PD
박찬홍 (Park Chan-Hong)

WRITER
김지우 (Kim Ji-Woo)

CAST
엄태웅 (Eom Tae-Woong) as Yoo Shin-Hyeok/Seo Ha-Eun, 한지민 (Han Ji-Min) as Seo Eun-Ha, 소이현 (So Yi-Hyun) as Lee Kang-Joo, 강신일 (Kang Shin-Il) as Seo Jae-Soo, 金甲洙 (Kim Gab-Soo) as Lee Tae-Joon, 고주원 (Go Ju-Won) as Jung Jin-Woo, 김규철 (Kim Gyu-Cheol) as Choi Dong-Chan, 김윤석 (Kim Yoon-Seok) as President Cheon, 주진모 (Joo Jin-Mo) as Park Sang-Cheol, 안내상 (Ahn Nae-Sang) as Yoo Geon-Ha, 이대연 (Lee Dae-Yeon) as Gyung Gi-Do, 이정길 (Lee Jung-Gil) as Kang In-Cheol, 선우은숙 (Seonwoo Eun-Sook) as Kim Yi-Hwa, 기주봉 (Gi Ju-Bong) as Jung Sang-Guk, 유혜정 (Yoo Hye-Jung) as Yoon Mi-Jung), 고명환 (Go Myung-Hwan) as Kim Soo-Cheol, 최용민 (Choi Yong-Min) as Heo Deok-Woo, 이연희 (Lee Yeon-Hee) as Kang Shin-Young, 김기복 (Kim Gi-Bok), 조재완 (Jo Jae-Wan), 최원석 (Choi Won-Seok), 정호빈 (Jung Ho-Bin), 이한위 (Lee Han-Wi)

note: MINOR SPOILERS - Becoming MAJOR after the link midway through the review

"There is neither happiness nor misery in the world; there is only the comparison of one state with another, nothing more. He who has felt the deepest grief is best able to experience supreme happiness."
The Count of Monte Cristo - Alexandre Dumas

Like a circle coming back to its initial point, some of the best novels ever written were based more or less on true events. Quite ironic then that fictional works often benefit from the fact real life can be more spectacular and dramatic than we could ever imagine. When Alexandre Dumas started writing what would become a timeless masterpiece in mid 19th century, he just had a name in mind, Monte Cristo, a small, isolated island in Northwestern Italy. He had a strange connection with that island, as a few years before a planned hunting trip with a good friend of his (who happened to be related to Napoleon) to the island had to be canceled, when he learned he'd be quarantined if he visited that place. He didn't really have any idea what to do with that novel, other than Monte Cristo would have been the perfect setting. Maybe it was destiny then, when he started reading a collection of criminal cases written by a police archivist called Jacques Peuchet, entitled Memoires historiques tires des archives de la police de Paris (Historical Memories from the Archives of Paris' Police) .

One of the anecdotes there instantly caught his eye, about a shoemaker named Picaud and his incredible story. Before Picaud was betrayed by people he considered best friends, he was weeks away from marrying a rich and beautiful woman. With tension between France and England at fever pitch, his jealous 'friends' accused him of being a spy for the enemy, which was obviously the quickest way to get him out of the picture. Picaud ended up rotting in prison for seven long years, when he had all the time in the world to reconsider values such as friendship, honesty, love, hate, anger, everything. After befriending a rich Italian cleric, he 'inherited' his fortune, which he used in the following decade to plan his 'rebirth'. And of course at the center of his resurrection was plotting revenge against those who wronged him. Reality had given Dumas the perfect launchpad for the classic we all enjoy today, Le Comte De Monte Cristo (The Count of Monte Cristo) .

Longtime friends and working partners, Park Chan-Hong and Kim Ji-Woo have formed a perfect PD/writer combo for years, and although they were never as famous as other big combos -- Pyo Min-Soo and Noh Hee-Kyung, Song Ji-Na and Kim Jong-Hak, Lee Byung-Hoon and Choi Wan-Gyu -- they rarely disappointed when working together. PD Park actually started with documentaries, a far cry from the high octane sentiments and crazy schedules of TV Dramas. He and writer Kim Ji-Woo met in 學校 (School) , one of the first Dramas to be divided into seasons, predating the 宮 (Princess Hours) of the world by a few years. It seems like the motto of 'opposites attract each other' also works in the professional world, as the two had a completely different personality and approach to work.

Park was always very direct, to the point of being too honest, especially on the set. Nicknamed either 辱私馬 ( yoksama , a playword on Yonsama and the Korean for swear words) or 칼私馬 ( kalsama , again the same game, only this is the Korean for knife. Imagine why), he was famous for making the shoot a living hell for actors, but also for getting the best out of them; on the other end of the spectrum, Kim was very much the opposite, rarely showing up even at rehearsals, almost looking too shy for this business on various interviews. So what was it, 'opposites attract each other' once again, this time in the professional world? I don't know, but they worked like a Swiss clock. In a world where the collaboration between PD and writer is crucial, the epitome of that 발리발리 (fast! quick!) mentality which is one of the staples of modern Korean society, she was able to give him time to reflect on what she was writing, unlike other writers who would complete the script 30 minutes before the shoot. In short, there was something between them. Chemistry, styles complementing each other, or whatever else you want to call it. But it was there, definitely.

I remember watching School on and off, but one thing always left a strong impression on me. There were countless 하이틴物 (high teen films) in Chungmuro and youth-oriented TV Sitcoms and Dramas back then, presenting many new faces, and it wasn't just the late 90s/early 2000s, as the trend started almost a decade earlier. But this was a little different, putting the spotlight on the plight of 王따 (outcasts) with a little more intelligence than its competitors. Of course the show had some problems, perhaps inherent with the industry back then, which was moving towards the end of its Golden Age (1991-2000) to enter what some consider a Dark Age, that of the Korean Wave. But that wouldn't be the first collaboration between Kim Ji-Woo and Park Chan-Hong, as they kept working together on several Dramas, perhaps the most interesting being 緋緞向꽃무 (Stockflower) in 2001, which starred Park Jin-Hee as a single mother facing with the bleak reality Korean society created for people like her. Even their partnership in the 2003 weekend Drama 저 푸른 草原 위에 (Over The Green Prairie) produced good results, although by then I would have never put those two names in the elite of the industry's best.

It was right after the end of the that Drama that the concept of their new collaboration took form. Always looking for something fresh to tackle, writer Kim made a proposal to Park: "let's do a revenge Drama, this time." Of course Park knew it would be really hard to get it right in today's TV Drama industry, but he trusted her, and that's when things started, about 3 years ago. They did decide to give it a try, but Kim hadn't prepared anything special, and almost a year passed before she found something that could fit what they were looking for. She started reading a novel she enjoyed tremendously, Alexandre Dumas' The Count of Monte Cristo , and that became the inspiration for their new drama, emphatically entitled 復活 (Rebirth) .

The biggest problem in making a 'Korean Count of Monte Cristo' was that Edmond Dantes spends over a decade in prison in the original, so we'd be dealing with a forty something lead, not exactly what the station wanted. And besides that, Park Chan-Wook got there first with 올드보이 (Oldboy) , at least on the surface, so they decided only to use some of the plot elements from the classic, and change the story around to fit modern Korea. With a basic outline ready to go, Kim started creating a world full of characters, each with his or her own story, enough to write a Drama for each and every single one of them. But of course the biggest problem was doing all that within the boundaries the industry forces on writers and PDs nowadays. With the possible exception of Daily, Historical and Weekend Dramas (along with one-two episode specials), the reality of Korean TV makes it hard for genre Dramas like Rebirth , especially those with thriller or mystery elements, to survive in a world where scripts are written on the fly, delivered to the actors hours before shooting to fit insane schedules of often 15 hours a day. Also, since advertisers pay based on ratings (10% means something, 20% is double that amount. Of course it depends on the timeslot, but you get the picture), that's what most TV Dramas are after. That's why we get things like Yoon Seok-Ho's monsters, trying to shake the glass even when it's empty, grabbing the viewers' heartstrings with the cheapest tactics (which don't seem to work anymore, thankfully). Rebirth couldn't shoot entirely before its broadcast, which gave the actors less time to immerse themselves in the roles, the PD less time to prepare elaborate shots or reflect over the themes to focus on, and of course put the writer through an incredible amount of pressure.

There's a reason why people like Song Kang-Ho, Seol Kyung-Gu and Jang Jin-Young rarely (if ever) act on TV, and it's not really what you think. It's not because they look down on the industry, but because on most occasions there's no time, no space given to the actors to give characters their own colour, which in many ways limits their ability to act, or creates many more problems compared to films or theater. Similarly, most of the time PDs are just 'ring generals' trying to fit together all the pieces of the puzzle, controlling proceedings to avoid chaos, rarely adding their own personal touch to the show. That's why there's dozens of famous writers from TV, but only a handful of famous PDs (to name a few: Pyo Min-Soo, Lee Jae-Gyu, Lee Byung-Hoon, Yoon Seok-Ho, Park Sung-Soo and a few others). And again, vicious advertising 'rules' put Dramas without stars at a tremendous disadvantage from the beginning. PD Hwang In-Roi of Princess Hours recently commented that when he announced the casting for the Drama, 80% of the advertisers pulled out because of lack of top stars, so you can understand the kind of pressure casting directors for 'little' shows like Rebirth faced. This is also why many Dramas with great scripts often end up becoming underwhelming misfires, forced by the 'rules' of the market to pick huge stars over talented actors, forced by the 'speed craze' of the industry to proceed at a rate that can only mean paying less attention to details. For that reason, Rebirth was forced to go for big stars, or at least popular faces, if it ever wanted a chance.

Initial casting pointed to So Ji-Seop of 未安하다, 사랑한다 (I'm Sorry, I Love You) as their first choice to play the main character, but then he had to refuse because of his incoming enlistment in the military. The next choice became Park Yong-Woo, who after the success of 穴의 누 (Blood Rain) and his career making performance there had started raising eyebrows in Chungmuro and TV Industry. Although by no means a huge star, Park had been rising the ranks for a while, but starring alongside Cha Seung-Won in Kim Dae-Seung's Sageuk thriller helped him immensely. With him on board, although his presence didn't guarantee ratings, half the job was completed. The casting team already had brought on board a host of super-talented veterans, like Kim Gab-Soo, Gi Ju-Bong, Lee Jung-Gil, Seonwoo Eun-Sook and Kang Shin-Il, alongside promising youngsters like Han Ji-Min, Lee Yeon-Hee and So Yi-Hyun.

The role of main antagonist in the usual 三角關係 (love triangle) went to a little known actor who had been silently making a name for himself in KBS' 드라마시티 (Dramacity) specials and little movie roles. He was wearing the burden of being 'someone's brother' on his sleeves for years, in this case superstar Eom Jung-Hwa's 동생 (younger brother): he was Eom Tae-Woong. Eom did have more experience than most people his age, and even played a 'baddie' in previous Dramas, like in the Hong sisters' misfire 쾌걸 춘향 (Sassy Chunhyang) . But then imagine this: the shooting for Park Yong-Woo's upcoming romcom 作業의 定石 (The Art of Seduction) started earlier than expected, so even the second choice had to opt out. Rebirth was left without its top star, three weeks before shooting had to start. In short, the show risked collapse.

In most cases, producers would go back to 代打 (data, slang for casting replacement) and get whomever was available or willing to come in. But Rebirth changed the cards once again. Ignoring the pressure and the risk involved in making such a move, PD Park made an almost shocking turnaround. As he made such a good impression on him, and his name kept coming back to mind whenever he thought about the role left vacant, he decided Eom Tae-Woong would play Seo Ha-Eun, the main character (an audition would be quickly staged to cast the role Eom was supposed to play, Jung Jin-Woo, part which went to Go Ju-Won). It was like coming to a concert to play third trumpet, then suddenly having to go on a pedestal alone playing a solo. Eom was understandably scared.

This is the kind of chance that only comes once or twice in a lifetime, but that was not it. It was the role, that idea of playing three completely different characters that put an incredible amount of pressure on him. Someone with less talent and maturity could have crumbled under those conditions, but he went along with it. PD Park nagged at him constantly at the beginning, to find that diamond in the rough nobody ever tried to find before, if not for a few rushes of brilliance on Dramacity . On a breezy night in the Summer of 2005, Eom Tae-Woong stopped being just 'Eom Jung-Hwa's little brother'. From that day on, he was just himself, a great actor just about everyone seemed ignoring before, but now couldn't possibly overlook anymore. Here's your new 'Count of Monte Sorak', Seo Ha-Eun.

復活 (Rebirth) Original Cut REVIEW (Read this for more info about the plot and characters)

MAJOR SPOILERS

A good decade has passed since the last time I looked at Dumas' The Count of Monte Cristo , but there's just too many similarities -- and don't think I'm giving this a 'plagiarism' slant -- to avoid the issue. What's more interesting to me is not how similar Edmond Dantes and that 'three-headed monster' emerging from the ashes of the series' first important 反轉 (twist) are, but how something written in mid 19th century France applies so incredibly well to contemporary Korea. Because even if you might consider the revenge plot to be the key -- as the rather underwhelming Official English title chosen by KBS Media ( Revenge ) shows -- there's something much more important looming in the background, something hinted at throughout the show and the driving force of that incredible finale. And that's the difference between good and bad, perfectly exemplified by the way Kim Ji-Woo deals with the 'end' of every 'villain's character arc. Just as Dantes tells Maximilian in the book, the only difference between these two factions is appreciating what you have versus wishing for more. And that desire is the cause of all the evil acts perpetrated by the villains in the show, from the most obvious one to the dark force who turns out to be the culprit behind it all. Because if you look at that person's acts, they're motivated by nothing but desire. To have more, to possess what they can't have. And that leads them to murdering people, destroying the lives of other people in the process.

Just as Dumas used many elements which had a certain symbolism (the red purse, the potion, etc), there's an incredible number of little details making Rebirth the shocking masterpiece it has become. Shocking simply because nobody could expect THIS amount of detail in a 24 episode Drama shot on the fly. Even films can't get this far in this respect, and this might have been one of the reasons the mainstream would rather abandon themselves in the charms of Kim Seon-Ah and her 國民드라마 (National Drama), 내 이름은 김삼순 (My Lovely Sam-Soon) . All those elements are there, and become even stronger rewatching the show on DVD, with an added 50 Minutes of footage pieced together by PD Park, writer Kim and the rest of the staff to highlight them.

The most obvious symbolic element is the use of colours. You might not notice at first, but there's five prevalent colours used in Rebirth : blue, yellow, green, white and red. Although different cultures approach the culture behind colours in different ways, blue is often associated with a state of depression or deep contemplation, but also some consider it sign of self-cultivation and wealth. This emotional conflict even extends to the arts, as Pablo Picasso's work in the early years of the 20th century was considered his 'blue period'. If you look at scenes involving Shin-Hyeok (played by Eom Tae-Woong), blue is always the key: from the colour of some of his clothes, to the lighting in places he visits, even going as far as using blue drinks (!). It's a little touch, but it perfectly exemplifies his situation. Because Shin-Hyeok is not simply a stuck-up stiff without feelings, but an emotional mess hidden by layers of self-cultivation and wealth. A depressed, hurt monster ready to explode, but who cannot do so because of the sorrow of losing a twin, and hiding all that pain inside for twenty years, not to hurt his mother even further.

On the other hand, yellow is often considered a very cheerful, 'happy' colour, associated with peace of mind and energy. This fits Ha-Eun's (again, Eom Tae-Woong) personality to a T, as at the beginning of the show, we meet this big goofball fooling around even at work. Eom's acting in this case might seem a little exaggerated, but if seen in this context, it's understandable if you look at the bigger picture. One of the most important lines in the show is when Ha-Eun confesses to Soo-Cheol that some people are 'working for the dead', describing his role as a detective, trying to solve a 20 year old case for someone who was already dead. And, sure enough, one of the many meanings behind yellow is that of something working against all evil in society, for the dead. Again, look at how much yellow is used when dealing with Ha-Eun at the beginning, and how it mixes with blue when the two persona's unite. As an added touch of brilliance, the day Shin-Hyeok finally finds out his twin brother is alive, he meets him wearing a YELLOW, whereas Ha-Eun wears something blue because of his newfound sense of depression (being falsely accused of taking part in corrupt activities) and contemplation (finding clues of this 20 year old case).

So we're dealing with two primary colours and two 'primary' states of mind in complete opposition. From the energy and happiness of Ha-Eun's yellow, to the coldness and emotional pain of Shin-Hyeok's blue. So where does green fit in all this? Green, often associated with eternity, peace and harmony, is not only a mix of the two colours, but also a sort of paradise. And if you look at the Drama post-big twist, the only place where we get rid of this yellow-blue contrast (which populates the show from interior decoration to costumes) is when the characters meet in the park (in Yeouido), where most of their happy moments are consumed. This little 'paradise in a jungle of cement' in real life is also a paradise this new entity forming after one of the two twins is 'dealt with' finds. Another important use of colours comes with the dices, carried by both twins ever since their birth. Shin-Hyeok always carries a set of yellow dices with him, given to him by his older brother in their youth -- a sort of reminder of the happiness he used to feel back in the days -- and the same goes for Ha-Eun, who doesn't remember about his past but has a strong connection with those dices. And we're not merely dealing with colour, as most of the time numbers also come into play. Most of the time Shin-Hyeok is shown playing with his dices, they show the number 4 (as I explained in previous reviews, associated with death), whereas when he meets Gang-Hyeok for the first time, they show a 7 (a lucky number).

Finally, white and red, the colour of the two lighthouses, when most of the most romantic scenes between Ha-Eun and Eun-Ha are consumed. And, sure enough, what does red mean in many cultures? Marriage, happiness, good luck... hell, if you're Chinese or Korean, it often means money during the Holidays. Watching the show for the first time you might miss these touches, but the fact something written on the fly could make details like these accessible for most viewers is again a sign of what Kim Ji-Woo has done with this script. Let's go further, and again let me bring up the name of Pablo Picasso. If blue weren't enough to define Shin-Hyeok's state of mind, then look at the big focus of his bedroom's (impressive) interior design, featuring a print of Picasso's most famous masterpiece, Guernica .

The painting, commissioned in the late 30s by the Spanish government, depicts the horrors of war in the symbol of Basque independence, the city of Gernika (Guernica is the Spanish spelling). If you look at the painting, we find three images of women suffering amongst all the horrors. There's a crying woman holding a dead baby, a woman holding a lamp, and one running away from fire. Those images fit perfectly with the three main female characters in the film, although they become full focus of the 'new' Shin-Hyeok once the twist is completed. Of course his mother would be the first, losing a son (his twin brother), while Eun-Ha would be the one holding the lamp (look at her constantly returning to the lighthouse whenever she misses her lover or feels down), and the woman escaping the fire is Lee Gang-Joo, escaping -- or perhaps unaware of the 'fire' that will burn down her family.

Want more little touches? The 'popcorn guy' who helps our hero in all his vengeful endeavors is called 天使長 (President Cheon). Of course, if you're dealing with the subtitles, only 'Gong-Myung' (his name) will come up, but with a little creativity, if you tie 千 (Cheon, his family name) with 社長 (sajang, president) and form 天使長 (cheonsajang), what would that mean in Korean? Archangel. Deriving from the Greek arche (ruler) and angelos (messenger), this 'messenger of the ruler' is none other than the messenger of every single act of vengeance perpetrated by our God of Providence. President Cheon always seems to appear whenever one of our hero's enemies falls into one of his traps, along with his now (in)famous faithful bag of sweet popcorns.

END OF MAJORS SPOILERS

Of course you can decide to ignore all those small, masterful touches which made watching the show even more entertaining, but all those elements combined show what kind of writing we're dealing with. It's clear after looking at all those maniacal little details writer Kim had everything planned inside her head, and the reason why people keep asking for spin-off series is because she could literally write another dozen Dramas based on all the other characters. But then again, if it's details what made this show great, then it's also thanks to details that the actors' performances come alive so strongly. We talked in depth about Eom Tae-Woong's career making performance in the previous review, but I don't want to make it seem as if this is a one man show. Far from it. This might be a case where nearly every character, down to small, seemingly throwaway appearances like that of Park Sang-Cheol (Joo Jin-Mo. And no, not THAT Joo Jin-Mo) feel like characters that have a life of their own, not pawns thrown around to fit the emotional rollercoasters of the main characters. But even though talking about a certain performance from a veteran actor used to good guy roles, completely making an U-Turn in this show, would give away the biggest spoiler, I can certainly talk about the other two most impressive performances of the show.

I almost feel bad singling out people, because everyone with the possible exception of Go Ju-Won (whose role was 'downsized' after the PD and writer realized he wasn't up to the other's standards) give their best. But if I had to pick two memorable characters, that'd be Kim Yoon-Seok's President Cheon, and Kim Gyu-Cheol's Choi Dong-Chan. I remember the first time I saw Kim Gyu-Cheol, in Im Kwon-Taek's masterpiece 西便制 (Sopyonje) . After that impressive first role, he seemed to play similar characters for most of his career, with the possible exception of a few (mostly Historical) Dramas. But he completely changes the cards here, playing the vicious Choi Dong-Chan. Mixing facial contortions which would look ridiculous if made by other actors, a kind of mix of Peterpan Complex-afflicted mama's boys crying over the toys he can't buy with a ruthless gangster ready to go the extreme, Choi Dong-Chan is one of the most fascinating 'villains' in Korean TV Drama history. But thanks to Rebirth , I not only gained appreciation for Kim's acting skills, but also respect for him as a person. You see Dong-Chan injured around the mid-to-late part of the show, but you never expect it to be true. Because yes, Kim Gyu-Cheol DESTROYED his leg hiking in the mountains in between shoots. He took surgery as quickly as he could, and without even thinking about his own safety jumped (well, strolled, with a wheelchair) back into the shoot. Kim was so sorry for this incident that he asked the writer and PD to make changes to the script, as even if he should have been resting in bed, he was out there, playing the injured Choi Dong-Chan.

But this was just another blessing in disguise, as the downsizing of Dong-Chan's role gave more space to that wonderful piece of acting that was Joo Jin-Mo's Park Sang-Cheol. Some of the simplest but most effective dialogue written all year, delivered by the veteran theater actor with the panache of Marlon Brando in his heydays. Even more interesting is the story of Kim Yoon-Seok, one of those eternal 'faces without a name'. Kim's first Drama was Kim Gyu-Tae's Dramacity 아나그램 (Anagram) in 2004, which led him to star in another of PD Kim's one-episode specials, that 濟州道 푸른밤 (Blue Skies in Jeju Island) which starred a certain Eom Tae-Woong. His performance here is memorable, almost unreal for a TV Drama. He feels rather like a character from something like The Third Man , with his bag of popcorns and convenient timing. And, if that's worth anything, that face will finally have found a name for many people watching the show.

Rebirth combines elements which feel almost alien from the TV Drama world. An incredible attention to detail, down to the smallest supporting character, or the colour of a drink tied to a character's personality. But it's exactly for that love for storytelling, that obsession with those characters that so many people fell in love with this show. It's because of that this is one of the few TV Dramas to pass the Million posts on its official site, why thousands of fans petitioned to get this Director's Cut DVD made, and why it will be an unforgettable experience for many people. But of course, beyond all the magnificent acting by one of the best ensemble casts of recent memory, production values in line with some of the top films of the year, a near perfect script which deserves its own dissertation and the show's hypnotic intensity, one thing will last in most people's memory for a long time. This was the show which showed the TV Drama world's structure is not necessarily to be blamed for the redundant plot of the majority of the shows we're looking at today. All you need is a good script, a capable PD, a good cast focusing on acting skills over market potential, and then even TV Dramas can experience that rebirth, feel as new as they felt when I first started watching them, many moons ago. Now it's up to the others, to take notice, and try to emulate the greatness of this show. The road to get there will be harder, it might involve changing the entire structure of how TV Dramas are approached, but this Drama showed everyone hope. Hope that certain TV Dramas can reach the end of an era, and begin a new one. In one word... Rebirth.

I swear I felt chills in my spine looking at the FILM GRAIN in the opening credits. It felt that good. And with the exception of a few anti-aliasing problems (which seem to mostly vanish towards the end), this is an excellent transfer, showing all the benefits the HD shooting style brings to the table, last but not least being the 16:9 format. Fantastic colours and quite realistic skin tones (if a little 'powerful', but maybe I'm too used to the look of films on DVD opposed to regular SD Dramas). Audio is also very good, balancing the excellent soundtrack and very clear dialogue in a near perfect way. Subtitles, given the hours and hours of material, inevitably have a few problems here and there, a few cases of dubious translations and some moments when they betray the script a little. But overall it's a very good job, much better than I could possibly ever expect.

Disc 1

Audio Commentary 1回 (Episode 1) - PD Park Chan-Hong, Writer Kim Ji-Woo, Eom Tae-Woong, Han Ji-Min

- They open talking about the meaning of the many lighthouse scenes in the show, on how PD Park wanted to give it a sort of fairy tale-like feeling at the beginning. They also talked about Eom losing almost 3 Kilos in one day, both because of the stress involved with the role (he was supposed to play a supporting role, and ended up as the lead in a matter of weeks) and the running. The guy he's trying to catch was actually not an actor, but Lee Dong-Gyu's manager. Park jokes that since he looked like someone who was 'stabbed in the back' many times, he fit the role perfectly. There's a small scene in here which was deleted from the original, which involves Ha-Eun, the thug and his way of catching him. The relationship establishing between police and journalists in the show was researched deeply by Writer Kim, who tried to stay as close to reality as possible, although in a few instances dramatization was inevitable.
- Park comments how Writer Kim tends to show a situation first, and then wrap details around it to explain it, which is quite an unique way of writing. The journalist jargon she used in the show, the way the journalists interacted and reacted to new developments is something Kim witnessed first hand by doing research in the field. The use of Picasso's Guernica was suggested by the Art Director, as it fit really well with Shin-Hyeok's condition. Park admits the amount of information thrown at the viewer right from the beginning might be a little hard to digest, but he had enough confidence in the material he was working with that they'd slowly pick up all the hints left by the writer as the show progressed.
- They talk about an important element of the show's success was PD Park's tendency to change the cards when it came to casting. Did they get someone who used to play 'good guy' roles in the past? He plays a 'bad guy' here [relatively, of course, 90% of the characters here are multifaceted monsters with many conflicting feelings running through their veins]. They also talk about the nicknames given to the cast by the various fanclubs, like 智旻公州 (Princess Ji-Min) to Han Ji-Min, or 嚴포스 (EomForce) to Eom Tae-Woong.

Disc 2

Audio Commentary - PD Park Chan-Hong, Writer Kim Ji-Woo, Eom Tae-Woong, Han Ji-Min [15:00]

This is not actually a commentary tied any episode, but it's a group of memorable scenes (around 15 Minutes), showing the attention to details when it came to production design. We see the importance of yellow and blue in the art direction, the use of the dices, Picasso's Guernica , and the use of lenses reflecting the character's face (mostly dealing with Eom Tae-Woong's characters, to emphasize his Doppelganger situation). This is quite interesting, perhaps more so than the first commentary, and must make 90% of the PDs in Korea get boiling red with envy. THIS level of detail, in a Drama shot on the fly... I don't think I've ever seen anything like that before.

Disc 3

回想 (Recollection) [11:00]

A featurette about the various flashbacks, again with commentary with the usual suspects. We begin with the use of shadow and light in the show, as a sort of mirror to past and present, good and bad, yin and yang. The rest of the featurette deals with Eun-Ha and Ha-Eun as kids, and their life together in Gangwon Province.

Disc 4

Making Story [20:00]

The usual Making Of, similar to what you find in Film DVDs. We open with the Presentation Meeting, where Eom Tae-Woong confesses he was really worried about his role at the beginning, but now he's finally starting to relax, and we get a few comments from the rest of the cast. They then show the 枯死 (the sacrificial ceremony with the pig head), which looked really fun. Following is a behind the scene look at how they organized the props, like in the first scene where they find the corpse, and Ha-Eun notices the cigarette buds. Finally, after showing a bit of the shoot at the Drama center in Suwon and the Samcheok shoot in Gangwon Province, we move to the 820 Rebirth Festival, a fan meeting with hundreds of 復活패닉 (Rebirth Panic). This looked a lot of fun, with super-excited fans and all the stars from the show. Even PD Park Chan-Hong and writer Kim Ji-Woo show up, the singers sing the songs from the OST live, and more.

Disc 8

Audio Commentary 24回 (Episode 24) - PD Park Chan-Hong, Writer Kim Ji-Woo, Eom Tae-Woong, Han Ji-Min
I don't think I need to tell you, as they're commenting the last episode, but < strong="">. If you haven't seen the show, you're better off skipping this entirely

- They start talking about the role of Kang In-Cheol, which is one of the most important (for obvious reasons) in the last episode, analyzing how much help Lee Jung-Gil gave to the other actors in terms of perfectly portraying the hidden emotions behind his character. Eom Tae-Woong had heard a lot of stories about Lee before, but the experience of working with him taught him a lot. Moving to Eom, Writer Kim comments that even though at the beginning she felt some pressure regarding his performance, because of the difficult role, looking at the whole Drama after a while, she realizes if it weren't for Eom, few people would have been able to portray this kind of character effectively. Eom just laughs it off, saying he merely followed what the PD told him to do.
- They comment a little about Park Sang-Cheol's role, which gained importance towards the end because of his connection with Choi Dong-Chan and Kim Gyu-Cheol's real-life injury, and how the dialogue in his scenes is always unique. It's very direct, sometimes crude, but it has a strange charm and intensity. Of course his character was part of the basic outline at the beginning, but this atmosphere that was created in the last few episodes simply evolved out of the relationship and connection between the characters. Commenting the scene where Gang-Hyeok and his mother hold hands in his room, PD Park focuses on the background, Picasso's Guernica . Just like the painting, he focuses on that mother holding hands with her son, both suffering the pain and horror of their situation. He was glad many people in the fanclub and online noticed those little touches he added to the Drama, so adding more scenes related to the painting and other details was a sort of thank you to the fans.
- An interesting bit of info, showing once again the influence of writers on the show, is that Writer Kim proposed the idea of going split screen for the scene when Lee Tae-Joon and Jung Sang-Guk receive that all important envelope. Since Park had to shoot both anyway, this was a nice way to add some tension to the moment. They also note how the scene when Hee-Soo meets with his grandmother, and later finds out the truth about his real mother, was taken off the original broadcast for time constraints. And this was a very important scene, as when Hee-Soo seems to know already all the truth later, this is the reason why he acts like that. But if taking off a two minute scene like that feels so important, that just shows how complex and brilliant the script of this Drama was. Writer Kim felt bad for Eom Tae-Woong, who had to constantly punch that sandbag in the gym, as she never really realized how much it can hurt. And the three joke about the 'Skeleton-Ghost' character finally appearing. He joked that casting for the minor characters in this show was a Dream Team of young PDs, so it's nothing to be surprised about. The three loved the confrontation between Park Sang-Cheol and Choi Dong-Chan in that dark hangar-like place, where the PD and the rest of the crew had fun with lighting, props and the like. Writer Kim jokes that most of the 'violent' scenes she wrote turned out much more cruel than she expected.
- PD Park was really excited about shooting the scene when Gang-Hyeok, Sang-Guk and Tae-Joon meet to settle things, it almost felt like relieving himself of a big weight he accumulated while shooting the show. In the same way, this was a catharsis for viewers and the actors alike. Some people didn't believe he'd go to the end with his revenge plot, because in the initial outline it wasn't really stretched out, but they eventually ended up completing the circle, so to speak. The scene with Gang-Hyuk and Eun-Ha in the park near Yeouido had to be re-shot because of a few problems with Eom's costumes, but at the end of the day they benefited from that, as the sky had a much more natural colour. Talking about the final scene in the gym, Park thinks the setting helped him a lot, as he used this location to give more contrast to the 'shadow/light' theme. As you see every time any of the characters come in or walk out of that place, it feels like they're entering a sort of purgatory, or when they go out preparing to go back to heaven, to the light. This is what Park wanted to emphasize with his use of lighting regarding these scenes. Another deleted scene involved the last meeting between Sang-Guk and his wife, which might be less important than the other deleted scenes, but it piled up to that atmosphere of 'poetic justice' which was building towards the finale.
- One thing I didn't realize, is that the scene where Hwang Jong-In comes out of the house connects to the scene later (with Yi-Hwa realizing what In-Cheol did) because it was HE who told her. The way the scene was shot made it look like he was simply coming out of his house (when watching I thought he looked back at the house, as in regretting the fact it was basically something he could live in because of the man who betrayed him), because Yi-Hwa's house was always shot in other ways, so this angle looked a little unfamiliar. But as the PD mentions, he simply went there and told her, to retaliate against In-Cheol's betrayal of his half-brother. This also makes sense for the scenes happening later, as I was a little confused about how Yi-Hwa got to know everything. You learn a new thing every day, I guess! Park really liked the scene where Hee-Soo and Tae-Joon meet, even though he wasn't the one shooting it. He thought Lee Dong-Gyu really portrayed all the feelings going inside Hee-Soo's mind well. And the brilliant split-screen happening later was actually shot on different days, which shows how good the editing in this show is. Even though Park understands Tae-Joon was a bad person, he felt sad for his departure, and the way things ended. Writer Kim had many things to wrap up in the final 25 Minutes, but she did a great job. For Park, that last scene with Yi-Hwa's voiceover show the greatness of Korean mothers, as that's one of those things only a mother could do. The scene at the airport was shot when ratings for the show were finally going up, so compared to the past, there were many more people watching. In a way, it might have been difficult to control all those people, but it made him feel good inside.
- In a way, that last scene between Secretary Ahn and Gang-Hyeok shows the message at the core of the show: giving hope to people. Park was a little sad they had to cut the scene after, with Eun-Ha revealing she kept a secret from her father, again because of time constraints. Kim comments that Kim Yoon-Seok seemed born to play the role of Cheon Gong-Myung (so true), and Eom adds that even though the show's been over for a few months, he still calls Kim very often, to talk about the show, acting in general, and their characters in the Drama. Writer Kim says that one of the few times she came on the set, it ended up being one of the hardest scenes to shoot, the stabbing near the end. Park feels that park in Yeouido perfectly represented the combination of love, hate, struggling, anger within the city, and the character's mind. He thinks the last scene really makes the theme of this 'rebirth' come alive, even though Eom had to shoot it twelve times (he didn't really know how to look, but he finally got that mix of melancholy and excitement right at the end).

CONTINUES ON PART 2