Hello All, it has been a while since I posted on this blog. I have always been fan of Korean Drama and wanted to post my thoughts on this new Drama that I saw on Netflix.
(Picture Courtesy - NETFLIX)
"Hymn of Death" - An intense Korean mini series starring Lee Jong-Suk and Shin Hye-sun. It is one of the best Korean dramas I have seen in a long time. Emotionally Charged, it draws you in. For days after seeing it, I was still immersed in the despair, passion and love of the lead characters. Playwright Kim Woo-Jin and his love for Yun Sim-Deok, a talented Soprano set against a backdrop of Japanese occupied Korea, is what this drama is about. But to me it felt much more than that, it had intense longing and passion - towards country, towards writing, towards love.
Lee Jung-Suk has just excelled in this role of Kim Woo-Jin. He is torn between his duties as a husband in his arranged marriage and between this fierce longing and love he feels towards the singer. It is a beautifully written tale of Love and does not drag on unnecessarily. You will notice that there are other people acting in this drama, but they all fall short in favor of the lead characters. Lee Jong-Suk especially stole the show as he displays the internal conflict so well. And as you go through the episodes, you can feel his turmoil as he struggles with what is expected from him and what his heart desires. And of course it helps that he looks devastatingly handsome in this three piece suit.
Shin Hye-Sun has shined in this drama. The Haughty singer, the helpless elder sister, the daughter who must make all the sacrifices for her family and her forbidden but unstoppable love for Woo-Jin. Her expressions of joy and sadness are so well done that you just absolutely get drawn in. She portrays a certain vulnerability in her character that I think is hard to do and she does it very gracefully.
In the very first episode, Kim Woo-Jin will be reading a book by Takeo Arishima and the words are - “Watch, Watch how love takes from you. The moment you underestimate love as nothing but gentle strength, you have made a mistake. Love is something that you use to your advantage. To Love is to take unsparingly.” Sim-Deok walks in at that moment recognizing the author and she says she does not agree with the author. She says when you are in love it cannot be helped. To Love means give unsparingly no matter what. This was set well when the two lead characters meet and shows Sim-Deok’s passion and why she starts a relationship with Woo-Jin even after knowing he is married. Her enthusiasm for Woo-Jin’s writing, her encouragement that he write again, their comfortable silences when they meet - SIGH, it is all so poignant and so well written and of course so wonderfully enacted by Lee Jong-Suk and Shin Hye-Sun.
Hymn of Death is a romantic drama in essence, but the Japanese occupation of Korea plays an important role too. They have done a very good job balancing the history and romance part of it. It presents a story of a man and a woman who have been doing things to please and make sacrifices for their families when their own wishes are simple joys. He wants to write and she wants to sing. Living your life fiercely and joyfully does not need to be something Grand. Because more often than not, things that make us happy are simple things. Ending is something that I won’t comment on because whether I agree with it or not, maybe that is the way it needs to happen or that is the way it was. But overall, I absolutely loved this mini series and highly recommend it.
