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Post by TheBo on Mar 22, 2012 9:43:17 GMT -5
My boss is looking at me funny so I'll just open this and leave it for whoever would like to start, but I expect to post some myself later today. ;D
Bo
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Post by MTR on Mar 22, 2012 13:59:12 GMT -5
Will i ever find freedom from my grainbox apathy
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Post by TheBo on Mar 22, 2012 15:11:01 GMT -5
YAH. You are sooo not helpful. LOL...
One thing I wondered about, which they seemed to be planning to come back to later but then just dropped, was Princess's fate (Sado's sister). We last saw her shaking her fist at and swearing revenge against the cruel ruler who dared to kill her son, but that was it. Mostly, though, I felt they tied up everyone's stories in a satisfying way. We saw what happened to Lord Jang, Uncle and Mak-soon and the people at Dowahseo, and it all seemed appropriate.
Speaking of Dowahseo, I liked that they continued to pull them in wherever possible, without letting their side story bog down the rest of the action. They did the same with Uncle and Mak-soon. Using these two sets of side characters to comment as choruses on the action at court was actually quite a stroke of genius.
The actors were tip-top, I think. Of course you know my opinion of Gyun Mi-ri (Dowager Hye/Lady Hye-gyoung), Park Eun-hye (Hyeoui) and Kim Yeo-jin (Tebi Mamah) and ALL the women of the cast. I wished they had appeared more frequently, but then the story of Yi San was so huge, I'm surprised they were able to get the women's stories in at all.
Lee Soon-jae (King Yeong-jo) did excellent work, as per usual. Even though he always plays a grumpy old man, he manages to play THAT grumpy old man, the one you are watching, not the one you saw last time or the one some other guy would play. He's nearly 80 years old (born 1935), and I hope he's around for a long time yet. I honestly think they ought to declare him a National Treasure, he's that important to non-Korean viewers' concept of haraboji. (Sp?)
I did wonder whether Sun-jo was the son of Hwa Bin, but maybe that information is lost in the clouds of history. It would have been nice to have a little clue--even if it was "based on fact."
I like Lee Seo-jin, I really do, but sometimes he does wear on me. However, he carried the role convincingly and it was probably a brutal assignment for an actor. I never felt like he was unable to figure out what to do with a scene (even if the character was confused). It was good casting. He has the right combination of light, romantic comic ability and dramatic gravitas.
Han Ji-min as the late, lamented Ui Bin / Song-yeon really was a spot-on choice. She was luminous--and yes, I know I overuse that word but she was. Whatever frustrations might be prompted in the viewer for the character's reactions could not be extended to how the actor chose to play them. I missed her when she had died, and when she showed up at San's bedside in Episode 77, it was like a beloved, lost friend had re-appeared to me--just as it was for San.
Dae-su, man (Lee Jong-su) and boy (Kwon Oh-min), worked. However, I always felt as if something were not quite clicking for me. It's almost as though, instead of them basing child D-S on how adult D-S would later be played (which I thought they did rather well with child San and, to a lesser degree, child Song-yeon), they did it the other way around. As if they had Lee Jong-su base his performance on the quirks and foibles of young Kwon Oh-min. (This child appeared in King & I--he's pretty much playing the same character here, so I think that's just how he is.) But as I said, the character worked.
[I'd suggest rather than quoting each other here, we just write down our thoughts and commentary on what others say. You know, like a real conversation. LOL...]
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Post by mugwump on Mar 22, 2012 19:37:52 GMT -5
I'm still confused about the other princes, like the one whose son Hong was planning to adopt and make the successor. If he was San's half-brother, was he Sado's son with a concubine? And I was wondering who was the mother of the son who succeeded San in the final episode.
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Post by sageuk on Mar 22, 2012 19:43:37 GMT -5
^She never appeared onscreen but it was another concubine, Royal Noble Consort Subin of the Park clan
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Post by MTR on Mar 22, 2012 22:17:21 GMT -5
Princess Hwawan was executed on the orders of Jeonjo the same way as her adopted son ..actually i am not sure if in real life they were beheaded or made to drink poison ,both were exiled first and later were executed during one of the Noron purges . I thought it sucked that the drama dodged the bullet and left that out rather than reveal what really happened .
I like Lee Seo Jin however in Gaebyek (agh i can never spell this ) i thought he sleepwalked through the role like he was just going through the motions ,
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Post by soapygrams on Mar 22, 2012 22:20:22 GMT -5
;D This is my second viewing of this K-drama. I think I will probably watch It all again in the future.
It is of all the historicals I have seen, THE BEST. the actors fit their charactors so well; there was a great balancing of evil; goodness; laughter; tears; action ; romance and drama. I have watched an compared others to this and they all fall far short of the mark.
I simply loved this drama. I hope all of our board members who have viewed it also enjoyed it as much as I did.
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Post by MTR on Mar 22, 2012 22:25:53 GMT -5
Did i think it is one of the best Korean Historical Dramas ...joint best Joseon Dynasty Drama with Sejong . (yes i forgot IYSS thats parallel as well ). if i listed a top 5 it would be AGE OF WARRIORS EMPEROR WANG GUHN YI SAN THE GREAT KING SEJONG QUEEN SEONDEOK (Ep 20 onwards )/IYSS .
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Post by TheBo on Mar 23, 2012 9:24:20 GMT -5
Lord have mercy, I wish I'd had all of you discussing this with me all along. LOL. I do understand, you'd seen it before, and people got their oars in where they could. I am glad I finally had the time to see it, because I had to make the time in order to moderate. Otherwise, it might have slipped through my fingers.
So the mother of Sun-jo was "Su Bin" (I'm assuming this was like "Hwa Bin" etc., "Concubine Su"). Thanks for that info, sageuk.
I, too, thought that one failing of the drama was that they left some important stuff out--that is, they backed off from showing San to be brutal in any way (Noron purges). The fact is, sometimes they were politically forced into it, and sometimes, they just thought that was what was required of them as judges and lawmakers (and maybe it was, at the time).
In fact, of all the characters, I thought that Lady Hye-gyeong (Gyun Mi-ri) was portrayed most truthfully (just as a general person of that time). Her telling Hyeoui, for instance, to let Won Bin stew in her own juice because that was "justice" was entirely in keeping with the thought processes at the time. Now that I think of it, these queens, dowagers and other court women are usually portrayed pretty truthfully as the political animals they must have had to be. The men are the ones who get their stories softened, mostly.
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Post by MTR on Mar 23, 2012 20:37:50 GMT -5
I would slightly disagree on Hye-gyeong in so much as she was Noron through and through above all else including husband and son ,she did not like Jeongjo he had her brother killed ,she puts her husband and son in the same bracket its in her own words in her book .
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Post by soapygrams on Mar 24, 2012 18:16:09 GMT -5
TheBo - LOL - the reason I didn't post much during the viewing was because I was trying not to post any bit of spoiler information and sometimes my fingers seem to fly over the keys with stuff and then I had to delete it LOL - I did agree with your end notes as to the actions of the episode, whichever it was. I think The Dowager Queen was so immersed in party line thinking that she didn't understand how horrible a person and evil minded she had become. Her "allies" didn't much help either since they all drink from the same bowl. I think I liked the character of Lady Song because any actions she took in a political way was to benefit the King and Kore; she was not a party member bu a true nationalist at heart; a heart for the people - dare I use the word liberal? I am sure that the members of our board who watched this drama truly appreciated your very, very well-done summaries. I know I did and I had already viewed this drama. You helped clear up some of the confusion left in my mind about certain things so thank you Ms Bo for all your efforts. Now on to Queen S - see you on that board too I hope ... ;D
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Post by MTR on Mar 24, 2012 20:45:50 GMT -5
You know i decided not to watch it again so soon because it may have diminished me liking of it .
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Post by sageuk on Mar 25, 2012 13:00:59 GMT -5
Here's my retrospect when watching this series. I first checked this series out on crunchyroll because I've heard good stuff about it when watching commercials for it on TV. I was instantly drawn in from beginning to end, thinking to myself "Wow, the writer can think up of anything!". Heck, I was even watching at times when I should have been studying; yeah, if I was that addicted when I should have been doing something else, its a good sign, right? Of course, this got me in trouble a few times.
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Post by MTR on Mar 25, 2012 21:22:59 GMT -5
It is a good sign and this was an exceptional drama .
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Post by TheBo on Mar 27, 2012 9:20:47 GMT -5
@dyc - I'm sorry, when I said Lady H was "true to life" I meant as a political woman at that time, I know she really was more like what you say than the character was. But as a character, I thought it was very close to how a woman in her position would have to be AND I thought all of the women were, and in these dramas, usually are. BUT, in keeping with what both of us have said here, one failing of the drama was in bringing out the brutality of San and his immediate family. I guess she was such a terror even THIS was a watered-down portrayal. Perhaps she was closer to reality in 8 Days... ;D
@soapy--I know! I know! Danged spoilers just SPILL! LOL... I agree with your thoughts on both Tebi Mamah and Song (Ui Bin), except, I think conservatives can and often do have a "heart for the people," while liberals can and often do have only their own self-interest at heart. No corner on those markets.
@sageuk - It WAS like that, I had to be careful when I watched over lunch break at work not to find myself with my chin on my hand, drooling a little, two hours later. It was a great show.
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