Dae Jang Geum, where have you been all my life?

Holy shizzles, maybe I need to start watching more sageuk dramas (period kdramas, typically set during the era of the Joseon dynasty.) I’m a pretty voracious kdrama consumer, but my appetite generally leans pretty exclusively towards the trendy genre. I mean, I’ve dabbled a bit in fusion sageuks, most notably with last year’s action/comedy/hero-story Hong Gil Dong, although that was really just a trendy drama dressed up in traditional garb. As for the only other sageuk I’ve watched, Painter of the Wind, even that can be said to be moderately fusion as well in that it demonstrated a very modern sensibility in both story and execution. Pure sageuks, on the other hand, are played totally straight. (It’s sort of like the difference between A Knight’s Tale and Ivanhoe.) So basically Dae Jang Geum is my first completely bona fide, totally legit, sweepingly epic sageuk drama. My impression? Looks like I’ve been missing out.

There are many people who thoroughly enjoy both sageuk and trendy/fusion dramas, but there are also quite a few purists out there who fall solidly into one camp or the other. Personally, I can see how the trendy stuff might be a lot more accessible to younger, non-Korean viewers. While the shorter trendy dramas tend to be more fast-paced and instantly gratifying, the sageuks are much slower, usually more serious in tone, and obviously require more of an understanding of traditional Korean society and culture. Basically, they don’t translate as well, and they’re typically viewed by a much older demographic. Yet in spite of all this, sageuks are usually the programs with the highest ratings, and the genre’s continuing to thrive along side their more youthful counterparts.

So what prompted me to emerge from my trendy drama comfort zone and foray into the scary world of sageuk? I guess just curiosity. I was curious about Dae Jang Geum in particular because of its insane level of popularity and international success. One of the highest rated dramas ever (53% at one point during its 2003 broadcast), Dae Jang Geum is also credited with contributing to the surge of international interest in Korean pop culture known as the Korean Wave. So I guess I was just curious as to what was so darn great about this show that captured people’s attention so thoroughly.

From the very first few episodes, Dae Jang Geum won me over completely. I still haven’t quite finished the series (I’ve got about six episodes left to go out of the total 54), but I couldn’t wait any longer to write this. The series may not have the fast-paced fun of your typical trendy fare, but it is definitely not at all boring or stuffy. Intense, riveting, exciting, beautiful, heart wrenching? Yes. Boring? No Way. When I first looked into the series I balked at the length of 54 episodes, but once I started watching I actually found myself glad that sageuks run so long because I’ve just been burning through these episodes. When I finish I think I might suffer symptoms of withdrawal. Or maybe DJG will be my gateway drug to sageuks (like Coffee Prince was my gateway drug to trendies.)

Alright, enough rambling. Time to talk about the drama itself. Dae Jang Geum tells the story of a woman named Jang-Geum. The “Dae” from the title refers not to her family name, but to the official title she eventually receives when she becomes the first and only woman to ever serve as primary physician to the king. The drama focuses on her entire life leading up to that achievement. The story includes elements of political intrigue, romance, tragedy, and much more, but at its core Dae JangGeum tells the very intimate story of a single woman’s journey. I only wish I could adequately convey the essence of this epic drama in this summary.

Portrayed by the lovely Lee Young-Ae, Jang-Geum is a woman of uncommon intelligence and talents (first in the royal kitchen, and later as a female physician), but who’s also very passionate, cheerful, and kind. She does have flaws, though. Although in most respects a very humble person, she has a dangerous tendency to be a little too proud in her own abilities. She also struggles to balance her desire for justice and her desire for vengeance.

Ji Jin-Hee plays Min Jung-Ho, a scholar-official of the upper class and Jang-Geum’s main love interest. While maybe not the most complex character ever written, he's definitely got the whole white-horse-riding-romantic-hero thing down pat. If I had to use one word to describe his character it would be dashing. His romance with Jang-Geum was very sweet (and even tear-inducing at several points). And all this accomplished without even a single on-screen kiss in the whole drama. Yeah, it might seem weird to have this sweeping, epic romance without any actual smooching, but then again how many kissing scenes are there in Jane Austen’s novels, considered to be some of the most romantic in the English language? It’s the same in DJG as in an Ausen novel: the implications of subtle glances and slight touches are enough to evoke pretty strong feelings such that when an actual embrace comes along it feels like the ultimate expression of passionate love.

Hong Ri-Na plays Jang-Geum’s greatest rival in the palace, Choi Geum-Young. Geum-Young’s the type of character who isn’t really villainous at heart, but who doesn’t have the backbone to be good when circumstances force her down a path of evil. She’s a very lonely person, and when Jang-Geum wounds her pride in a lot of ways she takes refuge in her family, who just so happen to be as villainous and power-hungry as they come. Kyeon Mi-Ri gives a great performance as Lady Choi, Geum-Young’s aunt and the head of the Choi Axis of Evil. Lady Choi’s one of the most nefarious, unscrupulous characters in the history of everything, but even she has rare moments of, if not of true remorse for her sins then of regret for the fact that she “had” to commit them. She bitterly and resentfully regrets that certain people commit the sin of refusing to submit to her authority, and thereby making it necessary for her to eliminate them.

The king (king Jungjong, played by actor Im Ho) is a pretty minor character up until the later part of the series. He’s a very gentle and honest man, but on the whole too mild and indecisive to be a truly strong ruler. There are lots of other characters in the series that I really love as well, but I just can’t list them all here, and I’ve already rambled on too much. I guess I’ll just conclude kind of lamely and say that this drama is really great and that it’s definitely made me want to check out more sageuks in the future.

Finally, I’ll just post this clip from episode 16. It’s a really beautiful scene in which Jang-Geum sees the ocean for the first time. Her adoptive father takes her to there to cheer her up when she’s depressed and they play in the water together, and then they run into … Min Jung-Ho!