Slow and Steady

The Disappearance of Traditional Historical Dramas, 'Fusion Faction Sageuk' Fills the Void of Imagination KBS has opened fire with its ambitious new drama Dear Mr. Bandit to target the weekend home theater audience. It is not an exaggeration to say that we are currently in the golden age of "Fusion Sageuk" (Fusion Historical Drama). Heavy, traditional historical dramas that strictly adhered to historical verification, once represented by "Daeha Dramas," have now become a rare genre that is hard to find. Filling that void are "Faction" (Fact + Fiction) or fusion historical dramas that overlay the writer's infinite imagination onto a single line of historical record. This trend is the result of the convergence of creators' needs to be free from strict standards of historical accuracy and the viewers' preference for light, trendy stories over heavy, rigid history. Dear Mr. Bandit also rides this current, boldly mixing fantasy and romance a...

The Relief Pitcher for MBC's Friday-Saturday Drama Arrives, The Return of Trusted Actor Ji Sung A powerful relief pitcher has finally taken the mound for the MBC Friday-Saturday drama lineup, which has been in a slump for a long time. The protagonist is Judge Lee Han-young, starring Ji Sung, an actor who instills trust in viewers just by his name. Ji Sung is a "ratings guarantee check" who has proven both outstanding acting skills and box office success in every work he appears in, such as Kill Me, Heal Me, Defendant, and The Devil Judge. In particular, expectations for this comeback are hotter than ever, as he received praise for perfectly digesting the unconventional setting of a drug-addicted detective in his previous work, Connection. Attention is focused on whether he can restore MBC's crumpled pride this time and retake the throne of the Friday-Saturday home theater. Go Away Cliché Legal Dramas, A Hybrid Genre Combining 'Regression' and 'Revenge'...

Return of the Masterpiece that Moved the Continent, Reborn with Korean Sentiment The recently released film If We Were is a remake of the romance film Us and Them, which swept the Chinese box office. The original work was more than just a love story between a man and a woman; it achieved tremendous success by dealing with the cross-section of Chinese society during its rapid economic growth and the joys and sorrows of youth drifting within it. As it is already considered a "life melodrama" by domestic fans through Netflix, the news of the Korean remake brought both expectations and concerns simultaneously. The biggest key was how to melt the unique sentiment and vast narrative of the original into a running time of about two hours, and specifically, how to adapt it to the Korean situation. As a result, If We Were made the smart choice of taking the framework of the original but bringing out the delicate texture unique to Korean cinema. Removing the Macro-Discourse of the Era,...

Global No. 1 Amidst a Tsunami of Harsh Criticism: How to Interpret this Irony? Netflix Korea's ambitious new film, The Great Flood, has emerged as a hot potato immediately after its release. As soon as the movie dropped, domestic communities and rating sites were flooded with disappointed and harsh reviews. Scathing criticisms lined up, ranging from sarcasms that it once again proved the saying "skip Netflix original movies" to pointing out the lack of probability and forced melodrama. However, surprisingly, the report card tells the exact opposite story. It is enjoying explosive popularity abroad, holding the number one spot in the Netflix Global Movie category for a week since its release. Is the standard of domestic audiences too high, or are overseas audiences particularly lenient towards Korean-style melodrama and genre films? This extreme difference in temperature—cold reception at home vs. heat abroad—rather makes The Great Flood a controversial work that must be c...