Review by Leonard Norwitz
Studio:
Theatrical: MBC Television, Korea
DVD: YA-Entertainment
Disc:
Region: 1
Runtime: 980 min
Episodes: 16
Case: 2 x gatefold cases in sturdy slipcover
Release date: May 31, 2009
Video:
Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
Resolution: 480p
Video codec:
Audio:
Korean Dolby Digital 2.0
Subtitles:
English
Extras:
• Behind the Scenes (63 min.)
• Press Conference (17 min.)
The Film:
8
Instead of a show built around food, twins separated at
birth, or the Joseon Dynasty, Time Between Dog and Wolf is a
contemporary crime drama about an police undercover
operation that goes deadly awry. It still has some familiar
Korean-style elements: a love triangle, amnesia, and
childhood friends who reconnect as adults, but the substance
of the story and the action shared between Korea and
Thailand have a newish feel. Moreover, the performance of
its lead actor, Lee Jung Ki, is riveting, and the main
reason for checking this out.
We meet Lee Soo Hyun as a boy in Thailand where he befriends
Ji Woo. Ji Woo's mother feels increasingly estranged by her
husband’s career: gangster in the notorious Jung Triad
organization. They live well, but Mao isn't home much. She
finally decides to leave her husband with the help of Seo
Yung Gil, a tentative associate of the triads, who wants to
relocate in Korea and go straight.
Soo Hyun’s mother is a D.A. attempting to nail the local
triad. But before she can make good on her efforts she is
gunned down in front of her son. The tattoo on the
assassin’s wrist is seared into the boy’s mind. Gang Jung
Ho, a Korean intelligence officer in the wings, adopts Soo
Hyun into his family. Gang's son, Min Gi, is about the same
age as Soo Hyun and they become fast friends. The newcomer
excels in all things, leaving poor Min Gi feeling more than
a little left out, even by his own father.
The boys decide to follow in their parents’ footsteps and
join the Korean NIS (National Intelligence Service), through
which Soo Hyun hopes to wreak his vengeance on the man who
murdered his mother. Before long, several things come
together almost at once: Ji Woo and Soo Hyun reconnect; Min
Gi falls in love with her causing an uncomfortable triangle
for all concerned; and Soo Hyun comes upon the man with the
tattoo and goes beserk in a failed attempt to kill him. The
NIS invites Soo Hyun to go into deep cover with the triads,
first faking his own death and burning the bridges to his
past identity.
When he suffers a serious accident that causes total
amnesia, Soo Hyun loses touch with his contact at NIS and
naturally and believably assumes the identity of his NIS
cover. He soon becomes the number two man in the triad,
second only to tattoo man, while back home, friends and
associates continue to believe him dead. It is from this
point forward that Lee Jung Ki really finds his groove,
searching for his identity as a wolf might search for food.
As Soo Hyung's past catches up with him, his psyche
practically disintegrates before our eyes.
Oh, did I mention that tattoo man and Mao are one and the
same person!
Not to diminish the efforts of the other fine actors in this
series, but Time Between Dog & Wolf is really Lee Jun Ki’s
circus. Jun Ki is a most unusual looking man - reminds me of
Richard Chamberlain about the time of The Thorn Birds. The
title fits his look perfectly, both literally and
metaphorically. He was the gender-bending Gong Gil in The
King and the Clown and his feminine beauty is eye-catching
here as well. Once he gets his laugh under control, Lee Jung
Ki will be a force to be reckoned with.
Except for how the writers devolve Ji-Woo (Nam Sang Mi) into
obligatory nonsense in the final episodes, the characters
are well considered and fleshed out. The goofy sidesick
angle, so prevalent in Korean TV dramas, is downplayed here:
Park Hyo Jun as Kay's buddy Ah Hwa is a sympathetic
character, seeing how Kay (that's Soo Hyun's cover identity)
uses and protects him by turns.
I always feel a little sorry for the "other guy" in these
shows. They have to emote like crazy and get practically
nowhere doing it. Few do this with such credible and
creditable passion as Jung Kyung Ho as Gang Min Gi. My
personal prejudices are engaged whenever the woman is
expected to indulge the suit of a man in love only because
he is so intensely passionate about it, and the business
between Min Gi and Ji Woo is no exception. (In my country,
we call these guys "stalkers".) For a change, Ji Woo's
response to Min Gi, moderated by her belief that Soo Hyun is
alive – a belief that the filmmakers manage to torment her
with good and proper – is a little less unflattering to
women at large. What does make their relationship
interesting is that Min Gi finds himself in the position of
having to investigate the triad, and Kay in particular,
without realizing that it is his own brother. It's a bit of
a stretch – but handled semi-believably. In any case, the
duality of his problem sweeps us along.
There are a number of important and well-acted supporting
characters, but I shall single out only two others for now:
Kim Gab Soo as NIS Director Jung Hak Soo has the perfect
degree of detached concern for his agents, their fates and
the operations that are expected to protect his country from
evildoers. Finally, a special merit badge for Choi Ji Ho as
Mao. Mao is a smart and ruthless adversary. In his early
career he murdered both of Soo Hyun's parents and caused the
breakup of his own family. Part of his affection for Kay
derives from the loss of his daughter, Ji Woo. It is his own
history, even more than any manipulations on Kay's part,
that causes him to see Kay as a son. Choi Ji Ho elicits our
sympathy because he plays his character as a tragic figure.
Instead of becoming crazier, as does Jack Nicholson's
Costello in The Departed, Mao becomes wearier. He chose his
career, not so much out of greed or ambition, but because it
seemed to him a more viable option than living on the
streets. Mao is as tragic in his way as Soo Hyun is in his;
and it is their relationship, more so than the love
triangle, that makes this drama so fascinating.
Speaking from a Western perspective, which I am loosely
confident in feeling representative, this series would have
been absolutely awesome if not for a few pesky nods to the
targeted Korean television audience – an audience, if you
were to read to blogs, seem to care only about how cute this
or that actor or actress is and how their characters match
up with each other. There is a tendency in Time Between Dog
& Wolf – less so here than in many Korean TV dramas - to
manufacture situations merely so that characters can emote
to their fullest: the most egregious instance being the
murder of a top NIS agent where blame falls on Soo Hyun only
because it never occurs to anyone to follow the blood trail.
Later, Ji Woo insults the intelligence of women everywhere
by insinuating herself into dangerous NIS operations because
“he needs me” - and variations on that tune. And the ending
- OMG - completely shatters the effect of the kharmic John
Woo-like climax minutes before. I wouldn’t say these
“defects” entirely spoil our enjoyment of the show, but it
does try our patience in the final few episodes and ruin
what chance it may have had for classic status.
Image:
9/7
The score of 9 indicates a relative level of excellence
compared to other standard definition DVDs on a 10-point
scale. The second score represents a value for the image on
a 10-point scale that accommodates both standard and
high-definition video discs – where, since the large
majority of high definition video discs are 8-10m any score
above 7 for an DVD is outstanding.
Time Between Dog and Wolf is YAE's best-looking offering to
date. It is their most artifact-free image, beating out all
previous entries largely due to its having no edge
enhancement to speak of (rare on DVDs of any origin), bit
rates of about 20% higher (i.e.
closer to 6 Mbps than 5), and its being progressive and
without evidence of combing. Up until now, all YAE DVDs that
I’ve seen have been non-progressive. Color is saturated with
natural flesh tones in the right light. Sharpness and
resolution is very good, and contrast is in better control.
There are fewer instances of totally blown out highs.
Apparently more care has been taken to properly fill in
backlit scenes.
Audio & Music:
7/8
I remember noting in my review of Inside the White Tower of
a clear-as-can-be audio track marred by an arrhythmic
appearance of low frequency rumble. There was a difference
but equally puzzling low frequency sound at various points
in the series. It seemed that the intent was to underscore
an extended moment of suspense, but I’m guessing that the
engineers did not have a sufficiently good resolution audio
system to hear that the effect they created was
counter-productive.
Except for the low-frequency anomaly (which may only have
subverted some 15 minutes from a total of about 980
minutes), the dialogue, effects, and music is all
front-directed stereo. I found the Western and Korean music
smartly used, and far less cued than is the case on typical
Korean TV series. I felt the background music played by
unseen pianists and chamber ensembles at various restaurants
and cafes to be subtly affected.
Operations:
8/8
The names of the stars appear in English over the episode's
credits, as they have been doing more regularly in recent
YAE series. The menu is uncomplicated, in English, with
animated thumbnails for each of the four chapters per
episode. YAE offers a fairly straightforward box design this
time out: a sturdy, compact outer sleeve with an open end
for two equally sturdy gatefold cases
holding 3 discs each. Each case holds three discs (Episodes
1-9 & Episodes 10-16 + the Bonus Features.)
Translation & Subtitles : 9/9
YAE’s translations have gotten more idiomatic with time. I
don’t think there were more than a couple of spelling
mistakes, and only one repeated misuse of the colloquial
“guys” (as in “that NIS guy”) that burst the magic bubble.
And I don't think it was meant to be funny – in this most
humorless of dramas that the name of the front organization
for the Jung Triad in Korea is "BS Enterprises." The white
font is outlined in white and is not so large as to get in
the way of the action.
Extras:
7
The final disc offers two bonus features: the longer and far
more interesting is the “Behind the Scenes” documentary,
divided into six segments: [a] Filming in Thailand (27
min.); Filming at the resort (8 min.); Garra Rafa (about the
little doctor fish that Soo Hyun plays with (4 min.);
staging the fight scenes (15 min.) and the car chase (3
min.). These are considerably more revealing than the
mid-season press conference that concludes the bonus
features (17min.) In the documentary the director, Kim Jin
Min, talks about how he came to the series and the special
challenges he felt he faced. Ditto this with the main stars,
who are, like other Korean
actors, so self-effacing you wonder how they manage to get
into another character – but its just a cultural thing, and
the discrepancy is entertaining.
Bottom line:
8
When I give the series as high a rating and recommendation,
as I do, you should take it that the good parts are really,
really good: Insightful and, at times, sublime. As an action
series, there is never a dull moment. Lee Jun Ki’s
performance as a man torn beyond the breaking point as the
truth of who he is comes crashing in on him is intense to
the point that it’s hard to watch, yet we can’t take our
eyes off him.
Leonard Norwitz
July 4th, 2009