Scenes from the first episode of KBS’s Monday and Tuesday prime time TV series “Don’t Look Back” [KBS]
KBS Monday/Tuesday drama “Don’t Look Back” – Episode 1 (May 27)
In brief>
A young Hae-woo (Kyung Soo-jin) asks a young Ee-soo (Yeon Jun-seok), “What would you do if I disappeared?” Ee-soo soothes Hae-woo’s lost heart by answering, “I can find you. Because I’ll look for you until I die.” The heartrending flashback of the two suddenly changes scenes to a fully-grown Hae-woo (Son Ye-jin), who is now a prosecutor, getting married. But she is marrying someone that is not Ee-soo. All comes to a halt as soon as Hae-woo, who had a happy smile on her face, turns her eyes toward an unfamiliar man that has entered the wedding hall. And that man’s eyes are on two men – Hae-woo’s father and Joon-young (Ha Seok-jin) who will become her husband. The tips of the man’s fingers tremble gently. But he soon comes to remember some painful memories and his eyes fill up with resentment.
Review>
There is no genre where an actor’s role is more crucial than in melodramas. In that sense, “Don’t Look Back” which premiered on Monday, showed enough potential to being a well-made show. The camera kept a close eye on every movement of its actors. And main stars Son Ye-jin and Kim Nam-gil told quite a lot about the story despite their brief appearances. The slight trembling of the fingers, the exchange of their gazes and the flickering of pupils, were enough to explain the tension that would exist between the two characters.
However, it was Kyung Soo-jin and Yeon Jun-seok, the actors who played the young version of the two main characters, that led the narrative of the first episode of the show. Hae-woo, who grew up in a rich family yet had a supercilious father who was busy making the front page of tabloids everyday due to his scandal with an anchorwoman and therefore, an unhappy mother, one day meets Ee-soo who moves into her house as the son of their driver. In a way, the maturity with which Ee-soo puts up with his difficult life, serves as a pillar for Hae-woo, who had lived everyday of her life as if she was the most unfortunate person in the world. That is how the two gradually build their friendship and love.
The camera tenaciously followed the small moments of trembling shown by these actors as well. And after following the camera that tries not to miss even their slightest movements, the viewer gradually comes to take note of their love story that is as beautiful as a painting. The painful story of their love that will rustle for a bit but then scatter about, has started to be depicted by the tension brought about by such tenacity of the camera.
For chitchat>
- But Hae-woo already marries Joon-young in the first episode. Does that mean there’ll be some sort of affair?
- Son Ye-jin and Kyung Soo-jin are extremely similar. No wonder she got the nickname ‘little Son Ye-jin.’ But Kyung, who plays the teenager version of Son’s character, is actually in her mid-twenties! Only a few years younger than Son who is 31.
- How is it that Ee-soo comes to compare his fate to that of a shark, which has to move even when it sleeps because it has no air bladder?
Reporter. Bae Sun Young sypova@tenasia.co.kr
Translator. Jessica Kim
