Damo: Strong women, conflicted men...

[dangermousie]

I think it's about time for me to rewatch Damo.

A 14-episode drama, Damo was one of my earliest Korean dramas, and all these dramas later, remains one of my favorites (I don't love it as much as Legend, and probably not as much as Hong Gil Dong, but it is still psychotically good).

Filmed like a movie and written better than most movies ever get (and, at 14 eps, with no slow spots or pacing problems), Damo possesses not only a complicated story, amazing battles, and characters I grew to love madly, it also boasts the strongest female character I have came across in dramas: the protagonist Chae-Ok, after whom the drama is named. A Damo is a tea-servant in Korea of a Joseon period, and Chae-Ok is, ostensibly, a tea-servant at a police precinct, a slave of Commander Hwangbo Yoon, the 'boss' of the division. She is also an investigator for the department and one of its best fighters. She can do this as she grew up with Yoon, and the Commander, an outsider himself (he is a bastard child of a nobleman, not a truly 'proper noble' by birth), treats her as a sister or maybe more...

The story is about a counterfeiting ring that might be the cover for a rebellion, about Chae-Ok's method of coping with living in a society that is almost unbearably rigid, and her emotional involvement with two very different yet oddly similar men: Hwangbo Yoon and the charismatic rebel leader Sung-Baek.

Damo is one of the most gorgeously filmed, emotionally devastating, incredible dramas out there. All three of the main characters are outsiders trying to cope with the system that does not allow deviations, and their emotional struggles to define themselves are even more interesting than the overarching plot.

Also, "Then I will humble myself" has got to be one of the most swoon-worthy things ever said in a drama, in context.

Here is a rare non-spoilery vid to lure you:

Comments

[meganbmoore.livejournal.com]

It really is notoriously difficult to find non-spoilery vids, isn't it? (Possibly because you know it can only end a certain number of ways from the start.)

I always want to rewatch it as a whole(instead of certain bits) but I can't make myself justify rewatching/reading the entirety of something when I have a backlog.

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I have rarely seen so few non-spoiler vids in a fandom.

It's only 14 eps, you should rewatch! :)

[salimbol.livejournal.com]

Ah, Damo's a good one! I think it has the distinction of being the first drama I saw, back in late 2005. I really enjoyed it, and the three leads were great (as you both know), but strangely enough, it didn't spark off any great passion to go out and find every other drama out there (that came later). Must just have been a timing thing, or perhaps I just wasn't aware of the existence of so many other Asian TV shows.

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

The same with me. Mars was the first drama I saw and I liked it a lot, but had no desire to go looking for more. I think I thought of it as a one-off. Little did I know!

[salimbol.livejournal.com]

Ooh, Mars was a great way to start out with dramas! It would be fun to go back in time and tell your unsuspecting past self 'oh, how these things will devour your life shortly!' *grin*

[alexandral.livejournal.com]

I muight re-watch this too, it has been a while since I have watched it. It is just excellent.

[miss-dian.livejournal.com]

Oh yes. I totally agree ;)

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

Ooooh, we could do a rewatch together!

[miss-dian.livejournal.com]

Oh. My. God. Squeeeeeeeeeeee. My love for Damo is really quite scary. It is the OTP-ness that makes my heart weep. The production values, though it is not so spectacular now (in contrast to Legend), is still quite impressive since it was filmed in 2003. I am rather rabid about it :D

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

I love Damo so much. I think the production values aren't like Legend's, true, but then most movies don't have Legend's production values either. And oh, the OTP. They so kill me.

What's your fave OTP scene btw?

Mine's the one when they have that conversation in the tent...*dies*

[miss-dian.livejournal.com]

That conversation in the tent is awesome. So, so good. But my fave scene I think is the whole sequence of Yoon saving Chae Ohk (after she got brutally slashed in trying to see the King). It totally got me in the best possible way, starting from Yoon threatening the palace doctor in order to tend to Chae Ohk, and when that didn't work he went to his teacher's temple (the part when he fed her water from the creek? *dies*), and then.. THE HAIRBRUSHING! Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeee! *incoherent*

Okay so I cheated. I can't pick one single favourite scene because there are too many that I like, LOL.

Oh. Mustn't forget the scene where Yoon and Chae Ohk spoke from behind the doors. So they weren't directly facing each other, but neither wanted to leave. It was when Yoon told her that he will regard her nothing more than a damo *weep*

And the part where Chae Ohk is dragging herself on the sand, desperately trying to get closer to a dying Yoon? And she is too grieved to say anything than call out his name and telling him full of regret that they should just go and live in the mountains together? And she witnesses him die, and then after that she gets furious and is determined to go after Sung Baek...???? Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

I feel like crying just reading this.

I am rewatching it now (finished ep 2) and the chemistry between the two of them is unbelievably intense.

[miss-dian.livejournal.com]

Yeah, so many heartbreaking scenes :( I loved the opening scene of ep 2, when the are lovemaking, oops, I mean sword dueling in the rain. It reminds me of The Duelist, the way there was so much chemistry buzzed in the air. Urgh.

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

Yeah, that swordfighting=lovemaking was similar to Duelist (or the other way around, whatever :P as Damo was made first). So intense.

[kitkat-cat.livejournal.com]

DAMO truly occupies a special place in my heart (also, i always refer to it in CAPS! )

It is the one drama where I keep wanting to watch it over and over again, but also not want to cos I sometimes think that my heart just couldn't bear it. (following DAMO up with Snow Queen probably wasn't clever on my part too!)

All the confines of society, the struggle to deny themselves, the heartbreak, the waste is just too much...

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

It is so amazing. I am rewatching it now and I've forgotten how intense it is. The air between LSJ and HJW seems to be literally charged. OMG.

[bae-mac.livejournal.com]

waaaaa! I can't relate! I wish I was able to watch DAMO when it was shown here in our country! I've been scrambling for a copy of this but still to no avail! haha! =)

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

It's out on DVD. Or do you dl? I can give links! :)

Icon!