Capital Scandal: A scandal was never this funny

Welcome to life in 1930s Korea, there's a Japanese occupation, resistance fighting, assassination plots, political schemes and ... Snazzy dancing?  That's the world created in the 2007 KBS drama Capital Scandal.  It's amazing that a drama set in the same torturous and antagonist time period as Gaksital has such a completely different vibe to it. 

This drama had lots of beautiful and artist elements to it, but I think what I found the most appealing was the  opening sequence of episode 1.  It's always important how a drama begins, because it needs to pull its audience doesn't it.  In the case of Capital Scandal, there is a simultaneous presentation of a secret underground club in the capital, where a group of dapperly dressed men enter and begin dancing the night away.  While they are having a ball, outside in a wooded area, an assassination by resistance fighters is taking place.  It was a brilliantly written and directed piece of cinematography that immediately pulled me in.  

The other bonus of this drama is of course the actor Kang Ji Hwan.  He is someone that I could watch in dramas over and over and never get bored.  I find that no matter what role he plays, he tends to brings his trademark comedic, suave and deliriously charming character into his drama persona.  It kind of reminds me of how American actor Will Smith does the same.  The persona he established in the Fresh Prince of Bel Air still seems to seep into any role that he plays.  Just as it works for Will Smith, it works for Kang Ji Hwan.  While some may disapprove, I honestly don't see this as a bad thing, in fact I love it.  From the time I saw Kang Ji Hwan in Lie to Me, I had to find everything else he was in.  This led me to Be Strong Geum Soon, Exhibition of Fireworks, Coffee House, My Girlfriend is a Secret Agent (movie) and of course Capital Scandal.  Watch all of them.  I will (eventually) review all of them, since it is Kang Ji Hwan, but even without my reviews I am telling you, if you like Kang Ji Wan go watch them.

Ok, enough about the man Kang Ji Hwan, on to his character of Seon Woo Wan. So, sit back and buckle in, it's going to a be a long review ride.  FYI:  There will be SPOILERS in this review.  So do the usual and AVOID if you don't want to know what happens in the drama.

Woo Wan is the son of a wealthy Korean businessman.  Due to his father's support of the Japanese, they have retained their wealth and position of power in society.  In essence, his father is a collaborator.  Woo Wan doesn't take life seriously, and is an obvious playboy.  We meet him first entering the underground club dressed to the nines out for a night of dancing.  This scene however, is taking place in the future, so we get zapped to the past to see how we got there. 

We find ourselves a week earlier, in Busan, shrouded in a Casablanca like farewell scene at a train station, with Woo Wan professing his love to a woman, but his need to leave her.  Why?  No matter how much he loves her, the fight for Joseon's independence is more important than love.  So he will not return to her side until Joseon is liberated from the Japanese. There is a dramatic farewell, but once on the train we see that his entire tale has been a load of crap.  It's his playboy excuse to love them and leave them.  It's actually quite brilliant and you can't help but smile at the genius of his plan. 

Upon his arrival in Seoul, one of Woo Wan's conquests is lying in wait for him, so in order to escape her, he attaches himself to a passing female.  She is Na Yeo Kyung (Han Ji Min).  Yeo Kyung is on what seems to be her first assignment as a freedom fighter.  She assumes that Woo Wan is her contact and begins to do the secret password exchanges.  She is obviously very green in the area, because even though Woo Wan doesn't answer the codes as he should, she still assumes he is the contact.  She hilariously takes Woo Wan's luggage thinking it is the package she is meant to receive and saunters off, while he is busy tying his laces.  Woo Wan is unable to pursue her because now, his admirer has spotted him and she begins to give chase.  The most hilarious part of the situation is that upon the admirer yelling "Woo Wan oppa" about four or five other females turn around.  Clearly they were all searching for him.  Even more ridiculous is that we then get a wonderful shot of him fleeing down the main street, while being pursued by a bevy of women of almost twenty women. HA HA HA.  I love it.

Woo Wan heads to his office, which is a gossip newspaper, and informs his boss that he has lost the luggage.  They are all clearly worried about it, and sit in fear that the police may turn up to arrest them.  Was there really resistance material in the suitcase?  Meanwhile, Yeo Kyung hides the suitcase in her book shop, but soon the police come to take her away.  They find the suitcase and she claims that teaching materials are inside them.  At the same time, while Woo Wan and his co-workers worry about the contents of the suitcase being discovered by the police, ironically Woo Wan's ever diligent butler, decides to report his luggage stolen and the police require him to come down and file a report.

At the station, there sits Yeo Kyung looking despondent and worried at the thought of the Japanese police discovering the resistance material.  Woo Wan arrives to file a report just as they are about to open the suitcase.  He screams loudly "DON'T OPEN IT!!" But of course it's to no avail.  The suitcase is opened and inside we see...PLAYBOY magazines.  LOL!!!!  As if we needed further proof that Woo Wan was a dog.  HA HA.  Could you get any funnier drama?

Yeo Kyung hangs her head ashamed, but obviously she is safe from prosecution.  The two leave the station and Woo Wan turns on his typical charm to introduce himself to Yeo Kyung, but she is in no mood to deal with this prissy playboy.  He begins to blame her for his lost merchandise and she punches him leaving him flabbergasted.  

A visit to Woo Wan's home shows that his relationship with his father and step-mother is not a rosy one and rather than staying with them he prefers to go elsewhere.  How cool is it that he leaves his parents house and heads straight to a gisaeng house.  The women there are not even surprised to see him, since his residing there seems to be a common occurrence.  Playboy, playboy, playboy.   

Interestingly, the gisaeng house reveals a great deal about Woo Wan.  It turns out that his best friend is the most famous gisaeng in the capital- Cha Song Joo (Han Go Eun).  Somehow I think it fitting that the most desired female in the city and the most desired male in the capital are best friends on a strictly platonic.  It's a beautiful example of birds of a feather flock together, but more importantly it gives both of them a humanising factor.  They both need someone who can understand their perspective and that is what they are for each other.  And how much do I love that she teases him about being punched by a woman.  HEHE.

Meanwhile, Yeo Kyung receives a visit from one of her students crying bitterly.  We then find her at the gisaeng house looking for Song Joo.  Apparently, Song Joo has "stolen" the weeping girl's boyfriend.  Yeo Kyung goes to confront Song Joo, who is poised and relaxed and basically teaches Yeo Kyung a thing or two about male and female relationships, and that her friend was part of a "kissing game" not a real relationship.

Woo Wan overhears the conversation and finds out about the "kissing game" from one of the other gisaengs.  He publishes the article about the latest scandal which leads Yeo Kyung to get on his case.  She comes to confront him at his office, however, he and his friends are out celebrating the success of their latest article and dancing the night away, leading us back to the events that began the drama. 

After dancing their hearts out, Woo Wan and his co-workers are busy discussing Woo Wan and his skills of prowess, with him proclaiming that he can seduce any woman.  Men and their bragging.  What is it that they say about pride again?  Clearly, he needs to revisit that little adage and tone his pride down a bit.  They tell him that he can't succeed with "Jo Ma Ja".  It's the nickname they have given Yeo Kyung due to the fact that she dresses in the traditional black and white hanbok to symbolise that she believes in traditionalism, rather than adopting the western and more modern way of dressing.  Woo Wan of course, being the silly playboy that he is, has no idea to whom they are referring and becomes more irritated at their suggestion that he cannot seduce her.  So what does a drunk playboy do?  He makes a bet of course.  He will seduce the woman they name and if he doesn't succeed, he will not only forfeit his car, but become a national freedom fighter.  LOL!!! Really drama?  Is that how we are going to make him a freedom fighter.  LOL!!

From this point on, the drama takes us on a hilarious journey of a very serious time period.  We watch as Woo Wan pulls out all his moves trying to impress the insurmountable challenge that is Yeo Kyung.   As Yeo Kyung works her way deeper into the secret world of resistance fighting, Woo Wan also finds himself heading into that world.  Slowly becoming a freedom fighter himself along the way.  I also find it immensely telling that Song Joo joins in the bet in favour of Woo Wan seducing Yeo Kyung, yet her particular bet has a twist.  She believes that even though he'll win it, he will become a freedom fighter.  It says a lot about how close their friendship is, allowing to see through all his playboy facade, recognising the potential beneath.

Capital Scandal also has a great deal of intrigue and mystery linked to the plot.  The appearance of the suave and mysterious head of Japanese police Lee Seo Hyun (Ryu Jin)- a Korean working for the Japanese- helps to add those elements to the drama.  He and Woo Wan have a complicated past, bus so does he and Song Joo.  Add Yeo Kyung to the recent interactions and we have a square of mixed emotions resonating from episode to episode.  

I think one of the reasons that I enjoy Capital Scandal is because it finds the humour in a very tense situation.  Yeo Kyung is so intent on being a part of the resistance, but is so very bad at it, primarily due to the innocent life she has led.  While Woo Wan is utterly opposed to being part of the movement, but he is a naturally skilled in undercover activities and subverting the enemy, since he has done it for years in his interactions with women.  

Looking at this drama again, after watching the torture fest that was Gaksital, I still find it unbelievable that both dramas are depicting the same time period in Korean history.  This is where the beauty of genres lie.  While Gaksital is a melodrama through and through, Capital Scandal is most definitely a romantic comedy.  Therefore, there is no need to compare the two dramas as they are based in completely different hues and I can love each of them for different reasons.

Capital Scandal is a drama that kept me laughing episode after episode.  It was fun, exciting and enjoyable.  More importantly I loved the fashion.  Kang Ji Hwan in 1930s suits was a dream come true.  Of course, since it deals with an independence movement there are some sad moments, but as is the case in all K-dramas, there has to be some kind of melo placed in the script.  As I've said before, melo is a K-drama stable.  For keeping me amused episode after episode, and my insane love of Kang Ji Hwan, Capital Scandal gets 4.5 stars on the Bel Scale.  

According to Bel: It's the scandal that rocked the capital.

Pasta: Romance finds its way into the kitchen

I seem to be in a Rom-Com mood today, so as I always says let's go with the flow. The next post looks at another one of those dramas that give you the adolescent giggles, and romantic sighs, MBC's 2010 drama- Pasta.  Alright, let's get cooking.  "Yea, Chef."

Let's see, where should I begin?   As its name suggest, Pasta is set in the world of Italian cuisine.  We meet Seo Yoo Kyung (Gong Hyo Jin from The Greatest Love) a kitchen assistant at La Sfera Italian restaurant.  She has been a kitchen assistant for the last three years, and has now finally earned her place as a pasta assistant.   She is clearly a dedicated worker, friendly and well-liked by her work colleagues.  Their kitchen seems to have a great dynamic. 

However, all is not rosy at La Sfera.  The current head chef has reached his limit and resigns, leading to the arrival of Choi Hyun Wook (Lee Sung Gyun).  He's a Korean chef who trained and perfected his skill in Italy.  Now he possesses great skill and knowledge of Italian cuisine.  However, for Hyun Wook, there is only one simple rule that must be abided in his kitchen, "No WOMEN allowed!"  HA.  What are you, five?  This is kind of a problem, when four of his chefs are currently female.  But that does not deter him.

He systematically proceeds to eradicate all of the female employees in the kitchen, like they are some kind of vile bug to immediately remove.  His reasons for firing them are all valid ones, as each of the females prove that they are not fit to be in the kitchen in one way are another.  In fact, one can't help but think, well they deserved to get fired.  Despite agreeing that the females were wrong, Hyun Wook's attitude about firing them is done is such a chauvinistic manner that you forget the women's faults and just want to get mad at him.  It is a well played out scene, demonstrating that the acting and directing of this drama is definitely well done.   (Ok, I promise I won't do any other food metaphors.)

Everyone thinks Hyun Wook is nuts for taking such a drastic move, and its obvious that the restaurant's business will suffer since he fired a total of four chefs in one night.  They are eager for him to admit his mistake, when the next day's lunch time rush turns up and they are running behind on the orders.  However, Hyun Wook is not a man without a plan.  

Enter the Italian team.  They are three chefs who trained in Italy and are currently Hyun Wook's proteges. I mention the Italian team for one reason and one reason only- they were all HOTTT!!!!  And here you can check them out for yourself. 

 Alright, now moving back on to the review.  Hehe.

Although Yoo Kyung is also fired, she takes a different approach to her female counterparts and turns up to work as if nothing has happened. Since she has never been able to establish herself as a chef, she feels deprived of the opportunity, and robbed of her chance to hold a frying pan.  She turns up to work the next day, ready to grovel for her old job and finds herself suffering under the abuse of chef.  Yet, tenacity proves to be her strong point, as she repeatedly returns to the restaurant day after day only to undergo a series torturous task.  Her mission is to change the chef's mind and she is determined to do it.  Hyun Wook is definitely irritated by her actions, yet completely amazed and intrigued.  She seems a glutton for punishment and he doesn't seem to know what to do with her. 

His complex feelings towards Yoo Kyung exist on another level besides the business one because his intial meeting of Yoo Kyung in the street was clearly a flirtatious one, and there is obviously a certain degree of attraction between them.  Even after firing her, he still wanted to date Yoo Kyung (clearly all his mental faculties do not function properly, but then he wouldn't be a K-drama leading man if they did).  Yoo Kyung of course turned him down, but now she is trying to invade his sacred hallow- the kitchen.  For Hyun Wook, Yoo Kying is an unknown entity that does not compute and it is a most amusing scenario to watch play out.

Of course, Hyun Wook's aversion to women in his kitchen is based on his previous detrimental romantic experience.  And since it wouldn't be a K-drama if that haunted past didn't come back into play, we meet Oh Sae Young (Lee Ha Nui).  She was once Hyun Wook's colleague, competitor and lover.  It is clear something happened between the two in the past, as the tension, hatred, anger and pain that is expressed on Hyun Wook's face any time he crosses her path is apparent. To be honest, watching the two interact with each other didn't really appeal to me, but we needed some background fonder and we got it.

As we all know, K-dramaland is never happy with just one love triangle, it likes to create love squares, pentagons, hexagons, basically all sorts of geometrical shapes.  Pasta has its own little love square, as Kim San (Alex) is the man harbouring feelings for Yoo Kyung.  Just as was the case with Sae Yong's character, San wasn't really worth my time.  Both of the love rivals in this drama seemed to simply be background characters and I never considered them a real threat, which resulted in my not really caring whenever they were on screen.

On a whole, there is nothing truly unique about Pasta as a drama.  There is love, misunderstanding, struggles to communicate and relationship strife.  Pasta simply follows the journey of Yoo Kyung from kitchen assistant to a pasta chef, and the way in which she thaws Chef Hyun Wook's heart in the process.

The most appealing aspect of Pasta therefore lies once again in the dynamic between the two leads.  Goo Hyun Jin is just one of those actresses that does Rom-com well.  She embodies the character of Yoo Kyung so well, that the chef's nickname of "goldfish" to describe Yoo Kyung two second memory seems so apt and suitable, that calling her anything but goldfish sometimes feels wrong.  She comes across as hilarious and funny and you just can't help but smile at her two second memory, which facilitates chef's teasing and torturing of her.  As for the chef's character?  Well, Lee Sung Gyun and his gruff, harsh and chauvinistic interpretation of the character kept the chef just irritating enough for me dislike him from time to time, but not so much that I wanted to throw something at the computer.  He struck the perfect balance of a male lead that was annoying enough for me to like him and dislike him interchangeably.  It always amazes me how K-dramas take male personalities that I could not tolerate in reality and make them bearable on screen.  It is definitely to the benefit of the script writer, director and actors that they are able to achieve this.

As far as rom-coms go, Pasta definitely meets its target and its a thrill to watch from beginning to end.  Watching the interactions between Chef and goldfish are two things that you don't want to miss, therefore, Pasta rakes in four stars on the Bel Scale.

According to Bel: It's boiling.

Personal Taste: What's my taste? It's Personal.

Personal Taste is one of those K-dramas that no matter how many times I watch it, I still laugh and giggle hysterically even though I know exactly what's going to happen next.  This drama came out in 2010, and I am not ashamed to admit that I have probably watched it about ten times since then.  HEHE.  Kind of obsessive I know, but it just tickles me pink.  I honestly believe that my love of this drama has to do with phenomenal acting on the part of Son Yi Jin and Lee Min Ho, they are the dynamic duo of this drama, and have such great chemistry.

The drama's title Personal Taste is actual a very good useful play on words.  The Korean the title is Gaeinui Chwihuang which can also be interpreted as "Gae In's Taste".   Gae In is the name of our lead character in the drama, so that takes things to an even more interesting level, when we realise this drama is all about her taste.  I always enjoy a good play on words, so that adds to the amusement factor.

Our drama starts off by introducing us to our leading lady Park Gae In (Son Yi Jin).  She is obviously a disorganised and careless person as we meet her hurriedly dressing and rushing to make an appointment.  It is also clear that she is not very ladylike, as she is unable to carry herself with the necessary grace and elegance required for wearing those little black dresses that TV land is so fond off.  As she is unfamiliar with the high heel and black dress combo, she trips and breaks the heels.  She then changes into a poorly coordinated and badly mismatched outfit and heads runs out to make it to her appointment.

Then we meet Jeon Jin Ho (Lee Min Ho), he's the opposite of Gae In.  His room is need, tidy with everything in place.  He is the epitome of perfection, or so it seems.  Leave it to dramaland to create the neat, perfectionist male.  Anyway, he awakens (side note, I love the directors use of alarm clocks to show the extreme opposites of the two leads lifestyles) to find a half dressed woman in his bed, giving us the initial impression that he is a player.  Thankfully that is cleared up immediately, as we find out that the girl in his bed snuck in after he was asleep and is obviously a close family friend who is interested in him, but he has never given her the time of day. I always pity these characters in K-dramas, they never know that they have been friend zoned since childhood, and no matter how hard they try, they are not getting out of that zone.  

Jin Ho heads out for his own appointment, every thing in place and ready to go, yet, due to unforseen circumstances, namely someone blocking him in, in the parking lot,  he too is forced to rush to his meeting today, and ends up on the same bus as Gae In.  Ah yes, fated meetings, where would dramaland be without them? 

Anyway, the two have an unfortunate, but hilarious exchange on the bus and both end up being irritated with each other.  Their dislike for each other further grows, when they meet at the same business expo and he insults Gae In's table design, not knowing who it belongs to or that she over heard him.  Then, Jin Ho realises that she is connected to Han Chang Ryul (Kim Ji Suk), Jin Ho's biggest rival, who only beats Jin Ho due to his underhanded deals.  There is great tension between the two men, and its clear that it isn't just based on business.  So the dislike between the two leads deepens.

Later that night, Gae In goes out drinking with her colleague Lee Won Ho (cameo by Bong Tae Kyu) and gets blind drunk.  Won Ho takes her to cheap motel where she can sleep it off.  Meanwhile, Jin Ho's subordinate Kim Tae Hoon (Im Seul Ong) has also gotten blind drunk and Jin Ho takes him to the same hotel.  Jin Ho leaves him there, but before departing, he leaves Tae Hoon a message on the mirror, (just as a lover who sneaks out would) telling Tae Hoon that he's fired.

On the Gae In side of the hotel exchange, after, Won Ho tries to pull a sleazy move, Gae In runs out of the room and right into Jin Ho.  They recongise each other and Jin Ho suggests that she is a lose woman, citing that "Actions speak louder than words" when Gae In tries to deny it.  This is then hilariously thrown in his face when Tae Hoon comes out of the other hotel room and grabs Jin Ho while begging and pleading with him not to abandon and leave him like this.  HA HA HA.  He is of course, referring to being fired but, since he never says it, it looks like a lover pleading not to be abandoned.  Of course, Gae In thinks such is the case and hilariously accuses Jin Ho of being a gay playboy and re-quotes his assertion of actions speaking louder than words. HEHE.  

Though seemingly small these exchanges help to build up the premise of the misunderstanding that will run throughout the drama- the issue of Jin Ho's sexuality.  Is he straight or is he gay? 

As fate in dramaland would have it, Gae In must rent out a room in her house, in order to pay off a loan that Won Ho has borrowed after naming her as the guarantor. Her very famous and unique house "San Go Jae"- an architectural marvel- has been put up as the collateral and so as not to lose the home, and have her father kill her, she decides that she will take in a boarder to help with the expenses.  Meanwhile Jin Ho must find a way to get inside "San Go Jae" and take photos of the grounds, since it is the perfect example of the architectural construct required in order to win the bid for his next architectural project.  It's a project he has to win in order to save his company.  So what happens?  Gae In decides to let Jin Ho become a new house mate, after all he is gay, so he poses no danger to a straight woman.  HA. HA. HA. 

The entire misconception that Jin Ho is gay is the premise for the hilarity in the drama.   Gae In, who is usually awkward around men is able to act her usual lazy, messy and unkempt self around Jin Ho, since he will never have interest in her as a woman, so she feels more relaxed around him.  Of course because she is so relaxed around him, she starts to share her deepest and darkest secrets with him, and even develops feelings for him.  Similarly, as Jin Ho works to help Gae In become more ladylike through project "Make Gae In a woman" he slowly develops feelings for this endearingly childish woman.

As I highlighted earlier, what really makes this drama sizzles is the dynamic and chemistry between Son Yi Jin and Lee Min Ho.  This is why I always have to admire casting choices, because with any other actors in these roles, I can't imagine this drama functioning as well as it did.  They have impeccable timing and seem to feed off of each other comically.  Furthermore, watching a straight man pretend to be gay, and in turn using his fake gayness to teach a woman to become more ladylike is thoroughly amusing, not to mention completely ironic.  I don't know if the comedic factor comes from the fact that the Jin Ho character is so good at teaching Gae In to be more feminine or how bad at being feminine Gae In actually is.  It is that kind of hilarious undertone that keeps you guessing.

Aside from the romantic story and the hilarious is he gay, is he straight story line, I especially enjoyed the bonds of friendship in this drama.  Even before the romantic feelings develop between the leads, I enjoy how their friendship grows and then evolves into love.  The level of trust and assistance that they share between them is wonderful to watch, and makes all women go, "Aah, I wish I had a guy friend like that."  It's to Personal Taste's benefit that it can continually evoke that kind of emotion and that's exactly why Personal Taste gets a whopping 4.5 on the Bel Scale.

According to Bel: It`s all a matter of taste.

Dae Mul: Women make great leaders too

The road to becoming a president is never an easy one, but it's oh, so much harder when your a woman.  SBS's 2010 drama Dae Mul is an intensely filled 24 episodic journey through the life of Seo Hye Rim (Go Kyun Jung-the phenomenal actress who played Lady Mishil in Queen Seon Duk) and her rise from an ordinary widowed mother to becoming the first female president of South Korea.  The road ahead is not an easy one, but with the help and support of the right team, it all works out well.

The Elegance of a president

Dae Mul, which literally translates to "big things", reminds me a lot of the drama City Hall, which I mentioned in an earlier post.  The similarities come from the exploration of the political world through a female protagonist.  Once again the female lead is trying to do the best for her constituents in a political arena dominated by men.  Both have comedic undertones, but delve deeply into the seriously dirty and nasty world of politics.  The main difference between Dae Mul and City Hall is perhaps, the way in which the stories unfold.  Dae Mul is definitely the more serious drama, while City Hall ventured more in the world of satircal comedy.

In Dae Mul, our tale begins with Hye Rim already installed as president of Korea.  So it's one of those dramas where we start in the future and then head back to the past to see what events led to this future.  As I've mentioned before, I love when dramas do that.  President Seo is handling a major crisis, where a Korean submarine has sunk in Chinese waters.  It's a situation that could be the start of a major economic and political crisis, leaving all those around her in a massive state of emergency.  

Political schemers

President Seo heads to China for friendly discussions about rescuing the soldiers on the sunken submarine, her priority is definitely saving these citizens rather than following the typical political train of thought of plausible deniability.  She even offers herself as a hostage in exchange for the rescue of those trapped in the submarine.  Due to her actions in admitting that Korean was spying on China, she is facing criticism by her compeers led by Kang Tae San (Cha Im Pyo), and as a result, they are calling for her impeachment.  We then travel to an unspecified time in the past.

The Ha Do Ya appeal

Here we meet, Ha Do Ya (Kwon Sang Woo) - a playboy and apparent gigolo.  We see him dancing his way into the hearts of older women, seducing them with sweet words and sexy dance moves.  Ironically, it turns out that he is still a high school student.  A bit of a digression here, but trying to make me believe that Kwon Sang Woo is a high school student is a bit farfetched.  I suppose it works that he looks older than he is so that he can seduce these women, but still I mean come on- HIGH SCHOOLER?  I get that they wanted to keep the same actors, so that it would be easier for us to bond with them, but still there is no way I would ever think that he is that young.  Anyway, back to the review.  

His father Ha Bong Do (Im Hyun Shik) barges in and drags his son out while lamenting and his wayward son and listings all of his son's shortcomings.  The father is now determined to solve all of these failings through the only means he knows- CASTRATION.  LOL.  How hilarious is it, that castrating his son is the solution to stop his gigolo ways. HA HA.  Do Ya argues that its insane to take such extreme measures since that would mean the end of the Ha family line, but his father counters that his family bloodline does not need to continue through such an unworthy source.  LOL.  Who would've thought a father would actually threaten his son with castration.  Hilarious.

Do Ya manages to escape his father and finds himself on the same bus as Hye Rim.  She is obviously older than him, and we see her practicing a pronunciation script that is kind of like a tongue twister.  She is very focused on it, but is distracted when another passenger  begins to grope her.  Do Ya witnesses it and is about to come to her defense, but Hye Rim is a tough cookie and confronts the man herself, then orders the bus driver to take them all to the police station where she reports him.  

At the police station, we find out that Hye Rim has an exam in Seoul to become a televsion annoucer (I guess that explains the tongue twister).  After the incident is reported she rushes to the bus station, but the bus to Seoul has already departed.  Thankfully Do Ya pulls up on his motocycle and offers her a ride to the other bus station.  From there interaction, you can tell that they know each other in passing but on not very close.  It's that of a neighbourhood acquaintance more than anything else.  They head to the station being while being chased by the guy who groped Hye Rim on the bus and his gang of hoodlums, but manage to make it safely there without them getting them.  

Do Ya drops off Hye Rim, who advises him to do well in life.  We can see its just her being a good noona trying to point a wayward younger guy in the right direction, but Do Ya is clearly smitten.  When they separate, Do Ya has a further encounter with bus pervert Kim Chul Gyu (Shin Seung Hwan), who turns out to be a congressman's son.  Do Ya beats up Chul Gyu and faces imprisonment, but his father pleads to the congressman in a most degrading manner, including licking the congressman's shoes.  It is a moment of awakening for Do Ya, who gets his first experience of the nasty world of politics and he vows to becomes a prosecutor himself and right the wrongs of injustice in the world.  

Do Ya begins to study diligently so that he can become the ideal man for Hye Rim.  Meanwhile, for Hye Rim's, we see her do well at the audition only to flunk out of reporting due to her nerves and fear of heights.  She suffers setback after setback and ends up working in a children's broadcasting segment.  While there, she meets Park Min Goo (Kim Tae Won) a photographer at the station and the two marry. 

Some time passes and Do Ya's successfull studying has allowed him to pass his exams successfully and he is ready to enter law school.  He rushes to Seoul to find his noona, anxious to share the news with her and declare his love.  It is only then, that he meets her and realises that she has already married someone else.  His world is shattered and we see him walk away.

More years pass and we meet Do Ya as the diligent and hardworking prosecutor, while Hye Rim is a mother and wife still working diligently on children's programming.  Her husband, as a station photographer, is sent to cover the war in the Middle East.  Unfortunately, he is taken hostage and eventually killed. Do Ya, who has still been following up news of Hye Rim, learns of this and enters the role that he will continue to hold throughout the drama, that of supporter, protector and a guide to Hye Rim.  

Because of her feelings of disappointment with the government and the way they handled her husband's hostage situation, Hye Rim finds herself at the centre of a protest.  She is just retaliating for herself, but it gains national acclaim bringing her to the attention of those in the political circles and the public eye.   Kang Tae San,  a man who dreams of one day sitting in the Blue House, sees Hye Rim as just the kind of person his political party needs to gain some points, so he approaches her to run for office.  He pushes her into the political game, that she never intended to enter, and she becomes a force to be reckoned with.  It is the typical drama irony that the one who brings her into the political world is the one who will become her greatest opponent, as we have seen that he is person leading the call for her impeachment. 

Being a prosecutor is hard work, but that doesn't mean you can't look fine doing it.

The rest of the drama follows Hye Rim as she moves from constituency representative, to Governor, to president.  It is a remarkable and intense journey, where she is constantly faced with the dilemma of sticking to her values or becoming as dirty as the other political players around her.  How far can one go in politics if one isn't willing to get some dirt on one's hands?  It is the underlying question of Dae Mul and beautifully interrogated episode, after episode.

Of course, there is also the beautiful and intriguing romantic vein as we watch Do Ya's unconditional love for her and the sacrifices that he makes to protect her.  I have to admit, that while older women, younger men story lines are not usually my cup of tea, this one was well implemented and I loved watching it. 

I found Dae Mul to be a well thought out story line, which was intriguing and appealing.  It was great to see a female fighting her way in a male dominated world and holding her own.  It was a definite twist to the age old adage that behind every great man is a great woman.  In this case, behind this great woman was a great man.  Dae Mul is by no means a perfect drama, there are enough typical drama cliches to make you go, ah I could see that coming, and the likeable characters are as likeable as they should be, while the irritating ones, truly irritate you.  It is a just a tale that you can sit back and enjoy when the feeling hits you.  So on the Bel Scale Dae Mul gets 3.5 stars.

According to Bel: Big things from great people.

The Princess' Man: The New Romeo & Juliet?

Time to let the tension and angst reign again, as we head into a drama which promotional tag line likens it to Shakespeare’s “The Tragedy of Romeo & Juliet”.  Sigh.  Well, we all know how this drama is gonna turn out, right?   This brings us to KBS’s 2011 drama- The Princess’ Man.

So as the tale of Romeo and Juliet goes there are two households both alike in dignity, but rather than fair Verona, we lay our scene in Joseon era Korea.  So, welcome to sageuk land again my friends.  This drama was unique for me, because even though the supporting characters were based on real historical figures, the main characters are completely fictional.  It is an imagined love story between fictional characters, placed in a real historical setting.   Cool, don’t you think? I have to admit I enjoy how they arranged that.  While it’s true that all of the sageuks based on real historical figures are fictional, they are usually based on real events with the characters.  Creating an entire plot around fictional characters in real historical events really appealed to me.

Once again, this is a longer review.  I think I am starting to get all caught up in reviewing these things, so forgive the rambling.  Here we go.  Oh and as always:

THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS, AVOID IF YOU DON’T WANT TO BE, WELL SPOLIED.  

 

Our opening scene starts with our protagonist Kim Seung Yoo (Park Shi Hoo) galloping hurriedly to his father’s residence in pursuit of some attackers.  A fight ensues which ends with his father dead, and Seung Yoo on the verge of death, then through some exquisitely beautiful cinematography, we are zapped back a year in the past to our female lead Lee Se Ryung (Moon Chae Won).  It is before the two leads have even met.  

Personally, I enjoy dramas that give you a taste of the impending doom in the future and then zapping you back to before it has occurred so that you can see how you got there.  It reminds me of a novel, and I love the feeling of following a trail of clues to reach a conclusion that you already know.  Pretty much like a mystery.

Se Ryung is the eldest child of Prince Suyang (Kim Young Chul).  For those of you who don’t know any Korean history, Suyang later becomes King Sejo. He is a tricky character in Korean history, because he is seen as being a good king, but known as a bad prince.  He was younger brother to King Munjong (played by Jung Dong Hwan), but upon his brother’s death he set a series of horrific events in place in order to claim the throne for himself and disinherit his nephew King Danjong (played by No Tae Yub), who was only twelve years old at the time.  These are the series of events that will be taking place throughout this drama, since as I’ve mentioned it’s based on real historical events.   Anyway, back to this current drama.

Se Ryung is a loving and obedient daughter; for the most part; however, she enjoys doing unladylike things, such as horse riding, which isn’t going very well, earning her mother’s disapproval and her father’s smiles at her braveness.  She is the centre of her father’s world and in turn she adores him.  

Meanwhile, awakening in a Giaseng house we find, Seung Yoo.  He has just graduated the national academy and is entering the palace as a royal scholar.  He has an air of confidence and grace that seems to mark him as a typical Joseon era playboy, but as we will later see from his interactions with his friends, he is actually just a good friend who accompanies them on their crazy jaunts.  

Seung Yoo is assigned to be Princess’ Kyung Hye’s (Hong Soo Hyun) tutor, since none of the other senior tutors want to teach her.  The Princess is known for being troublesome and torturing her tutors.  Seung Yoo is confident that he can handle a mere princess and heads off ready to excel at his job.  Unknown to him, Se Ryung and Kyung Hye have decided to switch places for the day.  Se Ryung has overheard that Seung Yoo might possibly become her husband and wants to meet him.  What she fails to note is that her supposed impending marriage is a ploy on the part of her father, to turn the king against Seung Yoo’s father, Kim Jon Seo (Lee Son Jae).  Therefore, the likelihood of a marriage actually occurring between the two is highly improbably. 

Anyway, the princess has agreed to the switch places because she wants to see the real world outside of the palace walls.  Therefore, when Seung Yoo begins his teaching, the princess before him, is none other than Se Ryung.  Luckily, since in this time period no man is allowed to look upon the princess’ face, there is a screen dividing the room and Seung Yoo is unable to see her face.  Thankfully, due to K-drama misunderstandings, Seung Yoo thinks that the princess is playing one of her meddlesome tricks when he sees Se Ryung rubbing her ankle.  (We can see that her ankle is bruised from her fall from the horse, but to him it looks like she is trying to seduce him).  In order to teach her that he is not afraid of her, Seung Yoo lifts the screen and stares directly at Se Ryung.  Of course, she is initially taking aback but then she decides to confront him and the two have a most delightful exchange. 

Sometime later, after Se Ryung has returned to her life outside of the palace, she once again attempts to ride a horse; however, she is unable to control it.  She therefore, finds herself speeding towards a cliff without any ability to stop, but since it is K-dramaland, thankfully her knight in shining silk, has seen her precarious position and rescues her in the nick of time.  She has to continue to pretend to be the princess, since it would be a crime for a member of the royal family to impersonate a princess.  Seung Yoo continues to be impressed with her and the two grow closer.

While these two become closer, their fathers continue their feud.  King Munjong has decided it is time for his daughter to marry, and declares that Seung Yoo is the best candidate, since he is after all the son of his most loyal supporter.  Seung Yoo is, of course, thrilled at this idea because he thinks the princess is Se Ryung.  To combat Seung Yoo’s impeding rise to Prince consort, Prince Suyang attempts to have Seung Yoo killed, but ironically his daughter saves him (although he doesn’t know it’s his daughter).  A rumour spreads that Seung Yoo is courting the princess outside of official channels, which is inappropriate behaviour.  He cannot deny the charge because he thinks he is dating the princess.  He is obviously surprised when he meets the real princess.  

Kyung Hye lies that Se Ryung was simply a palacemaid and that Seung Yoo no longer be concerned with her.  Then to cover up the entire issue of switching places, she pretends that she was the one who met Seung Yoo.  This results in him being eliminated from the Prince Consort selection.  Now in the back of my mind I am going, well if they were seeing each other before might as well let them marry, but of course, Joseon era means that manners, behaviour and propriety are more important than logic.  With Seung Yoo out of the running, it has greater implications for the royal family, as the princess, crown prince and king have lost the strong support of the Kim family.   Prince Suyang has therefore gained the upper hand.  Alas, Prince Suyang is in for the shock of his life, when he learns that it is his daughter who has been secretly meeting with Seung Yoo.  He forbids Se Ryung from meeting Seung Yoo and sets the wheels in motion to assert his power. 

 

A series of important events then happen in quick succession.  King Munjong dies, and his young son Danjong ascends the throne.  He is temporarily protected by Kim Jong Seo, but then Prince Suyang accuses him the latter of treason, which leads to him being banished from parliament.  A coup d’etat is then organised and King Jong Seo’s faction is blamed, which leads us to the situation where our drama began with a desperate Seung Yoo riding to his father’s house.  

Seung Yoo doesn’t die in the fight, but instead recovers and goes after Prince Suyang.  To his shock and dismay, he finds out that Se Ryung is Suyang’s daughter and ends up carted off to prison and sentenced to die.  However, Prince Suyang, at his daughter’s behest promises to banish Seung Yoo to a deserted island for criminals, rather than kill him.  Of course, he has other plans in place to kill Seung Yoo in transit.    Se Ryung reveals herself officially to Seung Yoo as Prince Suyang’s daughter and begs him to live and return to kill her.  She will wait for him to return to take her life.  Well, that makes no sense.  It’s a beautiful sentiment, but that doesn’t stop it from being non-sensical.  

Anyway, if the story is following that defeatalist vein Seung Yoo will leave, almost die, then come back for revenge, and he and Se Ryung will kill each other, right?  Not quite.  There are a series of complex and deep situations that go on from that point onward, including Se Ryung’s change from being daddy’s little girl to a more independent woman.  She loves her father, but she no longer respects him.  She knows what is right and what is wrong, and her father’s quest to gain the throne is wrong.  It is wonderful to watch the dynamic between the two change as her father sees the things he does as not only benefiting him, but his family as well.  However, in Se Ryung’s eyes, his thirst for power is atrocious.  Having to deal with the one person he loves so much, look at him with such hate is a nice twist to the story.

The other supporting characters have great story arcs as well.  Seung Yoo’s friend Jun Jong (Lee Min Woo), who became Prince Consort since Suyang’s camp believed he was no threat, due to lack of family support or finances, proved to be of great support to Princess Kyung Hye.  It was nice to watch their romance develop and grow. 

I have to admit that I was disappointed with the way they developed the other friend in the trio Shin Myung (Song Jong Ho).  His move to the dark side, for familial obligations was understandable and I could accept that.  However, when he became obsessed with Se Ryung and was then turning against Seung Yoo because she was his and not Seung Yoo’s made absolutely zero sense to me.  He knew from the very beginning that her feelings were with Seung Yoo, and vice versa.  It seemed illogical for him to keep thinking that by destroying Seung Yoo he would gain Se Ryung’s love.  I suppose logic doesn’t always factor into K-drama plots.  

Perhaps my favourite supporting character in this drama was Seung Yoo’s young niece Kim Ah Kang (Kim Yoo Bin).  She did a great job for one so young.  Her expressions and reactions were absolutely adorable, and her character helped us to see that Seung Yoo remained human even when he went to that dark place in the latter half of the drama.

As for the two leads, Park Shi Yoo was phenomenal.  His role required drastic changes in personality and he did both sides of the spectrum very well.  He started out as the lighthearted, carefree nobleman, and then found himself in the dark depths of despair driven solely by one purpose- REVENGE.  It was a dynamic performance from him.  Moon Chae Won wasn’t bad either.  She had different layers as well, but primarily her holding steadfast  to her principles and not caving to her father’s will, made her a different kind of Joseon heroine, which I liked a lot.

So what does The Princess’ Man get on the Bel Scale- I give it four stars.  I enjoyed watching it, not only a great story but beautifully shot as well, with an excellent OST.  I've also watched is again since my initial viewing, so there must be something that keeps pulling me back in.

According to Bel: Star-Crossed lovers are always the most memorable.