ibisfeather
Gong Yoo shines brilliantly in the dark
A melodramatic thriller centred on 2 leads and the collision of the utter snakepits each of their lives have become individually. Psychologically claustrophobic plot. Gong Yoo (as Han Jeong Won) and Seo Hyun Jin (as Noh In Ji) work brilliantly together as 2 anti-heroes who yearn for happiness but are trapped not just by manipulative and abusive friends and family, but by their own numbed and stilled psyches. Gong Yoo, suffocated and angry, as always emotes with every careful move of his body and gaze. Seo Hyun Jin's character uses her beautiful closed face to survive so the actress clearly indicates her thought processes by her timing and her movements. When Inji loses control and starts in on the usual FL idiocy (taking all the blame on herself etc.) it doesn't last long.
The main set, the home of Jeong Won's dead parents is one of those architectural excesses symbolically perfect for the hermit-crab existence of JW in the grandiose ruins of his horrible family history. The central element is a modern chandelier of grotesque Versailles proportions hanging over a two story central space off which open all the living areas. In Ji is inserted into this cave-like structure by a semi-sinister version of a matchmaking bureau which specializes in discreet temporary contract-marriages for transactional reasons. JW's ex, a malevolent architect herself, also fits into this set as an absent presence, since she herself actually engineered the whole premise of the show, the dual contract-marriages. The strengths of the performances of Jung Yun Ha and Lee Woo (as her own temporary husband) are central to the plot and to the success of the show overall.
This is a good watch for fans of kdrama for whom plot doesn't matter as much as camerawork, soundtrack and the play of formulaic expectations. A great watch for Gong Yoo fans who always knew he would be smoking hot in bed. But it is a show which bends the rules for the OTP so far that it will be up to you to decide whether or not you have been emotionally deceived and how cynically this was done.
At 8 episodes of 1hr ea. we are looking at one of the new lengths for a kdrama. At this point writers and directors have to decide which standard elements to keep, how much time to allot to them etc. In my timid opinion (timid bec the extremely distinguished director, Kim Kyu Tae is obviously fully intentional in his choices) this type of story needed a 10 ep. structure in order to more firmly establish a key anchor for kdrama, the relationships of family and friends over time as context. At 8 eps, the show was way intense, and the standard time-jump later on in the show felt more jarring than usual. I didnt feel ready for it.
My advice for getting around this is not to binge the whole show at once and go to sleep unhappy, as I did, because I woke up the next day with a completely different perspective and decided I loved the Trunk. The next day I disliked it, the next day...I needed time to appreciate it, and in a classic 16 ep form that appreciation would have been done in tandem with the usual chorus of observers (families, friends and village idiots) within the drama itself. Those characters were in the story but I literally felt they needed their own small corners (time, musical themes etc) to thrive in. Therefore the discussion and perspective has to be internal to the spectator, as in a movie....
The kdrama phenomenon is built on 3 pillars. 1/ Technical power of the soundtrack combined with careful editing to produce a range of emotions swiftly and exactly. 2/Extremely sophisticated comic sensibility combined with essential theatrical structures and astoundingly skilled camerawork to produce real aesthetic satisfaction, 3/The imaginary reintegration of a positive and hopeful society via the love of family and friends and communal meals and other rituals. I think that 3/ is not satisfied here. The fans love the weird romantic formulas but they occur ontop of the engine for producing those feelings.
On sex. love and formulas: Kdrama love is built on an exchange of symbolic promises of care and support. These include bandaiding, tentative and sometimes complicated handholding, sleeping together without sex mainly so that love can be awoken by watching the partner's childlike and vulnerable face, gift-giving, and feeding. Near-death experiences of one of the pair are often necessary. The actual protestation of love is couched in terms of care and protection - I will always be by your side, etc. Sex has to occur very near the culmination of most of this. The weakness of this show is the placement of these elements out of sequence, when one of the basic pillars of kdrama is a little weak. Modernizing kdrama is always perilous but necessary, so kudos for the effort.
The main set, the home of Jeong Won's dead parents is one of those architectural excesses symbolically perfect for the hermit-crab existence of JW in the grandiose ruins of his horrible family history. The central element is a modern chandelier of grotesque Versailles proportions hanging over a two story central space off which open all the living areas. In Ji is inserted into this cave-like structure by a semi-sinister version of a matchmaking bureau which specializes in discreet temporary contract-marriages for transactional reasons. JW's ex, a malevolent architect herself, also fits into this set as an absent presence, since she herself actually engineered the whole premise of the show, the dual contract-marriages. The strengths of the performances of Jung Yun Ha and Lee Woo (as her own temporary husband) are central to the plot and to the success of the show overall.
This is a good watch for fans of kdrama for whom plot doesn't matter as much as camerawork, soundtrack and the play of formulaic expectations. A great watch for Gong Yoo fans who always knew he would be smoking hot in bed. But it is a show which bends the rules for the OTP so far that it will be up to you to decide whether or not you have been emotionally deceived and how cynically this was done.
At 8 episodes of 1hr ea. we are looking at one of the new lengths for a kdrama. At this point writers and directors have to decide which standard elements to keep, how much time to allot to them etc. In my timid opinion (timid bec the extremely distinguished director, Kim Kyu Tae is obviously fully intentional in his choices) this type of story needed a 10 ep. structure in order to more firmly establish a key anchor for kdrama, the relationships of family and friends over time as context. At 8 eps, the show was way intense, and the standard time-jump later on in the show felt more jarring than usual. I didnt feel ready for it.
My advice for getting around this is not to binge the whole show at once and go to sleep unhappy, as I did, because I woke up the next day with a completely different perspective and decided I loved the Trunk. The next day I disliked it, the next day...I needed time to appreciate it, and in a classic 16 ep form that appreciation would have been done in tandem with the usual chorus of observers (families, friends and village idiots) within the drama itself. Those characters were in the story but I literally felt they needed their own small corners (time, musical themes etc) to thrive in. Therefore the discussion and perspective has to be internal to the spectator, as in a movie....
The kdrama phenomenon is built on 3 pillars. 1/ Technical power of the soundtrack combined with careful editing to produce a range of emotions swiftly and exactly. 2/Extremely sophisticated comic sensibility combined with essential theatrical structures and astoundingly skilled camerawork to produce real aesthetic satisfaction, 3/The imaginary reintegration of a positive and hopeful society via the love of family and friends and communal meals and other rituals. I think that 3/ is not satisfied here. The fans love the weird romantic formulas but they occur ontop of the engine for producing those feelings.
On sex. love and formulas: Kdrama love is built on an exchange of symbolic promises of care and support. These include bandaiding, tentative and sometimes complicated handholding, sleeping together without sex mainly so that love can be awoken by watching the partner's childlike and vulnerable face, gift-giving, and feeding. Near-death experiences of one of the pair are often necessary. The actual protestation of love is couched in terms of care and protection - I will always be by your side, etc. Sex has to occur very near the culmination of most of this. The weakness of this show is the placement of these elements out of sequence, when one of the basic pillars of kdrama is a little weak. Modernizing kdrama is always perilous but necessary, so kudos for the effort.
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