Kdrama Review: Taereung National Village (2005)

Taereung National Village 
태릉선수촌 
7/10 ♥

Every now and then, I get nostalgic for my favorite actors when I haven't seen them in a while. Hence my reason for watching this drama short. And the reason I picked this special production about athletes living in an Olympics training facility, falling in love and out of love... Lee Sun Gyun, aka The Voice. What I ended up watching was Lee Min Ki in a not underwhelming starring role. Taking in each 30 minute episode, the whole drama clocks in at around 4 hours. I speak from authority in that I do not like sports stories, I don't know a think about judo or archery, and I only know that I kind of like watching the swimmers and gymnasts when they come around every four years. But I liked this drama, and it wasn't because of the athletics. It was because of the athletes and the actors who played them.

Like many stories, this is a coming-of-age tale for the majority of the characters. Except the kids in Taereung have already had larger-than-life expectations thrust upon them. Hong Min Ki (Lee Min Ki, not to confuse anyone) is good at judo, except for that little problem that he becomes physically ill before every single match. Bang Su Ah (Choi Jung Yoon) won an archery medal at the last Olympics, but she's showing signs of a slump this time around. Her boyfriend Dong Kyung (Lee Sun Gyun) is a swimmer (yeah that means he walks around in swimmers trunks a couple times ) who's reaching past his prime before he could ever achieve something glorious, and little Ma Ru (Song Ha Yoon) is the best gymnast in the village with the whole world in front of her. Don't expect miracles out of everybody. This is a highly realistic snapshot of 4 completely different athletes who are thrust together due to their relationships, and the world makes what it will of them.

Is her face just tiny, or does he have a big head?

The Males

Lee Min Ki practically glitters throughout the whole drama. He's hyper, alternately cute and annoying, and makes no secret of his crush for the former gold medal winner archer. He's at his coolest though (meaning dorkiest) when he confronts that girl's hulk of a boyfriend. I'm biased of course, but Lee Sun Gyun is fabulous. He also acts the same as every other time I've seen the man act: confident in the spotlight, with a twinge of vulnerability when he's not. It's not groundbreaking, but always appealing. I give this show bonus points for the bromance. When the two aren't nose to nose, about to come to blows, they're sheltering each other from life and all its dirty little tricks. 

The Females

Taereung National Village doesn't just do justice to the males of the drama. Su Ah snuck up on me as one of my favorite characters, mostly for how she maintains her confidence in the midst of career slumps and love troubles. She goes from being a clueless bystander in her own relationships, to seriously considering the whys and hows of all her issues. All this without becoming jealous or vindictive of her rivals in both areas. Her roommate Ma Ru is initially typecast as the clingy would-be girlfriend to Min Ki but for a timely plot device that kind of made me love her. Life works us through many kinds of trials, and Ma Ru went through the pits of character hell into looking and acting like a real human being.

Next time, don't date an archer ;)

The Extra Bits

Why watch? I don't know. If you love the actors, if you're in for 4 hours of slice of life. If you're up for watching people learn and grow, and act natural, and still be funny. There's something peaceful about this drama. After the glitz and glam of Kdramas, it was a refreshing, homey watch, and evidently pinned by a production team that knew what it was doing, despite receiving probably no extra promotional material to work with. But hey, when they snuck in a scene from When Harry Met Sally, with accompanying irony, I was sold.

Kdrama Review: Pasta (2010)



Pasta

파스타
9/10 ♥♥♥

I’ve been re-watching Pasta this week, because there’s nothing like a post-turkey hangover to make a family sit down to watch Koreans making pasta, throwing pasta, and eating pasta.  I wonder what this show’s food budget was.  I wonder how much these actors had to diet after filming…. Oh yes, food aside, more fantastical things happened this week.  My mother started watching her first genuine K-Drama.  I was concerned, but she’s a Food Network junkie so really, there’s no better drama to begin with! I’m also seeing it for the second time.  My husband is also watching it for his second time.  We’re all still sitting on the couch laughing our heads off.  Something seems strange about this, but I’m not going to argue.  I’ve got more than myself watching dramas now, and I couldn’t be happier.

My first run with Pasta came after a long line of mediocre dramas. (Take Care of the Lady, Can You Hear My Heart?)  I remember feeling the despair, almost sure that I’d reached to the end of my K-Drama mania.  What Pasta did for me (besides crave Italian food) was bring me back into the light.  It’s fun, it’s zany; it has a wacky cast of side-character that I’d need a third hand to even count.  And best of all, it features an almost sickeningly cute kitchen romance between leads Gong Hyo Jin and Lee Sun Gyun. 

These two really do make one of the best pairings I’ve ever seen.  They may not have that mythical chemistry we’re always looking for in Dramaland, but each play such a unique character that they really don’t need it.  Gong Hyo Jin as kitchen assistant/cook Seo Yoo Kyung plays the adorable without resorting to the dreaded aegyo.  Lee Sun Gyun (aka The Voice) plays Head Chef Choi Hyun Wook with all the pizzazz of the overbearing, rude, misogynistic male, yet never comes across as obnoxious.  His strut and posturing at the chef’s table may have something to do that (“Table number 6 – Vongole – HANA!)

Just a normal day in the life of an OTP

I think the real success of Pasta is that it doesn’t try to take itself too seriously.  Abysmal plot-devices are at an all-time low.  Mischievous side-characters are more for comedy than for angst, and rarely take up too much screen time as to become unbearable.  At 20 episodes I can almost believe that Pasta, while not being too heavy on the plot to begin with, has almost no wasted scenes.  It’s compact, humor-laden, and seamlessly weaves its enormous cast into kitchen fiascos, competitions, and epic almost-battles (Frying Pan vs. Lighter, Round 1!) Best of all, we don’t have to wait until episode 20 for our romance to finally kick in. 

Even the intrusion fo this brooding guy (Clazziquai's Alex) can't make our lovers budge.

Something else to look forward to: If not for eye-candy, then at least for hilarity, these guys put the show over the top. 

Meet the Korean Team:

Featuring Lee Hyung Cheol (far left) awww… from City Hall.

 And the Italian Team:

Including No Min Wook (2nd from right), currently starring in Full House 2. 

Even here he had some strange hair…

Female character: "Is that a man...or is that a man?"
My mother: "I don't know. Is that even a man?"

Point is: Watch or Rewatch Pasta, unless you hate cuteness, or food.

"Yae shep!"