A Potpourri of Vestiges Feature
By Pratikshya Mishra
By Pratikshya Mishra
Scarlet Heart, also known as Moon Lovers: Scarlet Heart Ryeo is a South Korean Drama that was telecasted every
Monday and Tuesday from August 29th to November 1st this
year 2016. It is of historical fiction genre, with a bit of romance and
fantasy, based on the Chinese novel Bu Bu Jing Xin by Tong Hua. Written by Jo
Yoon-young and directed by Kim Kyu-tae, this drama stars an ensemble cast
comprising some of South Korea’s best acting legends like Lee Joon-gi and
budding talents like Lee Ji-eun better known as IU and Kang Ha-neul. Though the
drama received poor ratings in its home country, it was applauded for its
acting, directing and epic scale storyline internationally.
Plot:
Hae Soo falls into a portal
unintentionally during a complete solar eclipse and gets transported back to
the Goryeon era in the year 941. It
starts with the princes wondering about their 4th brother whom they
have never met but have heard many a weird tale about. He is rumored to be a
very brutal killer who massacred his entire family in his residential place. He
is infamously called wolf and is feared by the general public given his instant
recognition owing to his half masked face.
Hae Soo is befriended by most of
the princes for her cheerful and jolly personality. Some of them adore and
pursue her. She grows emotionally attached towards the brothers and falls for
the 8th prince. The easy camaraderie amongst the brothers is put to
test as time passes by, and the race for the throne takes momentum. Some group together, some take sides, loyalty
is questioned, betrayal is evident, and the great rift amidst the royals is
obvious. Many a person goes missing, dies or escapes. There are conspiracies
and coups to dethrone the existing king, to murder the potential threats to the
throne, and to save the loved ones from the life threatening political turmoil.
It is a place where swords are used without a second thought, and people are
sentenced to death for anything under the ruse of an act of treason.
Amidst this tough turn of events,
Hae Soo is quietly drawn to the 4th prince who professed to love her
beyond himself and stood with her when the one she trusted the most chose
otherwise. Her feelings change from sheer dread for the person to being drawn
towards him. She knows the future -- this person would be the infamous great
king whose reign would be soaked in blood, who would kill his own brothers to
take the throne for himself. But she is determined to change the history as she
has known it. Through love and care, she is determined to bring about the core
benevolence of the 4th prince to the fore. Perhaps this is the purpose of her life
henceforth. Love blossoms between the
two but hurdles are not far behind.
Would the course of time and
history really change? Watch this drama series based on the timeless themes of
love and war.
The Portrayal of Love:
In South Korean series the play
of emotions have a much higher ground than physical proximity? Love is
portrayed here beautifully in its different shades through different
characters. The perfect innocence of first love; the effervescent beauty of the moments spent
together; the holding on and the letting
go; the quiet throb of the agitated heart in unrequited love; love that chose to thrive as friendship
instead; the desperate longing and yearning for years; the long overdue reunion; and the heartbreak. It can be emotionally
overwhelming at times, but is deeply satisfying.
The Awesome Dialogues, Powerful Monologues and the Poetic Retreats
in Between:
Some monologues show the
difference between the character’s pretense and the inner workings of his mind.
It reveals layers to the minutely nuanced character, which the writer’s pen has
fleshed out in intricate detail.
“If I had not met him, I would
not yearn for him. If I did not know him, I would not think of him so much. If
we had not been together, I would not have to disappear. If I did not treasure
him so much, I would not have so many memories. If I did not love him, we would
not need to throw each other away. If we had not been face-to-face, we would
never have been together. Perhaps, if I had not met you at all…” – Hae
Soo’s monologue is heart wrenchingly sad and nostalgic.
All the happy times are short
lived and fleeting, but nonetheless memorable. These are the essence of the
lives portrayed. The turmoil, the sufferings, the conflicts in relations, and
the political propagandas serve greatly to the plot of the race for the throne
of Goryeo.
King told Hae Soo while dying – “When
you go out of this room, people with enquire you about my condition. He who
asks how I am, merely my condition, says that I am asking for more tea. He who
asks whether I have passed away, beware of that person, he’s after the throne.
You must bring the Crown Prince here, before they reach me.” This
dialogue is heavy, it shows the stark reality of palace politics. There’s just
a few whom the king can trust, even on his death bed.
“Did you really cause our
brother’s death?” the 4th Prince asks. The 8th prince
replies, “How about you? Are you going to become the King’s dog and kill our 10th
brother? We are both struggling to survive. That is the fate of a prince who
does not become a king. In order to protect, you must submit.” – It
tells a lot about what the life in the palace actually entails. It’s not
luxury, comfort and all the good in the world. It’s struggle, fear, dilemma of
whom to trust and whom not to, who to be loyal to and who to betray so that the
lives of the people who matter to you are not at stake.
Poetry could be traced in the everyday lives of the characters. The
8th Prince’s wife wrote a poem to go along with every letter she
replied to- a personal touch. The 8th Prince himself uses the
stanzas as a secret device to confess his love to Hae Soo.
“Green, O green is the willow,
Placid, peaceful the flow,
Hark and I hear on the river,
To the east, the sun is up,
To the west, the drizzles
persist,
Though they say the sun is
naught,
To me, the sun is aglow.”-
“Song of Bamboo Twigs” by Liu Yuxi
When someone presents you with a
poem, you make sure to return the favor through another verse as an answer. The
proper etiquette is to reply a poem with another poem.
“I came to sit by the water,
however, the clouds have come.” – a single line that Wang So, the 4th
prince, left for Hae Soo before he went away for two years. This is a beautiful
treat for a lover of words. It’s like saying every bit of my soul wanted to
stay with you, beside you, but fate had other plans for me. A reason for the
turn of events. A subtle explanation.
The 13th Prince’s
paintings and musical renditions through flute too embody rhythm and beauty.
The Costumes and the Rituals:
The starting episode shows us an
important spiritual ritual to ward off evil which is more like a choreographed
sword dance sequence performed by the masked princes with a Fangxiangshi -- a
monster hunter character at the front acting as the representative of the rite.
The patterned moves and coordination among the performers to the drum beats at
the auspicious moment is considered to destroy the bad spirits.
It really takes you back to the
Goryeon era -- the costumes, the mannerisms and the rituals. The costume is the
sole demarcation of role, status and experience of a person in the palace.
The rain ritual is one of the
surprising turning points in the story. Here the chosen prince practices
penance, calls upon the Gods to bring back rain and put an end to the drought,
and performs the ritual kneeling till the rains start, in front of the entire
kingdom. It may take days together to appease the gods. While success might
mean adoration, respect and idolization on the part of the people for the
Prince, failure can result in sacrifice of life. It can be a great opportunity to rise to the
esteemed heights in the nation; it can be an impending doom too.
The Background Score (OST):
Foot tapping tunes with traditional rhythmic beats, head jerking happy numbers and deeply moving emotion scores comprise the background music for the historical fantasy.
Foot tapping tunes with traditional rhythmic beats, head jerking happy numbers and deeply moving emotion scores comprise the background music for the historical fantasy.
The Trailer (YouTube)
Readers, please feel free to share your opinion by leaving your comments. As always your feedback is highly appreciated!
About Author -
Pratikshya Mishra is a self confessed dreamer who loves the world of fiction more than the real world. She’s currently a web developer in a software company after her Btech. A passionate blogger, she juggles her time between coding and meeting deadlines of deliverables; 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. She blogs at Magic Moments
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