A Story of Self-Destruction was never more Beautiful

Princess Ja Myung is another one of those sageuk's that I just can't let go of.  I wouldn't say that it is one of the best directed or constructed K dramas, but it has that one element, which I thrive on from time to time ANGST.  This drama is packed from beginning to end with extreme tension, heartache, pain, turmoil and suffering.  Sounds horrible right?  Wrong.  It is the story of doom and it tells the tale of that doom exquisitely, making no qualms about it.  It is referred to as the story of self-destruction, and I kid you not, there is not a more adept title than that.

Princess Ja Myung is based on the Korean mythology of the Ja Myung Go (Ja Myung drum).  In the mythology, the daughter of the King of Nak Rang, Princess Lahee falls in love with the son of the King of the neighboring Gorguryeo, Prince Hodong.  For her love of Hodong, Lahee chooses to tear the ja myung drum which protects her country and people from attacks of other territories, as it mystically sounds an alarm to warn against the attacks.  In destroying the drum, she essentially destroys their line of defense against the enemy and NakRang falls to Gorguryeo.  This drama adapts the mythology and suggests that Ja Myung was a real person and not just a drum.  She was in fact the younger sister of Lahee and a Princess of Nak Rang as well.  The love story then shifts from a love story between Hodong and Lahee, to one of a love so strong and so impossible between Hodong and Ja Myung. 

WARNING!!! MULTIPLE SPOILERS AHEAD!! RUN NOW, IF YOU DON'T WANT TO KNOW WHAT HAPPENS IN THE DRAMA!!!

Lahee and Ja Myung are born on the same day, but to different mothers (problems always arise when men have multiple wives, you see why I tend to take issue with polygamy in dramas), anyway, Lahee's mother is the second wife and she of course wants to gain more power than that afforded to a second wife.  Therefore, she seduces the mystic in the village into proclaiming that one of the daughter's will cause the destruction of the nation and the daughter Ja Myung is labelled as the threat.  As a result, the second wife stabs her with a coral pin.  Before the baby dies it is shipped off on a boat into the middle of the sea so that it's fate is left to the spirits, as neither mother or father can bare to kill the child themselves.  

Miraculous (as things tend to go in TV land), the baby manages to survive, despite being stabbed in the heart with a poisoned pin.  She was not sent off to sea alone, but with the son of her mother's trusted lady in waiting, who had been killed by the second wife earlier.  Anyway, this baby is raised in a circus, while the other is raised by the first wife as her own, since husband gives her the other daughter to make up for loss of first.  (Yes, I know its illogical, but deal with it). Through a series of varying circumstances including the second wife killing her own brother, in order to put her husband on the throne, the two girls grow up leading very different lives.  One as a circus performer, the other a princess.

By the time they reach adulthood, the circus performer has learnt martial arts skills and is the adept fighter, but is determined to make her way back to Nak Rang and discover who she is.  On her journey there, she encounters Prince Hodong, who is plagued by his own sets of troubles as we see, that although he is the eldest son of the King, he is met by great opposition in being proclaimed crown prince due to the fact that his mother was from a different country.  He is basically not safe in his own home, as his step mother the current queen attempted to kill him as a young boy.  As such, he too has become a skilled fighter, depending on his marital arts ability to stay alive.

On an assignment to Nak Rang, he has made it his mission to seduce the Princess Lahee as per his father's wishes, since after all his father will one day rule Nak Rang.  With Lahee, it is all sweet words, and the art of seduction, bewitching the naive in love princess who is accustomed to gaining everything she wants.  On the way-side, he stumbles upon Ja Myung known as Puku at that moment, and through some strange circumstances she becomes one of his body guards.  Of course, as per K-drama rules, proximity between members of the opposite gender leads to romantic feelings developing and the viewer sees the love grow between Hodong and Puku.  A situation intensified by Puku's rescuing of Hodong from a near death experience after his step-grandfather and step-mother, sent troops to kill him.  Puku almost dies to save Hodong and as such they become forever intertwined.  Of course, Hodong's mission is still to marry princess Lahee, after all it is his royal duty.  Here is where that issue of marriages for political reasons comes up and makes me think, ok, in this case more than one wife kind of makes sense.

Events unfold and changes take place, and Puku discovers she is Ja Myung, which makes her Lahee's sister.  It also means that Hodong is her enemy.  A lot of sacrifice and heart ache follow, as these three deal with an impossible situation that cannot end happily.  Anger and jealousy emerges, and tensions ride high, resulting in several cases of poisoning and attempted murders.  It is a drama filled with threats of death, danger and uncertainty, yet what I love most of all, is that throughout all of this, the love that blossoms between Ja Myung and Hodong is so intense and so real.  Every step they take closer to each other brings them closer to the tragic end, and every step away from each other leads closer to the tragic end.  There is no way to escape the tragedy that awaits them.  As such the story of self- destruction is all too clear.

I love the way that, the director has cleverly allowed the audience to determine when Hodong is being genuine and when he is being fake.  Everything in his relationship with Lahee is a lie of seduction to gain her trust and in turn get her to betray her people, while with Ja Myung, the safety and security, so lacking in his life he finds with her, and their relationship is one of the most intense and deeply real things to be seen.  It is so easy to dislike Hodong and then feel sorry for him and end up liking him.  His intensity and vileness is based on the cruelty of the life in which he grew up, and that allows the viewer to sympathise with him despite his harsh deeds.  In turn, his love for Ja Myung and his need for someone to truly care for him is understandable, but his conflict between his love and duty is a terrible price to bear.

My issue with the drama was that it had the feeling of being incomplete.  It became clear why this feeling existed, since the drama was originally slated to have 50 episodes and only aired 39.  The broadcast station was not receiving the ratings it wanted and it was decided to end the drama early.  This therefore led to a conclusion that was chopped together and not fully explored.  Now, don't get me wrong, the ending left a strong and lasting impact.  In fact, the intensity and impact of that drama has not been surpassed by any K-drama for me.  I am a fan of the dramatically tragic end in a tortuous love story, because in my book there is no other way for a forbidden love to end, and boy did Princess Ja Myung deliver that.  I would just have preferred that some other arches that were opened in previous episodes to be fulfilled, especially in a drama that started from a point in the future and then reverted to the past to build up to that point.  The present shown, and the present reached were slightly incoherent, but I can forgive the drama this flaw, since it filled me with enough tension and angst to last a lifetime. 

In terms of the acting, I think all of the actors did a phenomenal job and the pairing of Jung Ryu Won (Ja Myung) and Kung Kyung Ho (Hodong) was a great choice.  I thought they were great together, fighting for their tragic love.  I also enjoyed Park Min Young as the spoilt and privileged Lahee.  I disliked her character thoroughly, which meant she was portrayed well.  The choreography as also exceptional, with intense fighting scenes that were beautifully performed and executed, of course the flying around and jumping can have a slightly unrealistic feel, but in this drama it worked with the fantasy element. 

Despite all of its flaws, Princess Ja Myung remains on my top list of Korean dramas and it earns a 4 out of 5 on the Bel Scale.  I recommend it only if you enjoy heart-wrenching and tortured dramas.  It is definitely, not a drama for everyone.

According to Bel:  Approach with caution, but worth it, if you do seek it.