Amazing, Simply Amazing

This I think is one of my favorites. It taught me so much about who the Royal Painters were and the process they went through to learn how to paint as a Master; as well as how they learned to draw outside of a one dimensional sphere. It gave me a whole new respect as to how exceptionally talented they were.

Most of these reviews seem to be from younger viewers so I will explain something. This drama is not about cross-dressing or being gay. Those who think so are approaching this situation entirely from a physical understanding. This isn’t about sex. The FL did not love the Kisaeng in a sexual manner. This is why she looked and acted so uncomfortable every time Jeong-Hyang tried to undress or approached Shin in a sexual manner. She was in love with her in more of a fantasy way and also because they identified with each other on an artistic level; as well as an unspoken communication best explained as “misery loves company”. If you recall, she was not approachable in a physical manner. Young people, please understand that it is possible to love someone without having sexual thoughts about them. You will be very blessed in your lifetime if you are ever able to have a love for someone without expecting something in return. Yun loved Jeong just for the sake of loving.

Strictly speaking she wasn’t a cross dresser. Don’t apply new world thinking to old. She wasn’t trying to be something she wasn’t, in that truly, for her, dressing and acting like a man was all about survival, it had no sexual connotation whatsoever. Please refer to when the ML defends her to the King in the last episode. If she could not be a painter what else could she have done for a living besides being a slave or Kisaeng? Choices for women were not many back then. Remember when her stepfather said she lived to paint?

This was an exceptional drama that really shows you how repressed women were during the Joseon period. And it shows you from both perspectives; from a Kisaeng who also had no choice, and a Royal Painter, who had no Freedom either. Both ends of the social spectrum but equal results.

I found the interaction between ML and FL very believable. He wasn’t so much older than her, maybe 10 years or so and they shared everything in common that was important in their lives. They made sacrifices for each other…..they tried to protect each other……Love was a natural result. In the end though, it appears she decided that being a painter was more important than Love. Hard choices, well done theatrically.

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Just Wonderful

Okay, in the beginning I came here for Bae Soo Bin (Cheon Soo). I immensely enjoy his acting. But then I discovered Ji Jin Hee (King Suk Jon) who was just absolutely captivating. I’ve watched a ton of these historical dramas and I have to say the chemistry between the ML and FL in this series is off the charts. In their moments of happiness and levity your heart just soars….such joyful moments on the screen. Moments many of us wish we were experiencing in our own lives. What would it be like to have someone, your Beloved to be that Loyal….to be by your side thru terrible lows? To be willing to sacrifice everything they are for you? This is what Dong Yi is about. It is also about how respect for each other and choices they make that might not be where you want to go at all, but because you love them, you grant them that freedom of choice and support them in those choices.

This series is about Trust. Will you trust someone when everything points to the contrary? Will you believe in them just because they ask you to? How many of us can say that their family or friends would trust us even if their lives would be in danger to do so?

The Korean dramas always have a way of fostering compassion for even the most nefarious deeds that the characters commit. This series is no different. It is written in such a way that you can really understand why they do what they do. Sadness comes as we realize that this is a mirror reflection of our world right now also. People with tunnel vision making bad decisions.

This series is 60 episodes. It bogs down in the middle a bit. But persevere because it is worth slogging through repetitions of the same misfortunes….it does get better. Hang in there.

My only negative is that I cannot fathom why the director had three of the characters be so ridiculous. You know who they are when you watch this. It ruined those scenes entirely. What was the director thinking, to create such over the top clownish characters? Those scenes were really irritating.

I will rewatch at the minimum, the scenes between Dong Yi and The King. Bae Soo Bin did not disappoint….Perfect acting as usual. I also really enjoyed Jung Jin Young as Seo Yong Gi, the police commander; and Jung Sun as the Eunuch to the King.

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Exhausting

I can’t really call this mini series entertainment. It will not leave you Joyful or at Peace. But it is an excellent character study and if one watches in Wisdom, then One can learn a lot from this series. First of all I have to say that the performances by all the characters were exemplary….there are no weak points except I would have rather seen someone like Ahn Nae Sung play Timur. But the standouts to me were Ji Chang Wook as Emperor Toghorn (Ta Hwan ) and Lee Moon Shik as Bang Shin Woo (The Goryean Emperor’s sidekick). Ji was beyond awesome. He conveys his character in such a way that you can always see elements of your own self at work. The insecurities, the rush to make judgements without adequate investigation….anger because we are fearful we will lose an integral part of ourselves. I am not one to cry, even in extreme challenges….but I cried in sadness at the last scene of the movie. So much time we waste in life in negativity.

Lee Moon Shik as Bang, was like a light in the darkness. His ability to express great Joy and sadness, was really touching…and his character will remain in my heart as a guide. A guide to always try to express great caring for all life.

It was exhausting to watch this series…..there are very few “happy times”. No one wins….everyone loses something. But I am better for watching it. I will rethink these scenarios many times…..trying to find my own Victory’s of enlightenment.

I give a secondary heads up to Kim Jin Mo’s characterization of Tal Tal. You watch with such great compassion the choices he has to make and wonder what we would have done in the same situation. His portrayal is often gut-wrenching and visceral. Will we be Honorable, no matter the cost?

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A genuine slice of life as a young adult

Right off the bat I am going to say that I am old enough to be your grandmother or even your great grandmother….so my review comes with having lived this myself. Both as the ML and the FL.

When a child never has had any love bestowed upon them to speak of, they carry that burden with them perhaps their whole life. The kind of love that is needed in a committed relationship needs to be taught to a child throughout the time they live at home…or they enter the outside world with no real knowledge of what it means to love. The ML suffers from that to some extent. He finds it hard to take the next step….to reach out….for fear of being abandoned. It is seen, quite often that children like this, becoming adults, will often use sex to get close to someone….it is their version of love and it holds less danger to them emotionally. I know this to be true for that was me, well into my 30’s.

However, we see that the ML is gentle and kind to the FL…..he is always honest with her…he doesn’t make promises he cannot keep. But through lack of training as a child….he doesn’t know how to take the next step from sex to expressing love on a wider spectrum. He tells her right from the start what he would like the relationship to be….he asks her many times if what they are doing is okay with her. When he is with her…..he gives her his full attention. He is a gentle lover in bed. At some point early on he falls for her but he doesn’t know what to do next and he founders.

The FL is mentally and emotionally deranged. She is what we call a basket case. She really shouldn’t be in a relationship. She has too much baggage. She doesn’t love or trust herself and therefore she doesn’t know how to love or trust someone else. I cannot tell you how many times I have seen in my long time friends that the type of behavior shown by the FL, in real life, has damaged young men so traumatically from the push pull, emotionally blackmailing, demanding type of behavior that they never quite recover and carry a mistrust of women their whole life.

She is really unkind to him. And he just stands there and takes it. He doesn’t make nasty comments back to her. She continually tells him to leave her alone….then has a snit when he does. She does this in so many ways…I relate to this on a very deep level…..I was that woman for a very long time myself and I destroyed several relationships with my mistrusting suspicious behavior.

Then instead of taking some time to heal from leaving him, she instead jumps into another relationship….she says to herself at one point “Am I cheating”. Yes, you are. You know this other man is in love with you but you don’t care, you just string him along and make rationalizations to yourself. I’ve done that too. So you hurt the SML in the same way that you accused the ML of.

I know its a movie….but I kept thinking to myself….it is clear to anyone that the ML is head over heels in love with her…he is always sincere with her…and he never lies to her. How can she not see it? The truth is that she feels unworthy of love…here is this handsome, sweet man, and she feels unworthy and she projects that insecurity constantly.

I want to say something about the situation where she thought he was having an affair. In a relationship…you need to trust the other person. If they say “no” then trust them. Don’t spend hours, days or weeks throwing it back up to them. If you feel you can’t trust what they say then the only option is to leave the relationship. If someone is a quiet person like he is, respect that. He wasn’t a coward….he just didn’t see the need for hour long discussions. See, the main problem here was she was trying to remake him into what she wanted him to be….and didn’t care about who he really was. Did she ever take the time to actually get to know him? No. It was all about her. In every scene, even at the end, it was still all about her. She is living a self-fulfilling prophecy. If her main thought is this won’t work, I’ll be unhappy then she has already programmed the relationship to fail.

And lastly, they were young adults. I don’t see any thing wrong with his behavior that he was dating and bedding as many women as he wanted to. He was always nice and considerate to all of them. And after doing so for a long time, he finally found someone that he was ready to commit to. Is that wrong? I don’t think so.

Please….do not keep throwing up “old baggage” to the other person in a relationship. It will destroy the relationship.

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Everyone should watch this

I am watching this on 1.1.2022. I mention this because it was wonderful to start my year off with such a powerful, profound movie. It is basically a story about whether reunification is a possibility. On one side you have people who have surmounted the propaganda issued on both sides of Korea, and realize that people are people, and the other side, who have been so indoctrinated with the propaganda that all they can see is an enemy.

In using the term “side”, I am not speaking particularly of North or South Korea, but of people in general. Although we mostly attribute this discussion to North and South Korea, still in 2022 it is applicable here in the U.S. Will we eventually become just like the Korea’s….some people so entrenched in hate that they have chosen to typify anyone who does not match up to their own agenda….as enemies? It is a real possibility here…and in this movie it shows the ramifications of such thinking.

I was moved to tears…seeing that the end game of this type of divisional thinking….leaves lives scarred so traumatically that they can not move on emotionally. Then survivors, ones who could move on…..often pass their hatred on to further generations and so it never ends.

It is beyond my capability to understand how South Korea has allowed the U.S. government to tear apart a whole country; that they would give allegiance to another country who literally slaughtered millions of their countrymen, instead of embracing their own peoples, their own culture. To me, it isn’t as simple as choosing communism or so-called democracy - that is just an excuse, a rationalization. Millions died during the Korean War and yet South Korea chooses the U.S. as their father instead of embracing the rest of their country. It saddens me no end. There are families on both sides that have not seen their families in decades.

Watching this movie will perhaps remind you of the important things that are really at stake in this situation.

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Mesmerizing

This is my second time watching it. I think its better this time because all the anxiousness is gone (I know who lives and dies) and now I can just relax and enjoy it as it unfolds.

Lee Byung Hun is one of my favorite ML’s and he doesn’t fail to highly succeed in mesmerizing us this series. I had not seen Kim Tae Ri (FL) before and I thought she was just great. Actually, everyone of the actors and actresses are just fabulous in their roles and one is able to connect to each one emotionally and feel what they are feeling at that moment.

I would like to add my two cents worth about the controversy over the ML being so much older than the FL. I think maybe younger viewers might not readily figure out the dynamics of why it was cast this way so I thought I’d explain. The FL is very mature. She is not only well educated, especially for that time when women were not permitted access to education and the outer world, but she is also a Freedom Fighter. She is intelligent and she simply isn’t going to be attracted to someone her age. We can see that in her disdain for the SML. But the ML is extremely accomplished in all facets of life…his demeanor is one of tremendous self confidence and she is drawn to that more than just him being physically attractive. A notable quote by the FL…If a man cannot keep a promise to a woman….what can he keep? This shows how important Honor and Loyalty is to the FL.

I can highly relate to this situation as this has been my life story. I have lived in the wilderness a lot of my life. I was accomplished at many things when younger, including martial arts. I simply could not relate to someone my own age. I ended up marrying two times, both men were much older than me…..one 26 years older, the other 20. For me a relationship is not so much about love, although that is important, but more about respecting my partner for his own accomplishments which I require to be many. The FL proves this is also how she views a potential partner. She isn’t interested in daily Korean life, she wants to be a mover and shaker and is likewise drawn to someone else who is also that way.

So I give Kudos to casting for including this wonderful dynamic - rarely seen in KDramas. The story moves along swiftly and I thoroughly enjoyed the time that was shown where she was training to be a Freedom Fighter. She is that perfect combination of being tough as nails, but not emotionally stunted…..she lets her guard down when she knows she can trust someone.

Honorable mention certainly goes to Choi Moo Sung (her mentor) - he always nails a character. Of course we must mention Yoo Yeon Seok (Dong Mae the Samurai). He is just breathtaking in this role - certainly one of his finest roles. You just breathe in his pain, his confusion and despair and embrace the choices he makes as he emotionally matures through the series.

Surprisingly there are a lot of very funny moments in this tragedy series. Often provided by Il-Sik, the trader. For instance he is asked what his name means. His friend says Hope. Il Sik shakes his head and says no, it means never skip a meal. Later on he is trying to explain to a lady gambler why she isn’t having any luck as a gambler. He says to her “In a game, if you can’t figure out who is being hustled, its probably you”. Between his witty sayings and his funny facial expressions, he brings a light heart to a heavy drama.

Lastly Byun Yo Han (SML) does a really wonderful job. You can’t stand him in the beginning and cry for him in the ending. I don’t really consider this a spoiler statement…..most of us who are long time watchers of Sageuk know the SML never has a happy ending.

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Totally wonderful

I just thoroughly enjoyed this series and felt sad when it ended. Isn’t this about most people’s lives? So very funny, heartwarming, and at times sad. All the actors were just great, there isn’t an actor here that you can’t connect with through having the same experiences in your own life.

To me, the ones that really shined were Ahn Jae Hong (The director) and Son Keok Koo (the cursing director). This is a definite re-watch for me.

I thank whomever it was that posted on the main feed in conversations about Jeon Yeo Been, that she did a fantastic job as one of the FL in this drama. I might have missed this otherwise.

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A Home Run

I was on the fence whether to watch this. In my heart is Ji Jin Hee as King Suk Jong in Dong Yi. His portrayal of such a honest and caring King was so profound to me I wasn’t sure I wanted to watch Ji Jin in a lesser role. I shouldn’t have worried one bit. Because here he plays the same kind of character…and is just as captivating.

There actually isn’t one actor/actress that doesn’t give a stunning performance. This series reminds me of one long ago called Lost, made in the U.S. No matter how hard you tried you couldn’t figure out who the protagonists are….its an endless maze…and this is what makes this series a real winner.

I became enthralled with learning about Korean politics. Not so much different than here in the U.S. The corrupt always seem to stay in power. What would it be like to actually have good, caring, honest rulers? Ones who put the people first instead of their own selfish pursuits of power. What a world we would have.

I would really like to see a Season 2. Knowing Netflix they probably won’t do another season. Seems everything I always really like is canceled after one season.

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