Navillera, 12 hours of a perfectly written metamorphosis story.
A little boy sees a man wearing makeup and a funny little dress, his eyes shine with curiosity and he peers into the hall. The man twirls like the spinning top he plays with at home. His hands make delicate movements. Every single swish is with purpose, his eyes seem to follow a trail of fireflies as they form a halo around him, the audience stares in silence and the little boy can't hear his heartbeat over the music that had hypnotized his body. But his mesmerized self is brought to reality as his father yanks him away. The little guy asks his father, "What is that?" "Ballet. But you don't have to pay attention to it." Replies the father. A little boy knows nothing except what he feels and his soul left a piece with the dancing man.Every single character in this drama is written with so much conviction and reason. It's like a game of chess where every single piece advanced. Whether they took two steps forward or circled the board twice, each piece broke out from the rules set by society and the hush of all the neighbors, to experiment with life.
I am going to miss the duo so much. I began every week knowing that I would cry my eyes out but also leave comforted. Navillera brought a warm hug and a bag full of chocolates. Ones I could savour because it brought the snow with it and so it wouldn't melt.
It touched my heart in so many ways and fulfilled me completely. There was not a single loophole, no overdoing, no dramatisation. This is a story about two men who learnt to let go of their fears and doubts and take flight. But the best thing was that they influenced the people around them and impacted their lives significantly.
Navillera will definitely strike a chord in you so why not do yourselves a favour and watch uri Halabeoji and Chae rok grow fond of each other and take a piece of your soul with them too. ✨
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Must see!
Out of all the K-dramas I have seen, this was very original, in my opinion.I absolutely loved this one. It's message that it's never too late to pursue your dreams was so inspiring. And the added message that you shouldn't delay because tomorrow isn't a guarantee.
It was also a tale of an unlikely friendship. I feel it also broke down a lot of stereotypes about men who do ballet.
I recommended this drama to my senior citizen parents and they actually finished watching the whole thing before I did. My mom went on to recommend it to other people their age as she found the message to be extremely inspiring and important for people who are older. She found the message to be hopeful too.
I have viewed a lot of heart-warming K-drama, but with this one, I cried A LOT and love this Kdrama for that!
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Magnificently written, directed and performed by all involved.
I can't praise this drama enough. It's a beautifully warm-hearted, soft and cuddly film, with each character given a chance to soar. Even the unsympathetic, hateful ones - or those who at the start seem that way - are revealed as human, with their own strengths and struggles.I seldom ever ever ever award 'marks' this high, but this deserves everything.
It seems to be making less of a splash than other dramas just now, but deserves much more notice. Perhaps because it's shorter, perhaps because there's nothing 'dramatic' going on, perhaps it's the age(s) of the cast.
I don't care. It's honest, emotional, and inspiring.
It may not be flashy (it's not) but it's still a jewel.
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Need inspiration? You're on the right place!
Words can't express how I feel about this, not too short not too long, it's on the right pace for a slice of life drama. Emotional but not over dramatic only real emotions. The cast did justice to the drama especially the main leads, nothing seemed off, acting was so on point with a perfect chemistry.The OSTs fits perfectly with the drama ,my personal favourite was Taemin's My day the one that plays at the end of the episodes, I already had it on loop for days.
Overall if you like heart warming stories with no expectations of much suspense , you should definitely watch Navillera!
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This review may contain spoilers
Now I'm emo
I just want to fight the writers of this drama for making me cry that much. Y'all need to cut me some slack, please.I'm giving this show a 10 because I didn't find a reason not to - everything about this production is good. The concept, the storyline, the (flawed or not) characters, the pacing, the cinematography, even. I just wish Navillera had a full OST like most popular dramas do, but it's not a top priority for me at all, anyways. All the family progressed and developed that much in only 12 episodes, and by the end I was rooting for all of them.
A special shoutout to Park In Hwan for his acting - I've never watched his work but he portrayed his character (& his illness) perfectly here.
Also, it pleasantly surprised me that they did NOT give Chae-rok and Eun-ho a love story line. I'm happy that they remained friends. Friendship between men & women is something we need more often in K-dramas.
Definitely one of my favorites from 2021.
10/10.
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Made with a deft hand on all levels
There are so many things that can go wrong in a drama with a heart-tugging story, especially when it brings in an overworked trope to add to the pathos. But the writing never got sappy. Nothing was played for cheap thrills. The acting was spot-on, never descending into over-played or over-done pathos. In all the many ways this could have failed, it never did.Park In-hwan is a master actor and always worth watching. His face is amazingly expressive and he provided a memorable character that you would love to meet. This was an Oscar-worthy performance.
Song Kang was gorgeous to watch in motion. It's hard to believe that he hadn't studied ballet all his life, but I suspect some of the magic in all the dance sequences is owed to brilliant editing. He played a wide range of emotions - exactly what you would expect from a young man grappling with family tragedy and finding his feet in the world. (No, I wasn't being cute with "feet"!)
The entire cast was first rate, and you will love all of them.
If you have a dream, go out now and start to realize it. You may need to look for a parallel track, like the eldest son, or figure out what really matters, like the youngest son. I was over 50 when I took my first calculus class. You can do whatever you want to! Start now!
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This review may contain spoilers
It's never too late
The way this drama conveyed such a meaningful story in such short amount of episodes amazes me. I wasn't expecting for this story to hit too close to home because ballet isn't one of my favorite things to be honest, but as you keep watching you get to understand that ballet is only the first layer, and that the stories of the characters go beyond that.The dynamic between Chae Rok and Deok Chul is fantastic from the beginning. They truly complement each other so well and I love how Deok Chul helps Chae Rok to leave his comfort zone and explore the world. They form such a lovely relationship, almost like father and son. And I really love how, at the end, Chae Rok is truly invested in making Deok Chul perform in front of a whole audince like if it was his own dream. They learnt so much from each other, so much values and feelings. They got me crying in every episode. They really reminded me of the days I'd spent with my grandparents, it made me so happy.
Heo Bom's storyline is the other thing that I really liked. His character changes so much throughout the 12 episodes. He ends up understanding his own feelings and forgiving himself and Chae Rok's father in a certain way. When he showed up at the end in the theater, uffff I was crying so hard, I was so proud of him.
Though romance is rarely touched in this drama, I found it really cute when they showed interactions between Chae Rok and Eun Ho. It made me so happy when Chae Rok encouraged her to persue happines and find her true passion.
I think every character in the story has a good development and arc, I'm truly happy with the cast the chose and each storyline.
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Please watch it
It's a short drama series that you must see. I loved every moment of the series. I think the cast was perfect and to be honest I haven't really paid attention to Song Kang that much in his previous works that I've watched. But after seeing this, I must say that during this drama, I grew to love him. He is such a versatile and good actor,. I was mesmerized by him throughout the episodes. I kept wondering if he actually had done ballet before, afterwards I heard he took ballet lessons for six months(?) for just this and I'm blown away. He definitely got a new fan. I think the other cast is well picked too and I loved how well everyone played their role. The roles were easily approachable.As a fellow dancer myself I felt like this touched a lot of aspects of my own life and where I want to be in the future. It really made me think about life and life choices a lot which I think is a good thing. You know kind of like "living without regrets" or regretting something you didn't get to do. And you don't have to be a dancer to understand or get into this drama or feel the emotions or anything, no. But I think if you do dance, or it is a huge part of your life, this might touch you more and you might be more identified with the thoughts and emotions.
I also loved how different this was from the "usual" korean dramas. This is based on webtoon yes and not every korean drama is the same yes. But they often might have similar storyline etc. But this was a nice change in between the other dramas.
LOVED IT. PLEASE WATCH IT. IT'S A MASTERPIECE.
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A unique story filled with warmth
This drama was a pleasant surprise pertaining to age and fulfilling your dreams with no regrets. It was very wholesome to see a 70 year old man pursue his dream of becoming a ballet dancer when his health and family seemingly stand in the way. We also meet a talented young man who is gifted in ballet but has his own struggles to overcome. Once they meet they form a reverse teacher-student bond that eventually leads to a grandpa-grandson bond and that is nice to watch.I'm really impressed with how diverse Song Kang's recent roles have been. As an actor it's not good to box yourself in and allow yourself to be typecast. He has good looks but he isn't always going to be playing the hot guy and that's good for him. Back to him in this drama tho. I was really impressed when I learned that he trained in ballet for 6 months and was taught body lines for this role. It makes me happy to see when actors go the extra mile to present their character in the most authentic way possible. Knowing this gave me a bigger respect for him.
The actor who played Deok-chul was equally as impressive. Ngl the whole old-man-wanting-to-do-ballet thing was kind of funny and some scenes were funny but I commend this show for committing to the bit, even if it is based off of a webtoon.
As for the ending I feel like it should have ended sad but this drama was supposed to be a light-hearted inspirational type show so I can see why things went the way they did. Since Deok-chul got Alzheimer's, I imagined he would slowly forget everything, eventually leading to forgetting about his passion for dance and his mentor/son Chaerok. I really thought he was going to end up forgetting Chaerok but I'm kinda glad that didn't happen. Even if things would be more realistic.
Deok-chul had the courage to live his dream and perform Swan Lake and complete his lifelong dream before he passes and that is wholesome in itself. Didn't care for the side story with Chaerok's school bully thing. That guy was just despicable, and after injuring Chaerok to the point of jeopardizing his dance career, he was unforgivable in my eyes. Even if he did "change" in the end, that was just frustrating to me. Overall good show. 7/10
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Dive into the Unknown
Oh what a mesmerizing emotional ride for the entire ten episodes! The perspicacious storyline, the role played by each cast with such éclat, the refractory emotions drawn out of every scenes and every dialogues macerated my heart, my mind, my soul and my existence with intense ineffable joy and sorrow both at the same time.Navillera portraying a dirge vibe with its tone, filter and mood, have shaken my whole being with overwhelming emotions. Each and every episode made me cry out bucket of tears. The message of the story has been enunciated through suave sadness. Let me point out the diaphanous depiction of the story one by one which actually resulted into such level of admiration from numerous viewers.
The inevitable and uncontrolled curse of old age, yes that can be changed possessing gargantuan enthusiasm. Looking at life beyond what it is. Celebrating it amidst the flak, malignancy, wretched society, weltering failure, rising and shining again through fiasco is called life; living a wholesome life, living a deserving life. A simple message it contained. Splice up life in all adversities, in all maelstrom it throws and rise and shine again. Life is ephemeral not a single living being denies it yet irrespective of age, situation or whatever the condition a person is facing without debilitating, one must move forward.
The talented, crotchety young ballad student who was living diligently in this harsh competitive society and a 70-year old pertinacious man who was gradually turning senile, both of them come in contact for their greater passion for ballad. Both of them were adamant in their own stand; having extreme grit the first wanted to win renowned national and international competition and the latter wanted to soar at least once in his lifetime. So much of wholesome and platonic love developed between these two. Nearly five decades apart their age were, however, their camaraderie made everyone inebriated of various emotions for sure.
Many issues were depicted via this heartwarming story. The struggles of young people to live a decent life in this robust technological, globalized and competitive era. The struggles of old people who simply have no clue what to do with their life instead waiting for their life to end. The struggle of a person who wants to fulfill their dreams, their hurdles are seemingly endless. When a child, family restricts prospering a dream tagging a taboo, at young age too swayed with the hardships of life, at middle age too inclined in making a living for sustenance for his own family when at an old age the shame of getting revealed to the society or his own children. Shame is to die without trying, shame is to not venturing into one’s dream obtusely, shame is to not being able to satisfy one’s agog.
The portrayal of the story fused between mettlesome and pensive. Mettlesome in the sense that it forces one to hold onto that little straw called hope in one’s life and dive into the unknown without caring a single ounce about readiness with a fiery spirit; pensive in the sense to reflect at least once how to lead a more productive more fulfilling life till the end of our time.
Through terminal illness, through daunting young age, through superficial societal norms, through malicious judgment, through irreversible failure, through harsh rejection, through unbearable dejection – soar at least once. This one life given to us, make it quintessential.
All the casts were pure resplendence to enjoy. Haven’t seen such perfect cast so far. Each role was played meticulously by all the super talented individuals of all ages. I want each of them to soar like an eagle elegantly in their career for many more years to come. They all stole my heart especially one of our cutest duo – Chae Roki and harabuji. Haimoni was also the cutest.
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"As you get older, you get used to goodbyes"
It was the first impactful quote for me. Although it doesn't fully represent the direction of the story, it makes a very important point. Time is precious.Navillera is the inspirational slow-burn, slice of life you're probably (hopefully) looking for. I'm pretty sure I cried in every single episode, whether it was a few tears or full-on sobbing. Deokchul pursues the dream he lost as a child, wanting to finally fulfill it and keep his heart at ease. For him, ballet was his happiness. If there's anything he hasn't said goodbye to at an age of 70, it's ballet.
His story touched my heart and changed my way of looking at things. One--don't take things for granted. Two--it's never too late to do something.
Kudos to the cast, especially Song Kang who played as Chaerok here, a talented but stubborn ballerino who still has yet to make his debut. I first watched him in Sweet Home and seeing him here in a completely different role, I'm very impressed by his acting. And the fact that he practiced ballet for 6 months prior to filming amazes me.
Sure, the story is a bit predictable and you get a sense of where things are heading pretty fast. But that doesn't take away from the beautiful storyline and message--not to mention the really gorgeous cinematography and production. OSTS were on-point too.
What makes you happy? People figure it out at different times, but the drama reminds you that it's okay. If you're using that time to do something that brings you happiness, don't let go of it.
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Simple but beautiful
I think this genuinely may have been the most beautiful K-Drama I've ever seen and I've seen many. I don't really know how to explain this drama because the only words that really come to mind are simply beautiful. It's a show that breaks your heart when you realize its time to say goodbye to the characters but it was also the perfect length. No episode was a filler episode. Every episode built on the previous one without repetition or overplaying clichés. No character was perfect, each had very realistic flaws but you still found yourself coming to understand and appreciate every character. There was growth in every character but it was realistic growth. While the show is focused on the two male leads we are able to see each side characters story being told without it overshadowing the main plot but instead complementing it.This is by no means an exciting or action-packed drama. It is simply a drama highlighting two men with a wide age gap trying to achieve their dreams and dealing with life along the way. If you are looking for a romance drama, this is certainly not for you. This show focuses on the struggle but also strength that comes from bonds formed over time and through hard work. Love is not glorified in this drama but instead respected. There is no perfect relationship within this drama but somehow that just made this drama that much easier to connect with and become invested in. This is a drama that highlights the fact that there truly is no "happy ending" in real life. We can only hope to collect a few precious moments that we will be able to look back upon and smile. Growth also comes with pain and loss in this drama and when the show ends you are unsure if you should curl up and cry or be proud.
Looking back all of the characters in this show are quite dull and boring. They aren't your typical K-drama characters. There is really nothing special about any one of them. They are all painfully human. Somehow this show full of common people touches your heart in a way that most shows only dream of. I can not recommend this show enough.
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