Hwang Jin Yi (2006)

I watched this Drama a while ago and there is actutually a lot to say about it. At first it is one of the most beautyfull dramas i have seen so far. The acting is great and the music matches well with the scenes. I often have the problem that historical dramas get boring after a while and I see myself skipping some dialogues in order to go on to the more "interssting" parts. In the drama Hwang jin yi however this feeling wasn't there as much as in the other so i nearly watched every second of it. The only thing I didn't like that much was the sadness that you find yourself in while watching it. There are many scenes where I actually cried and that is the reason for me not to rewatch it that many times.... But that doesn't mean that it's not worth rewatching. The dances and the acting of Ha ji won in particular are sooo outstanding and in my opinion they portrait hwang jin yi soo good that all the time you get what she stands for, fights for and how great of a women she is. For all those who are interessted in Art this is a drama that leads them back to the past to discover what being an artist means.
To sum up this drama is valuable in acting, art (costumes are great) music and dancing also the storyline is interessting. The only thing you need to prepare yourself is getting a bunch of tissues ready as it gets really emotional ;)

Leia Mais

So many aspects of this drama are beautiful and poignant: cinematography, story, themes, characters, and acting. Unfortunately, what really brought Hwang Jin Yi down was the execution.

Hwang Jin Yi herself (excellently portrayed by Ha Ji Won) is a legend and a difficult character to center a drama around because she's so enigmatic. The show handles this by making her almost otherworldly, the epitome of beauty, grace, and intelligence whose passion for dance eclipses everything else in her life. However (or perhaps because of this), there was too much of a focus on the supporting characters - love interests especially - and how they were affected by Hwang Jin Yi, often putting her on the sidelines. As the series progressed and she became more guarded, the emotional weight of the story shifted to them as well. Instead of Hwang Jin Yi being the subject of the drama, she was the object.

Nonetheless, although the show had a tendency to be over-dramatic towards the end, it has great commentary on art (painting, music, and dance) and the life of gisaengs. If you are interested in these, then this is the perfect drama for you.

Leia Mais

Just marathon-ed this epic tale and was entertained by each episode. Strong story of an important woman in history & Korean history who was gifted beyond her time. Her tenacity, intelligence and wit was uncommon at that time period (still not a favorite today in some lands) to move a nation and gender forward. This movie would be an excellent viewing for the costumes, scenery, and historical nuggets and needs to be extra-recommended during Women's month as a reminder of women who helped form a culture when women were basically considered playthings by either profession or birth. The lead actress did a brilliant acting job in this mentally & physically demanding historical figure role convincing viewers that she was JinYi. The only downside, you will find yourself tearing up - beside that, this is well worth the investment of time and thought

Leia Mais

The forgotten impact of arts on our lives

A drama with good teaching. I used to neglect arts in my life and thanks to this drama I came to give it the place it deserves and have become more balanced in my head. I needed to give slow meticulous work a chance and I hadn't realized how I missed this for my inner balance until I watched this series. It is completely wrong to give material matters all the focus we are almost commanded to grant in our times. We have forgotten about beauty and arts, again not as a purchased item at a gallery but something that we aim to achieve progressively and with great patience. Chasing money and refining appearances only makes us more childish and quickly bored and upset. We have become triggered only by violent emotions and shocking appearances. We have become a lot more bestial in a sense. What we need to learn is how to get away from the materialistic impulse and how to cultivate virtue: patience, learning genuine good taste from the grounds, dedication for true slow work .. if you get doing that, you'll be achieving some balance. You'll get yourself away from a great deal of psychic illnesses.

Leia Mais

This was the first historical Asian drama that I was able to finish and loved. There was nothing that I hated about the show. It was never boring. If you don't like historical shows with lots of politics in it then this is your show, you will like this a lot. I loved all the outfits and makeup and hair that was done in this story. There was lots of drama which I liked a lot. It was sad that they had a kill off quite a few people that we have grown to love through this year but they made the right choice by doing that. The story wouldn’t have been as good if the main character did have to go through all these deaths. I liked the instrumental songs that were played throughout the story. The actors and actresses did a great job in this show. I loved all the poetry, dancing, musical instruments that were done in this story too. The director who made this put a lot of heart, time and care and passion into this show and it shows. The director did a great job with this show.

Leia Mais

At first I thought "Hwang Jin Yi" is something similar to "Memoirs of a Geisha"; depicting a bitter life imposed to a talented woman and how she overcomes her obstacles... (catching story for watching once only)..but it was totally different. I don't know much about history and culture of Korea in detail, but what I really liked about it was focusing on a different aspect of a kisaeng's life, as an artist.
Unlike the similar versions of such stories, it didn't highlight the topic as a a huge catastrophe and make a fuss about it. Of course there were some tragedies in between, but they didn't make the story banal.
Ha Ji won is one of my favorite actresses though in most of her roles (mostly including super strong women with high level of perfection), I've seen some traces of aggression and you feel like the character is always on guard. But in here I think she really made a good job. I've read that Hwang Jin Yi herself is a legend with an enigmatic character (like many other artists; I think it's in our genes perhaps :D), but besides the constant proud perfectionist hardworking character she wanted to be, the actress performed the weak parts all humans have and the delicate aesthetic part sweetly, from the time she was a naive sprout to the point she blooms.
I think the fact that they also focused on the lives of supporting characters was quite helpful; too much attention to the main character would make it tiring, besides when you have to take some time to consider different point of views, different reactions and different influences on different people, it will help you develop your own perspective in a various ways instead of staying a relatively passive audience.
Another perfect part of the drama was the music, quite enjoyable indeed!
Overall, it is worth the time.

Leia Mais

Sooooo pretty.

I don’t know whether I hadn't paid attention before, but the hanboks in this drama are the prettiest.
The story is compelling, and not to mention the great music and directing. And the emotions are well tuned. I cried, felt goosebumps and excitement from cliff hangers and events. The romance is good too.
The drama empathizes so well with the feeling of those women who had to live as every man’s woman for the rest of their lives as their fate.
Again, the story is nice, and Ha Ji Won is as beautiful as always.
I appreciate the art in this drama.
I love how this drama shows the process of hard work and talent.

Leia Mais

A Arte e a Paixão de uma Mulher Excepcional

Hwang Jin Yi é um drama histórico que retrata a vida de Hwang Jin Yi, uma das mais famosas cortesãs (gisaeng) da história da Coreia. Ambientado na Dinastia Joseon, o dorama segue Jin Yi desde sua juventude, quando descobriu seu talento artístico, até sua ascensão como uma das maiores artistas e dançarinas da época. Sua vida é marcada não apenas por seu talento, mas também por seus amores proibidos e pela luta contra as normas sociais restritivas da época.

O drama é visualmente deslumbrante, com cenários, figurinos e coreografias de dança cuidadosamente elaborados. A performance de Ha Ji-won como Hwang Jin Yi é magnética, capturando a complexidade de uma mulher que transcendeu seu status social através da arte. A narrativa combina romance, tragédia e superação, oferecendo um retrato fascinante de uma mulher que lutou contra as convenções sociais para viver sua verdade.

Para os fãs de dramas históricos e biografias inspiradoras, Hwang Jin Yi é uma obra-prima que celebra a arte, o amor e a liberdade.

Leia Mais

To sum up this drama is a treat for the eyes : the costumes are incredible ,there is a nice emphases on the art (painting, music, and dance) and the life of gisaengs. If you are interested in those, then this is the perfect drama for you.

The acting is also good.

In fact, there is nothining reprehensible with this drama. I just wasn't captivated by the stroy line and the feud between the 2 gisaeng houses. Futhermore i don't know anything about the historical caractere behind Hwang Jini. So I won't judge this aspect

However i liked the depiction of the giseang life ( with is usualy sugar coatted in historical dramas).

Leia Mais

Disappointing

Most of the cast were underperforming on their roles. Aside from the main female lead, there wasn't much appeal going for the drama. Which made the drama utterly boring with its insane 24 episodes nascence runtime, it felt painfully infinite. The drama had a poor pacing with every section/period. The first 10 episodes all served as an intro and could've been condensed down to couple of episodes at best. Some gisaeng "training montages" were laughable and straight up ripped from anime-esque training arcs followed by an instant skill power up, despite having all the time in the world to flesh out the gisaeng journey from an artistic point of view. A drama about gisaengs that doesn't put the effort and needed attention into the gisaengs. To top it all off, they couldn't even deliver with the ending, I hated the last episode, everything felt force for the sake of progressing the drama. By the way, Jang Geun Suk shouldn't be listed with the main cast since he's only there for a few episodes.

Leia Mais