Editorials 
This review may contain spoilers
underwhelmed
Having waited expectantly for this drama for a fair while as soon as it was mentioned on Netflix, especially given the cast with two of the best actors around as the leads, I have to say that the creeping dissatisfaction I felt as the drama went on was a great disappointment to me.I know the original book very well, and given the range and capabilities of the two lead actors, I had hoped we were in for an adaptation that would maintain some of the radical amorality of the book. Are SYJ and JCW just fundamentally too nice as people to be able to portray the depths of depravity that the book exploits, and which the script tried to emulate? I don't think the fault lies there ... but it was no good, I just didn't feel any of the perverse push-and-pull relationship the main characters were supposed to have. The widow figure also was annoying with her constant hunched up shoulders. The most fun were the two servants who just got on with life. But I suppose they had an easier job. The sex scenes felt overly manicured, flagrantly aestheticized. Intimacy coaching gone a bit too far?
On the good side however, I have to say that a lot of effort went in to the set, and even the choice of music at times was ironic, eg. the sleazy trumpet (Shostakovitch?) when Cho Won puts on his seductive act. The pansori story-telling was a good idea for a sideways take on the action. The silk worm farm was an excellent metaphor for the ugly hearts under the silks worn by all . The sound of thousands of silkworms chewing the leaves was spot on.
Choderlos de Laclos was exposing the heartless machinations of two libertines at the time (just before the Revolution), but what was this drama saying about today? Blessed if I know.
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This review may contain spoilers
ML characterization (not his acting) insufficiently fleshed out
Yes, the chemistry was great, yes I'm glad they got together at the end, but I really wished that in the 21st century we had been given deeper access to a male character who comes truly to terms with his failings. Not just someone who apologizes, confesses that he's not good with words and has no empathy. The FL patently worked hard to grow as a woman. She was the lead in bringing down the abusive male boss. She freed herself from the boyfriend's spell. That she should cave in so quickly because of that same spell is really not giving the right message to either female or male viewers. I think back to 'Record of Youth' where the FL states very clearly that though she loved the ML, their relationship did not make her happy. That is a good point to make, always.My second minor gripe is the ending, especially the strange museum metaphor. A museum by definition is a place where the objects in it do not change. But a good relationship needs to be able to come to terms with change and embrace it.
A third, possibly more serious complaint, is the treatment of the second male lead's suicide. It was hinted at, it happened, and then vanished (almost) from view. Such a casual treatment of this horrendous event felt callous. A suicide attempt might have been a better script decision. Perhaps, the two MLs could then have been brought together, leading to personality developments on the part of the ML. But then, more episodes would have been required.
So, as ever, my reservations are with the script, with those of the team who have the unenviable task of creating something out of nothing. I admire you, dear writers! Please think hard about your craft, though I know you must have constraints that are unimaginable to us spectators.
However, these quibbles apart, I did enjoy the series. As I said, the 'skinship' between the actors was reliably hot, and both were lovely to look at, in their parts and as fashion icons, though the ML's dresser was a little OTT broad-shouldered on occasion! The support actors were perfect, and I enjoyed seeing different parts of China. Harbin looks like an interesting city.
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Fluffy, weird, full of non-sequiturs but still fab ML and FL
Though the series got less and less spooky as it went on, I still enjoyed it all until the last episode which was OTT dripping with sentimentality, even for me. The script did not do justice to the FL's potential but she was excellent performing what she got. The ML had more opportunities to shine and that he did! A pleasure to watch just him in fact. Other members of the cast were fine too even though none of them really had a chance to develop some kind of arc.A trip to Singapore in the middle for some strange reason had me wondering about how the film was funded, but there you go, the film industry worldwide, and K is no exception, take their handouts wherever and whenever.
There were some good truly suspenseful episode endings till about halfway through. My imagination ran riot wondering how things would resolve. I'm sure other viewers felt the same. A shame KDramas no longer get made as they are viewed, I think we could all help out the poor beleaguered writers.
In the end, it's the writing, not the directing, acting or photography, that prevents what ends up as a good series from being a great one. I get that KDramas are having to churn out a lot of content these days and I have no idea how the writers manage to do what they do. But something needs to be done to help them bring their work to fuller fruition.
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Kim Tae Ri as always at her superb best
Jeongnyeon: The Star Is Born (2024)A stunning production, which I gather did not garner much enthusiasm as the time it was released. Which is a pity because, for someone like me who knew nothing about pansori storytelling or gukgeuk theatre, it was a real eye-opener – the theatrical productions and auditions from this Korean arts tradition were a joy to watch. Whether the writing between the lines is Sapphic or not.
The cast, with Kim Tae-Ri in the lead, were also stellar. The vocal acrobatics of all actor/singers (whether voiced-over or not I do not know, but it didn’t seem to matter in any case, so why am I raising the issue…) were staggering in stark contrast to the simple folk tales and heroic events enacted in the theatre productions.
Kim Tae Ri, as ever, stood head and shoulders above everyone for the depth, intelligence and sensitivity of her acting, whether as a young woman fighting multiple challenges in order to become a gukgeuk actor, or as that actor on stage. Her vocal modulation technique in particular was remarkable. I never tire of watching her in the ambitious parts she always manages to choose.
My only quibble would be the tendency at times towards lengthy melodramatic moments, especially between members of the gukgeuk troupe. But that may be my 21st century European perspective which could arguably be viewed as inappropriate for a series set in Korea in the 1950s (excellent set and costumes btw). However, perhaps the script could nonetheless have taken the contemporary sensitivities of the target viewership into account?
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so disappointing
As a huge fan of ZLH – I'd happily watch him reading the back of a packet of cornflakes for an hour or two – but even his presence and energetic attempt at providing this drama with a degree of pizzazz will not make me want to watch further than the first three episodes. I'm sorry, but the ridiculous pace, the clichéd filming, the poverty of character development meant that this drama offers nothing for this viewer to latch on to. I admit to not having watched a 'Republican' drama before, and reading some of the reviews below, I gather it is a genre that has its own specificities, tropes etc. Even so, the drama's inability to credit viewers with a brain, a critical eye, and dramatic sensibility means, for me at any rate, that this drama is a flop. I truly wish I could say otherwise. This is one of the very few dramas that have not wanted to see through to the end before I made up my mind.Was this review helpful to you?
