This review may contain spoilers
Inspirational, Emotional and Hopeful
There are certain movies, series, books, etc. that come into your life at the right time, this series was like that for me, probably at any other time anyway it would have seemed beautiful and emotional, but in the present circumstances of my life and I imagine that in those of many (in partly because of the situation of global chaos that we live today) each of the messages of the series reached me deeply. The series has a very clear and strong message: "It is never too late to start living your dreams", which is presented in a very beautiful way.
The great virtue of the series are its characters, they all have something to say, a story to tell, here we do not have villains, or heroes incapable of making mistakes, each one, whether main, secondary or supporting, feels like real people, with problems, guilt and dreams, in each of them you can see your friends, family and yourself reflected.
The series does not throw blame towards anyone, and makes it clear that despite the circumstances in which you exist, at some point you must take responsibility for your own life and decide from there if you are satisfied or not with it and if you should go ahead or give it a spin.
It is so emotional because it touches very sensitive fibers for everyone, in modern life we have less and less time to ask ourselves how “happy” we are with our own life, things move so fast and all the time we have these non-existent voices that demand every more and more of yourself; "You have to study, get the perfect grades, go to college, get the best job, buy more and more and more things to be successful," and in this roller coaster of responsibilities and obligations there is very little room to question whether everything really this makes you feel at peace with yourself, probably not, and you probably only realize it in a strong moment of crisis. Precisely this series, presents this to us, "what if you stop for a moment, just a second, look around and question your own life."
Shim Deok Hwan is one of the best characters I have seen in my life, he is a catalyst character, because rather than developing as such (which if he does) he drives all the characters around him to question everything; Deokhwan lived a life where he could not carry out his great dream but despite that he did not live a bad life, he loved and was loved, he built something good and above all he reached a point where he could leave behind grudges and pain, forgive and understood the decisions of the people around him, but now at this point in his life, in his 70 years, when his obligations and responsibilities to others have been covered, he decides that it is time to move on with his dreams, regardless of what he the rest of the world creates; this is how he embarks on this hopeful journey.
Chae-rok is a beautifully constructed character, initially plunged into a depression, acts rude and cynical but as he begins to spend more time with Deokhwan his barriers are gradually being destroyed, Chae-rok knows what he wants and also knows that he is good at it, but he is alone, his loneliness eats away at him, and also lives with guilt that is not his; in Mr. Shim he finds a family, people who support him and love him unconditionally and little by little he opens up to these people that he loves him, and learns to forgive those who hurt him by discovering how deeply human they are, which eventually gives the strength to fly, to achieve your dreams and push higher and higher. As a symbol, it seems to me, it is much more, it breaks in many ways the stereotypes of "masculinity" of the protagonist to which we are accustomed, he suffers, cries and cries seriously, in an emotional way, in front of other people, he is affectionate and fragile in sometimes, it's refreshing to have characters they exist so naturally in his world.
When you find what makes you happy, what you feel you were born to, it does not mean that the rest will be simple, even if you love it, you will have to work hard every day, to become better little by little, every day will continue to be a struggle, but at least it will feel like it is a fight on the right path and Navillera also presents that, for nobody is easy; Chae-rok is talented, yes, but even so he trains hard and many things are still a challenge for him, the rest of the characters experience a similar struggle.
Eunho and Seong San are two other very interesting characters due to their similarities, despite the age difference neither of them has found what makes them happy, and they live in the "right" way just because they think that's what they should do, their ideal of success is a good education and a good job, It doesn't matter in view of whom should bend the knee, but in the end they discover that it is not what want, that life is more than that, and that maybe it is time to stop a bit, to relax and experience success on your own terms. That's why that last scene of the two of them chatting at last, after spending the whole series without knowing how to communicate is so powerful, now they have each other to support each other in the difficulties they will have along the way.
Seong Gwan is also a character with many nuances, for years he has lived with a very great guilt for not being able to save the life of one of his patients, which prevents him from moving forward, he intends to record a documentary about life of that person to somehow make it important, but throughout history and as he lives more and more with his father, he realizes that instead of just thinking about the life he could not save, he can help others to having more time, he faces himself and his guilt and returns to the job that caused him so much fear, but now from a different perspective to help others.
One last character that I would like to address is Chae-rok's rival: Ho-beom, a young man full of anger, who abandoned his dreams and fills his existence with hedonism and resentment, little by little he comes to understand that everyone continued ahead in his own ways and he is the only one who is being left behind locked in his self-pity and that perhaps it is time to let go, so that he can start living again. As I mentioned, this series does not have villains, they are flesh and blood humans, and as humans we must recognize our ability to do evil, but also our ability to compensate or at least try to do it, we can change and we can be better, forgive ourselves to oneself is sometimes more difficult than to forgive others.
Seung Joo (Ballet teacher), Hae-nam, Seong Suk (Deokhwan's daughter) and Moo Young (Chae-rok's father) are also deep and interesting characters, who face their own challenges and dreams and further enrich the Navillera's world (but if i spoke of everyone, I'll be here for four years).
Each and every one of the characters, you are facing your own losses and broken dreams, but somehow you are all trying to build something else; at the end of the series, all the characters have grown up, but this is not a "they lived happily ever after", no, in the end everyone will have good and bad moments again, face other broken dreams and create new ones, the characters have matured.
Another point that I would like to touch on is the issue of Alzheimer's and old age, in my personal experience, especially with the second point, they are not topics that are very much covered in the Asian series, at least as far as the mainstream is concerned, especially for the importance given to aesthetics and beauty; aging is not a very pleasant process in most cultures and around this a phobia about aging and the people who live it has almost been created; in the series this topic is treated with great dignity, and yes, it is true that as you grow, your body and mind do not have the same capacities as in youth, but this does not mean that you become a useless person, nor does it take away the right to want to achieve your goals, there are venerable people from all ages we should pay attention to; with Alzheimer's a similar situation happens, there are many products that address this issue, some in a good way, others not, some from the perspective of the person and others from that of their close ones, the way in which Navillera does it is a perspective very early in the disease, where we are given glimpses, but in itself we do not see the hardest part of it, but in the same way this is treated with great respect and dignity and where the reactions of the people around the affected person they are very honest.
Finally, the performances, the truth is that everyone does a wonderful job, but for me all the palms go to Park In-hwa and Song Kang; every time Deokhwan went into a crisis, you could feel in his eyes the despair and fear of not knowing who you are, or where you are or who those around you are, I don't think it is an easy job to have convey those emotions to the public. I also think that physically it must have been a demanding role and the performance that he gave us was incredible; speaking of physically demanding, Song Kang… wow, not only in the ballet parts, that despite having a body double for some scenes, he does it wonderfully, but everything else, his acting is impeccable, you feel each of the emotions of his character, you see through his eyes the struggle and pain and passion with which life is faced, and the chemistry between the two actors is so tender that you really feel this kinship between them. I would also like to give a big applause to the montage, for obvious reasons, as neither of the two actors are professional Ballet dancers, the dances themselves are not presented one hundred percent, but because of the way in which the scenes are mounted make you feel the beauty and elegance of the Ballet.
Navillera is a very beautiful series, of course it is optimistic and sweet, but sometimes you need to see things like that, it is a series made with a lot of love, which talks about the deep experience of being human, I hope that people who see it can feel a little of what I felt and how much it inspired me to just keep going, but above all I hope that everyone has the opportunity to find what makes them feel proud of being human and that everyone can fly, even just one once in your life, i hope.
The great virtue of the series are its characters, they all have something to say, a story to tell, here we do not have villains, or heroes incapable of making mistakes, each one, whether main, secondary or supporting, feels like real people, with problems, guilt and dreams, in each of them you can see your friends, family and yourself reflected.
The series does not throw blame towards anyone, and makes it clear that despite the circumstances in which you exist, at some point you must take responsibility for your own life and decide from there if you are satisfied or not with it and if you should go ahead or give it a spin.
It is so emotional because it touches very sensitive fibers for everyone, in modern life we have less and less time to ask ourselves how “happy” we are with our own life, things move so fast and all the time we have these non-existent voices that demand every more and more of yourself; "You have to study, get the perfect grades, go to college, get the best job, buy more and more and more things to be successful," and in this roller coaster of responsibilities and obligations there is very little room to question whether everything really this makes you feel at peace with yourself, probably not, and you probably only realize it in a strong moment of crisis. Precisely this series, presents this to us, "what if you stop for a moment, just a second, look around and question your own life."
Shim Deok Hwan is one of the best characters I have seen in my life, he is a catalyst character, because rather than developing as such (which if he does) he drives all the characters around him to question everything; Deokhwan lived a life where he could not carry out his great dream but despite that he did not live a bad life, he loved and was loved, he built something good and above all he reached a point where he could leave behind grudges and pain, forgive and understood the decisions of the people around him, but now at this point in his life, in his 70 years, when his obligations and responsibilities to others have been covered, he decides that it is time to move on with his dreams, regardless of what he the rest of the world creates; this is how he embarks on this hopeful journey.
Chae-rok is a beautifully constructed character, initially plunged into a depression, acts rude and cynical but as he begins to spend more time with Deokhwan his barriers are gradually being destroyed, Chae-rok knows what he wants and also knows that he is good at it, but he is alone, his loneliness eats away at him, and also lives with guilt that is not his; in Mr. Shim he finds a family, people who support him and love him unconditionally and little by little he opens up to these people that he loves him, and learns to forgive those who hurt him by discovering how deeply human they are, which eventually gives the strength to fly, to achieve your dreams and push higher and higher. As a symbol, it seems to me, it is much more, it breaks in many ways the stereotypes of "masculinity" of the protagonist to which we are accustomed, he suffers, cries and cries seriously, in an emotional way, in front of other people, he is affectionate and fragile in sometimes, it's refreshing to have characters they exist so naturally in his world.
When you find what makes you happy, what you feel you were born to, it does not mean that the rest will be simple, even if you love it, you will have to work hard every day, to become better little by little, every day will continue to be a struggle, but at least it will feel like it is a fight on the right path and Navillera also presents that, for nobody is easy; Chae-rok is talented, yes, but even so he trains hard and many things are still a challenge for him, the rest of the characters experience a similar struggle.
Eunho and Seong San are two other very interesting characters due to their similarities, despite the age difference neither of them has found what makes them happy, and they live in the "right" way just because they think that's what they should do, their ideal of success is a good education and a good job, It doesn't matter in view of whom should bend the knee, but in the end they discover that it is not what want, that life is more than that, and that maybe it is time to stop a bit, to relax and experience success on your own terms. That's why that last scene of the two of them chatting at last, after spending the whole series without knowing how to communicate is so powerful, now they have each other to support each other in the difficulties they will have along the way.
Seong Gwan is also a character with many nuances, for years he has lived with a very great guilt for not being able to save the life of one of his patients, which prevents him from moving forward, he intends to record a documentary about life of that person to somehow make it important, but throughout history and as he lives more and more with his father, he realizes that instead of just thinking about the life he could not save, he can help others to having more time, he faces himself and his guilt and returns to the job that caused him so much fear, but now from a different perspective to help others.
One last character that I would like to address is Chae-rok's rival: Ho-beom, a young man full of anger, who abandoned his dreams and fills his existence with hedonism and resentment, little by little he comes to understand that everyone continued ahead in his own ways and he is the only one who is being left behind locked in his self-pity and that perhaps it is time to let go, so that he can start living again. As I mentioned, this series does not have villains, they are flesh and blood humans, and as humans we must recognize our ability to do evil, but also our ability to compensate or at least try to do it, we can change and we can be better, forgive ourselves to oneself is sometimes more difficult than to forgive others.
Seung Joo (Ballet teacher), Hae-nam, Seong Suk (Deokhwan's daughter) and Moo Young (Chae-rok's father) are also deep and interesting characters, who face their own challenges and dreams and further enrich the Navillera's world (but if i spoke of everyone, I'll be here for four years).
Each and every one of the characters, you are facing your own losses and broken dreams, but somehow you are all trying to build something else; at the end of the series, all the characters have grown up, but this is not a "they lived happily ever after", no, in the end everyone will have good and bad moments again, face other broken dreams and create new ones, the characters have matured.
Another point that I would like to touch on is the issue of Alzheimer's and old age, in my personal experience, especially with the second point, they are not topics that are very much covered in the Asian series, at least as far as the mainstream is concerned, especially for the importance given to aesthetics and beauty; aging is not a very pleasant process in most cultures and around this a phobia about aging and the people who live it has almost been created; in the series this topic is treated with great dignity, and yes, it is true that as you grow, your body and mind do not have the same capacities as in youth, but this does not mean that you become a useless person, nor does it take away the right to want to achieve your goals, there are venerable people from all ages we should pay attention to; with Alzheimer's a similar situation happens, there are many products that address this issue, some in a good way, others not, some from the perspective of the person and others from that of their close ones, the way in which Navillera does it is a perspective very early in the disease, where we are given glimpses, but in itself we do not see the hardest part of it, but in the same way this is treated with great respect and dignity and where the reactions of the people around the affected person they are very honest.
Finally, the performances, the truth is that everyone does a wonderful job, but for me all the palms go to Park In-hwa and Song Kang; every time Deokhwan went into a crisis, you could feel in his eyes the despair and fear of not knowing who you are, or where you are or who those around you are, I don't think it is an easy job to have convey those emotions to the public. I also think that physically it must have been a demanding role and the performance that he gave us was incredible; speaking of physically demanding, Song Kang… wow, not only in the ballet parts, that despite having a body double for some scenes, he does it wonderfully, but everything else, his acting is impeccable, you feel each of the emotions of his character, you see through his eyes the struggle and pain and passion with which life is faced, and the chemistry between the two actors is so tender that you really feel this kinship between them. I would also like to give a big applause to the montage, for obvious reasons, as neither of the two actors are professional Ballet dancers, the dances themselves are not presented one hundred percent, but because of the way in which the scenes are mounted make you feel the beauty and elegance of the Ballet.
Navillera is a very beautiful series, of course it is optimistic and sweet, but sometimes you need to see things like that, it is a series made with a lot of love, which talks about the deep experience of being human, I hope that people who see it can feel a little of what I felt and how much it inspired me to just keep going, but above all I hope that everyone has the opportunity to find what makes them feel proud of being human and that everyone can fly, even just one once in your life, i hope.
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