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A MUST WATCH
SUPER LONG REVIEW AHEAD!I can't believe I just happened to scroll by the title "My Dearest" and because it reminded me of Supercell's song "My Dearest", I went on to google to search out of curiosity what's it about. For once, I've been grateful I let my curiosity get ahead of me or else I'd be missing a gem.
This is definitely a masterpiece portraying a combination of romance, drama, war and politics. The story took place in Joseon Dynasty and during the Qing Invasion. I am well aware I'm still confused to some of the war politics here, but there's a lot of references that you can take note of such as the "JingKang incident". It's thanks to Legend of the Condor Heroes by Jin Yong that I understood this reference. It goes way back to the Song Dynasty when Jin invaded the Song empire (thus the war between Jin And Song) and when the Jin army caught the Song Emperors, they humiliated them... Going back to the events in My Dearest, this is what the Joseon Emperor is fearful of when the Qing Army besieged them. Since the Qing army is composed of what they call 'barbarians' who cares more about money and raping women, the show managed to execute it in the entirety of season 1 with such thrill. It was also the perfect introduction to highlight the strengths of both the male and female lead. It left us in tenterhooks and anticipation of what will happen next, will they survive? The Season 1 set the bar so high that somehow, when things calmed down and gave way to more palace politics in Season 2, S2 pales in comparison. But what happens in S2 is still essential to wrap up the entire story, and it actually has much more tragedy than S1 so prepare your tissues. Tbh, I felt like crying on almost every episodes, that when we get cute moments, it almost felt surreal. That's just how heart-wrenching this show is. It gives us that feeling of receiving treats before getting beat up badly.
CHARACTERS
Now let's talk about Namkoong Min and Ahn Eun-jin. Jang hyun (Namkoong Min) is a mysterious man who has no desire nor purpose. I felt Namkoong Min really did well in pulling of Jang Hyun's charm and enigma. He is wise when he speaks, but when he reserve his words, his eyes tells everything. He is an empty shell, satisfied being a bystander, and letting others enjoy than himself. But upon meeting Gil Chae, his eyes started having all sorts of emotions. Because he wants to prove to Gil Chae his worth, he decided to save people and the fire that died inside of him once again ignited. Jang Hyun is actually a compassionate man. In the series, I cannot count how many times he cried, and nothing was more manly than that of how NamKoong Min did so. And even though he cried a lot, there's still subtle differences. You can notice that there are only two times he really cried for real, one is because of Gil Chae, the second when he plead His Highness the Crown Prince to keep his promise to the captives. I fell in love with Jang Hyun's character so bad, that's no doubt.
The dynamic between the Namkoong and Eunjin is also just perfect.
Here's my take for the people hating on the FL. The FL is a strong headed woman. In a setting where women are usually suppressed and kept as housewives whose expected role is only to tend and serve their husbands, Gil Chae broke the norm and actually had done SO SO MUCH. She saved her friends during the invasion, she provided rice for the people of the General in exchange of their labor and she continues saving people and slaves to the point of being a slave herself. Those who are hating on her lacks empathy and may be bias to the Male lead. There's a point where I also almost got annoyed by her because why can't she just accept Jang Hyun? But later on, I understood. Perhaps Jang Hyun— with his overflowing display of affection— came on too strong. And Gil Chae, as someone who also has a strong personality, her instinct was to avoid Jang Hyun and suppress her feelings. She knew Jang Hyun always has a bigger purpose and role, always gone like a wind, he's bound to leave at anytime and she's bound to wait. Did y'all ever see an instance where she stopped him from going? Not once. Everytime, she wishes him well on his journey, even when Jang Hyun himself pleaded to Gil Chae to stop him, she did not. And that was so courageous of her, that even though it pains her to see Jang Hyun go everytime, she persevered and waited, even without assurance from Jang Hyun. How hard is a long distance communication in their period? It's not like they have cellphones to communicate whenever they liked. How excruciating was it to wait for news of your loved ones, for weeks, months and years? Yet Jang Hyun never wrote to her to update her. He's always on the go, and even though he promises to come back, it was always Gil Chae who has to bear the burden of WAITING. So it's unfair for everyone to say who suffers more, when clearly both Gil Chae and Jang Hyun suffers in their own both ways. It's unfair that Gil Chae has to be the bad person when she married another man, but who does not make bad decisions in their life? There's still that traditional thinking wherein it's okay for men are allowed to sleep to anyone, but if it's a woman who was touched by another man, it's such a big deal. Gil Chae may have married another man, but just like what Jang Hyun says to the Princess of Qing, "I can give you my body but not my heart", Gil Chae was the same. The whirlwind of events taught us that it doesn't matter who they were entangled on in their journey, what matters is that they FOUND THEIR WAY HOME TO EACH OTHER. Just like Gil Chae loved Jang Hyun despite knowing him only on surface level (Gil Chae only knows Jang Hyun is a merchant, and later on she knew he was a government slave. In those times, nobles are on a waaay different level from people who only bought titles, so even if Jang Hyun appears to be an aristocrat, some might just raise their eyebrows and not honor his title and still regard him as lowly slave. For you can change your title but not your origin. Gil Chae did not do any of this, and she still love Jang Hyun as he is. She never pried into his past, and just like that. Jang Hyun also did the same to her, he never cared what Gil Chae went through with the hands of the intruders, he just honor Gil Chae for what he had known her, a strong and amazing woman. Dare I say any more why they are perfect for each other, and that them ending up together did not do any injustice to the other, rather, what's greater injustice is that! If they didn't get the happy ending they deserve from each other's company.
I have never written a review for a romance drama before, but I just felt compelled to speak out for the characters here. My Dearest is definitely one of the historical kdramas that will stay in my memory forever. Highly recommended.
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"I had made up my mind to not believe in marriage. But if the only way to make a certain woman mine is through marriage, then I am willing to marry."
"Husband? No way. I will be your servant. My body is yours, my soul is yours, my heart is yours too" - Lee Jang Hyun
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Eun Ae: Do you think women should take their own lives when the foreign intruders grabbed their wrists?
Yeon Jun: A single drop of ink is enough to make a clean water dirty. Whether it's just their wrist, or something even worse, they have lost their chastity
?
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Gil Chae: What if I say a foreign intruder took advantage of me?
Jang Hyun: Then I should give you a hug, for it must have been painful.
?
Here's a clear differences in perspective of a scholar who has never experienced dirt and is bound by traditional thinking vs a man who crawled himself out of dirt and experienced all kinds of cruelties.
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I also don't have much expectations with the acting, since I know for a fact that really isn't their area of expertise. They study yeah, but not enough to star in a heavy-acting drama. What I liked about this movie, though, was the atmosphere and cinematography blend well with the mediocre level acting of the actors. They didn't do bad, not too well either, but they did okay—since they didn't give you much part to see how they will do in extreme situations that require extreme emotions (I'm glad they didn't though, coz forcing it may just come out bad and appear OA or cringy). It was just mild acting that gave it a more natural feeling, by the way. I especially like that certain part where Kanako-sensei and his boyfriend gave a heart to heart talk and the way they delivered it realllyyyy felt so natural it was refreshing.
The plot was vague, you don't really know where it was heading to, but if I were to give my own analysis, it focus mainly on how the characters get entangled to each other, and it let us delve into their own personality, on how each of them deal with their feelings and problems. It takes on a very serious and gloomy atmosphere, but in reality it's just a light drama. There's no clichè misunderstandings. I also find it very mature on how the characters settled their own emotional problems. The whole ride was plain, yet it was not. It seems boring, yet at the same time it's making you hooked. It has it's own charm, and a fair share of funny scenes that seems to be unintended as it came so naturally. I can't say this movie was the best, but I liked its execution. It was fine and I personally liked it. It was open-ending. I'd like to give more analysation of the character's behaviors and decisions but I'd like this review to be spoil free as possible so I'm ending it here.
I'm giving it 6/10. :)
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