'Love in the Big City' is one of those series that surprises you from the first images. Its greatest success lies in its power to enrich the panorama of South Korean television dramas with LGBT+ themes, widely represented in 2024 with other works of great value, while at the same time denouncing heteronormative and patriarchal society.
Equally beautiful and moving, as bitter, harsh and disturbing, the LGBT+ drama, not of the BL genre, with the largest budget from South Korea touches on extremely important themes and moves something within each person from the first moment, while offering an anthropological approach to queer lives in Seoul in the 21st century.
Based on the 2019 novel of the same name by Park Sang Young, nominated for the Medicis Prize, the Booker Prize and the International Dublin Literary Prize, the romance series is adapted by BigStone Studio in collaboration with Merry Christmas Studio, along with the financial sponsorship of the Ministry of Culture of South Korea, and follows Go Yeong (played by Nam Yoon Su), a cheerful and sincere college student, who navigates life as a closeted gay man who goes through a journey of personal growth while encountering problems family members and different romantic partners, in Seoul's complex dating scene.
I am sure that many will not agree with me when I say that 'Love in the Big City' represents the possibility of entering, fully, on a promising path for South Korean BL series (and from other latitudes), by transcending this genre and going several steps further to tell us an LGBT+ story, since the series avoids falling into the typical and light stories of adolescent fantasy and excessive romantic love, by showing us sufficiently explicit sex scenes and not being created and oriented to an audience - especially - female, since its main budget is to reach the public of said community.
On the other hand, every time a television series project on these topics is outlined, the dilemma between repetition and innovation appears from the very beginning. 'Love in the Big City' has almost achieved the miraculous balance of alternating the constants and the invariables, in a set that cannot be denied, at least, the virtue of novelty.
I wish there were many dramas like this one that paid similar attention to the solid psychological outline of their characters, giving prominence to filial and everyday human conflicts for queer people in societies in which there is still no legal protection of gender identity and sexual orientation against discrimination, and to always delve into what is essential, in personal identity, in the realization of the dreams, desires, freedoms and aspirations of everyone equally, without forgetting a certain expressive distinction.
It seems to me to be a series conceived for a sensitive audience that loves subtleties, not for those who intend to build an impregnable fence of prejudices regarding LGBT+ people, because as the directors and scriptwriter affirm, the love between the members of this community is the same as that of Any other couple, while proposing a certain narrative cadence, takes its time to explain, and sticks to a certain elegance in the dialogues, sometimes colloquial, sometimes metaphorical, or epigrammatic.
As in other LGBT+ series, here appear the parents who do not accept their homosexual children, the young people who must hide their homosexuality from society, the secrets hidden for decades, and of course, the loves and heartbreaks. But what is not abundant in the LGBT+ production that we have seen are characters as nuanced, complex and contradictory as Go Yeong, Sim Gyu Ho, Kim Nam Gyu, No Yeong Su and Habibi, all of them Go Yeong's boyfriends, or Yeom Eun Suk and Choi Mi Ae, as the main protagonist's mother and best friend, respectively.
While Go Young's mother disapproves of her son's homosexuality, while being ashamed of having uterine cancer, as one of the many characters in the series who suffer from self-deception in trying to deny their various physical and mental conditions, Mi Ae is proof of how important chosen family is, especially in LGBT+ narratives.
In a country like South Korea, where traditional family values are so ingrained in the culture, acceptance does not always come from the biological family. Mi Ae and Go Yeong's relationship is that silent reminder that the people who truly have your back are not always the ones you share DNA with: they are the ones who choose to walk alongside you regardless of obstacles and prejudices. The friendship of these two characters is a challenge to the typical idea of family and manages to be shown on screen with total freshness.
'Love in the Big City' does not shy away from explicit language or images, which is rare in the Korean entertainment scene and brings an advantage to the BL scene. On the contrary, he takes care of every last detail and leaves nothing to chance.
He also exudes beauty, capturing picturesque moments with a well-thought-out, bulletproof script, in which at times, his autobiographical narrative becomes very obvious, but apart from that, it provides a new perspective on the life of a writer.
And we arrive at the space where the stars live: To translate the convoluted climate of loves and heartbreaks, secrets and hopes, desires and obsessions, longings and frustrations, an extraordinary cast was required. Despite accusations from a section of South Korean homophobic society that the series aims to "glorify and promote homosexuality", despite threats to Nam Yoon Su from conservative viewers, anti-LGBT+ groups and some of his followers, who claim to be disgusted with the actor for his decision to appear in a gay role, even though this could damage his future career and that of some others involved in the series, 'Love in the Big City' reached a histrionic level awesome.
Some exceeded expectations, surpassing the high levels of professionalism to which we are accustomed: Nam Yoon Su once again reveals himself to be exceptional playing a closeted young gay writer who is HIV positive and is drowning under his family's expectations, dealing with the constant judgment of society and also struggling with the kind of love that consumes you but may never be enough. He is convincing in playing a person who masks the sadness of existence with his innate vivacity. He is undeniably charming and conveys many emotions as the main protagonist.
This actor, recognized for his participation in the 2020 Netflix series 'Extracurricular', which earned him recognition both inside and outside South Korean borders and was nominated for Best New Television Actor at the 57th edition of the Baeksang Arts Awards, He plays Go Young with emotional restraint, reflecting, in addition to his happy and outgoing character, the nostalgia and conflict that his character carries and that he must hide from everyone. Her performance brings depth and authenticity to a character who challenges gender norms, in search of self-acceptance and in the midst of fighting for her place in the world as the central axis of her story.
For his part, Jin Ho Eun embraced unbridled histrionics already seen before, and took risks in an acting style where moderation and restraint prevail, to offer us Go Yeong's true first love.
Both this actor and Nam Yoon Su have obvious and compelling chemistry and are fascinating characters.
With the intensity of allegro vivace they pulsed with their characters Jung Chan Young, Byun Jun Seo and Lee Hyun So, as Jeon Eun Soo, Park Ji Tae and Han Ho Min, respectively, Go Yeong's three friends; while Kwon Hyuk, Na Hyun Woo and Kim Won Joong knew how to personify the first as an immature man in love who cannot distinguish between obsession and love, the second as a person who has difficulty accepting himself and makes even those who love him They love sit alone, and the last is the love that comes when pure love is gone, and must have the ability, or not, to serve as a balm to heal the wounds.
This series is one of two totally different productions of the novel (the other is a film version), also released in October 2024.
The eight-episode series is directed by four filmmakers, each directing two episodes respectively.
The four stories in the original novel: "Jaehee" (told in episodes 1 and 2, directed by Son Tae Gyum), "A Bite of Rockfish, Taste the Universe" (episodes 3 and 4, Hur Jin Ho), "Love in the Big City" (episodes 5 and 6, Hong Ji Young) and "Late Rainy Season Vacation" (episodes 7 and 8, Kim Se In), illustrate how the queer community, since the beginning of the century, has lived under a dual system of being "privately out and publicly in the closet," as South Korean society has not fully recognized LGBT+ rights.
As the social backdrop of 'Love in the Big City', this setting reflects the characters' constant tension between pride and shame. Taken together, the four stories offer a raw and detailed portrait of Seoul and the gay meeting places in the South Korean capital, where the tall buildings and wide, illuminated streets and alleys contrast with the turbulent inner lives of the characters. The scenes are meticulously crafted, with a balance between the poetic and the emotionally complex, adding layers of meaning to the plot.
As the narrative addresses these questions, it does so with an air of inquiry rather than sermon. This series is full of questions and leaves each of us to come to our own conclusions.
The series shows us that there is still a long way to go when it comes to fighting prejudice, stopping hate and fighting discrimination for being "different".
Go Yeong's growth is slow; sometimes frustrating. The pressure to fit into the "normality" imposed by society and family is always present, and the series keeps the tension alive. In his journey of self-improvement, the character expresses what many people are feeling right now and in many settings in the world: The struggle of trying to discover where you fit when the world rejects you for being who you are, and when who you are is in question. direct conflict with who everyone expects you to be. But the beauty of it all is at stake.
'Love in the Big City' manages to be introspective and deep without falling into melodrama, and leaves us with small moments of humor like flashes of light that remind you that even in the darkest times, there is still room for joy and hope.