could never be blamed or accused of not loving her enough, but that was the point...that they were children and as such, not completely ready to face the world like they thought, Her methods were cruel, yes, but in the end, I agree with her that she did the right thing, despite the tragic results that she never could have predicted. But they were a very cute but very tragic story about young love forbidden by social circumstances(and an evil mother...I understand that she is pretty justified in her hatred of courtesans and concubines given her husband, but she lost all my sympathy when she went to the Song Do house and insulted them, attacked Jin Yi, then through scalding water at Jin Yi but got Baek Moo's back instead when she shielded Jin Yi)
"EEEE!!! We're holding hands! We're holding hands!"
Kim Jung Han, the greatest love of Jin Yi's life. They're drawn to each other for their wit and mutual love of the arts, but she tries to deny her love for him at first because he reminds her of Eun Ho, but she gives in eventually. Cue 9 episodes(after that...5 or so before) of romantic angst of the us-against-the-world-and-duty angst. As I said earlier, I think they were nominated for the "bvest couple" award, and they deserved it.
With her mentor, Baek Moo. Of her relationships, this is, IMO, the one the most important to Jin Yi, as Baek Moo was the person Jin Yi both loved and hated the most. Jin Yi blamed Baek Moo for Eun Ho's death(personally, I blame his mother a lot more) and nerver forgave her, but at the same time, I think the real reason was that Baek Moo forced Jin Yi to realize that, while she couldn't live without her art, she could live without her love, which was a reality that stripped Jin Yi of her innocence. Baek Moo knew and understood Jin Yi better than anyone else, though(expect maybe Lee Shang, though that was more acceptance) and in the end, she sacrifices her life so that Jin Yi won't have to betray her art. In the end, Baek Moo's death was the most wrenching thing to Jin Yi, and even drove her mad, for a time, as she finally realized how much she meant to her, and how much time she'd spent hating Baek Moo. Baek Moo, incidentally, is my 3rd favorite character. The actress reminds me of the actress who played Lady Jami in Emperor of the Sea, but I don't think it's her.
Lee Shang, my favorite character after Jin Yi. He devoted his life to protecting her even though he knew she may never return his love. At one point, when Jin Yi was trying to deny her love for Kim Jung Han, she asked him to be her lover. His response was that he would stand beside her and protect her and love her every day for the rest of her life and if she ever asked him to be her lover because she wanted him, he would, and happily, but that he'd never leave her even if she never returned his love. When she went mad from her mentor, Baek Moo's death, he was the only one who never left her side(to be fair, her mother was blind and physically weak, so she couldn't help an enormous lot if Jin Yi wouldn't let her, and while Kin Jung Han knew she was taking it hard, his duties called him away so he didn't know how hard she was taking it uintil Lee Shang came and got him, but still...) and he was the one who brought Kim Jung Han to Jin Yi at that point, even though he knew that all that would help Jin Yi then was if Kim Jung Han took her away, which would take him out of his life. Later, when Kim Jung Han has been condemned to death, he goes to his father, an official, and begs him to save Kin Jung Han, even though it means returning to a life he despises. Of the men who love Jin Yi, he is, I think, the only one who was truly able to accept her as both a woman and an artist. This is not remotely to undermine Kim Jung Han or Eun Ho's love for her, but being with either of them meant leaving her art. To Lee Shang, the most important thing was that she was happy and safe. If that meant never being able to be first with her, or sending her to another man, then that's would he would do, because she came first. Even though he's a master swordman, he usually fights unarmed(likely so no one will guess his true identity) and is pretty good at taking on multiple opponents at once(man uses his legs quite well)
Bu Yong, Jin Yi's rival. Probably one of the harder character's to play. She's extremely ambitious and is often flat out unlikeable, but her main problem is that she's always too aware that there's someone who could be better than her. That's also her greatest strength, though, as it's also what continually pushes her to make herself be better and better. Her speech at the end(one of the last lines of the series) is one of the best(from what I could make out of it) because she refers to Jin Yi as the greatest friend she's ever had, and for as long as Jin Yi lives, she(Bu Dong) can never be the best, and because of that, she will never stop striving to improve her art to reach an unattainable goal, which will let her pass on even better art.
Couple snippets from a dance before I stop: Jin Yi dances in public for the first time in 4 years, after several months of grueling training. Bu Dong and the other dancers(from what I gathered from the subs) believe she's unworthy because she refused to dance for years, then suddenly got special priovileges, so they abruptly stop the dance to make her fail(if she could'nt pull it off, she had to become a slave) her response is to take up a real sword(DANGEROUS) and dance a supposedly impossible dance:
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no subject
Date: 2007-02-16 10:27 pm (UTC)Seriously though, it looks very pretty (gorgeous even) but it doesn't have the whole 'only one love' thing going that I like (it has three, at least, from the pics). I am more into OTP-centric (and only one OTP possible) things. Very gorgeous though.
no subject
Date: 2007-02-16 10:39 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-02-17 12:26 am (UTC)I have a major thing already:
1. Lee Shang is absolutely gorgeous and wears a HOT type of beard. I want him to get the girl
no subject
Date: 2007-02-17 12:33 am (UTC)We don't see it in the series, but Lee Shang is the one who's her lover for the last decade or so of her life. I think they just didn't want to cram that into the last episode or anything.
PS
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