dangermousie | Sandglass, here I come...

I have just discovered Sandglass, a 24-episode Korean drama that I am dying to get.

Made in 1995, this would be the oldest kdrama I have watched but I simply must have it. Final episodes of it apparently averaged over 60% rating (!!!) and it put SBS (the station) on the map. It also stars the Super Evil Villain from The Legend as one of the three protagonists, which is something else...

The story is fairly straightforward in the outline: set in the 1960s-1980s, it follows three individuals and through them, the Korean political events of the times. Tae-Soo (Choi Min Soo), who grows up as a school trouble-maker, temporarily attempts to mend his ways with the friendship of the studious, regime-oriented Woo-Suk (Park Sang Won), but seeing that he is the son of a Communist guerilla, college and any promising legitimate occupation is closed to him, and he eventually becomes a rising member of the mob. Woo-Suk, of course, ends up studying and eventually rising high as a prosecutor, a bit too incorruptible for the regime around them. The third protagonist in the story is Hye-Rin (Ko Hyun Jung), a wealthy, disaffected daughter of a casino owner who becomes a student activist, and is involved with both men.

What really interests me is not the love story (which is apparently satisfying but strictly secondary) but the fact that it deals with a whole bunch of contemporary hot topic political issues of the time (totalitarian rule, mistreatment of activist, class issues), including, most famously, the Gwangju Massacre.

I mean, how could I not DIE to watch a drama about which the UCLA review states "Perhaps no other drama has ever represented the intertwining of the personal, political, and social so clearly and movingly. Using the stories of Tae-soo, Woo-shik, and Hye-ran to illustrate the intertwining of business, politics, and crime, Sandglass examines Korean society as a place beset with corruption and oppression, and really gives voice to a society crying out for justice. Its effectiveness for reminding Koreans of their recent history has even been credited in part for helping lead to the arrest of the former dictator Jeon Do-hwan."

!!!!!

The reviews are all crazy raves: one here, another one here, another here, and a fourth here.

If it's a third as good as the reviews make it sound, I am going to love it.

Current Mood: bouncy

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

From:

clairiere.livejournal.com

You are KILLING me here.

I have mounds of work to do, a critical deadline to meet on Monday, and all I want to do is extol the virtues of Sandglass. (It's a testimony to my willpower that I held back on commenting your SIG/JuMong posts of late, as I tried to work.)

I think you mentioned in the past you didn't care too much about politics in (k-)dramas, but there's so MUCH MORE to Sandglass than just politics, or rather, it shows WHY politics matter. But even with such a backdrop, it's first and foremost a story of people, a deeply humanising revisit of one of the darkest periods in Korea's history, and I guarantee you'll be paid off handsomely if you're willing to give it a try. I'm not half the k-drama aficionado you are, but I'm fairly certain the experience will be vastly different from what you know of them. There's a reason why Choi MinSoo, Park SangWon (both in Legend), Go HyunJeong (Kwon SangWoo's leading lady if DaeMul moves forward), Kim JongHak and Song Jina (the producer-director/write duo of Legend) will always be remembered for Sandglass.

I watched it twice in the past, when it first aired in 1995 (I remember rushing home from college) and roughly ten years later, as a (graduate) student in history, and it was a vivid experience both times. The first time though, I missed a third of the series and didn't start watching until after the Gwangju eps., so the 2nd viewing, from start to finish, was even more emotional and at times traumatising.

If you do start on it, I'll be happy to help you with any questions you might have, or just gush along. The opening credits give a very good feel of what the drama is like, very evocative of the series.

This review also breaks it down by DVD discs. A fairly recent convert to k-dramas also offers his own .02.

FWIW, Song Il Gook's mother also has a significant role in the series. I've got the YouTube clip, but it's a serious spoiler for the Gwangju eps.

From:

dangermousie.livejournal.com

Oh my God.

I went browsing and realized that the theme song they used for Sandglass is Russian song 'Cranes' (about a legend that says dead ww2 soldiers turn into cranes) which is not just one of my favorite songs ever, but it literally makes me weep to listen to it. I had opened a window where it's playing, and I am listening to the lyrics and my eyes are now wet. That song is one of only two songs that makes me cry.

Oh God.

Also, I browsed various clips on youtube and this looks incredible...I will watch it as soon as I finish Lobbyist.

I actually like politics in kdramas (or elsewhere). The only time it got a little too much when they went a bit too deeply for my tastes into salt rights in Jumong...but my being so dog-tired probably is responsible for that.

I looked it up and the role the other male lead had in Legend was Lord Yon. Whoa.

Thank you for all the links!

From:

clairiere.livejournal.com

Ah yes, 'Cranes'... forever associated with Sandglass in Korea. For a while, you couldn't go anywhere without hearing it on the airwaves. I have no idea if the lyrics match the scenes, but the mood, tone of the music resonate very well with key moments of the series.

I actually like politics in kdramas (or elsewhere). The only time it got a little too much when they went a bit too deeply for my tastes into salt rights in Jumong...but my being so dog-tired probably is responsible for that.

Politics in sageuk's is a tough sell, even in something as 'hip' as JuMong. I say 'hip' because JuMong is actually at the middle-to-low end of how much politics there is in sageuks or political dramas, as they were targeting a wider audience than the male/senior-dominated demos for the usual fare. If you ever go back to JuMong, there's always the FF button, and I don't think skipping it takes away from the main impact and eventual payoff for the series.

Sandglass is a whole different ballgame. I think it's more reminiscent of some of the 'serious' films in the US in the 70s (and 80s), when directors could draw mainstream audience with works heavy on social commentaries. For all the heavy themes that weigh on Sandglass, it's a very intimate look into what life was like until very recently in Korea. It doesn't capture everything, obviously (it wasn't a totalitarian regime for one thing), but what it does, it does very well.

I looked it up and the role the other male lead had in Legend was Lord Yon. Whoa.

Park SangWon is/was one of the go-to-actors for 'good guys,' 'role models' type of characters. He plays a similar role in Kim JongHak and Song JiNa's first collaboration as director/writer, Eye of Dawn (1991), which is set in the colonial & post-colonial/Korean war period (1940-50s). You could argue Sandglass (1995) builds on that:

Purely trivia, but the star-crossed lovers in Eye of Dawn were the villains in Time between Wolf & Dog and Emperor of the Sea.

Yeah, Korean talent pool is very tight-knit. (or shallow, depending on whom you ask.)

From:

dangermousie.livejournal.com

The lyrics are translated (unfortunately not too well) on a website here (http://www.rkkaww2.armchairgeneral.com/Multimedia/afterww2/comments/Zhuravli.txt).

If you ever go back to JuMong, there's always the FF button, and I don't think skipping it takes away from the main impact and eventual payoff for the series.

Oh I plan to. I liked it enormously, just ran out of DVDs and then got sidetracked. I was actually going to watch it after Lobbyist (SIG-double-feature :P)) but now might postpone it after Sandglass.

Sandglass is a whole different ballgame. I think it's more reminiscent of some of the 'serious' films in the US in the 70s (and 80s), when directors could draw mainstream audience with works heavy on social commentaries.

That definitely sounds like something I might like a lot: I love those 1970s movies.

Also, argggghhhh! Now I want to watch 'Eyes of Dawn' too...my watch list is getting unmanageable.

Purely trivia, but the star-crossed lovers in Eye of Dawn were the villains in Time between Wolf & Dog

Mobster guy? And who else? *curious*

From:

clairiere.livejournal.com

Oh I plan to. I liked it enormously, just ran out of DVDs and then got sidetracked. I was actually going to watch it after Lobbyist (SIG-double-feature :P)) but now might postpone it after Sandglass.

It's a good plan. Sandglass is more manageable, and I'd be very interested in your insights post-Legend/Lobbyist. (My k-drama clock stopped some time in 2000 and I haven't kept up with recent trends.)

If you're looking for the 24 eps., btw, I'll be happy to burn them for you. I don't have the subs, but should be able to find some soft versions and sync/apply them onto the avi's.

Re: degrees of connection in EoD, TbWD, EoS

Mobster guy? And who else? *curious*

Choi JaeSung: Mobster with the dye job in TbWD = Tortured (anti-)hero in EoD (guess which side he ends up with in the North-communist/South-anticommunist conflict).

Chae ShiRa: Leading man's arch-rival in EoS = Victimised heroine in EoD

I haven't watched EoD yet, but I figure I need to set aside some time properly, if I'm going to watch something that touches on war crimes, such as 'comfort women.'

From:

dangermousie.livejournal.com

If you're looking for the 24 eps., btw, I'll be happy to burn them for you. I don't have the subs, but should be able to find some soft versions and sync/apply them onto the avi's.

That would be incredibly wonderful and I'd be completely grateful but it sounds like a lot of work for you!!!!

(guess which side he ends up with in the North-communist/South-anticommunist conflict).

Does it start with a Nor...?

It's so odd, when I was growing up in the then-USSR, my best friend was this girl named Tanya. She and her family recently moved back from North Korea. Her Dad was an engineer and was over there doing whatever because USSR used to send various aid stuff at the time. I didn't even think it weird at the time because they were a 'brother socialist country' but in retrospect...

Choi JaeSung: Mobster with the dye job in TbWD = Tortured (anti-)hero in EoD

OK, this is even more boggling to me than Lord Yon and Evil Elder from Legend combined. I don't know why :)

I haven't watched EoD yet, but I figure I need to set aside some time properly, if I'm going to watch something that touches on war crimes, such as 'comfort women.'

I really want to watch it, and have been eyeing the boxset at YA lustfully ever since you linked me, but it's so pricy! I better tell Mr. Mousie that I need an anniversary present of a specific DVD nature...

From:

clairiere.livejournal.com

That would be incredibly wonderful and I'd be completely grateful but it sounds like a lot of work for you!!!!

Not at all. I've got some time off next week, and it'd be my pleasure. The eps. are 700mb avi's and wouldn't take long to burn on DVDs. The tricky part is the subs, whether they'll sync with the avi's I have, but we'll see. Let me get back to you with the details next week.

It's so odd, when I was growing up in the then-USSR, my best friend was this girl named Tanya. She and her family recently moved back from North Korea. Her Dad was an engineer and was over there doing whatever because USSR used to send various aid stuff at the time. I didn't even think it weird at the time because they were a 'brother socialist country' but in retrospect...

Not having seen EoD, I don't know how the N/S divide plays into the drama, or how it was perceived at the time (in 1991, when the Berlin Wall had just come off), as gutsy or honest or whatever. But tying it with the colonial period, when you also had to make a choice--whether to suffer or to be complicit--probably sets up for a more layered dramatization than had been done or was possible in the 80s.

Btw, if you ever finish JuMong, there's a wonderful behind-the-scenes special, available on YouTube, in which the cast (SIG, Han HyeJin, King GuemWa, Lady YooHwa, MoPalMo) visit PyongYang where JuMong is buried. It's a nice way to end the series, very appropriate.

I really want to watch it, and have been eyeing the boxset at YA lustfully ever since you linked me, but it's so pricy!

It is, and it's also over 30 eps., close to 40, I think. If it's the emotional grinder everyone says it is, I'm not rushing into it.

From:

dangermousie.livejournal.com

Let me get back to you with the details next week.

Thank you.

Btw, if you ever finish JuMong, there's a wonderful behind-the-scenes special, available on YouTube, in which the cast (SIG, Han HyeJin, King GuemWa, Lady YooHwa, MoPalMo) visit PyongYang where JuMong is buried. It's a nice way to end the series, very appropriate.

That seems very interesting!

From:

clairiere.livejournal.com

Forgot to add--

I wouldn't describe the love story as secondary. It doesn't get the airtime you'd expect in k-dramas, esp. one with a limited run, but the love story, the friendships, the shared memories among the three protagonists drive the narrative.

From:

dangermousie.livejournal.com

This does sound so excellent. I think I am going to try to marathon Lobbyist as fast as I can to get to this.

From:

joonni.livejournal.com

What I remember from this drama is the awesome body guard of Go Hyun Jung. He was the then fledgling actor called Lee Jung Jae. He is seriously another reason to watch this drama...because he the silent protector, tortured and eventually....