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Thread: Review : Ja Myung Go

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    Smile Review : Ja Myung Go

    Title : Ja Myung Go
    Starring : - Chung Ryu Won as Princess Ja Myung
    - Park Min Young as Princess Nakrang(Lelang in Chinese)
    - Chung Kyung Ho as Prince Hodong
    Synopsis : A Chinese princess leads a futile resistance to reclaim her country and her people from evil Korean invaders in 30 AD.

    Review : Normally I would not bother to review a typical TV show. Since I am doing a short review, you can tell this is not a typical show. Indeed, this is very unusual show, and I am stunned this show is even made.

    This is about fictitious last days of first Lelang Commandery, the Chinese colony established by China's Han dynasty on the conquered land of Chosun(You hear this country mentioned in all ancient historic drama over and over, especially Joo Mong) in present day PyungYang(North Korean capital), fell to Koreans in 30 AD, then reclaimed by Chinese a few decades later, then fell again to Koreans for good in 300 AD. So the story is about the story of two Chinese princesses of Lelang, one betraying her country in the name of love tricked by a smooth-talking Korean prince, and the other fighting "evil" Korean invaders to reclaim it after the fall of Lelang, sort of like Joan of Arc. Since when was the last time you saw a Korean drama about "good" Chinese fighting against "evil" Koreans? But such is the current trend of twisted plots observed in Korean shows, like shows told from evil character's point of view, or where both protagonists and antagonists are evil and they compete to prove who's more evil, etc. Maybe it was the Chinese capital that's funding this show like Bichunmoo TV series, which took place in China from beginning to the end.

    Other than this unusual and even "shocking" plot, the show itself is rather poor. This show is made by a network known for poor-quality historical dramas, and it shows. Acting is stiff, the fighting scenes(done in a poor imitation of Chinese style and not in usual Korean style) are laughable, and some of customs are out of time. Heck, why Ming dynasty era Beijing Opera and doll plays in 30 AD Lelang??? Even though this is supposed to be a story about fighting of two princesses of Lelang, you hardly ever see them in the show, the most of story is about boring political power struggle and backstabbings.

    So why am I writing about a poor-quality show? Because of its shock value. How often do you see a Korean show about "good" Chinese people fighting a hopeless struggle for freedom against "evil *******" Korean invaders? So if you ever fantasized about watching a show about good Chinese and evil Koreans, this is your show.

  2. #2
    Senior Member sunnysnow's Avatar
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    I don't get what "good" Chinese vs "evil" Koreans you're talking about. From what I understand after watching the first 3 episodes, it's a battle between the Koreans themselves. The heroine, Princess Ja Myung of Nangnang (Lelang) is a Korean (her parents are descendants of the ancient Chosan Empire). In fact, if anything, the Chinese are the ones who are vilified in this series- brutal and useless Chinese "King" mistreating the Koreans in Nangnang, hence prompting his Korean protectors/generals to rebel and overthrow him.

    Anyhow, I for one find the plot rather original and contrary to popular opinion, I like how the story crisscrosses across different time periods. I like the metaphors and symbols used in the series (about the princess embodying the drum etc.), plus I think the music's awesome. Also think the acting's fine; the actress as Ja Myung's mother did a brilliant job as the distressed and heartbroken woman who was forced to hurt and abandon her baby daughter right after the latter is born. Only qualms I have with this production is it's length (don't think the plot is capable of capturing one's attention across 50 episodes, unless they somehow manage to inject lots of exciting and original sub-plots) and the fighting scenes which look like an amateur attempt at replicating artistic fighting stunts seen in many Chinese Wuxia series/movies.

    All in all, I think this series has potential provided the scriptwriter(s) are brilliant enough to push the plot forward without too many redundant scenes. If not, they'll be much better off cutting the length of the series down to 20 or 30 episodes.
    Last edited by sunnysnow; 03-21-09 at 12:29 PM.
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    Quote Originally Posted by sunnysnow View Post
    From what I understand after watching the first 3 episodes, it's a battle between the Koreans themselves.
    That's not what historical record says.

    Historical Lelang was a Chinese colony from beginning to the end(Except for the brief fall to Koreans as described in this show). The King and Princess of Lelang of historical records were Chinese. Obviously, shooting this drama per historical record presents a big problem for the show producers, so they put in this fictious 7-year "ethnic Korean" revolt against evil Chinese governor into the show and put a fictious "ethnic Korean" king in place of historical Chinese governor for the show. But everyone knows that's bulls***.

    Even with this, Lelang itself is portrayed as distinctively Chinese culture; Lelang army wears Chinese armor(distinctively different from invading Korean army's armor), Chinese dresses, Chinese music and circus.

    So why did this show end up like this? Because the story is being told from the two Princesses of Lelang's point of view, who were ethnic Chinese according to historical record. They wouldn't have this problem if the story was being told from the smooth-talking prince's perspective(Then the Princesses of Lelang being Chinese didn't matter as much), but this was a show carried by female leads(This year's crop of historical dramas all have female leads for some odd reason), so the producers are in a messy situation like this.

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    Senior Member sunnysnow's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by JonDoe View Post
    That's not what historical record says.

    Historical Lelang was a Chinese colony from beginning to the end(Except for the brief fall to Koreans as described in this show). The King and Princess of Lelang of historical records were Chinese. Obviously, shooting this drama per historical record presents a big problem for the show producers, so they put in this fictious 7-year "ethnic Korean" revolt against evil Chinese governor into the show and put a fictious "ethnic Korean" king in place of historical Chinese governor for the show. But everyone knows that's bulls***.
    I am aware that Nangnang (Lelang) is one of the 4 Chinese Commanderies under China's control during the Han Dynasty. Nonetheless, I've known beforehand that this is going to be a fantasy drama (especially when the main focus of the plot is based on a legendary myth) so I'm really not expecting a strict adherence to what was recorded to have occurred historically. On a side note, most, if not all serials under the historical genre always tend to deviate from official history somewhat (which is understandable given the entertaining and exaggerated nature of TV dramas).

    Quote Originally Posted by JonDoe View Post

    Even with this, Lelang itself is portrayed as distinctively Chinese culture; Lelang army wears Chinese armor(distinctively different from invading Korean army's armor), Chinese dresses, Chinese music and circus.
    I actually find all the costumes (and hairstyles) in this drama extremely Chinese-like. Even that of the characters belonging to Goguryeo. In fact, I would define the dressing in here more along the lines of fantasy (neither Chinese nor Korean and somewhat modernish-looking).

    Quote Originally Posted by JonDoe View Post
    So why did this show end up like this? Because the story is being told from the two Princesses of Lelang's point of view, who were ethnic Chinese according to historical record.
    In the first place, the protagonist Princess Ja Myung, is a made-up fictional character who did not exist in history and the producer/scriptwriter made that point clear from the very start.
    Last edited by sunnysnow; 04-02-09 at 03:18 AM.
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    Ok, the show's over.

    click to show/hide spoilers
    Well, the last episode plays out as what's recorded in history except for the exact method of it. Lelang is overrun by hungry Koreans thanks to the treason of Princess of Lelang. Lelang citizens of Chinese ethnicity(said to be 50% of population in previous episodes) flee back to mainland China during the course of invasion while those of Chosun ethnicity stay on to fight the resistance following the brutal prosecution by the evil Korean king(This is the same historical king played by Song Il Gook in The Country of Wind) that cost the life of the King of Lelang(Slain by Hodong) and the Princess of Lelang(Stoned to death by population for her treason). The regrouped resistance wages one final battle against Koreans, and is defeated and doomed to last man. Princess Jamyung lures Prince Hodong for a duel, stabs him, then they forgive each other and confess they still love each other. When Hodong's men arrive at the duel site, Hodong draws his sword and run it through Jamyung and himself(similar to double suicide ending in movie BiChunMoo and the Chinese movie Hero starring Jet Lee), promising to meet again in next life. So you have evil queen(Hodong's stepmother) having the last laugh. Actually she was crying as she was finally letting her hatred of Hodong go at the site of Hodong's death. So you can imagine "All the good guys are dead and evil people have the last laugh" kind of ending here.

    While this show ended early due to poor ratings, this show had an unusually nice love triangle story unseen in other historical dramas. Chung Kyung Ho's portrayal of Hodong's as a playboy prince who would shake the hearts of two princesses was excellent, unmatched by any other historical dramas. I really don't know why this show bombed, maybe the viewers didn't like two actresses playing the princesss?

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    ^ It took too long to introduce the adult stars - Ja Myung, Ra Hee, etc - and by then people were bored. Also, it was competing with Queen Seon Deok, which is currently enjoying pretty good ratings.
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    Or it could be for the radical portrayal of some Chinese in a good light; which is anathema in Korean period dramas.

    Quote Originally Posted by junny View Post
    ^ It took too long to introduce the adult stars - Ja Myung, Ra Hee, etc - and by then people were bored. Also, it was competing with Queen Seon Deok, which is currently enjoying pretty good ratings.

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    Senior Member NuDaFu's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by JonDoe
    most of story is about boring political power struggle and backstabbings.
    Most of imperial recorded history is exactly that. Maybe the backstabbing in a less dramatic way.

    That's not what historical record says.
    Bear in mind a historical record is not a replacement for truth, it is an account containing element(s) of human subjectivity. I prefer to place my relative trust on a collection of material analysis (DNA sequencing, various radioactive diagnostics) and written records. So, IMHO, a historical adaptation for the screen is never really comparable with history itself...I see it more like a 'fanfiction'.

    But yeah, sunnysnow has eloquently stated a very good rebuke...so, I uh, have nothing much further to say.

    And I'm not stalking sunnysnow across spcnet...we just seem to like the same actresses and shows .

    As much as I enjoyed the child actors, I agree with junny that they spent too much time on the kiddies.

    Quote Originally Posted by Surferket
    portrayal of some Chinese in a good light
    When? As sunnysnow pointed out, the Chinese were 'demonized' in this series. I don't remember an instance when the Chinese were portrayed in a good light. Even if it seems most Koreans know Lelang were essentially Chinese, in the series, they were a Korean state.

    I think there may be confusion because people watch this series with a historical preconception...glad I don't have that! I really enjoyed the series. I appreciated it for the richness of its themes, its odd yet sweet little moments of philosophy on life and emotions (reading Jung's psychology at the moment on 'inferior function/feelings'...good stuff!), the pacing, some camera angles (not all), general lighting, the fair attempts at scenery variation.

    Acting wise, I really enjoyed both the main and supporting cast. They weren't all stirling (that's a lot to ask for!), but in general, I was uber impressed. Like sunnysnow, I liked Ja Myung's mother...for a fairly Mary Sue role, the actress put a lot of depth and fine emotion into her performance.

    As much as I didn't like the Prince nor his androgenous looks, he was showed a fair performance. There were moments though when he delivered his lines in this 'stunned mullet' look which sort of put me off.

    I was most impressed by Jung Ryeo Won as Princess Ja Myung. She had to express quite a range of emotions and different states of maturity, and I think she handled it very well. I especially liked the scene when she had to portray that enlightened facade and talk to the Prince, and then, to show she was still human, she showed him a face of tears and longing. I don't know about others, but I was pretty moved by those scenes, and I'm not one to be easily moved by much.

    Fighting scenes were obviously low standard, but then, my standards are uber high, so I don't get upset that they're not 'something'. Not everyone can fight like Tony Jaa or handle weapons like Jet Li or have directors from Red Cliff organise spectacular weapon combats. It was actually pretty comical and entertaining to watch JRW fight like a girl (but yeah, she is one, so no necessary complaints from there), but to see the Prince fight light one too! OK, so maybe it was the martial art choreographer's fault, but seeing as so many characters fought, I thought maybe there would be some effort put into moves. Oh, one part that really boiled the blood was when the General told Princess Ja Myung that he wins the fight because basically 'boys are stronger than girls'...given strength is a factor in fighting, he makes it sound like it is the ultimate factor...obviously this guy fights with nothing but his muscles and leaves the brain and Qi to sleep.
    Last edited by NuDaFu; 12-09-09 at 06:30 AM.

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    Quote Originally Posted by NuDaFu View Post
    When? As sunnysnow pointed out, the Chinese were 'demonized' in this series. I don't remember an instance when the Chinese were portrayed in a good light.
    1. Fuku's teacher is the former Chinese general of Lelang. He may have taught Fuku for a sinister reason, but Fuku still honors him as teacher.
    2. The Chinese circus family that takes care of Fuku from the beginning to the end are Chinese.

    so maybe it was the martial art choreographer's fault
    Martial Art is not a part of Korean actor's normal training unlike Chinese actors. Almost none has it. Accordingly, they suck in Chinese style wuxia and this is why fighting scenes tend to be "realistic".

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    Senior Member NuDaFu's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by JonDoe
    1. Fuku's teacher is the former Chinese general of Lelang. He may have taught Fuku for a sinister reason, but Fuku still honors him as teacher.
    2. The Chinese circus family that takes care of Fuku from the beginning to the end are Chinese.
    Puku honouring her teacher doesn't make him 'good'. In fact, he wasn't 'good' at all...bullyboy for the Chinese pretender king, using Puku and planning to kill her as part of his revenge. I would agree that he found remorse at the end, but it doesn't exactly negate all the harm he did to others.

    Were the theatre 'family' Chinese? I'm going to double check.

    Two performing 'Chinese' couples and innocent children were 'good' in a Korean period drama...that constitutes "anathema"? That sounds like either prejudice or conscious censorship to me, if one dwells on archaic ethnic conflict/rivalries and cannot appreciate the quality of a drama for its plot and performances.

    Martial Art is not a part of Korean actor's normal training unlike Chinese actors. Almost none has it. Accordingly, they suck in Chinese style wuxia and this is why fighting scenes tend to be "realistic".
    Nope, MA is not necessarily part of Chinese normal training either...unless it's part of a training program for a Wuxia series. I've seen some terrible Chinese Wuxia fighting scenes.

    I've also seen some good quality Korean MA movies...the fighting scenes weren't so bad, so I believe your statement seems rather generalistic. Plus, there were some actual moves during the series that were fairly good...not good enough to prop the series up as a 'Wuxia' one, but still, there were odd moments of hmmm...nicely executed.

    I still think it comes down to the MA choreographer and cameraman. An actor/actress who genuinely knows MA doesn't guarantee a good fight scene...it certainly makes for easier filming, but it's about how it looks. Performance and real MA have great differences. Making it 'look good' is an art that is a responsibility for the MA choreographer and cameraman (let's not forget the lighting technician!) to create.

    I've seen Fan Bing Bing impress me with some strikes in Ping Zhong Xia Ying, and I know she's not exactly a Bruce Lee...they had a fab MA choregrapher for PZXY.

    Well, I for one hope JMG turns out to be another Justice Bao...under appreciated in it's own country but beloved everywhere else. It certainly deserves it. It's currently got a 'central' advertising Korean dramas spot at Yesasia, and selling in 2 parts for a whopping US price. I would get it if it had Chinese subtitles...alas, only English and Korean for now.

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    Member AyaAsou's Avatar
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    Hmm, I guess this show got quite a mixed bag of reviews. I was interested in seeing Jeon Ryu Won portray a complex Princess role. I liked her in "MNIKSS" and wanted to see more of her acting. So...is this series worth watching or skipping?

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    Default Ryeo Won acted so well. It's a pity that this drama not popular in Korea.

    Quote Originally Posted by AyaAsou View Post
    Hmm, I guess this show got quite a mixed bag of reviews. I was interested in seeing Jeon Ryu Won portray a complex Princess role. I liked her in "MNIKSS" and wanted to see more of her acting. So...is this series worth watching or skipping?
    It's a must see in my opinion. It's quite boring in child part which is too long, but after that it's great.
    In Thailand, this drama had good response from Thai viewer.

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    Senior Member sunnysnow's Avatar
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    Have been watching "Queen Seon Deok" recently and can't help but notice the similarities in plot between it & Ja Myung Go. Anyhow, it's been roughly 2 years ago but I have to say that this is probably Jung Ryeo Won's best TV role (acting wise) and my most favourite one yet. She handled Ja Myung's character development & maturity extremely well and her crying scenes in here were top notch! A huge pity that the entire series fell flat because of the messy script. The beginning, though fairly well executed, was too long-winded & draggy which affected the ratings, which caused the decision to cut the series by about 12 episodes or something, which in turn, resulted in an extremely confusing & haphazard development of plot in the last third of the series (which sadly, is supposed to be the climax where Ja Myung returns as princess & uses the legendary drum to protect her country).

    Like what I said in the very beginning, a fantasy romance like this would have done much better with lesser episodes. The initial planned 50 episodes was just too much. 30 episodes would have been sufficient as it would have resulted in a tighter & faster plot and probably raked in better ratings.

    On a side note, I really love the idea they adopted to make the drum sound by "itself". Thought it was really creative on the scriptwriter's part & ties in so perfectly with the character Ja Myung and the meaning/symbol behind her name. A pity more detailed explanations and development on how Ja Myung came to create & use the drum was not shown, probably a result of the cutting of episodes.
    Last edited by sunnysnow; 10-11-11 at 08:50 AM.
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    Senior Member NuDaFu's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by sunnysnow View Post
    Have been watching "Queen Seon Deok" recently and can't help but notice the similarities in plot between it & Ja Myung Go. Anyhow, it's been roughly 2 years ago but I have to say that this is probably Jung Ryeo Won's best TV role (acting wise) and my most favourite one yet. She handled Ja Myung's character development & maturity extremely well and her crying scenes in here were top notch! A huge pity that the entire series fell flat because of the messy script. The beginning, though fairly well executed, was too long-winded & draggy which affected the ratings, which caused the decision to cut the series by about 12 episodes or something, which in turn, resulted in an extremely confusing & haphazard development of plot in the last third of the series (which sadly, is supposed to be the climax where Ja Myung returns as princess & uses the legendary drum to protect her country).
    Hey, I watched QSD after JMG too! I think there is a general template for most Korean period dramas. Childhood tragedy, bit of fate/destiny (imbuing a sense of 'inevitability'), grow up to realise true identity, get thrown into the whirlpool of central power with of course the inability to be with loved one. Didn't QSD air round about the same time as JMG? I think that added a bit of pressure for JMG to cut later episodes too because they couldn't compete with QSD ratings. A real pity, because I thought JRW had such grace playing her role as Princess-Priestess. It really started to get interesting after she returned to her homeland. I expected a bit more about the Prince hunting Puku down...at least it seemed that way from the 1st epi.

    On a side note, I really love the idea they adopted to make the drum sound by "itself". Thought it was really creative on the scriptwriter's part & ties in so perfectly with the character Ja Myung and the meaning/symbol behind her name. A pity more detailed explanations and development on how Ja Myung came to create & use the drum was not shown, probably a result of the cutting of episodes.
    I was also very impressed by that. Also the scope that they went to in CGI effects to give the impression that the drum was at least 3? stories high. A good play on the psychology of war.

    Really quite edgy that they had an obvious enemy, very possible traitor in their country while trying to project that the court was in anyway normal.

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