Not so Sorry, I Love You

Let's leave sageuk dramas for a moment and take a look at another interesting genre- the Korean melodrama. In my opinion, it is a fact that no one does melo better than South Korea.  There is tension, angst, pain and stress.  It moves you to tears and just when you think you've given the drama all of you, it takes just a little more.  After such a harrowing experience you would think the audience would give up and leave it alone.  NEVER.  You go back yearning for more.  Because of this, today we look at what is one of the favourite K-drama melos rotating in dramaland: "I'm Sorry I Love You".  There seem to be a million reviews in K-drama land on this drama already, but I can't be left out of the mix so here is my 50 cents.

SPOILER ALERT:  THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SEVERAL SPOILERS.  AVOID IF YOU HAVE NOT YET WATCHED THE DRAMA.

Referred to by many as "MISA" because of the Korean title-Miamnida Saranghae, I'm Sorry I Love You introduces you to a doomed love relationship.  Basically, it says it all in the title, doesn't it?   We are introduced to Cha Moo Hyuk (So Ji Sub) a Korean living abroad in Australia.  He was adopted by an Australian family but was abused by them and has ended up on the streets.  He lives his life as a con and a gangster of sorts without any real ambition or focus in life.  He has learnt Korean through his girlfriend (Choi Yeo Jin), and seems happy to lead an unfocused life. 

Then we meet Song Eun Chae (Im Su Jung) a manager for the famous idol Choi Yune (Jung Kyung Ho) whom she has known all her life as her parents work as his mother's housekeeper and road manager.  She is also secretly in love with him although he just sees her as a sister.  He enlists her help in courting his co-star Kang Mi Joo (Seo Ji Young) in a MV, and of course, as the loyal friend, she complies.  While Yune is off with Mi Joo, Eun Chae meets Moo Hyuk after she is conned by his fellow gangsters.  He ends up helping her get back her luggage which was taken and the journey of a series of interactions begin from that point on.

Moo Hyuk's current girlfriend leaves him to marry a mob boss and at their wedding Moo Hyuk is shot in the head while saving her.  The bullet cannot be removed as it is a life threatening position.  The kicker is that with the bullet in or out, Moo Hyuk has a limited time left on this earth, at most a year.  His ex-girlfriend who feels sorry for him gives him a large amount of money and tells him to go back to Korea.  He complies and slowly searches for his family.   What he discovers is not at all what he expected.  His mother was not a destitute woman with no choice but to put her child up for adoption, she is a famous actress and Yune's mother, making them brothers. (Of course K-dramaland would go there wouldn't it.  I mean what love triangle isn't awkward enough without having siblings fall for the same girl). 

Moo Hyuk also learns he has a twin sister, who is mentally challenged after being injured in an accident.  Overall nothing looks bright.  Due to anger for his mother and his current situation, Moo Hyuk plots to take revenge by destroying the happy life of his mother and brother.  He becomes Yune's road manager and the two bond and become close, while Moo Hyuk slowly plots his brother's downfall.  All the while, Eun Chae and Moo Hyuk become closer and closer.  A series of miscommunications and misunderstanding exist between the two as Eun Chae finds it hard to let go of her life long obsession with Yune, though she feels an attraction to Moo Hyuk.

Through the slow and intense journey, we see a love bloom in the midst of a situation that can have no happy end.  Moo Hyuk is dying and as we watch him struggle with his impending death in solitude (he tells no one in Korea that he is dying), the audience is taken on a world wind emotionally as we see Moo Hyuk falls ill physically, collapses, and behaves erratically due to bullet in his brain.  It is heartbreaking to watch that as he suffers those around him take these changes to be his "bad" and "wild" personality, treating him without feeling or concern.  This is especially poignant in Eun Chae's treatment of Moo Hyuk.  When Yune falls seriously ill and Moo Hyuk asks Eun Chae if he should just give Yune his heart, since Yune seems to be the only person she cares for, she agrees with him out of anger and even orders him to die so that Yune can survive.  I find it is a classic example of people saying things that they don't mean, but more importantly it looks at the value of the words we say.  Sometimes we say things in anger, however, the result of that anger is never truly known.

I'm Sorry I Love You is an intense drama and not suitable for everyone.  It is heart-wrenching and tear jerking from beginning to end, because you cannot escape the fact that Moo Hyuk is living with a death sentence hanging over his head.  No matter what progress this lead couple makes, we know the story will not end happily ever after, and I find that is what makes the drama stand out more for me.  Also, by the time Eun Chae realises that Moo Hyuk is dying and wants to be with him, he is content to push her away.  The time spent between the couple as Moo Hyuk slowly worsens is the descent of the drama into the valley of despair.  Eun Chae wants to make memories with Moo Hyuk to recall him after death, and he is determined that she forgets him.  As such, when she takes pictures of him while he sleeps, she awakens to find the pictures erased from her camera.  Representing Moo Hyuk's attempts to erase himself from her life.

Even though the heartbreaking romance is a powerful part of the drama, the realisation made by Moo Hyuk that his mother did not intentionally abandon him or his sister is a damaging blow.  It is as if the effort he has been putting into his last moments of life have been wasted, causing the viewer's heart to ache even more for him.  Also, when he informs his sister and his young nephew that he is going to buy them a shop, but will have to leave them forever, the realisation made here by his family that he is going for good and the tears shed as they beg him not to leave them, cuts me to the core.  It is through the eyes of these two childlike minds that the pain of loosing someone close to you becomes the most intense and hurtful.

In terms of the tempo and speed of the drama, it is a lot slower than your typical K-drama, in fact, I found it took a while to build up the pace, however, I think that pacing and timing were chosen for a reason, because for Moo Hyuk time seemed to stretch on, or he tried to make it stretch on for as long as possible.  I think what also makes I'm Sorry I Love You so immensely popular is the ending of the drama.  It is one of those stories that stay with you, hurting you to the core every time you recall it.  I haven't re-watched it since the first time I viewed it, but that is not because it was a bad drama, it is simply that I cannot take the journey more than once in a short space of time.  

So Ji Sub is known in K-drama fandom as a man stuck in treacherous and tortured love and  I believe I'm Sorry I Love You was the start of all of that.  His role is so simply played that you feel the pain and torture of the character.  The character is seemingly already dead, but just existing and it is that portrayal that So Ji Sub has captured exquisitely.  Im Su Jung's character for me as the naive girl obsessed with the friend is not my favourite kind of K-drama heroine, but she was the kind of personality needed for this drama, as such she played her role well.  My issues with the character cannot negate a stellar performance by the actress. 

On the Bel scale of drama I'm Sorry I Love You receives 3.5 out of 5..  Since I am unable to re-watch it easily points have to be deducted, since for most K-dramas no matter how harrowing, if I enjoy it I can return to it.   I'm Sorry I Love You does not allow me to do that because I cannot handle it. If you haven't see it yet, prepare for an emotional journey that you might not recover from.  Hold on to your box of tissues and call a friend over for moral support, because you will need it to get through the journey together,

According to Bel: It's a heartbreaker.  Prepare to be moved.