Lovers in Paris
Sep. 8th, 2004 06:18 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
tarigwaemirAd Mundo Exteriore,
We finished the drama last night! Actually, I must say that the last two episodes were a little disappointing. Still, it managed to possess my mind until episode 18, which rates it as probably one of the best Korean dramas I've watched so far. Mind-eating, at least, if you begrudge it the word "best". So, the promised write-up:
Lovers in Paris, as I've mentioned, follows a typical Cinderella storyline of poor, spunky girl meets rich, arrogant man. Actually, I keep cross-referencing it with shoujo manga rather than other dramas (Hana Yori Dango in particular). I'm not entirely sure why, although I think it has to do with the degree of character development. Dramas, or at least Korean dramas, tend to be weak on characterization--they are a function of types not individuals, which is true of manga as well, I suppose, but not to the same degree. Most Korean dramas focus around a quartet of characters--the heroine, her love interest, the female rival (usually a 여우 or "fox" personality who will stop at nothing to separate the main couple), the male rival (usually a handsome playboy who really falls in love for the first time)--who are all interconnected by mysterious pasts and family secrets. My father likes to say that in the world of a drama series, there are only two eligible men and two eligible women in all of Seoul. In any case, of course each scriptwriter creates variations on these types and their relationships with one another, but those variations tend to focus more on background than actual personality. In fact, the distinguishing characteristics that I usually associate with heroines and heroes of various dramas all concern what sort of tragic or comic events befall them--that is, plot not characterization. The fact that Korean actors tend not only to be recast in the same type of roles but also to interpret each role in the same way only reinforces this impression.
Most shoujo manga characters also tend to be types but I think they are more successful at managing to be unique variations. That may be an incredibly subjective judgment on my part, but I think mangaka do focus more on characters, at least to the extent of giving them quirks and mannerisms, even a certain belief system (think Sakura's "everything will be all right!") or set of interests. Lovers in Paris has the same central drama quartet of characters but the actors, and perhaps the scriptwriters, have improvised on them to the point where they become memorable in their own right. Kang Taeyoung, the female lead, is the typical poor but spunky girl, yet we also know that she adores movies (particularly Roman Holiday) because her father used to be an independent film director and that she shouts "아자!" whenever she tries to encourage herself. (The more usual phrase is "Fighting!" As a testament to how successfully this drama has taken over our brains, my entire family has now adopted "아자!" into its regular vocabulary. >_> Anyway, Taeyeong always accompanies "아자" with a little fist motion, which really, really reminds me of shoujo manga heroine quirks.) Han Kijoo, the male lead, is the typical spoiled, rich man, but he's also very hot-tempered, lives decisively "with no regrets", never asks anyone for anything, has a great singing voice, will only eat certain foods (doesn't like spicy or sweet), has absolutely no sense of color (tacky suit and tie combinations! not to mention the shirts!), etc. He seriously reminds me of Doumyouji from HYD...if Doumyouji was thirty-three, divorced, CEO of a car company, less of a gangster and excellent at business. ^_^ Anyway, the scriptwriters and actors have really worked on fleshing out the characters, to the point where you really do care about them as drama characters. It helps, I think, that none of the main actors have been in dramas before--you think of them as Kang Taeyoung and Han Kijoo, not "oh that actress who was in that and that and that drama" and "oh that actor who was that character in that drama".
I've also mentioned before that both the female and male lead are not attractive--they're not ugly, of course, but they're not particularly handsome. I've concluded, after finishing the drama, that this is a plus: you end up appreciating the characters for their own sake, not because you think the actor/actress is cute. I occasionally pass by K-drama forums, and it astonishes me to hear how many people overseas (usually young girls) are convinced now that Korean people are unusually attractive because the dramas that have been exported successfully tend to have the pretty faces. By the way, the actor who plays Yoon Suhyuk, who is Kijoo's nephew (although he's only six years younger) and rival for Taeyoung's love, does have a good-looking face, and the few posts I've seen on Lovers in Paris all seem to swoon about him. Personally, I rather detest the character, despite his appearance, because he cries too often and has an amorphous personality. I should probably mention that while the male and female lead are fascinating people, the scriptwriters rather neglected the other two members of the quartet (the necessary rivals, of course). It becomes increasingly difficult to understand the motivations for anything that Suhyuk does--why he falls in love, why he decides to plot revenge, etc.--and while they provide some token rationalization, for the most part the scriptwriters tend to treat him as an afterthought. Moon Yuna, the female rival (in other words, the rich girl who will do anything to marry Han Kijoo), is even more difficult to believe. She insists that she really loves Kijoo, who has done nothing but humiliate and mistreat her from the beginning--it would make more sense if she went crazy out of hate, but for some reason the writers insist that she really cares about him.
The plot itself is very conventional. Taeyoung is studying abroad in Paris, but she's run out of money for her rent and has gotten fired from her part-time job for being repeatedly late to work. She manages to find a job as a housekeeper for Kijoo instead, and while she never sees her employer, she makes little changes around the house, leaving little post-it notes in explanation. Kijoo, who lives a tightly controlled and regulated life, finds this infuriating, but ends up saving the notes anyway. After a series of coincidences, they finally meet. Kijoo initially fires her but then returns to ask her for a favor--to masquerade as his girlfriend while he tries to close an important business deal. (Can we say, Pretty Woman?) Taeyoung dresses up beautifully, they waltz, all very fairy-tale dream come true. By some amazing coincidence (otherwise known as the master hand of the all-powerful writer), the wife of the man with whom Kijoo hopes to do business is Korean! and went to the same high school as Taeyoung. They bond, and Kijoo decides to take advantage of a great opportunity by saying Taeyoung is his fiancée. They come home and have vaguely romantic moments; both are moved but are not sure by what. Meanwhile Taeyoung meets Suhyuk, who coincidentally! turns out to be Kijoo's nephew (son of his much older sister), and he at least does not beat about the bush--he's in love with her from the first moment he saw her. Why, we're not sure, but we are assured that he's truly, madly, deeply in love--he has had numerous girlfriends before, but never until now has anyone moved him like this. Taeyoung however is oblivious (naturally), and Suhyuk starts vaguely suspecting if there's anything going on between his uncle and the girl he loves. (Suhyuk by the way has grown up without a father, and his mother doesn't pay much attention to him, so his uncle has functioned as both surrogate parents. Suhyuk has always followed in his uncle's footsteps and does everything Kijoo does. Why Suhyuk doesn't follow his uncle all the way into the family business isn't clear, but details, details.)
Anyway, to cut nineteen episodes short...Taeyoung gets badly insulted by Kijoo, who then for the first time regrets what he's done. He goes searching for her, and by the will of fate/destiny/writer's whim, meets her again in Korea. He apologizes and keeps rescuing her from awkward positions (like the perfect prince). Taeyoung, who initially had planned to return to Paris, has to abandon her studies abroad and stay in Korea to clean up the financial mess left by her own uncle who has accumulated a lot of debts. Kijoo gives her a job and pulls a few strings to help her out; her pride is offended but her heart is touched; they grow closer but then! Kijoo's father, the owner of GD Motors (the company which Kijoo runs), orders him to get engaged to Moon Yuna and tells him to cut off his relations with Taeyoung before things get serious. Kijoo tries but fails, and after some serious thinking, realizes he's fallen in love for the first time and decides with characteristic Kijoo-briskness that he can't lose something like this. He breaks off his engagement flashily and tells Taeyoung he loves her. Suhyuk too has confessed, but alas, Taeyoung has only eyes for Kijoo. They get engaged, in spite of opposition from the family, and we learn that Moon Yuna's father is blackmailing Kijoo's father because of a Family Secret (oh, of course!). Suhyuk learns the secret, and in his rage and resentment, decides to make his uncle feel his pain. He joins the company and does a lot of dirty work like leaking the new car model designs to the rival company, etc. Taeyoung tries her best in spite of cold reception from her future in-laws. She is happy because she is in love, after all! But then! She learns the secret! She calls for a separation! Kijoo is in despair. Furthermore, the board of directors is calling for his resignation. Yuna is threatening to reveal all! >_> The plot gets more and more predictable, but all is resolved happily at the end, which would be nice (I love happy endings) if it weren't for the incredibly sappy dialogue.
There was supposed to be a twist ending, which everyone knew about because the writers told the newspapers beforehand, where it turns out that the whole story was just a scenario written by a girl who looks suspiciously like Taeyoung. When I heard this, I thought, "How brilliant! The writers are poking mild fun at drama conventions after all!" But instead of some oblique meta-commentary on their own story, the ending was contrived to mean that no matter what the circumstances, these two souls were meant to meet and fall in love. (The scenario writer is a housekeeper for a rich man who looks suspiciously like Han Kijoo, and the last episode ends with them meeting and repeating the same lines from the drama she's just written. >_< There's a lot of confused staring at each other and "have I met you before?" dialogue. Ah, to see the downfall of such a brilliant idea...) Still, despite my disappointment, I have to admit the dialogue for the most part was very clever. Especially in the first half of the drama, where the plot was still mostly comic rather than melodrama-tragic. (In the last few episodes, everyone was crying constantly. It really annoys me, the way the tears trickle so flawlessly down people's cheeks. No one cries so prettily. Anyway, the one exception to the tearfest was the actor who plays Kijoo--the scene where he broke down after Taeyoung breaks off the engagement was really moving and quite brilliantly acted.) But the comic dialogue was hilarious, with plenty of wordplay and just witty repartees. I particularly liked the kid who played Taeyoung's little cousin--he's about eight but always uses these old-fashioned expressions, like a grandfather. Really cute and really funny.
In conclusion: the drama has its flaws, of course, but dramas wouldn't be fun if they weren't predictable and clichéd. What makes Lovers in Paris worth watching is that it manages to do something new with the same old conventions, thanks to a (mostly) talented cast and two very witty scriptwriters. It's unfortunate that they can't write tragedy as well as they do comedy, but the fact that they managed to hold my genuine interest for eighteen episodes is pretty impressive. And wow, the actors were brilliant. Father says that the two lead actors were largely responsible for creating the characters--they revised and improvised on the script considerably--and I can believe it. Am particularly impressed by Park Shinyang, the actor who plays Kijoo, for his excellent range of expressions (he has this face-splitting grin which is unbecoming but refreshing after the typical insipid smile) and his near-flawless French and English. Seriously, his French sounded better than mine. >_< I also adore the drama soundtrack and will probably continue playing it endlessly. Those songs are so stuck in my head. ^_^
Whew, that was long.
...Tari
We finished the drama last night! Actually, I must say that the last two episodes were a little disappointing. Still, it managed to possess my mind until episode 18, which rates it as probably one of the best Korean dramas I've watched so far. Mind-eating, at least, if you begrudge it the word "best". So, the promised write-up:
Lovers in Paris, as I've mentioned, follows a typical Cinderella storyline of poor, spunky girl meets rich, arrogant man. Actually, I keep cross-referencing it with shoujo manga rather than other dramas (Hana Yori Dango in particular). I'm not entirely sure why, although I think it has to do with the degree of character development. Dramas, or at least Korean dramas, tend to be weak on characterization--they are a function of types not individuals, which is true of manga as well, I suppose, but not to the same degree. Most Korean dramas focus around a quartet of characters--the heroine, her love interest, the female rival (usually a 여우 or "fox" personality who will stop at nothing to separate the main couple), the male rival (usually a handsome playboy who really falls in love for the first time)--who are all interconnected by mysterious pasts and family secrets. My father likes to say that in the world of a drama series, there are only two eligible men and two eligible women in all of Seoul. In any case, of course each scriptwriter creates variations on these types and their relationships with one another, but those variations tend to focus more on background than actual personality. In fact, the distinguishing characteristics that I usually associate with heroines and heroes of various dramas all concern what sort of tragic or comic events befall them--that is, plot not characterization. The fact that Korean actors tend not only to be recast in the same type of roles but also to interpret each role in the same way only reinforces this impression.
Most shoujo manga characters also tend to be types but I think they are more successful at managing to be unique variations. That may be an incredibly subjective judgment on my part, but I think mangaka do focus more on characters, at least to the extent of giving them quirks and mannerisms, even a certain belief system (think Sakura's "everything will be all right!") or set of interests. Lovers in Paris has the same central drama quartet of characters but the actors, and perhaps the scriptwriters, have improvised on them to the point where they become memorable in their own right. Kang Taeyoung, the female lead, is the typical poor but spunky girl, yet we also know that she adores movies (particularly Roman Holiday) because her father used to be an independent film director and that she shouts "아자!" whenever she tries to encourage herself. (The more usual phrase is "Fighting!" As a testament to how successfully this drama has taken over our brains, my entire family has now adopted "아자!" into its regular vocabulary. >_> Anyway, Taeyeong always accompanies "아자" with a little fist motion, which really, really reminds me of shoujo manga heroine quirks.) Han Kijoo, the male lead, is the typical spoiled, rich man, but he's also very hot-tempered, lives decisively "with no regrets", never asks anyone for anything, has a great singing voice, will only eat certain foods (doesn't like spicy or sweet), has absolutely no sense of color (tacky suit and tie combinations! not to mention the shirts!), etc. He seriously reminds me of Doumyouji from HYD...if Doumyouji was thirty-three, divorced, CEO of a car company, less of a gangster and excellent at business. ^_^ Anyway, the scriptwriters and actors have really worked on fleshing out the characters, to the point where you really do care about them as drama characters. It helps, I think, that none of the main actors have been in dramas before--you think of them as Kang Taeyoung and Han Kijoo, not "oh that actress who was in that and that and that drama" and "oh that actor who was that character in that drama".
I've also mentioned before that both the female and male lead are not attractive--they're not ugly, of course, but they're not particularly handsome. I've concluded, after finishing the drama, that this is a plus: you end up appreciating the characters for their own sake, not because you think the actor/actress is cute. I occasionally pass by K-drama forums, and it astonishes me to hear how many people overseas (usually young girls) are convinced now that Korean people are unusually attractive because the dramas that have been exported successfully tend to have the pretty faces. By the way, the actor who plays Yoon Suhyuk, who is Kijoo's nephew (although he's only six years younger) and rival for Taeyoung's love, does have a good-looking face, and the few posts I've seen on Lovers in Paris all seem to swoon about him. Personally, I rather detest the character, despite his appearance, because he cries too often and has an amorphous personality. I should probably mention that while the male and female lead are fascinating people, the scriptwriters rather neglected the other two members of the quartet (the necessary rivals, of course). It becomes increasingly difficult to understand the motivations for anything that Suhyuk does--why he falls in love, why he decides to plot revenge, etc.--and while they provide some token rationalization, for the most part the scriptwriters tend to treat him as an afterthought. Moon Yuna, the female rival (in other words, the rich girl who will do anything to marry Han Kijoo), is even more difficult to believe. She insists that she really loves Kijoo, who has done nothing but humiliate and mistreat her from the beginning--it would make more sense if she went crazy out of hate, but for some reason the writers insist that she really cares about him.
The plot itself is very conventional. Taeyoung is studying abroad in Paris, but she's run out of money for her rent and has gotten fired from her part-time job for being repeatedly late to work. She manages to find a job as a housekeeper for Kijoo instead, and while she never sees her employer, she makes little changes around the house, leaving little post-it notes in explanation. Kijoo, who lives a tightly controlled and regulated life, finds this infuriating, but ends up saving the notes anyway. After a series of coincidences, they finally meet. Kijoo initially fires her but then returns to ask her for a favor--to masquerade as his girlfriend while he tries to close an important business deal. (Can we say, Pretty Woman?) Taeyoung dresses up beautifully, they waltz, all very fairy-tale dream come true. By some amazing coincidence (otherwise known as the master hand of the all-powerful writer), the wife of the man with whom Kijoo hopes to do business is Korean! and went to the same high school as Taeyoung. They bond, and Kijoo decides to take advantage of a great opportunity by saying Taeyoung is his fiancée. They come home and have vaguely romantic moments; both are moved but are not sure by what. Meanwhile Taeyoung meets Suhyuk, who coincidentally! turns out to be Kijoo's nephew (son of his much older sister), and he at least does not beat about the bush--he's in love with her from the first moment he saw her. Why, we're not sure, but we are assured that he's truly, madly, deeply in love--he has had numerous girlfriends before, but never until now has anyone moved him like this. Taeyoung however is oblivious (naturally), and Suhyuk starts vaguely suspecting if there's anything going on between his uncle and the girl he loves. (Suhyuk by the way has grown up without a father, and his mother doesn't pay much attention to him, so his uncle has functioned as both surrogate parents. Suhyuk has always followed in his uncle's footsteps and does everything Kijoo does. Why Suhyuk doesn't follow his uncle all the way into the family business isn't clear, but details, details.)
Anyway, to cut nineteen episodes short...Taeyoung gets badly insulted by Kijoo, who then for the first time regrets what he's done. He goes searching for her, and by the will of fate/destiny/writer's whim, meets her again in Korea. He apologizes and keeps rescuing her from awkward positions (like the perfect prince). Taeyoung, who initially had planned to return to Paris, has to abandon her studies abroad and stay in Korea to clean up the financial mess left by her own uncle who has accumulated a lot of debts. Kijoo gives her a job and pulls a few strings to help her out; her pride is offended but her heart is touched; they grow closer but then! Kijoo's father, the owner of GD Motors (the company which Kijoo runs), orders him to get engaged to Moon Yuna and tells him to cut off his relations with Taeyoung before things get serious. Kijoo tries but fails, and after some serious thinking, realizes he's fallen in love for the first time and decides with characteristic Kijoo-briskness that he can't lose something like this. He breaks off his engagement flashily and tells Taeyoung he loves her. Suhyuk too has confessed, but alas, Taeyoung has only eyes for Kijoo. They get engaged, in spite of opposition from the family, and we learn that Moon Yuna's father is blackmailing Kijoo's father because of a Family Secret (oh, of course!). Suhyuk learns the secret, and in his rage and resentment, decides to make his uncle feel his pain. He joins the company and does a lot of dirty work like leaking the new car model designs to the rival company, etc. Taeyoung tries her best in spite of cold reception from her future in-laws. She is happy because she is in love, after all! But then! She learns the secret! She calls for a separation! Kijoo is in despair. Furthermore, the board of directors is calling for his resignation. Yuna is threatening to reveal all! >_> The plot gets more and more predictable, but all is resolved happily at the end, which would be nice (I love happy endings) if it weren't for the incredibly sappy dialogue.
There was supposed to be a twist ending, which everyone knew about because the writers told the newspapers beforehand, where it turns out that the whole story was just a scenario written by a girl who looks suspiciously like Taeyoung. When I heard this, I thought, "How brilliant! The writers are poking mild fun at drama conventions after all!" But instead of some oblique meta-commentary on their own story, the ending was contrived to mean that no matter what the circumstances, these two souls were meant to meet and fall in love. (The scenario writer is a housekeeper for a rich man who looks suspiciously like Han Kijoo, and the last episode ends with them meeting and repeating the same lines from the drama she's just written. >_< There's a lot of confused staring at each other and "have I met you before?" dialogue. Ah, to see the downfall of such a brilliant idea...) Still, despite my disappointment, I have to admit the dialogue for the most part was very clever. Especially in the first half of the drama, where the plot was still mostly comic rather than melodrama-tragic. (In the last few episodes, everyone was crying constantly. It really annoys me, the way the tears trickle so flawlessly down people's cheeks. No one cries so prettily. Anyway, the one exception to the tearfest was the actor who plays Kijoo--the scene where he broke down after Taeyoung breaks off the engagement was really moving and quite brilliantly acted.) But the comic dialogue was hilarious, with plenty of wordplay and just witty repartees. I particularly liked the kid who played Taeyoung's little cousin--he's about eight but always uses these old-fashioned expressions, like a grandfather. Really cute and really funny.
In conclusion: the drama has its flaws, of course, but dramas wouldn't be fun if they weren't predictable and clichéd. What makes Lovers in Paris worth watching is that it manages to do something new with the same old conventions, thanks to a (mostly) talented cast and two very witty scriptwriters. It's unfortunate that they can't write tragedy as well as they do comedy, but the fact that they managed to hold my genuine interest for eighteen episodes is pretty impressive. And wow, the actors were brilliant. Father says that the two lead actors were largely responsible for creating the characters--they revised and improvised on the script considerably--and I can believe it. Am particularly impressed by Park Shinyang, the actor who plays Kijoo, for his excellent range of expressions (he has this face-splitting grin which is unbecoming but refreshing after the typical insipid smile) and his near-flawless French and English. Seriously, his French sounded better than mine. >_< I also adore the drama soundtrack and will probably continue playing it endlessly. Those songs are so stuck in my head. ^_^
Whew, that was long.
...Tari
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
(no subject)
Date: 2004-09-08 07:13 pm (UTC)And if I put up a drama community, will you cross-post your reviews/drama summaries there? XD
(no subject)
Date: 2004-09-09 12:11 pm (UTC)I haven't watched Bright Girl or Sunshine Pouring Down, but I've heard good things about them. Will definitely put them on my to-watch-next list. ^_^
...Tari
(no subject)
Date: 2004-09-09 07:44 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2004-09-09 12:16 pm (UTC)...Tari