This review may contain spoilers
Childhood Trauma and Tragedy Interferes With Love
I just finished Still Shining. This is not the typical romance love story and doesn't have the happily ever after ending. It starts out with a first love that seems to be heading in the direction of two lives together, but it takes a different turn. Traumatic events leave lasting scars and can change the course of people's lives, their hopes and dreams. Let me unpack some of this...
Both of our main leads are heavily burdened. We meet them while studying for college entrance exams. They are each other 's first love. We also get introduced to their lives.
Tae Seo has lost both parents in a car accident and he and his younger brother have to move to the country to live with their grandparents. His younger brother badly injured his leg in the same accident and will always have a limp. Tae Seo now assumes the responsibility for taking care of his brother and his grandparents. He studies hard to get into college, majoring in engineering but quits his engineering job after college when he realizes that his responsibilities to his family will always come before climbing the ladder or career success. He takes a job as train engineer and makes wooden frames on the side for extra money, all so he can be available when his family needs him. His life is busy fulfilling one responsibility after another with almost no time for anything else.
Eun-A helps her father run their home which also doubles as a vacation retreat. Her mother is not in the picture as she apparently left. Eun-A's father deals with depression and tried to commit suicide when his wife left him. Eun-A's main goal is to never leave her father alone, and to never be a burden to him or to anyone. There is a woman who enters her father's life, and while this gives Eun-A the chance to pursue her dreams, she has a hard time accepting this woman in her father's life.
Both Tae Seo and Eun-A go off to college but not in the same place. They juggle classes and trying to see each other. Tae Seo has to tutor, work part time, and take care of his grandparents. Schedules often do not work out. Eun-A quits college and pursues working an internship at a resort, which only makes seeing Tae Seo that much harder. In an effort to not be a burden, she breaks up with Tae Seo over the phone breaking his heart.
10 years later Tae Seo and Eun-A see each other in Seoul. They still have feelings for each other and start to see each other. However, life is still hard. Eun-A owned her own vacation rental, but had to leave it suddenly due to some corporate takeover (?). This was a part of the story I had a hard time following, Tae Seo is still juggling his responsibilities for his family, and this time his grandmother has a stroke (I think), so he juggles hospital visits. There are also other people who are in each of their lives so jealousies erupt and misunderstandings happen. This gets to be too much and this time Tae Seo breaks things off over the phone.
At this point as the viewer I'm wondering (in a frustrated voice) where the hell this is taking us. You really have to see the story through to the end. In the final episode. Tae Seo and Eun-A meet several times that end up being nothing, but finally they talk. Tae Seo wonders out loud why they ended up the way they did....and I'm sure every viewer is wondering this as well. The meaning behind this mournful couple who could never seem to get it together came in one line..."That is us. Never wanting to make things harder for the other." Eun-A's childhood scars meant she runs whenever she feels like she is a burden to someone and Tae Seo has so many burdens already on his plate, she doesn't want to be just one more. At first I thought she was just a narcissist that played with his heart, but I think she is just very realistic about how burdened his life is, and doesn't want to add to it.
This is the story of a very, very deep love two people have for each other who couldn't be free enough of life's burdens to be together. It's sad really as we are cheering for them to be together through the entire story. It's not a happily ever after ending, but only a hopeful one that maybe one day burdens will lesson and they can be together.
The acting was very good. It is very emotional throughout and the actors really brought out those emotions.
Both of our main leads are heavily burdened. We meet them while studying for college entrance exams. They are each other 's first love. We also get introduced to their lives.
Tae Seo has lost both parents in a car accident and he and his younger brother have to move to the country to live with their grandparents. His younger brother badly injured his leg in the same accident and will always have a limp. Tae Seo now assumes the responsibility for taking care of his brother and his grandparents. He studies hard to get into college, majoring in engineering but quits his engineering job after college when he realizes that his responsibilities to his family will always come before climbing the ladder or career success. He takes a job as train engineer and makes wooden frames on the side for extra money, all so he can be available when his family needs him. His life is busy fulfilling one responsibility after another with almost no time for anything else.
Eun-A helps her father run their home which also doubles as a vacation retreat. Her mother is not in the picture as she apparently left. Eun-A's father deals with depression and tried to commit suicide when his wife left him. Eun-A's main goal is to never leave her father alone, and to never be a burden to him or to anyone. There is a woman who enters her father's life, and while this gives Eun-A the chance to pursue her dreams, she has a hard time accepting this woman in her father's life.
Both Tae Seo and Eun-A go off to college but not in the same place. They juggle classes and trying to see each other. Tae Seo has to tutor, work part time, and take care of his grandparents. Schedules often do not work out. Eun-A quits college and pursues working an internship at a resort, which only makes seeing Tae Seo that much harder. In an effort to not be a burden, she breaks up with Tae Seo over the phone breaking his heart.
10 years later Tae Seo and Eun-A see each other in Seoul. They still have feelings for each other and start to see each other. However, life is still hard. Eun-A owned her own vacation rental, but had to leave it suddenly due to some corporate takeover (?). This was a part of the story I had a hard time following, Tae Seo is still juggling his responsibilities for his family, and this time his grandmother has a stroke (I think), so he juggles hospital visits. There are also other people who are in each of their lives so jealousies erupt and misunderstandings happen. This gets to be too much and this time Tae Seo breaks things off over the phone.
At this point as the viewer I'm wondering (in a frustrated voice) where the hell this is taking us. You really have to see the story through to the end. In the final episode. Tae Seo and Eun-A meet several times that end up being nothing, but finally they talk. Tae Seo wonders out loud why they ended up the way they did....and I'm sure every viewer is wondering this as well. The meaning behind this mournful couple who could never seem to get it together came in one line..."That is us. Never wanting to make things harder for the other." Eun-A's childhood scars meant she runs whenever she feels like she is a burden to someone and Tae Seo has so many burdens already on his plate, she doesn't want to be just one more. At first I thought she was just a narcissist that played with his heart, but I think she is just very realistic about how burdened his life is, and doesn't want to add to it.
This is the story of a very, very deep love two people have for each other who couldn't be free enough of life's burdens to be together. It's sad really as we are cheering for them to be together through the entire story. It's not a happily ever after ending, but only a hopeful one that maybe one day burdens will lesson and they can be together.
The acting was very good. It is very emotional throughout and the actors really brought out those emotions.
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