İyi Seyirler Dileriz.
Be Strong, Geum Soon! (2005)
Be Strong, GeumSoon!
굳세어라 금순아
(Feb – Sept 2005)
who’s in it
Han HyeJin (Jumong, Terroir)
Kang JiHwan (Hong Gil Dong, Rough Cut – film)
Lee MinKi (Dal Ja’s Spring, Really, Really Like You)
Kim SuhHyung (Temptation of Wife)
what’s it about
Han HyeJin plays GeumSoon, a simple but warm-hearted country orphan who was raised by her grandmother. She falls for a boy, gets knocked up young in life and is forced into a shotgun marriage, to the chagrin of her boyfriend’s parents who see her as nothing more than a poor and conniving hussy who seduced their youngest son with sex and has now become the sinking anchor that will prevent him from succeeding in life. Whoa, mouthful! Anyway, when the young husband dies unexpectedly in a car accident soon after they are married, Han HyeJin is left behind with an infant son to raise on her own and in-laws who blame her for their son/younger brother’s death. Because she is the mother of their grandson/nephew, they very grudgingly let her continue to live with them until her financial situation improves. Through hard work and perseverance, she studies to become a hair stylist at a boutique salon in Seoul and also manages to snare the romantic interest of the owner’s handsome son, a surgeon internist played by Kang JiHwan. This is a classic story of lemons being sweetened into lemonade.
commitment
A truly frightening nightmare for those afraid of long term relationships at an intense length of 163 episodes. Seriously long sucker.
network
MBC
wildcard factor
This drama was so L-L-L-L-LONG it took the better part of a year to end its run. Soooo long it could have had its own zipcode. I’ll be honest, probably (felt like) one of the longest miniseries I’ve ever watched in my entire life (although A&E’s Pride and Prejudice felt close). It took me a long time and multiple breaks to finish this one. By the end, I felt like I’d gone through every excruciating trial with Han HyeJin and her drama-ridden families! The good news was obvious, there was going to be lots of quality character development and its long length indicative of the success it enjoyed. The bad news was equally obvious, this kind of length implied a lots of side characters and multiple plot arcs, some more snooze-worthy than others, although in relation to other daily dramas, not too excessive an amount of banchan characters. For a daily one, aside from the obvious tell in the 30-minute episodes and the 163-episode run, it had the snappy and modern feel that MBC was so good at capturing and didn’t scrimp on the quality of the production.
first impressions
I liked it. At the very start, looking ahead, I did feel somewhat daunted by its extraordinary length, as if in the middle of trekking up a 12-mile mountain hike then getting overwhelmed after only passing the 4-mile mark, realizing that I was far too deep into the climb to turn back, yet faced with so many more miles to go! Suddenly there’s this feeling of extreme dehydration and not even the little bag of almonds and beef jerky and granola bars can perk the energy level back up…okay, right, don’t worry, I’m snapping out of my reverie now.
Anyway, Han HyeJin was so completely lovable and pitiful at the same time, there was a desperate need to continue, if only to see her finally overcome all the obstacles tossed in her way before happiness could finally stick. Talk about someone who was constantly whacked by the unfair stick.
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