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.