Gentlemen do have Dignity, but more importantly, they have Friendship

I have to say that  A Gentleman's Dignity is one of those dramas that took me by surprise.  I wasn't sure about delving into it because the synopsis told me that it covered the lives of forty year old men and their journey together.  Not exactly something I was particularly interested in.  I had some time on my hands and didn't want to necessary begin a new currently airing drama, so I decided to give a it a try.  I am glad that I did.  It was 20 episodes based on one of the most heartwarming, intense and awe inspiring friendships.  All I could keep thinking throughout each episode was that I want to have a group of friends like that.  Friends so close that they are family.  They know everything about each other and accept each others good along with the bad.

I wouldn't say that A Gentleman's Dignity is one of the best drama's out there, but it is one of the best friendship tales I have seen.  As a group of men in their forties, it's like seeing those typical Flower Boys that have permeated dramas like Boys Over Flowers, Flower Boy Ramyn Shop and Shut Up Flower Boy Band.  It is a great view into what a friendship of pretty boys can evolve into after 20 years when they become pretty men.  Do they grow up?  The truth of the matter is no.  It highlights that inevitable truth that no matter what you do in life, once you are around friends that you have known since youth, you always keep a part of that experience.  And although these men may excel in business and life and come across as mature and respectable, it is fascinating to see that once they get together they are just like 20 year old boys enjoying what life has to offer.  In essence you are as old as you feel.

As I watched the drama, I noticed several similarities in the dry humour, the scene changing and the imagination sequences that screamed Secret Garden at me.  So, of course, I checked and realised that the same writer of that amazing drama composed this one.  This began to make a lot of sense.  Why that slight hidden humour brought hysterical laughs, and the aloof, yet charismatic lead male seemed to grab my attention despite him being a complete pain.  It seems this writer's style to write elitist male characters who accept the harsh reality of different words and have life plans mapped out for themselves, even though it always gets disrupted by that one female, who just doesn't conform to the norm.  It may be a bit cliche, but it definitely works.

So what pray tell is A Gentleman's Dignity about?  We follow the life of four men in their 40s Kim Do Jin (Jang Dong Gun), Im Tae San (Kim So Ro), Lee Jung Rok (Lee Jong Hyuk) and Choi Yoon (Kim Min Jong).  They are all successful in their careers with Do Jin and Tae Sun being partners in a construction and architectural firm, Yoon, a successful lawyer and Jung Rok who married into money but lives the life of a playboy.  These four have been friends since high school and to be perfectly honest, as I watched them walking down the streets in the first episode I had an immediate flashback to Boys Over Flowers with that all in a row march that Flower Boys do.  

Right, off the bat we meet Do Jin's love interest, school teacher Seo Yi Soo (Kim Ha Neul).  She waits in the rain for someone and Do Jin spies her from the coffee shop window and cannot take his eyes off of her.  The kicker is that the drama then takes on the fated meeting and the typical K-drama trope that everyone is connected in some way when we learn that Yi Soo has a crush on Tae Sun, Do Jin's friend and business partner.  She is acquainted with both him and Yoon form their shared hobby of baseball.  However, Tae Sun doesn't see Yi Soo that way and has a crush on her roommate Hong Se Ra (Yoon Se Ah).   It is truly amazing how small K-dramaverse is.

As the story unfolds more and more opportunities arise for Do Jin and Yi Soo to come across each other including one of those classic thread of red fate themes, however, Yi Soo doesn't give Do Jin the time of day continually knocking at his playboy pride.  For Do Jin his philosophy is that he doesn't have the confidence to be faithful to one woman, so he is equally unfaithful to all women.  What a prick right?  Yet, underneath that annoying exterior there is of course the more complicated individual and it is he that grabs the audience's attention.  The entire storyline basically revolves around the way in which the romance between the stuck up annoying player and the innocent school teacher unfolds.  It is both an amusing and intriguing storyline but not entirely original.

What kept me clinging to A Gentleman's Dignity episode after episode is that friendship I mentioned earlier.   These Ajusshis sucked me in and wouldn't let go.  I particularly loved how each episode began with recaps into their relationships that were not entirely tied to the present day storyline, but showed how their friendship evolved and grew over the 20 years together.  I believe one of my favourite in these recapping sequence was at the death of Yoon's wife.  We watched as his friends literally dropped everything in their daily lives and rushed to their friends side.  They cared for him and dressed him as he prepared for the funeral and even participated in the funeral duties with him.  Tears streamed down my face as I watched that scene unfold.  It was so poignant, rich, powerful and deep.  These four men can act.  I wouldn't expect any less considering that they are all well-established in Korean acting circles.  Though I haven't seen many of their dramas as most of them came out in the 1990s and I wasn't a K-drama fan then. They have established reputations and I can see why.  The way they teased each other, laughed with each other and simply had fun together was an amazing journey to be a part of.  I was intrigued by their lives and wanted to see more of them.   That is the element that I will miss most now that I have finished the drama.  

It was a wonderful journey of love and friendship and I truly enjoyed the ride.  I give A Gentleman's Dignity 4 out of 5 on the Bel Scale.  

According to Bel:  It's the friendship you wish you could be a part of.