[DRAMA REVIEW] JOSEON GUNMAN: THE MAN'S DREAM

 

I just finished watching "Joseon Gunman" or "The Gunman of Joseon". The drama is set during the Joseon era of Korea where enlightenment has been talked among the scholars and even the King wants Joseon to make it happen. Because of this enlightenment that mostly led by scholars and their teachers, the guns or western weapons start to be imported to Joseon. The guns have been a talk among all the officials and people in Joseon since it is different from swords and marks the new era of war: gun vs sword. There are some gunmen who work for those who disagree with the idea of enlightenment in Joseon. There are three of them at the moment. One of them is a leader of merchant group in Joseon that has been the slave of the So Ho Gee group that against the enlightenment. The idea of enlightenment which is being talked by scholars is the idea of revolution from the class-based-on-culture where the noble ones (yangban) will be richer every time and the poor will be poorer. At that time Joseon is divided by the noble class and slaves. Slaves will work their hell out for the noble. Even the noble ones compare the slaves with animals. This is what have been seen by the scholars as a wrong-doing and they want to make equality in Joseon. Everyone can have the same right. Not only the noble kids who can get to study, but also all people in Joseon. Not only men can work as officials, but also women. This is what has been dreamed by Soo In (Nam Sang Mi). She wants to make the new world comes true. On the other hand, Park Yoon Kang (Lee Jun Ki) is a man who likes to play around and does not even know what he wants to do in his life. Although he is a man who loves his family very much. Both of them have to meet and eventually involved in tragic and extraordinary fate.

This drama is actually directed by the director of "Princess's Man" which I dropped the drama during its first episodes since the drama is too tragic and I couldn't take it anymore because my heart was too weak. But, for "Joseon Gunman" I can finish it. It's really amazing. It's not as tragic as "Princess's Man" in my opinion although in some scenes I can recognize "Princess's Man" within it. However, in "Joseon Gunman" there is no scene where head is being displayed in the court, etc. It's a lot "softer" compared to "Princess's Man". Besides, the romance is like 20% of the whole. This is really good since the love line feels so natural and is not forced on the plot. It's so fresh since too much romance will make it look like "just another drama". About the acting, well, all of them are great, especially Lee Jun Ki. I never been a fan of him, but I usually watch his drama, the last time was "Arang and the Magistrate" and I always come to like his character. I don't know how but his character always so alive. His eyes really... talk a lot.

I like how this drama has portrayed many things. Of course the setting itself which is Joseon has given interesting insights even before watching it. I have expected to see the hanbok everywhere in the drama, or  traditional carriage, and ornaments and the languages. I really love Korean historical drama. Really. I come to love this drama more since it raises about revolution. The scholars want to win over the corrupt officials or the royals. The portrayal is actually talking a lot about the condition in our society too. There is someone who is greedy, loyal, two-face, etc. But, the most interesting part for me is when the women in this drama state their minds of wanting to be equal with men, or at least can do or accomplish something. As we know, woman is believed to always walk few steps behind her man. However, in this drama Soo In has been shown as a woman who walks side by side with her man, Park Yoon Kang. They talk a lot, discuss a lot, and help each other in accomplishing their dream of enlightenment for Joseon. Although in the end, their striving for new world has failed, they are still together and helping other people to establish the better Joseon. 

Park Yoon Kang is at first a man without dream. But, he then realizes that Soo In is his dream, he wants to live together with her. I can assume because he adores Soo In's knowledge and also her beauty. But, mostly he loves Soo In because she is a woman of the enlightenment itself. However, after his father is killed, Park Yoon Kang has to runaway since the accusation of high treason and his sister made to be a slave. He then is separated from Soo In. He is then thought to be dead from the gunman's shoot. In the end he is alive and living in Japan. He is back to Joseon as a Japanese man, Hasegawa Hanjo, a success merchant under Yamamoto, a famous Japanese merchant. When he is back to Joseon, he carries his own mission of revenge towards those who have killed his father. Again, he meets Soo In and starts to do the revenges. However after several times killing others, Park Yoon  Kang thinks that revenge only gives him emptiness in his heart. He then finds his real dream, that is working for the humankind. He helps people who needs his hands. He gives rice to the poor people and frees the slaves. His doing soon becomes an idea for story teller and he gets himself a name "The Dark Gunman Under the Moonlight" because he always carries gun as his weapon. Park Yoon Kang has been the hero for the mistreated people in Joseon. Yes. Then, along with his dream of wanting to live together with Soo In, he has set a new dream of doing justice since he doesn't believe the King anymore. He has thought that the King has no power whatsoever. The King is just a man with power who has the need to save his own life. It is complicated since the politics do many things here. Park Yoon Kang has his own ideology, so does the King. 

Well, I recommend this drama for those who like to watch an action-romance drama with the thought of feeding your minds. "Joseon Gunman" is not really a drama that you seek for laugh but it's not bad to try. 

AMOR FATI

 

you try to run away from the world

but then you run away run away from yourself

and you don't know the way home

EPIK HIGH

[MV REVIEW] BEAST'S 12:30 'THE BROKEN CLOCK'

 

Hi, beauty, how are you doing recently? Must be doing good, right, since Beast having a comeback? This time around they release a ballad song with a tragic music video entitled ’12:30’. It’s an interesting tittle with an interesting music video too. I actually believe that all of us know already what the music video tries to reveal though. But, there are some friends who ask me a favor to review the ’12:30’ music video. So, here, I am trying my best to juice my state of mind to share it to you all.

Guys, this maybe the most complicated interpretation ever I would like to write, so please pardon me if you see me writing a bit-off one. There are so many scenes that should be captured one by one. And, I freaking hate this style of reviewing though, since I need to provide pictures. Urgh. The reason is this music video may seem ordinary and simple but it’s actually not. The director has put several things that are essentially important into something that can be fully neglected. 

Well, let’s talk about the story inside this music video. It’s a story which is narrated as a flash-back. In the very beginning of the music video, we see a man (Dujun) and a woman in a room. The man sits on the carpet with his hand grabs a watch and another hand holds the woman’s hand. However, the woman strangely opens her eyes in a laying position on the bed. It gives the vibe of something tragic just happened there. Though, I am supposed not as tragic as Romeo and Juliet happen to end their love story. But, still something doubtfully bad just happened between Dujun and the woman. Then, the next scene we can see the members of Beast appear one by one when Dujun starts to make a small move while the minutes hand on the face of big clock (literally its BIG loll) on the wall starts moving too. The minutes hand on the clock at first rest on number six, and then it moves a minute backward. So, it is a minute to the number six. Besides, the snow which surrounds each member is moving up, not falling down. It suggests that the story is going to be back-warded to reveal how this tragedy actually starts.  

Then, Dujun starts to wake up, put the clock on the carpet and walk to the other side of the bed which is apparently in the front of the big clock. He looks at the girl and then the minutes hand on the clock suddenly moves two and half minutes backward, or stops on the sixth line of the clock. Look there are lines that divided the clock into twelve parts right? However, it’s not like the normal clock which divides the clock per five minutes. Let's learn to count the total of the dots there. If it’s a normal clock the dots are supposed to be sixty in total, in order to show the total minutes of an hour. 

Mathematically, an hour is sixty minutes and 3,600 seconds, while, in this music video, the dots are 72 in total. It’s obviously an optically illusion. Well, who thinks that when the minutes hand moves, it actually moves five minutes backward? I guess some of us did think like that, well so the director is a success then. This is interesting (really) since if the clock is being divided, it is supposed to be divided per five minutes with the lines drawn on the hour numbers, so the lines must be drawn right on top of the twelve, one, three, etc. This is a normal clock on my desktop, look:

Okay, that’s it. So, the minutes hand rests on the 27,5^th minute. And, the hour hand is still at twelve. At that time suddenly like moving fast backward the both hour hand and minutes hand are on the number twelve just like Dujun and the woman themselves. They are hugging each other like those hands of twelve o’clock. Before even knowing the meaning of the lyric, I have thought that this song is an allegory of a couple which is going to drift apart just like the clock hands. This is true surprisingly. 

Then after hugging each other, the couple starts to sit on their own, the woman on the chair and Dujun on the bed. It happens at five minutes past twelve. However, they are still smiling to each other and seem still loving each other too. 

Then the clock shows ten minutes past twelve when Dujun stands in front of the big clock and the woman sits on the bed, not smiling into each other again. 

Later on, the clock shows a quarter past twelve when both of them are sitting on the bed, back facing each other, not smiling, and Dujun looks sad.

Then after this, like a climax that falls free to the denouement, the minutes hand moves or literally falls down towards the sixth line (12:27,5). Within the movement of the minutes hand from a quarter past twelve towards the sixth line, the couple has met their greatest problem, and starts to really be apart. In this case, the girl is the one who starts to end their love. 

 

The bickering goes and the girl throws her shoes to Dujun. He forcefully hugs her, but the girl walks away just in her socks, leaving Dujun alone in his misery.

Afterwards, the minutes hand rests finally on the 27,5^th minute or the sixth line when Dujun and the girl are back in the room. 

Then after this, just all of us know they have a quarrel that causes Dujun to push the girl towards the bed causing her to leave him forever. In this music video the twist is either Dujun kills the girl or … just, yeah. But, I have assumed that he literally kills her (in the story sense) and he regrets it. 

Hmm… okay. So, why the girl acts like that? Why does she seem want to so badly leave Dujun? There is a simple answer, because the girl does not love Dujun as much as he does. Dujun loves her more. It is proven by the fact that Dujun is always the one who cherishing the moments and times. Thus, this music video is actually from Dujun’s point of view, from the man’s point of view who thinks that he loves his lover more. Yes. It is because he looks at the clock all the time. He is the one who faces the clocks (there are so many clocks in the room). He is the one who obsesses with their relationship. As the minutes hand moves continuously, we can see Dujun and the girl start to drift apart too. It is strengthened by the lines that have been passed by the minutes hand. The more they are being apart, the more lines being passed by the minutes hand. It means they have faced more hurdles in front of them that cause them to slowly change. However, the hour hand is never even moving. This hour hand is actually the reflection of Dujun who never moves. He still there, loves his girlfriend. But, he knows no matter how much he holds on to his girl, she will still leave him. He actually knows that their relationship will be a broken one, just like the big clock which is actually not even moving. The seconds hand does not even move and it stops on the number six as if a deadline to end their relationship. 

Can you see the tiny line right on number six? That is the seconds hand that does not even move an inch since the beginning of the music video. The clock is actually broken. It’s a broken clock, everyone. It’s broken. B-R-O-K-E-N. How can when the clock shows 12:30, the hour hand does not even move at all? If the clock works, it is supposed to move, and stops on the first line, or in the middle of number twelve and one to make it a half past twelve. But, it’s not moving. 

Now, think from this new finding, Dujun can be suspected as the one who causes all of this happens. At first, it seems like the girl who has coldly neglected him, but it can be like Dujun is too possessive and makes the girl feels suffocated. Dujun knows that one day they will be separated, so he can’t help to count their relationship and to get close with his lover every second, minute, and hour. That is why they are in the room all the time. But, the girl dislikes this kind of relationship. Although at first, she is pure to love him (the white shoes), she eventually can’t keep up with him and wants to call their relationship off (throws her black shoes = saying goodbye/good luck), and gives up entirely with their relationship (a grey slipper). 

The grey slipper is interesting. It has a more meaning actually. After throwing her shoes which means she doesn’t want to continue her relationship with Dujun, she is back to the room which is actually the girl’s room. She wears slipper because she is in her own room. So, Dujun is the one who comes to her room. Dujun wears those black shoes all the time, doesn’t he? He is the guest. He is the one who interferes the girl’s individual life. He loves her, she loves him, but there are so many lines that have been crossed by Dujun to the point make the girl hate him more than love him. She even can’t cherish the moment when she is together with Dujun. She wants but she can’t eventually. That is why she throws the clock that always held by Dujun as the symbol of she wants to end their relationship right at the moment. Dujun who is never sane to begin with starts to cross another line, and he kills her. 

It’s like a short story. In a sense Dujun kills the girl is helped by the imagery of the bottle with red liquid inside it being tossed towards the wall and shattered on the floor. It portrays blood. But, it can be also a metaphor of the girl leaves him forever and won’t ever come back to his side. The burnt chair also suggests that everything has happened and can’t be reset. 

However, life is still moving and no matter how bad the thing that has happened, the minutes hand starts to move again. Then, with this idea, there is another finding too, that actually the girl is still there with him. And, although their relationship has failed to sail and broken, Dujun still wants to hold the girl’s hand. That is why, the minutes hand starts to move again and the red-liquid-bottle that shattered on the floor shows that the girl is actually dying inwardly by being with Dujun. 

On the other hand, for me, as a whole this music video has shown us how complex a relationship could be. We know that we love each other but we also know that the moment we start our relationship, that is also the moment we start to break it. By crossing the first line, we know that the thing does not work like how we want it. Then crossing the second line, can’t help to cross the third line, and you know that one day there should be a final line that should be crossed too. That final line is there waiting for you. You know it perfectly. That is why in a relationship we can’t blame just a side. If we fail to sail it, it’s us who should be blamed. However, forcing conditions to your lover is not great idea. Being possessive too is not good. Being too ignorant is not good too. The most important can be probably respect each other and makes each other breath fresh air every now and then. It’s not good to suffocate your partner. It’s for real no good. You can kill him/her inwardly. We love to make the other person feel alive, not caged. 

BEAST 12:30 MV:

 

[MV REVIEW] EPIK HIGH'S 'BORN HATER': I DO SHIT IN MY ROOM, WHY YOU CARE?

Hi, guys, it’s been a while (right?) I wrote random interpretations of music videos. Anyways, my favorite Hip-Hop group, Epik High has a comeback around this time. Yeay.

Well, they will have released the album ‘SHOEBOX’ on Oct 21/22, right? And last night they had given us a warming up MV, Born Hater, featuring Beenzino, Verbal Jint, Mino, B.I., and Bobby (Well, I love B.I. and Bobby o ma gad you don’t have any idea). The overall video is unique with the setting of public toilets. Call it public because Beenzino even says that ‘Blo Hyung is on the next room right now’. Besides, with the proof of Hanbin (B.I.) as the ‘cleaner’, the toilets aren’t private ones. So, from my first impression, oh uh, they are all doing ‘shit’ on the public toilets. Whatever they do, they leave ‘shit’ that should be cleaned by B.I. later, no matter whether it’s the money (Bobby) or the pizza (Mithra Jin). 

Now, let’s follow me to peel the deeper insights of this MV. Note that I won’t interpret any symbols of certain things or any kind of thing like seven deadly sins, etc. But, I will talk about the wholeness of the music video scenes suggest us. Just like I have been saying before that all the eight men are doing their ‘shits’ on the ‘public toilets’, I will start this talk from this point. So, please bear on your minds that they actually do the ‘shits’ in the ‘rooms’ where are actually ‘public’ possession. Well, if you can’t get what I mean, you do shit in toilet, don’t you? So do they. 

Are you wondering why the toilets? Why the toilets are full of their belongings, such as the shoebox, paintings, money, pizza, adult magazines, etc? I bet most of you are thinking about this. Or, do any of you even ask about why the video is just 1/3 of the whole size? Let me share my thoughts with y’all.

Firstly, toilet suggests a room, a very tiny one of course, where you can ‘shit’ freely up to your desire. However as the music video goes on, it reveals that it’s not a toilet, but toilets. In every toilet there is different kind of individual with their own ‘shit’. They do ‘shit’ on their own room. No one should care because that’s their right to shit as much as they want, as much as they need, as dirt as they can, as crazy as they imagine, true everyone? You can do everything in your own room, that’s a nature. That’s your room at the moment, so that’s up to you what you will do. Great idea, isn’t it?

Secondly, the belongings and abilities (money, magazines, etc) are their shits. Let’s take larger scale from the toilet metaphor, I can find that actually Epik High wants to speak about the industry they are in at the moment. It’s the industry where people are actually boxed by their own uniqueness and identities. So, there are various and diverse great people that can be good choices for the public to fulfill their thirst for enjoyment. If you dislike this kind of boxed person, you can choose the next box. It’s also explain why they decide to make the video just as large as 1/3 of the whole. As the other 2/3 are black. It can be meant that if you happen to bump or have an encounter (through TV mostly) with a certain someone (rapper, singer, idol, or just common people etc) and you dislike him; you still can look to the other places. No one force you to keep looking at him if you hate him so much. You can change it to the next room, or just simply stare at the black area. No one actually asks you to keep your interest on him, buddy, just change the channel. Do not like them rapping? Just don’t watch. Why? Because they are doing it in their own tiny room and not for your satisfaction, but their own satisfaction. So, don’t ridicule yourself by hating them. They are just part of the big world, you can find other persons that you can favorite and support, why bother to care then? 

As the whole, I can say, it’s not just about the music industry actually. But, we can see this kind of thing in our society. Yeah, haters are everywhere. They talk ill about us. They whisper bad things behind our back just like how they contaminate the air. They type harsh words on our site, on our SNS, etc. I actually believe some of them are really born haters. Damn, Epik High is so true.

BORN HATER MV: