Video Prose Poetry
Anything revealed in the first two episodes is not considered a spoiler here.
This is a reverse Cinderella story with a rich older woman running a major hotel chain who while in Cuba meets up with a much younger man from a humble background. She’s robbed and left in desperate straits while out and about in Havana. The young man saves her and they spend the day together not knowing each other’s backgrounds. Their meeting occurs outside the normal social class context in Korea that would have dictated their initial interactions, and so a seed is planted for a relationship as each triggers something in the other.
Upon returning to Korea it turns out he is a new recruit in her hotel chain.
Back in Korea we learn more background. As a rich younger woman she was forced into an arranged marriage to further her mother’s and her mother-in-law’s political ambitions. The couple divorce after two years (husband caused) and two years after that the encounter occurs in Cuba. The ex mother-in-law and her mother scheme ruthlessly to get the original couple back together to further the evolving political ambitions of both.
The pacing in the first several episodes works and the story proceeds at a sedate but acceptable pace, but somewhere about half way through there’s a drag in pacing. Certain conflicts are signaled but don’t happen until much later and then off screen. Towards the last few episodes some interesting plot twists occur and the pacing picks up but the damage has been done for some viewers.
This slowdown midway is a deliberate choice by the writer who I suspect wants to dwell on the inner conflicts of the CEO and the young man, and the impact their relationship would have on those around them. They are after all not in Cuba in isolation, but back in the larger cultural context and that fact has consequences.
The rich CEO character is a good woman struggling to break out of her class strait jacket, her gilded cage. Even her closest confidants constrain her choices. She can’t open the car window for fresh air to avoid catching a cold. The young man brings out her inner true self trying to win release from the external demands demanding conformity and obedience. The CEO is just holding on barely fending off the overtures of her mother, ex mother-in-law, and ex husband who also makes it clear he wants to get back together. Meeting the young man was a breath of fresh air but back in Korea there are too many complications to pursue things further.
The young man is basically as saintly as they come and his family is average but happy and well meaning. The CEO notices the contrast with her family and also knows that continuing a relationship with him is going to risk the happiness of his family as the collision between his peaceful happy if humble existence and her cruel family complications will have consequences for him and his entire family.
The CEO’s mother and especially the ex mother-in-law are some of the most evil ‘stepmothers’ you’ll see in a Cinderella story.
Song’s acting as the CEO may seem controlled or smothered, but that’s the character she’s playing, and later as her character goes through liberation there are several scenes in which her acting talent is on full display.
Many of the scenes are picture poetry as there is heavy reliance on images and symbols. Note the background art often in particular shots for each character especially the two leads. Often enough I was able to enjoy the lingering on particular images or scene set ups.
The script and directing are well done throughout. I thoroughly enjoyed the first several episodes so when the pacing lagged a bit in the middle there was no doubt I would continue, and I was glad I did. The reveals in the last half and the plot twists rescue the production from the slow pacing in the middle.
This is a reverse Cinderella story with a rich older woman running a major hotel chain who while in Cuba meets up with a much younger man from a humble background. She’s robbed and left in desperate straits while out and about in Havana. The young man saves her and they spend the day together not knowing each other’s backgrounds. Their meeting occurs outside the normal social class context in Korea that would have dictated their initial interactions, and so a seed is planted for a relationship as each triggers something in the other.
Upon returning to Korea it turns out he is a new recruit in her hotel chain.
Back in Korea we learn more background. As a rich younger woman she was forced into an arranged marriage to further her mother’s and her mother-in-law’s political ambitions. The couple divorce after two years (husband caused) and two years after that the encounter occurs in Cuba. The ex mother-in-law and her mother scheme ruthlessly to get the original couple back together to further the evolving political ambitions of both.
The pacing in the first several episodes works and the story proceeds at a sedate but acceptable pace, but somewhere about half way through there’s a drag in pacing. Certain conflicts are signaled but don’t happen until much later and then off screen. Towards the last few episodes some interesting plot twists occur and the pacing picks up but the damage has been done for some viewers.
This slowdown midway is a deliberate choice by the writer who I suspect wants to dwell on the inner conflicts of the CEO and the young man, and the impact their relationship would have on those around them. They are after all not in Cuba in isolation, but back in the larger cultural context and that fact has consequences.
The rich CEO character is a good woman struggling to break out of her class strait jacket, her gilded cage. Even her closest confidants constrain her choices. She can’t open the car window for fresh air to avoid catching a cold. The young man brings out her inner true self trying to win release from the external demands demanding conformity and obedience. The CEO is just holding on barely fending off the overtures of her mother, ex mother-in-law, and ex husband who also makes it clear he wants to get back together. Meeting the young man was a breath of fresh air but back in Korea there are too many complications to pursue things further.
The young man is basically as saintly as they come and his family is average but happy and well meaning. The CEO notices the contrast with her family and also knows that continuing a relationship with him is going to risk the happiness of his family as the collision between his peaceful happy if humble existence and her cruel family complications will have consequences for him and his entire family.
The CEO’s mother and especially the ex mother-in-law are some of the most evil ‘stepmothers’ you’ll see in a Cinderella story.
Song’s acting as the CEO may seem controlled or smothered, but that’s the character she’s playing, and later as her character goes through liberation there are several scenes in which her acting talent is on full display.
Many of the scenes are picture poetry as there is heavy reliance on images and symbols. Note the background art often in particular shots for each character especially the two leads. Often enough I was able to enjoy the lingering on particular images or scene set ups.
The script and directing are well done throughout. I thoroughly enjoyed the first several episodes so when the pacing lagged a bit in the middle there was no doubt I would continue, and I was glad I did. The reveals in the last half and the plot twists rescue the production from the slow pacing in the middle.
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