Tuesday, July 25, 2017

Official stills for Kim Namgil's double life in "Live Up To Your Name"


Because I, having so much free time, translated some article.
Enjoy^^






Kim Namgil’s double life from Live Up To Your Name, a medical Joseon time-travel drama has been caught.
On the 25th, the official stills of Heo Im – the Kim Namgil’s character from the new Sat-Sun drama, set in Joseon period, Live Up To Your Name (dir.: Hong Jongchan, screenplay: Kim Eunhee), have been released by the tvN. This series will replace the currently airing Secret Forest.

Our interest is stirred not only by the mysterious circumstances of how Heo Im’s life became bifurcated, but also by manifold performances that Kim Namgil unfolds right in front of us. Live Up To Your Name is a medical drama jumping back as far as 400 years back into the Joseon period, about a needle wielding acupuncturist Heo Im (Kim Namgil) and a scalpel wielding cardiothoracic surgeon Choi Yeon-gyeong (Kim Ajung). This is probably the most anticipated show this summer, having both Kim Namgil who returns to TV after 4 years of hiatus and Kim Ajung, backed by the originality of the script crossing over the boundaries of one genre.

The released stills show two starkly different images, by day and by night, of Heo Im and the very disparity between those is one of his allures. The daily Heo Im is a no-nonsense medic. The effortless charisma emanating from Kim Namgil catches our attention. His character receives a lot of admiration at the Hyeminseo (a facility during Joseon period providing medical treatment and medicine for commoners), he believes in the concept and idea that the patients are all equal, regardless of their social status. When standing before the patients, gentle and calm, Heo Im carries his responsibilities as the Hyeminseo staff with composed seriousness. Kim Namgil’s complete immersion into Heo Im – “the best acupuncturist in Joseon” augments the confidence in his character.

However, when the night falls, a completely different Heo Im appears. Heo Im, who, during the day, gives his medical skills to the masses, after his regular hours, is engrossed in secret visits to the neighborhood yangban mansions to earn money. And the remaining free time he spends chasing after gisaengs, and fooling around, however he hides something deep in his heart. When his double life happens, he starts having doubts over what his true face really is, or why he even landed in 21st century Seoul. And then there are also anticipations of how the relationship between Heo Im and Choi Yeon-gyeong (Kim Ajung) will unfold, since she displays “never lose to Heo Im”, overly confident attitude.

Heo Im, played by Kim Namgil, is kind of a needle-melter* – a perfect body housing an intelligent mind. He is a person whose acupuncture skills are a gift from God, but who stubbornly hits the walls of modernity, and who lands in the middle of Seoul 400 years after his times at the very moment of confronting a crisis in his own life, which all is unfolding a chaotic medical drama.**
Living in 17th century, frequently called as the golden period of Korean Medicine, when Heo Jun wrote his Dongui Bogam, Heo Im was a real person who led the development of Korean acupuncture. Writers added some modifications to his dramatic life and lo and behold – a new drama was born.

Someone from the staff working on this drama said: “Kim Namgil is Heo Im. He is bringing to life a three-dimensional charm of Heo Im through a smooth flow of his acting, freely jumping from being serious to playing an idiot. Kim Namgil’s acting constructs the appeal of those differences in Heo Im’s personality. And since this boosts the immersion into the drama itself, please watch it with expectations and interest.”




* the original had 鍼セク: hari being needle and seku from sexy (don’t ask, please).
** I do hope they mean it like in “happenings” and not the actual, airing one.


The original is here.