|
Comments |
Korean soap opera is
seriously devoted to the notion of "First Love." [My
personal opinion is that this and other themes current in
K-dramas are given a shot in the arm by the effects of the
separation of the two Koreas, but that's another story.]
First Love is heavily romanticized in TV fictions and can be
seen in the expectations of behavior for what remains, in
many ways, a reserved society. Even in more adult K-dramas
such as
Alone in Love,
Someday and Goodbye Solo, the idea of
dating (with or without sex) one partner after another is
considered bad behavior. A woman, especially, is expected
not to date a man unless she is believes the two are likely
to marry – and it takes more than a simple "let's see who
else might be available" to break off such a relationship
once a commitment is made. From a Western perspective,
Korean dating comes with all the baggage of an engagement –
even before kissing or even hand holding.
We have seen how First Love operates in one romantic soap
opera after another (Winter Sonata and
The Snow Queen leap
to mind right away.) One Fine Day combines the concept of
First Love with the fatalism of Romeo & Juliet in a context
of incest, kidnapping,
murder, jealousy, rape, suicide, extortion, corporate theft,
and the usual Korean fondness for the separation of siblings
at a young age. No matter what our Western inclinations are
about the more perverse or criminal aspects of such things,
First Love trumps all, even - as in the case of One Fine Day
– if the lovers are – in their minds at least - siblings.
Now a moment ago I said that "First Love trumps all." That's
not entirely true. Korean dramas of this genre stack the
deck with two Aces of Spades: the other being the male's
responsibility to (first) the parents or grandparents and
(second) the love interest. We've seen how this operates in
The Snow Queen, and much the same principal is at work here.
The clever thing in One Fine Day, though I felt the plot
overwhelmed the ethical dilemma, is that Gun is not only
torn by his new found feelings for Ha-Neul, but by the fact
that he planned to extort money from her. In this respect,
his efforts to protect her from both Tae-Won and Dong Ha
would be laughable if the situations weren't so brutally
criminal on the one hand and none of his business on the
other – again, from a Western perspective.
I think it's fair to say that One Fine Day is an example of
what we in the West would call "trash" – fairly well done
trash (except for the preposterous opening sequence whose
sole purpose is to get the audience to tune into MBC), but
trash nonetheless. Koreans don't quite see it that way. From
their perspective, One Fine Day is a Romance about First
Love. True, just about every imaginable ethical, moral, and
legal obstacle is thrown in their way, to say nothing of a
much "better" catch for Ha-Neul in the person of Kang Dong
Ha, the director of the aquarium (supplied by Seoul's
stunning
Coex Aquarium) Dong Ha is everything that Gun is not –
sensitive, witty and well off – but he's also more than a
little detached (part of his charm, actually) and certainly
no scoundrel (which is a good part of what attracts women to
Gun).
As is usual for Korean dramas, the performances here are,
for the most part, compelling and heartfelt – or, at the
very least, intense. It is this fact that Koreans cotton to,
while ignoring plotholes large enough to drive a Hummer
into. We are probably familiar with Sung Yu Ri from her
recent tour in
The Snow Queen. Here she is Ha Neul/ Hye Won,
moving between lost and found as in a daze. The other leads
are unfamiliar to me. As a character, I found Nam Goong
Min's Kang Dong Ha to be most unique among K-dramas. Goong
Min has a way of making "detached" feel "warm." I was most
impressed with 18-year old Lee Yeon Hee's long-suffering and
insufferable Hyo-Ju – a difficult character to bring off
sympathetically - which, of course, goes quadruple for Gong
Yoo as Seo Gun, who rarely has a moment of peace with
himself – and well-deserved, I might add.
One final comment about my reaction to Gong Yoo's
performance, or his character, I admit I couldn't be certain
which: I had the feeling from the outset that the actor was
not entirely convinced by the story he was in. To be sure,
Seo Gun is confused about his own motivation, so perhaps the
actor is right on target, but I wasn't convinced. In a way
quite different from, say, Bae Yong Jun playing an equally,
though differently, confused character in an out-and-out
fairy tale like
Winter Sonata, Gong Yuu struck me as
uncertain – and, in his uncertainty, overreacted to (or
overacted in) just about every moment, whether he was trying
to be charming or romantic, stud-ly or tough, protective or
invasive.
Image : 8.5/7
The score of 8.5 indicates a relative level of excellence
compared to other standard definition DVDs on a 10-point
scale for SD DVDs. The second score represents a value for
the image on a 10-point scale that accommodates both
standard and high-definition DVDs – where any score above 7
for an SD is outstanding, since the large majority of high
definition DVDs are 8-9.5.
What I wrote about MBC's
Truth, applies to the production
values for One Fine Day, where lighting adjustments are made
for some situations, especially outdoors, with the usual
tendency to overexpose areas lit by a strong source such as
sunlight. Enhancement and artifacts are at a minimum –
hardly noticeable unless you're looking for them. As is
usually the case with YAE DVD productions, the image is not
progressive; even so, it is
surprisingly lovely. Particular care was taken with the
shots in the aquarium, of which there are many, and worth
the price of admission just to indulge the view. One Fine
Day may be YAE's best effort to date. It is certainly one of
MBC's. Now, if they could only solve that progressive issue.
Edition: n/a
I know of no other edition. One Fine Day is the first Korean
TV series I've seen whose title card indicates it was shot
and broadcast in HD.
Audio & Music : 8/7
While less inspired than some, I found the musical score to
One Fine Day to be effective, if not memorable. The audio is
clearly recorded with well-balanced dialog, music, and
ambient sounds, especially in the aquarium.
Translation & Subtitles : 8/8
As hoped and expected, YAE continues to improve their
translations into idiomatic English – this being one YAE's
excellent efforts. There are very few grammatical errors or
misspellings, and I never felt confused about the action. .
. which reminds me that spoken English is subtitled in
Korean as well as the English, which can get messy (see
screen capture.) Subtitles are white, bordered in black so
as to always be clear against any background and, except as
just noted, not so large as to become intrusive.
Operations & Box Design : 7/6
One Fine Day comes in one of YAE's more cheaply constructed
boxes: a thin outer shell, housing two volumes with 3 discs,
one of them on a plastic page. One good thing: the release
clasp is of the strain-relief kind that I first saw back in
their much more elegant Dae Jang Geum edition. The menu is
easy to follow and makes use of video thumbnails to make
scene identification easier.
I guess this is as good a moment as any to underscore a
misdirection common in YAE/MBC menus and cover art, which
make the series look far sweeter and more charming than it
really is on balance. One Fine Day, despite its hopeful
title, is 20% charm, 80% anguish – and I dare a Korean
audience to see it differently.
Extras : 8
There's an hour of extra features in varying 4;3 or
letterboxed formats on disc six that provide fascinating
insights into the marketing of K-dramas. The hour is an MBC
promotional piece for Korean fan-based audiences. The
editing and voiceover narration (not by the actors
themselves) focus on the show's delights, rather than its
torments, and on the actors, rather than the characters. For
example, one of the segments is titled "Gong Yoo vs. Nam
Goong Min" not "Seo Gun vs. Kang Dong Ha" – the narrator
consistently refers to the actors' names rather than the
characters', which tells us that MBC is selling
personalities more than stories. Though it's not spelled out
in YAE's menu, there is even a short piece titled "Actors
With Great Bodies". That's "actors" not "actresses" – an
important point that these shows are not about T&A, even
though the men are often seen shirtless.
Recommendation: 7
I found One Fine Day to be an extraordinary emotional roller
coaster that placed my Western judgments and perspectives
squarely at odds with the behaviors of its protagonists. I
recommend the series if you want to see just far your own
prejudices can stretch – or even if they are different from
mine. That said, I did feel that the producers, writers and
director did not fully appreciate their own material, going
only as far as questioning the ethics of romantic love
between siblings unrelated by blood. The irony of three
(count them!) pairs of siblings, all of whom share a similar
predicament was never developed. We see it, but the
characters don't.
-
Leonard Norwitz
|
