A Potpourri of Vestiges Guest Post
By Pratikshya Mishra
By Pratikshya Mishra
The story starts in old Goreyo. A
young new king is escorted from Yuan—the present day China—to Goreyo by a group
of Woodalchi—a specially trained brave soldiers who protect the king, under the
leadership of General Choi Young. They defend the King with all their might
from enemies who want him dead, but the Queen, Princess of Yuan, is injured
fatally in the process. Her condition becomes so critical that the royal doctor
gives up on saving her. In those days
Goreyo was not completely independent, but at mercy of Yuan. Most of the kings were
married to Yuan princesses, so the queens of that era were non natives, and the
death of the newlywed queen would mean war, death and loss for the kingdom.
The King therefore is in a great dilemma. So on the advice of ministers, he
commands Choi Young to enter the ‘heaven’s gate’ and bring a doctor from heaven
to the mortal world to save the queen.
The heaven’s gate is actually a
portal to the present day Seoul. Choi Young abducts a plastic surgeon, Eun Soo,
to the Goreyon land. While Eun Soo operates on the Queen using ‘heaven’s tools’
thinking it all to be a nightmare at first, the rumors of Hwata’s disciple descended
on earth spreads across the kingdom. This attracts the attention of The Prince
of the Court, Gi Cheol, who at first wants this fake High Doctor publicly
executed for misleading the king, but then wants her for his own overambitious
self, for his own gains.
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| A Still from "Faith" aka "The Great Doctor" |
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.
Mythology and Legend: About a thousand years ago a heavenly doctor
came to Joseon, the former Goreyo, who cured the deadly, incurable diseases and
saved many a person from death. He was their savior when communicable diseases
were rampant and became an epidemic. This legend is used to advantage in the
story.
History: Though I don’t know much about the history of Korea, from
the Joseon era to the present day, what is depicted in this drama series is
very interesting. It tells the story of one of the most influential kings of
that time, who ascended the throne at just the age of 21, not knowing whom to
trust and whom not to, but brought about freedom to Goreyo from the over-powerful
Yuan in the later years of his reign. And the Woodalchi general, Choi Young, had
the most important role in it—from making the King able to take the decisions
of the nation, to devising plans and fighting alongside.
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| A Still from "Faith" aka "The Great Doctor" |
Fantasy and Paranormal: Such elements bring twist in the tale, thereby
elevating the entertainment quotient. The concept of time travel proves to be
one of the best attributes of the story. It creates mysteries, and keeps the
audience’s interest till the end. And certain individuals have special
abilities too: Choi Young has lightning power; the antagonist Gi Cheol, the
over ambitious achievement freak who is the best political opposition to the
king, has the power to freeze things and his pledged brother and sister duo can
kill people through the music of the flute and creating fire, respectively.
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.
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| A Still from "Faith" aka "The Great Doctor" |
The Elements of Mystery: Twist in the tale occurs when Eun Soo
discovers a rusted set of surgical tools similar to hers, and a journal written
in Hangul (the Korean script these days; back then only the Chinese script
prevailed) in her own handwriting and addressed to her, which is claimed to be
Hwata’s.
Characters: The best thing about a Korean drama is that even the
smallest and least important character has a memorable role to play and is
strongly portrayed.
The group of Woodalchi who live
like brothers, supporting each other till death, and who don’t think twice to
give up their lives for their king, are some of the best characters of this
warrior story. Their respect and obedience to the General, and the
unquestionable allegiance and loyalty to their King is worth a watch. It is believed
that a 50 Woodalchi are equal to 500 military men. Ah, brave and chivalrous
knights!
Dae Man, the jungle boy who grew
social under the tutelage of Choi Young, is the cutest one of the lot. He
stammers, has difficulty in remembering or speaking many words at a time, but
is Choi Young’s best sidekick, and is a master in hiding, spying and escaping
tactics.
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| A Still from "Faith" aka "The Great Doctor" |
The Ministers’ political antics give
a flow to the story, against the conspiracies brewing against the king. The
queen is proud, egotistical yet sweet. From adapting to a change of land,
language and culture, to loving the king and siding with him against her birth
kingdom, Yuan, her character is the one to root for.
The Acting: Everyone’s acting is commendable. What I love the most
about the acting is the grace with which they do everything. The grace with
which they bow their head to pay respect, to wish, to apologise, or to take a
command from a senior. The grace with which they fight, the sword play and
martial arts being the best. The grace to show their pride and ego, or to
protect their beloved. The grace to be shy, and avert eyes when embarrassed and
the grace to cry, accept defeat, only to rise again.
All in all, Faith is a complete
package. And the unforgettable ending adds to the viewing experience. Will Eun
Soo go back in time or shall she stay? Will their love story culminate or will
it prevail? Well, you’ll have to watch to know, and you’ll be glad you did.
Readers, please feel free to share your opinion by leaving your comments. As always your feedback is highly appreciated!
For more information on the title, please click on the following links:
About Author -
Pratikshya Mishra is a self confessed dreamer who loves the world of fiction more than the real world. She’s currently pursuing her B.Tech in Electronics and Communication Engineering. A passionate blogger, she juggles her time between lab works, programmings and assignments; reading novels; watching Korean sitcoms and learning new skills to satisfy her curiosity every now and then. She dreams to own a big library, make a literary museum and eventually publish her work one day. In the years to come, she aims to sign off her name as- ‘Pratikshya Mishra, Engineer by profession; Writer and Blogger by passion.’ She blogs at Magic Moments. The thoughts expressed by her are personal.
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You're welcome, Mohammad. I guess another way of describing formulaic productions is 'corporate filmmaking'. The studio executive(s) control all aspects of the production and everyone involved is a work for hire, including the director. Rather than be concerned with elements like theme or style, they are more concerned with product placement and merchandising. Nothing edgy, innovative or thought provoking in corporate filmmaking. So I continue to look to the 'indies' for cutting edge cinema. There's a general misconception that the 'digital revolution' was a boom for indies. In fact it was a disaster, not only for indie filmmakers but for independent cinemas too. Professional digital filmmaking is astronomically expensive compared to shooting in standard 35mm. And the end result is merely a temporary digital file which is not archival and subject to obsolescence as formats change or the data is lost. The only way to preserve a digital production is to output it to a 35mm negative which is also more expensive than just shooting in 35mm to begin with. For theaters, many if not most of the independent cinemas have folded since they cannot afford the digital equipment which is also subject to obsolescence. 2K projectors were replaced by 4K projectors for instance. Both cost a little under $80,000 which is a huge expense for small theaters and it's an ongoing cost since they need to be replaced very five years or so or when a new format replaces it. In contrast, a new 35mm projector is about $10,000 and that's good for the life of the theater. Used 35mm projectors can be purchased for $1000 or under. As the small theaters folded and the large megplexes switched to digital, indie filmmakers lost a source of revenue and venue to play their movies. The megaplexes play studio product exclusively which pretty much revives the pre-1948 Studio System where a handful of large corporations controlled exhibition. On top of that, a new 35mm print was about $2000 and it could be booked into multiple theaters. A DCP (Digital Cinema Package) is $3500 and it needs to be uploaded in each theater it plays in. I know that indie productions will continue to be made but most will never be shown in cinemas and most will not survive unless they are putted to 35mm film for long term preservation. Fortunately, my seven features were shot on film so I have a 'hard copy' that can be transferred to whatever new format is developed in the future.
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