Korean TV series

[skylee]

I have just finished watching "My Name Is Kim Sam-soon". I think it is fun to watch, but is not really special.

[Ian_Lee]

FYI If you live in US, you should go check your public library. Maybe they have all those K-Drama that you can borrow.

I just borrowed the whole series of "Winter Sonata" (1,400 minutes -- seven DVDs) for US$1. The probllem is that you have to return it within one week.

Those are all original DVDs from KBS or MBC with English subtitles. The quality is quite good (depending how many borrowings has it gone thru) and usually comes with the original sound track CD.

Unlike other editions available in Asia, these are all unedited versions which are longer in viewing time and a little bit dragging.

[skylee]

I just borrowed the whole series of "Winter Sonata" (1,400 minutes -- seven DVDs) for US$1.

Do you mean you have to pay for what you borrow from public libraries in the US? This sounds strange ... In HK it is free (paid by public money, i.e. tax payers' money), unless you use the reservation service (which includes delivery to a library you choose), which is only HKD2.5 ...

[Ian_Lee]

Skylee:

Only DVDs and VCDs are assessed a nominal charge for check-out. CDs, audio tapes and books are free.

But one thing nice is that unlike HK Public Library which imposes a limit on how many books you can borrow, there is no limit over here. You can borrow up to hundreds of books.

[bhchao]

Lee Young Ae is going to star in a 24-episode Hong Kong TV drama called Three Years and Eight Months, set during the 1937-1945 war with Japan. She is going to play a Korean painter who flees to Hong Kong during this period.

[bhchao]

Here are some pictures of Song Hae Gyo. Each of us has different tastes, but I think she is quite attractive.

[Song You Shen]

She is very beautiful. She looks like my girlfriend... only whiter.

Youshen

[bhchao]

Song Hae Gyo might become the female lead in Kung Fu Hustle 2.

http://english.eastday.com/eastday/englishedition/node20665/node20668/node22811/node89998/node89999/userobject1ai1619980.html

Do you think Stephen Chow will make the right decision if he selects her? It would be interesting to see how the movie would turn out with her in the front seat.

Hong Kong producers are capitalizing more and more on the huge popularity of Korean actors to gain additional box office punch and potentially high ratings.

[Ian_Lee]

Just finished cramming "Winter Sonata" two days ago.

I strongly recommend fellow posters to watch the original KBS disc because:

(1) They got special features in the final disc that includes:

--- many NG shots;

--- many production clips;

--- introduction of Nam Yi Island (the place where the puppy love occurred);

(2) Original soundtrack CD that includes:

--- all the songs;

--- all the songs (with piano and/or violin only);

--- one of the songs in Chinese version.

Anyone knows what is the name of the actress in Chinese?

And where can I buy its 鋼琴譜?

[bhchao]

崔志宇 is the actress in Winter Sonata.

I don't like this particular Chinese song on the soundtrack. yun in

However I like the beautiful piano and violin combo version of this song: My Memory

[skylee]

In HK, she is known as 崔智友. I got 71 results when I searched for 崔智友 at Chosun daily ( http://chinese.chosun.com/servlet/search.searchNews ), but got zero result when I searched for 崔志宇.

But then when I googled I found this 女優チェ・ジウ(崔志宇)の公式サイト。

[Quest]

I don't like this particular Chinese song on the soundtrack. yun in

Who sang it? so many "s sh s sh sh sh sh"s...

[Ian_Lee]

I read somewhere that KBS has also made three other 20-episode series that revolve around spring, summer and autumn in addition to "Winter Sonata".

Are those as good as "Winter Sonata"?

IMO "Winter Sonata" is quite outstanding that it makes me have hangover -- don't want to watch other TV dramas in the next couple of days.

The Korean newspaper also said that a lot of Korean guys have this kind of hangover after "Dae Jang Kum" is over.

[skylee]

The Autumn one is called 秋天的童話/藍色生死戀, featuring Song Hae Gyo (as shown in post #106) and Song Seung Hyun (as mentioned in post #67). It was quite good and I think it was this series that got the korean wave heated.

The Summer one is called 夏日香氣 (summer scent) also featuring Song Seung Hyun and Son Ye Jin. I was not interested in this one. And I am not aware of the Spring one.

I agree that Winter Sonata is outstanding in its cast, acting, music and filming.

[Ian_Lee]

And does anyone notice that almost all Korean actresses have their eye sockets swollen at the last episodes of the series?

In "The Glass Slipper", "Winter Sonata"........etc., the actresses weep with tears running down their cheeks in almost every episode. (How can they produce so much tears?)

So inevitably almost every Korean actress got a pair of swollen eyes at the end.

But frankly speaking, some girls look ugly when they cry. But when these Korean girls cry, you just want to hug and solace her!

Their tears are really heartbreaking for guys!

[bhchao]

Their tears are really heartbreaking for guys!

That is what makes Korean dramas so great! Makes me want to hug one of the actresses in the likes of Bae Yoon Jun.

I fell for Kim Hee Sun when she cried in Sad Sonata. But she cried in a classy way.

Ok this is getting ridiculously corny.

[Ian_Lee]

Recently I re-watched some HK movies which also revolved fate/destiny, i.e. "Turn Left Turn Right", "Lost in Destiny"....etc.

And I found out that the HK actresses like Gigi Leung and Cecilia Cheung didn't know how to cry nicely in these movies.

Compared with their Korean counterparts, I only found them look ugly in their weeping scenes.

[skylee]

HK girls hardly cry ...

[Quest]

Crying scenes are often skipped or implied in HK TV or movie productions. It's funny to see them drop 一千零一滴眼泪 even in very sad scenes. Taiwanese actresses seem to be more capable of carrying out a realistic cry scene.

[Ian_Lee]

Anyone watching 布拉格戀人 now?

It is up to the 7th episode over here but in Korea the final episode is just aired:

http://chinese.chosun.com/big5/site/data/html_dir/2005/11/22/20051122000012.html

And it got the highest TV rating currently:

http://chinese.chosun.com/big5/site/data/html_dir/2005/11/22/20051122000014.html

Though the actor and actress are not good looking, the scenery of Prague is gorgeous.