This review may contain spoilers
Some sad endings can be happy.
This is a traditional love story similar to Moon Embracing the Sun, which means that the gender dynamic might be a turn off for some. It doesn’t try to add a modern slant like Mr. Queen or or anything like that and the power imbalance between the leads is even greater here because the female lead is a lowly court maid, while the male lead is the crown prince.
However, it does a good job in showing how someone in such a menial position tries to find agency. It doesn’t shy away from showing the restraints that women (or even men like the crown prince) had to face during those times; it also shows the interesting ways they tried to survive and maneuver their way through this setting.
The female lead, Deok Im, tries to protect those she loves (the male lead mostly) in many creative, resourceful ways, is able to speak up for herself even if her life hangs in the balance and also tries to help and rescue others in spite of not having any fighting abilities or a high status.
Through the male lead, we see how being a crown prince doesn’t matter when there’s a king around and you are in constant peril until you actually become king. If one of the themes of the drama is Deok Im’s desire for freedom, the other is Prince Yi San’s high capacity for endurance. He goes through a lot before he becoming king; slurs against his background (being the son of a prince that was put to death), attempts at dethronement and even grand scale assassination. He manages to survive with the help of allies (number one being the female lead, but who doesn’t need allies when it comes to palace politics?) and becomes, as Deok Im puts it, a ’sage king.’ His capacity for endurance is a trait which also extends to his love for her. He loves Deok Im persistently and unconditionally, not wishing for anything in return. He is also expressive about it, even if she isn’t, which hurts his pride as both a man and a king, but he still loves her anyway and isn't ashamed about it. Deok Im loves him in return and you can see it in her actions, but hers is a more painful, restrained type of love and something she fears. As she puts it, “she can be entirely his, but he can never be hers.”
The good thing is that she is never forced to be with him and makes an active choice to, even if it causes her unhappiness in the end. Another theme of the story is about choices and how we stand by them even if there are consequences.
Both actor and actress delivered here. I have to give it to the actor playing Yi San though; while I can see other actresses playing Deok Im well, I feel like Lee Jun Ho was born to play Yi San. He did a great job in shifting from vulnerable to powerful, from boyish/playful to kingly and authoritative. I think his performance reminds me a lot of Kim So Yeon’s from Moon Embracing the Sun. He is also good at emoting, playing with his voice and saying a lot with just his eyes.
The Red Sleeve had a very good supporting cast. There was not one character who did not act their part. The actor playing the old king, his young queen, the prince’s bodyguard, Deok I’m court maid friends…all did very well with what they were given.
I particularly hated Lady Jo, but she made an excellent villainess. She took something (the mistreatment of court maids and how they should always fight back against a system that is unfair to them- which is very much valid) and twisted it into something bad for personal, selfish reasons. She also managed to brainwash a whole school of impressionable young women. Now that I think about it, she was actually sympathetic. She couldn’t take how the king abandoned her when she supported him most and was a good example of how pain and resentment could harden into unreasonable hatred.
If there’s anything that I didn’t like in this drama it’s that I felt a bit cynical about Deok Im’s loss of freedom. It’s not that the theme isn’t efficiently explored, its that- given how resourceful she was, I felt that even as a noble consort, she would still have found some way to do what she liked. It wouldn’t be a perfect situation and there would be some freedoms she would have to give up, but given what I saw of her, I couldn’t help but feel that this type of girl would still be able to rise above the situation, somehow.
I also normally don’t like sad endings, but this was an exception because it wasn’t an ambiguous, scratch-your-head wallbanger, but one that was sad, touching and gave closure. Some interpret the last scene with Deok Im and San as a dream, but I saw it as something that actually happened.
Yi San’s capacity for endurance came into play again after Deok Im died. As king, he couldn’t just do what he wanted, which was to grieve her loss, so, he had to make this supreme sacrifice and ‘forget her’ so he could function as a king and serve his country. It would be easier if actually succeeded and stopped loving her…but he didn't. He just bottled it up inside for a long time. When he finally succeeded, he was able to put himself first and do what he liked, which was to be with her. The sadness and happiness of that ending made perfect sense.
However, it does a good job in showing how someone in such a menial position tries to find agency. It doesn’t shy away from showing the restraints that women (or even men like the crown prince) had to face during those times; it also shows the interesting ways they tried to survive and maneuver their way through this setting.
The female lead, Deok Im, tries to protect those she loves (the male lead mostly) in many creative, resourceful ways, is able to speak up for herself even if her life hangs in the balance and also tries to help and rescue others in spite of not having any fighting abilities or a high status.
Through the male lead, we see how being a crown prince doesn’t matter when there’s a king around and you are in constant peril until you actually become king. If one of the themes of the drama is Deok Im’s desire for freedom, the other is Prince Yi San’s high capacity for endurance. He goes through a lot before he becoming king; slurs against his background (being the son of a prince that was put to death), attempts at dethronement and even grand scale assassination. He manages to survive with the help of allies (number one being the female lead, but who doesn’t need allies when it comes to palace politics?) and becomes, as Deok Im puts it, a ’sage king.’ His capacity for endurance is a trait which also extends to his love for her. He loves Deok Im persistently and unconditionally, not wishing for anything in return. He is also expressive about it, even if she isn’t, which hurts his pride as both a man and a king, but he still loves her anyway and isn't ashamed about it. Deok Im loves him in return and you can see it in her actions, but hers is a more painful, restrained type of love and something she fears. As she puts it, “she can be entirely his, but he can never be hers.”
The good thing is that she is never forced to be with him and makes an active choice to, even if it causes her unhappiness in the end. Another theme of the story is about choices and how we stand by them even if there are consequences.
Both actor and actress delivered here. I have to give it to the actor playing Yi San though; while I can see other actresses playing Deok Im well, I feel like Lee Jun Ho was born to play Yi San. He did a great job in shifting from vulnerable to powerful, from boyish/playful to kingly and authoritative. I think his performance reminds me a lot of Kim So Yeon’s from Moon Embracing the Sun. He is also good at emoting, playing with his voice and saying a lot with just his eyes.
The Red Sleeve had a very good supporting cast. There was not one character who did not act their part. The actor playing the old king, his young queen, the prince’s bodyguard, Deok I’m court maid friends…all did very well with what they were given.
I particularly hated Lady Jo, but she made an excellent villainess. She took something (the mistreatment of court maids and how they should always fight back against a system that is unfair to them- which is very much valid) and twisted it into something bad for personal, selfish reasons. She also managed to brainwash a whole school of impressionable young women. Now that I think about it, she was actually sympathetic. She couldn’t take how the king abandoned her when she supported him most and was a good example of how pain and resentment could harden into unreasonable hatred.
If there’s anything that I didn’t like in this drama it’s that I felt a bit cynical about Deok Im’s loss of freedom. It’s not that the theme isn’t efficiently explored, its that- given how resourceful she was, I felt that even as a noble consort, she would still have found some way to do what she liked. It wouldn’t be a perfect situation and there would be some freedoms she would have to give up, but given what I saw of her, I couldn’t help but feel that this type of girl would still be able to rise above the situation, somehow.
I also normally don’t like sad endings, but this was an exception because it wasn’t an ambiguous, scratch-your-head wallbanger, but one that was sad, touching and gave closure. Some interpret the last scene with Deok Im and San as a dream, but I saw it as something that actually happened.
Yi San’s capacity for endurance came into play again after Deok Im died. As king, he couldn’t just do what he wanted, which was to grieve her loss, so, he had to make this supreme sacrifice and ‘forget her’ so he could function as a king and serve his country. It would be easier if actually succeeded and stopped loving her…but he didn't. He just bottled it up inside for a long time. When he finally succeeded, he was able to put himself first and do what he liked, which was to be with her. The sadness and happiness of that ending made perfect sense.
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