[PREV - CONJURE_WIFE] [TOP]
May 19, 2019
May 24, 2019
"Her Private Life" (2019, Korean)
Okay, I have to admit it to myself: I
really, really like this show. If you
step back and take an objective look at
my behavior, there's no way around it:
I broke my rule about watching only
one episode per day, and powered
through the first 10 or so in less
than a week.
As the new episodes come out, I've been
watching bits of the raws rather than
just waiting a day for the subtitles.
(May 23, 2019)
And I've been watching the earlier
episodes again with my partner: And I woke up this morning
re-watching the series even before dreaming about a scenario using
it's over with, would seem to be an the characters from "Her
unambiguous sign. Private Life", where they're
using a two-person kayak to
DANGERBABY travel downstream in a small
river through a jungle-- they
And a strangely dis- capsize and lose most of their
jointed viewing method supplies.
this is-- re-watching
the earlier episodes
I have trouble remember-
ing who is supposed
to know what by now.
But it's fundamentally just a
by-the-numbers kdrama romcom.
Everyone is Endless really dorky Some are blatantly There are some
actually connected exaggerated fantasy deceptive, so that shaggy-dog
to each other! sequences making fun they can play tricks "cliffhangers"
Isn't that amazing? of hidden dreams and on the audience, sleazy enough to be
It Must Be Fate. desires. making a move and worthy of a
immediately taking it Republic serial.
back.
KOREAN_POETICS
So, what's so good about it?
This one has no underlying
fantasy or science fiction
premises, it does however use the At the outset, we're shown
high end art world as one of it's the male main character as
main backgrounds, which you don't a famous painter turned
see done very often, and it museum/gallery director--
strikes me as more interesting he's had a years long case
than yet another rebellious of artist's block because
chaebol offspring subjected to something about the works
medieval marriage customs. of an obscure artist named
"Lee Sol" is haunting him.
This series does not shy away
from *showing* you the artwork
The B-movie Hollywood under discussion-- and most of
style would frequently it is not bad, to my eye-- in
just punt on showing the particular the art of "Lee
art-- the actors comment Sol" gave me a bad impression
in awe, staring at a at first glance ("what are
canvas we can only see those, paintings of christmas
from the rear. ornaments or something?") but
after looking at them for
It is, after all, not so a while I began to feel there
easy to fake superbly might be some depth in the
transcendent art-- and murky colors of these
tastes differ, much of ambiquous spheres...
the audience is quite
likely contemptuous of I was mildly disappointed
high-brow "abstract" that the artist is haunted
painting, and yet decent by personal associations
photorealistic art that rather than something
doesn't seem ridiculously deeper, more metaphysical...
trite is if anything but what do you want from
harder to manage. a kdrama, right?
And stories about such things
aren't very easy to bring off.
TO_HERE_AND_THE_EASEL
The other axis it revolves around, though, is the
world of music "idols" and their obsessive fans,
which is not exactly fresh and original...
And yet here, the *main character* is one of these
fans, they're not *just* a strange hazardous force
that creates plot complications. This is about an
adult woman who's a central figure in a strange,
reviled sub-culture-- the second episode is titled:
"I'm Sorry for Pretending that I'm Normal"
Further, one of the best things about this one is her
relationship with her best friend, another long-time
"fangirl"-- the two of them *like* to hang around with
each other, happilly gushing about fangirl trivia or
relationship troubles and triumphs. There are no
clouds on this horizon whatsoever: they're not
worried about each other stealing a boyfriend, or
patiently explaining that they have to get on with
their Real Life and can't waste so much time on a mere
friend, or anything like that.
The usual doctrine is that stories are about
conflict, and that results in endless tales of
contrived troubles: it begins to feel like an
inane cliche, a conviction that no positive
outcome is possible anywhere.
When that's all just dropped it can actually
seem refreshingly original...
There are other things you can point to: the
female lead is clearly a Competent Woman, In an interview, the lead
she's really good at her job-- curating a actress, Park Min-young,
museum/gallery-- and also at her role as a commented she felt like
"fangirl" where she's not just good, she's the she was playing more than
best in her field, the acknowledged first fan one character-- it is true
of the singer Shi An. It's strongly suggested she has to cover a number
that he might never have become successful if of bases here: gushing fan
she hadn't adopted him and volunteered to girl, professional woman,
promote him online. squabbling sibling, adult
lover... In her previous
(But our heroine, despite her general hit, she did a good job,
competence, has a knack for falling down but mostly in just a
a lot, particularly when the male lead single mode that got a
is standing near by.) little monotonous:
SECRETARY_KIM
On two occasions they stay up
all night together playing There's a line of dialog something like
cards-- that has to be an "This is Korea, if a woman kisses a man
intentional joke. and doesn't get married to him, we throw
her in jail."
And a feature not to be sneered at is the music:
it doesn't suck and they don't over use it (too
much). There's only around a dozen pieces of
music they've got to work with, and they don't
generally just hammer away at one of them.
Even the bouncey bubblgum-pop numbers or
more or less okay-- there's one that I think
of as the "trolling feminists song" that
strikes me as hilarious ("I want to be...
Your *precious* *little* *girl*!").
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