Since there is an unwritten rule that I need to have a sageuk among the pile of dramas I'm watching, this half of the year it's Bossam's turn to entertain. Although 'entertain' might be the wrong word for any historical that isn't explicit comedy (like Detective K).
I'm only at episode 4 so I can't say much about the course of the drama because the characters have just established themselves in the timeline, as it is with nearly all sageuks. What I can say is that it's very well done. I've never seen Yuri acting in anything and I'm more than positively shocked.
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| Whom I have to kill... erhm... bribe to get this hanbok? It's gorgeous! |
At first we have two characters who couldn't be more different, but even after 4 episode it's obvious that the differences are artificial. Ba Wu is a man who is able to do everything to survive - he steals, fights, gambles and is involved in the process of bossam - "a wife procuring custom". Because, according to strict Neo-Confucian laws, the widow could not remarry. But of course, as with everything, Koreans managed to find a loophole that allowed to move in the grey area. That's why we have the kidnapping and hasty marriage rite between two people - the man who ordered bossam and the widow.
Ba Wu might operate on the fringes of law and society, but actually the view on worldly affairs is better from here than from behind the palace walls. That's why Princess Sukyeong has little knowledge of the world outside. She was treated like a tool in the dangerous, secret political marriage with the son of the jwasang (Left State Councillor) however her husband died on the day of their wedding, that's why we see her in the mourning attire at the beginning, after she ended it.
Through Cheonbae (Ba Wu's let's say, concierge) miscalculation due to imbibing earlier a sumptuous amount of alcohol, Ba Wu mistakenly kidnaps the Princess. This poses like a million problems because with people deployed to look for her and strengthened forces at the palace, there is no good time to return her. One day they learn that they don't have to - the Princess died. That is some innocent girl was forced to die so the scheming would be successful.
So Sukyeong is forced to adapt. At first both her upbringing and ingrained values lead her to the cliff. And unlike in many other instances, the main lead was tad too late, she jumped. As we mentioned earlier, Ba Wu engages in many questionable enterprises in the seedy underbelly of Korean society, so he jumps then too.
The drama is not static - we have movement both horizontal and vertical. The chase, finding hiding place, yet another chase - I would say those who said that sageuk are not very action-friendly dramas did not watch many sageuks. Especially recent ones. Godsdamned zombie are fast as lightning in Kingdom.
And Ba Wu, man who lets out absolutely nothing, but cracks start to appear. Also, we have scheming court ladies, coalitions more fragile than a snowflake, politicians' scuffle (at least I am in the minority that enjoys the scheming), Cheon Bae trying to free himself (every drama with Yi Junhyeok has an extra value for me), men thinking that women are paintings - not changing, not experiencing anything, not wanting.
What I can say after 4 episodes other than I like it so far? I know I will probably hate some after some time passes, but that's just the way it is with sageuks. But, the child actor who plays Cha Dol is great. His hysterics and crying was so damn natural, you'd think someone was tearing him from his own, real Mom. He also played Kim Junsu in Missing: The Other Side. And I also see we'll have more explosive version of Gwanghae-gun here. Let's watch and see.
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| Yi Jaeyeong, forever playing evil, scheming, ruthless Ministers |
And some of the pretty pictures^^
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| I bet there are some fine rocks. I would spend there 2 days. |
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| Nokdu says hi^^ |
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| I know this might be morbid, but I so liked the esthetics of this shot and her hanbok looking like a flower. I mean, when a woman sits, the hanbok does look like a flower from above, but here it had a special effect. |
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| The colors, oh the colors here!! |
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" And the ring of power has a will of its own. It betrayed Isildur, to his death. And some things that should not have been forgotten were lost. History became legend. Legend became myth. And for two and a half thousand years, the ring passed out of all knowledge. Until, when chance came, it ensnared another bearer." ( |
