Giant: An Epic Tale of Family

Giant- def. a person or thing usually of great size, power or, importance; a major figure; a legend...

The Happy Lee Family

This is exactly what the SBS 2010 drama Giant depicts- a legend.  It is what I call an epic tale of family bonds, ambition and success.  It explores the concept of not only being true to beliefs, in spite of numerous obstacles, but more importantly sticking to them.  It emphaises that the easy way out is never the right option.  It is a story of David and Goliath, but not only does David defeat Goliath, he becomes a Goliath himself.  It is the dream of a seemingly insignificant person, and his rise to power.  And that is why I love it.

One of my favourite things about Giant, besides its phenomenal story line, is the way that the story is told.  The opening sequence, of the 60 episode juggernaut begins with the young child actors walking in a undeveloped Kangnam are of Seoul, looking lost desolate and alone.  Though we only spend a few seconds with them, it is an extremely impactful image.  Further adding to the sequence is the transition from undeveloped Kangnam to 21st Century Kangnam.  It literally gives me chills (the good kind not the bad kind).

Before watching this drama, I knew nothing about how Kangnam, one of the most influential districts of Seoul, came to be.  Yet, that transition from a seemingly barren land to a bustling city centre really moved me.  There was just something about the epicness of that transition that immediately drew me into the tale.  Perhaps its the musical "Epilogue" at the point of the transition added to the intensity of the moment.  It was just one of many beautifully directed scenes that instantly made me a fan of Director Yoo In-Shik.

Giant above all else is a story about family and what one does for the love of family.  Although, Lee Kang-Mo (Lee Bum-Soo) is at the centre of the story, his love and desire to fulfill his family's dream is the driving force behind him. Though we spend a few minutes in present day Seoul, with Lee Kang-Mo, now a business mogul and the head of a massive conglomerate, a massive change from the desolate boy we see in the first few seconds, it's just enough time, to identify the main villain of the story Jo Pil-Yeon (Jung Bo-Suk), and awaken our curiosity as to how our hero rises to the pinnacle of society.

We are then swept away to Pusan 1970 where we meet teenaged Lee Kang-Mo, played by Yeo Jin-Goo. As I've said already, I only look forward to good things from this young actor when he gets older, because his performances at the moment are stellar.

Young Kang-Mo is always getting into trouble, which is clearly a sign that he is just suffering for middle child syndrome.  He has stolen money from his brother's piggy bank, taking money that was intended for their mother's birthday present.  His elder brother Lee Sung-Mo (Kim Soo-Hyun), wait a minute, short divergence from topic, does that mean Moon Embraces the Sun was a re-teaming of this pair. Didn't realise that til this moment.  LOL!!

Anyway back to the family members.  Sung-Mo is the diligent older brother trying to help his wayward sibling act more like a responsible child.  They have a younger sister Lee Mi-Joo (Park Han-Young), who's dream in to be a singer.  They are clearly from a poor family, as they live in a cramped rural home, but overall they are happy. 

Their parents, pregnant mother (Yoo Yoon-Sun) and father, work hard to provide the best opportunities for their children.  Their father, a dock worker, has decided to take his friend's Hwang Tae-Sub's (Lee Duk-Hwa) advise and purchase land in the Kangnam area.  His father wants to move his family to Seoul where he thinks better opportunities exist.  Seoul is where development and growth are happening and it is a good place to invest.

There is a beautiful juxtaposition which occurs next, when two unconnected events merge into one, a feat that K-dramaland always achieves with such fervour.  Some dock employees are involved in smuggling contraband and due to Kang-Mo's mischievous nature, he overhears of the smuggling plot, while ironically committing petty theft of some sort.  He informs his father, who being a diligent and honest man takes Kang-Mo to report it to the military authorities.  This official turns out to be none other than Jo Pil-Yeon, currently a lowly military official, but with great political ambitions for the future.  However, his political dreams are on hold because he lacks money.  News of the contraband goods comes at the most opportune time, and decides Pil-Yeon that he has found a financial source.

The other situation taking place is that Hwang Tae-Sub, though giving Kang-Mo's father advice, is actually burdened by an enormous amount of debt.  It turns out that he an Pil-Yeon are connected and Tae-Sub agrees to help Pil-Yeon hijack the contraband vehicle, which Kang-Mo's father happens to be driving.  Suffice it to say the situation does not go well for Kang-Mo's father, who gets caught in the cross hairs.  Although Tae-Sub tries to warn his friend, it is already to late and the patriarch of the Lee family is murdered by Pil-Yeon.  An event witnessed by eldest son Sung-Mo, who was accompanying his father.  Pil-Yeon is quite understandably furious and sets off to kill the entire family to cover his tracks.

This is the start of a series of further unfortunate events.  As it goes in K-dramaland, things only get a lot worse before they get better.  The three children flee with their mother and new sibling (the mother has given birth in the midst of all this chaos), but are being chased all the way.  In order to protect his mother and siblings, Sung-Mo separates from them in an attempt at misdirection.  He flings himself off of a moving train seemingly falling to his death.

Young Lee Kang-Mo in despair

Kang-Mo, now responsible for the rest of his family, steps up to the position of patriarch and does his best to protect them.  Alas, slowly, but surely the rest of the family is divided.  He looses his mother first and then his sister disappears.  He is left all alone in the middle of Seoul with a new born to look after.  With no other options available and thinking of what is best for the baby, Kang-Mo puts his younger brother up for adoption, promising to one day find him again.  It is perhaps one of the most beautiful, yet heartbreaking scenes I have ever seen in a K-drama demonstrating the monumental weight placed on the shoulders of someone so young.  The loss of father, brother, mother, sister and now youngest sibling is a scenario, that I cannot even begin to fathom, but it is so well portrayed by Yeo Jin-Goo that you are moved to tears. 

As we enter the adult years, we watch a monumental journey of revenge, love, hope and intrigue unfold before our eyes.  We hope and look forward to the day the siblings reunite, which of course is not as cut and dry as one would hope since it's a K-drama.  Person A, plots against person B, while Person B plots against person C, then Person C plots against Person A.  It is a circle of plotting and concocting that is intricately and spectacularly woven together.  The result?  Tension, angst, tension, pain, joy, tears and misery.  When you think they've finally ended it, they bring it all back again.  The dirty world of politics and those surrounding politics are also revealed, with villains committing evil and despicable deeds left, right and centre.

The pitiful villain- Min-Woo

Yet, the villains in this story are not so cut and dry.  In particular, Pil-Yeon's son, Jo Min-Woo (Joo Sang-Woo).  Min-Woo was a bad piece of work, don't get me wrong, his treatment of Kang-Mo throughout  this drama, as well, as Hwang Jung-Yeon (Park Jin-Hee) and some other characters was atrocious.  Yet, as a viewer, I felt great sympathy for him at various points throughout the drama.  I could constantly see his desire to improve himself and become a good person, but constantly falling into the trapped of familial loyalty.  It's those intense dilemmas of family loyalty and honour versus taking the right path that I find equally compelling in any drama.  It's by no means a new theme to K-drama land.  Just recently, Park Ki-Woong's character, Kimura Shunji, in Gaksital is one such example or Joo Won's character in King of Baking: Kim Tak Goo.  In those two dramas, just as is seen in Giant, provide examples of how well K-drama land seems to develop that kind of conflict.  These men are all so pitiful in their evil deeds, that while you hate them, you can't help but feel sorry for them, and the wrong decisions that they keep making.  Watching them fall further and further into despair, hurts as much as watching the hero rise and overcome his obstacles.  For me, that only enhances the story. 

Siblings reunited

What I think I love most about Giant are the connections between Kang-Mo and his people.  I always love when a drama shows comparisons between the way the "big bad," in this case Pil-Yeon, functions and the way the hero functions.  It's on that same epic scale of Jumong, where the hero earns people through faith, trust and respect.  Kang-Mo changes enemies to friends simply by being a man of his word.  Even when he is betrayed by those he trusts, once Kang-Mo has given them his word, he sticks to it.  In doing so, the people around him realise that he will stand by them and never turn his back on them.  This in turn results in him gaining their trust.  Pil-Yeon on the other hand, uses money and power in his attempts to control people.  And  as everyone knows, loyalty bought with money is not real loyalty at all.  I can't say that I believe that people like Kang-Mo exist in reality, but it is definitely beautiful to watch scenes like this unfold on screen.
  

I enjoyed Giant from beginning to end.  At 60 episodes, I guess I would have to, otherwise there would be no need to invest so much time in the tale.  The misunderstandings, emotions and sheer intensity are worth every second.  So on the Bel scale it gets a full 5 star rating.  I strongly recommend it.

According to Bel: It's a Giant success.