Winter Sonata, originally uploaded by Elise in Asia.
After watching a few classics, I decided to attack one of the most famous Korean drama, Winter Sonata. Heike, who watched and survived the whole 20 episodes, already poked my curiosity with her descriptions, so I had to try it.
I have to admit that anything ‘romantico-dramatic-cheesy-melo’ drives me nuts after 5 minutes. WS is no exception, but it’s such an important chunk of pop culture here in Korea that it’s a must see. It’s like living in the States and ignoring Sex and the City or other such cornerstones of mass culture.
So there I go: watched 7 episodes of the 20. So far, the story is… predictable, simple, manichean (the good characters are really good, the bad ones really bad, boring!) Well, I guess its something to take your mind off work, daily problems, loneliness! I don’t have a stressfull life at this point, so I still really enjoy movies/books/tv shows that challenge me, make me think, show me new things, raise questions, well, the opposite of WS and its fellow dramas!
And like Heike, what gets most of my attention is the following: costumes (pastel galore), mysteriously knotted scraves (it’s set in the winter, so they wear pretty scarves all the time), amazing hair colors without a single root showing, tons of plastic surgery of all sorts (if you want to know what Korean PS are capable of, have a look!). And the main character’s acting: she has about no facial reaction besides tilting her head back slightly, which is the appropriate reaction for everything! (Not that she can move any part of her face normally, so she has to find other ways to show her amazing range of emotions…..) I’ve seen her pull a ”’real”” (ahem) smile only in episode 7, where I discovered she actually has nice teeth! That must have hurt to use all these facial muscles at once! It’s such a contrast to the Classics I was mentionning in my previous post: Hayworth, Brando, European actors from the 40s till the 80s…
Anyways, if you like WS, I hope I’m not bashing it too harshly, but if are allergic to dramas like me, you’ll probably have the same reaction! All in all, it’s good for what it is: relaxing entertainment!
