Shinui

A plastic surgeon from modern Korea Yoo Eun-soo played by Kim Hee-Seon is kidnapped by Choi Young played by Lee Min-Ho and taken back 700 years through a time portal. Min-Ho is a fearless general and the reason he kidnaps her is to save the queens life as she has been injured by a sword blade. She then ends up being pressured into staying in that time period and many factions within the royal court try to get her to side with them as she is thought to come from heaven and given the name heavens doctor. It is a well acted series with a good premise and there is plenty of action and romance. It has probably a bit too much history and could have definitely been shorter but my main frustration with the show were the Villains. They all had special powers but they could also murder at will with no consequences until the final few episodes.

Faith is a series that makes you think. Many different, interesting characters. They are looking for their Faith. Someone finds, like the General and the Heavenly Doctor, someone loses - like the brother of the empress. Many wise thoughts, beautiful fight scenes. Talented cast.

Fassbinder's Berlin Alexanderplatz (1980) was a long movie - over 15 hours long. The Thornbirds, Roots and other early TV mini-series were long movies broken into consecutive episodes. I love a mini-series as a melodrama that tells a story in the long movie format, as opposed to those that tell different stories in the same setting (like Grey's Anatomy, Mad Men and to a lesser extent Damages, Breaking Bad, and Revenge that change the story at times while keeping to a general story). In this regard, I have discovered some gems in the South Korean TV mini-series of recent years.

The basic melodrama is the oft repeated formula: Boy meets Girl, Boy loses Girl, Boy gets Girl Back. This me recur in the same story. Human relations can be complex even if only the boy and girl are involved, but this complexity increases as more people are involved. If personality dynamics are properly depicted in a valid manner, and if the production is skillful, powerful emotions can be evoked in the viewer. In this way we can live many lifetimes through movies, in our one lifetime - greatly enriching our incarnate experience. These South Korean productions (seen on Netflix streaming) are first class with excellent production and direction, some terrific casting and acting (particularly from some of the females who give some matchless world class performances), brilliant musical accompaniment, and staging. What makes these so good is the way they skillfully evoke deep emotion in the viewer. South Korean movie making is superb - world class.

However, the following caveats must be considered by the USA viewer. They are subtitled and some people hate this. The South Korean cultural norms, values and sanctions may sometimes seems silly or old fashioned to the USA viewer. The families are close knit and decisions by an individual may be subject to family approval. Social distance is maintained where formal speech is used, and personal speech forms are reserved for close friends or family. There is a strong work ethic and community cooperation/unity - sometimes reminiscence of a old Frank Capra film.

Most importantly, in order for the sometimes complicated sub-plots to work, people fail to communicate with each other as might be expected, keeping many in the dark as to what others are doing, and this leads to misunderstandings and error judgments of some people, that sometimes seem to be unlikely by USA cultural standards. The viewer may wonder at times why good but trusting people are so easily manipulated and deceived by bad and selfish people, but con artists do often succeed (just look at politicians for example). However this poetic license of improbability is needed to develop the story - just accept it as occurring even though unlikely at times. Taking these factors into account Will help you become involved and emotionally engrossed. It was hard t for me to quit watching at times so I binged watched.

I would rank these as follows but tastes differ and your rankings might not agree: 1 - 4 (hard to say which is best)

Shining Inheritance

When a Man Loves

That Winter, The Wind Blows

Secret garden

5. Five Fingers

6. The Scent of a Woman

7. The Great Queen Seondeok

8. A Hundred Years Inheritance

9. Lie To me

10. Roof Top Prince

11. Dr. Jin

12. The Great Doctor

Like Rooftop Prince and Dr. Jin, The Great Doctor has a fantasy premise - a warrior General experiences time travel from the past to the present day and then back to his past. Then a political struggle and suspenseful turns is a background for romantic melodrama, with some fantasy aspects thrown into the mix. Time travel is rare but has been reported by reputable people. See J. Randles book, Time Slips, for more on this. Accept the fantasy and enjoy the fun.

Great idea, mediocre execution - five stars

If you're going to write a fantasy, especially if it's a drama, the parts that aren't magical have to be really believable. Otherwise you lose your audience. This writers make one big mistake along these lines right at the beginning.

Is it possible that someone could be pierced by a sword and live to tell the tale? It's probably happened-but not likely in a situation where antibiotics are unknown and no one understands the basics of hygiene. And, never, I'm guessing, when the patient gets up, resumes his daily activities, and even rides a horse for hours on end.

At least for the first five episodes, the FL comes off as an annoying twit-but she improves after that. This woman is supposed to be cute, appealing, and funny. She's also supposed to be a respected and knowledgeable medical professional. Unfortunately she doesn't know how to be all those things at once. But, to be fair, I'm not sure anyone could do it. They made her a more serious person in the later half of the drama, and that helped a lot. Also the humor worked better as the series proceeded.

Unfortunately, the lighting on the set is not the FL's friend-at least in the beginning. In almost every scene of the first five episodes she looks older than she is (she was 35 when this series was filmed). Again, they fixed that problem in later episodes, and she starts looking more age appropriate in her scenes with the (10 years younger) ML. Another improvement was the ludicrous wig the pipe-playing white haired guy was forced to wear. The finally got that one under control after a few episodes.

There's a lot of telling and talking, explaining and pondering and politiking in this serires. Both the King and his nemesis, Ki Cheol are waay too philosophical and self-absorbed. The King talks endlessly about his self-doubts and feelings of inferiority, while Ki Cheol is always plotting and carrying on about the future and who should be next on his murder list. I think these two should be forced to live together, where they would undoubtedly drive each other crazy-instead of the audience.

At times the English translation is stiff and barely intelligible. Example:

SCHOLAR: "I had thought this, since a new king is coming, that if nothing should happen, there is no hope. If change were to occur, a bloody storm will blow."

CHOI YOUNG, ML:"The place I will be escorting you to was put together in haste, hence it will not be too pleasant."

SCHOLAR: "In an era like this, a warrior as you is pitiful as you have to continue to slay before you are slayed."

Having listed all the negatives, this series actually isn't that bad. For the most part, it held my interest. Seven stars.

This is a drama in which the writer has deftly used the history, mythology, and Korean legends along with a bit of fantasy to weave a beautiful and powerful story.

A Tale of Love across Time: The love story of Choi Young and Eun Soo is sure to tug the viewers' heartstrings. This love across centuries, love defying time, will be a hit among romantics. From making her learn the way of their world to protecting her from innumerable death traps, Choi Young is falling for Eun Soo, even though he knows he has to keep his promise to her, to help her return to her world. And Eun Soo changes her perspective from seeing him as her kidnapper to the only one she can trust in the unknown world of past, and to be with him becomes a habit she's reluctant to change. The gradual falling in love is beautifully portrayed in this period drama, while the question 'will she return?' refuses to cease anyone's mind.