December 08, 2005

[KOREAN TV DRAMA REVIEWS] 하노이 신부 (The Bride From Hanoi)

(Posted In Asia Reviews TV )

bridehanoi.jpg하노이 신부
The Bride From Hanoi (a.k.a. Hanoi Bride) - SBS TV 2005
2 Episodes - 60 Minutes p.e.
추석특집 드라마 - Chuseok Special Drama
Aired on September 19, 2005 on SBS
Official Website

DVD - Korean Version (English, Korean, Vietnamese Subtitles)

PD
박경렬 (Park Kyung-Ryeol)
[장길산 (Jang Gil-San) - SBS 2004, 야인시대 (The Rustic Era) - SBS 2003, 은실이 (Eun-Shil) - SBS 1998]

WRITER
박연희 (Park Yeon-Hee)

CAST
김옥빈 (Kim Ok-Bin) as Lý Thị Vũ, 이동욱 (Lee Dong-Wook) as Park Eun-Woo, 이원종 (Lee Won-Jong) as Park Seok-Woo, 강부자 (Kang Bu-Ja) as the Mother, 유혜정 (Yoo Hye-Jung) as Song Illan, 이광기 (Lee Gwang-Gi) as Lee Hyun-Soo, 조향기 (Jo Hyang-Gi) as Yang Mi-Ri, 이순재 (Lee Soon-Jae) as Illan's Father

NEXT WEEK
모래시계 (The Sandglass) - SBS 1994

AFTER
꽃보다 아름다워 (Prettier Than Flowers) - KBS 2004, 신입사원 (Super Rookie) - MBC 2005, 오!필승 봉순영 (Oh! Feel Young) - KBS 2005, 다모 (Damo) - MBC 2003

THE SHOW

"As long as hills and streams endure, come back,
remembering her who is with you today.”
Nguyễn Du - Truyện Kiều (The Tale of Kiều)

TV tells you a lot of things, and one of them is that 'love is forever'. Or, in Korean TV Dramas' case, that it 'can' be forever, once you've gone through 50 episodes of bickering between families of different social status. Even in the best written Dramas you find age old preconceptions about marriage, it being more than a simple act of unity between two people who love each other. It often becomes a family business, involving company assets, the level and prestige of your education, what car you drive, and what's your handicap... in golf. Some TV Dramas try to explore 'mixed-status' relationships in a realistic manner, like the Lee Kyung-Hee written/Park Sung-Soo helmed 나는 달린다 (Running After a Dream), where a mature factory worker with a problematic family and a rich journalist slowly fall for each other.

But Korea is often seen as an urban macrocosmos, rarely taking into account its rural identity and roots, almost as if they wanted to forget their past. Even good films like 집으로 (The Way Home) idolize the rural landscape as something like a fairy tale land far away, the sort of world you'd expect from a Miyazaki Hayao film. And a good portion of Korean Cinema and TV Dramas paint rural Koreans with a deceptively affecting eye, becoming almost derogatory. After all, one of the most used terms in Korea to denote something old fashioned, something corny and outdated, is 촌스러운. It originally just meant rustic, from 촌 (rural community), but the term has evolved in a way it has lost its descriptive value, and now just holds weight as a kind of insult. Be everything you want, but don't be old fashioned. Like those folks in the countryside...

But something is changing, or at least someone is starting to acknowledge the changing trends. With the majority of the moviegoing populace outside Seoul opting to watch domestic films over Hollywood or other foreign fare (unlike what viewers in the capital do, sometimes), more and more films are trying to offer stories that resonate a little more with the rural landscape. First 너는 내 운명 (You Are My Sunshine), then 나의 결혼원정기 (Wedding Campaign) gave a new spin to the 'rural drama' formulae, portraying old bachelors in the country seeking wives abroad, because they couldn't fit the requisites of their would-be Korean wives and their families. They just wanted someone to live comfortably with, someone who could raise their kids while they worked. And, most importantly, someone who would stop their parents' constant nagging. Yes, a little patriarchal and sometimes even annoying, but those cliches are often made from reality, a reality that you can see in rural Korea. With women moving to the big cities to seek independence, a growing number of rural Korean men just fall for the easy dreams some people promise them, sending those 논촌 노총각 (old country bachelors) to exotic places like Mongolia, Vietnam and the Philippines to find their 'mail-order' brides.

Type 국제결혼 (International Marriage) on any Korean portal, and you'll be bombarded with tons of opportunities, some legit, the majority illegal. Brought to these foreign lands, thousands of Korean men choose from several young women they've never met, who will become their future brides. This is not a new phenomenon, and it's not restricted to Korea (it spreads all over the world), but 'bride-trafficking' is certainly a serious problem, which a lot of South East Asian countries have to deal with. But putting that aside for a moment, this increase in mixed-race marriages is starting to bridge the gap between cultures in Korea. About 10% of the total marriages in Korea are between Korean men and foreign brides, which is helping the growing multi-ethnicity of a country formerly known as the 'Hermit Kindgom', for its isolationist policies.

One of the most popular routes for these 'bride-seeking country bumpkins' is Vietnam, where thousands of young brides marry Korean men every year. But, while recent films have used this trend as a background for their stories, they rarely gave you the chance to see the other side of the coin: that is, the reason why those young women are ready to marry with a man they've never met before. For that reason, it's even more surprising that a simple 2-part Chuseok special on Korean TV took care of that. I'm obviously talking about 하노이 신부 (The Bride From Hanoi). Many young Vietnamese women from the countryside fall into this 'easy money' trap, with those matchmaking companies offering money for their struggling families in exchange for marrying a Korean man. Sometimes it goes all wonderfully: the bride integrates within Korean society, she builds a family, and sometimes comes home richer, happier, and more independent than when she left.

Sometimes, though, things lead to tragedy, with a lot of sex-trafficking happening behind the scenes of those matchmaking affairs. Or, in other cases, with those Korean men treating their new brides badly, leaving those poor women with only one solution: going back home, often with the added 'baggage' of a child. It's then ironic (or tragic, you choose) that one of the most beloved masterpieces in Vietnamese literature -- Nguyễn Du's Truyện Kiều (The Tale of Kiều) -- features a woman who 'sells' herself to several people, to save her family. 'The Bride from Hanoi' features a victim of those matchmaking events, who like Kiều in Nguyễn's poem will forever suffer from the mistakes and tragedies of her past. Since a Korean man ruined her life, she can't see her sister marry a Korean and ruin herself just like she did. Because of her sister's past, Thị Vũ (Kim Ok-Bin)'s relationship with any Korean man will be doomed from the start, no matter what. Unless... love will conquer that too. Ahhh, how romantic.

When I read SBS was going to Vietnam to shoot a Drama commemorating the 30th anniversary of the Vietnam War, to be shown during the Chuseok holidays, I almost fell off my chair laughing. Given their track record in dealing with touchy subjects like this, I only expected a superficial story about 'love conquering everything', completely over-simplifying the issue, wildly stereotyping Vietnamese and rural Koreans in the process. Or, getting down and dirty to what we're really interested in -- the Drama itself -- stinking up the place with another script tailor made for pretty faces with no acting skills. The fact nothing of that sort happened already sounded like a miracle, but after watching this simple two-episode Drama, I was even more surprised. They actually made something affecting, and most importantly something that didn't insult the egghead tendencies that sometimes float in my mind. No, it's not a masterpiece and it has many flaws, sometimes bordering on the annoying, but I'm actually happy I was proven wrong. Serves me right... I should never pre-judge things, even if they come from SBS. I know, sometimes it's hard.

It's not that the story is particularly fresh. We have country bachelor Seok-Woo (Lee Won-Jong), constantly pushed by his old mother to find a bride, even though he has a friend (Yoo Hye-Jung) right under his nose who could fall for him with a little effort. But this is Korean TV, and if you grow up as friends, you don't see each other as 'women' or 'men'. So Seok-Woo ends up doing what a lot of people in the area do: he gets shipped to Vietnam, in search for his perfect bride. Little does he know that, out of 82 Million Vietnamese (more than half of which I suppose could be women), he'll find the only woman his younger brother (Lee Dong-Wook) ever dated, when he was working there years before. Got it? The hot little Vietnamese bride -- who looks like a Korean, and speaks pretty weird Vietnamese. Did we learn it phonetically, Miss Kim? -- Seok-Woo brings home is his little brother's former flame. Oh my... I know what you're thinking, it's just another one of those Korean soap operas, right? They fight, bicker, she cries in the rain and faints, they go to the hospital and love blossoms again. The End.

But one of the many strengths of 'The Bride from Hanoi' is taking itself seriously, at least enough not to make a joke out of its characters' predicament. Although the most cynical of viewers might feel a hint of complacency in the way Vietnamese are portrayed, at least for what concerns the minor characters, there's at least a tentative to approach the matter from the point of view of someone who's sacrificing herself for her family, going to Korea to make money. And it never paints those women with virgin/whore dichotomies, nor it falls to sexual innuendo or Drama Queen pitfalls when giving the viewers a reason to sympathize with Thị Vũ. You can see why Seok-Woo is trying to marry her even though he's not the kind of man who would do that, and you also understand how his relationship with the girl changes, once he finds out her past. Even though the makers only had two episodes to work with, there's never a big rush to get to the cliffhanger. And, despite falling into some predictable plot developments, it generally maintains an intelligent flow in its storytelling, until the end.

TV Drama regulars will recognize young Lee Dong-Wook, from shows like 술의 나라 (Alcohol Land) and 러빙 유 (Loving You). He gives a good performance, but the real star of the show is Kim Ok-Bin. The young star of 여고괴담 4: 목소리 (Voice) already acts like a pro, and her recent leading contracts prove that. Although her Vietnamese is almost incomprehensible to native speakers (I have Vietnamese friends who needed subs to understand most of what she said), she carries the role with maturity, and makes simple scenes a lot more touching than they should be. Praise should also go to supporting characters like Lee Won-Jong, a long time regular of Korean comedies, who is moving to a point in his career when significant roles on TV Dramas can often be better than quick cameos in films. Also, Yoo Hye-Jung -- last seen in the amazing 부활 (Rebirth), you knew I had to mention it once a week! -- gives a nice touch of subtlety to her character, making us understand the chemistry between her character and Seok-Woo. Last but not least, Kang Bu-Ja, a veteran of TV Dramas, who is always striking in all her roles, although my favorite still remains her performance in 노란 선수건 (Yellow Handkerchief).

'The Bride from Hanoi' is born from both a new trend in Korean society (the growing multi-ethnicity of the population), and also acknowledges some of the not so pleasant practices which often take place in the underbelly of Korean society. It gives a space for those 'brides' to speak loudly, talk about their problems adapting to a new lifestyle, and the emotional difficulties their families often have to go through. The acting is good, the writing -- despite falling prey to some 'Korean Wave-ish' silliness when trying to wrap up plot developments -- is not bad, and the Drama never falls into a complacent attitude towards the characters it covers. That alone is a pretty impressive accomplishment for a 2 episode Drama thrown up during the holidays, I'd say.

THE DVD

Given the short length of the show, the price is in line with most Korean films on DVD. But the novelty is that not only it has English and Korean subtitles, but also Vietnamese! Did they add them so that Vietnamese speakers could understand the Vietnamese spoken here? There's a few really nice extra features, taken from the Drama's official website, and subtitled in all three languages, and the package is beautiful. Not a memorable drama, but a pretty nice way to spend two hours, if you ask me. Then again, Kim Ok-Bin is so lovely I probably would have bought it even if it was about a young Vietnamese woman going to Switzerland to grow cows, so your mileage might vary.

» Posted by X at December 8, 2005 10:59 AM
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Reader Comments

x ... I think you are too kind to this show. It wasn't that good. Perhaps you are mostly taken by the leading lady!

» Posted by cyberman at December 9, 2005 12:41 AM

It's almost Christmas, we should all be a little kinder, at least for a while! Trying to contain my vitriol for a while, it's not good for blood pressure. But you could be right... I admit my weakness for 옥빈양~. 아이구... 예쁘라.. ㅋㅋ

Then again, I didn't praise this that much, did I?

» Posted by x at December 9, 2005 03:40 AM

After growing up watching k-dramas, I've slowed down a lot recently cuz I was so tired of the same old stuff getting recycled. As for 2 hour specials, I felt they're of low quality and nothing memorable so I usually wouldn't watch them. But I happened to watch this one by accident, and I was gladly surprised.

Then, I was asked to translate some parts. When you're translating, you get to 'think' of the script more, trying to capture the mood and the meaning. I think I liked my second re-watch even more. I thought some lines were 'touching' in a tender way... I almost cried... Nothing impressive, but sweet and warm I was glad I watched this. Shouldn't ask for more from a 2-hour TV special...

BTW, I am a girl, but I thought Kim Ok Bin was good in an unexpected way... changing right before my eyes... from a fragile doll like character to a fiery tiger fighting for her life.

On the other hand, someone was supposed to send me the rest of the translating material for Hanoi Bride... but since she didn't... I'm kind of glad, hee hee! Too lazy to translate this afterall... I'd rather translate 부활 (Rebirth) instead, then I don't think I'd feel lazy... ~yeah, I want to mention this one too! ^-^.

» Posted by priscilla at December 10, 2005 02:09 AM

Yeah, those Dramacity/Best Theater specials are usually pretty bad. But the two SBS released on DVD -- the other is 내 사랑 토람이 (My Lovely Toram) -- have been good.

» Posted by x at December 10, 2005 03:12 AM

I stopped watching the movie after finish 50% of the first episole. The story was too predictable to me, and the male leading actor was cocky. I didn't know why he has to be so cocky to her when he speaks, and yes the main character (vu) was too soft. She's a typical vietnamese woman i guess. Most of the time, I did not understand what Vu was saying. I have watched other korean dramas, and this movie made me feel awkward because of the voice and storyline. The older sister didn't want her younger sister to marry a korean man; but why did she let the younger sister marry anyway. the reason for marrying the older brother was not clear to me.

» Posted by kim at December 22, 2005 01:14 PM

why did she let her marry the Korean man? Ahhh... power of love!

Thị Vũ's sister was so totally Vietnamese Melodrama I almost stopped watching too, but the Drama gets surprisingly serious in the second episode. Of course it's cliched, it's SBS!

But if you felt awkward about the Vietnamese, can't blame you. My friend (more or less same age as the girl in the show) was laughing non stop at Kim Ok-Bin's 'Vietnamese'.

» Posted by x at December 22, 2005 06:48 PM

I thought that it was reminisce of all K-Dramas. While watching it, I thought that it would span out over a couple episodes, not just two. I do agree with some that the main male character is a bit cocky. It seems he was never really in love with her the way he spoke to her and such. I felt the ending was a bit rushed though.

» Posted by Jackie at January 26, 2006 06:39 PM

By the way...does anyone know the theme song to this show?

» Posted by Jackie at January 27, 2006 02:39 AM

The money was good. but i was wondering, what the song is called when the girl was looking for the guy in the beginning?

» Posted by miss at March 10, 2006 10:01 PM

Didn't the lead actor has the least common sense tah tshe came all the way to look for him? Why didnt they bring things out in the open and talk about it instead of ust jumping to negative conclusions all the time?

» Posted by CARRIE at March 28, 2006 10:11 PM

does anyone know the theme song for this movie? please post if you do!!! THANKS!

» Posted by SuyjaI at April 9, 2006 06:50 AM

"typical vietnamese woman" .. that comment by user kim was stupid.
i am vietnamese-american, just spent 5 months in vietnam. women there are very strong-willed. anyways it's stupid to make generalizations about being a "typical" type of asian.

i haven't seen this drama yet, i just finished My Girl. i love Lee Dont Wook... and i'm interested in it because it has to do with Vietnam. i'm currently downloading it right now =)

» Posted by jq at April 13, 2006 04:28 AM

Song for Hanoi Bride where Teevu is looking for the doctor.
Artist - Park Hwa Yo Bi song title - uhn je ra do.

» Posted by unkown at April 13, 2006 06:08 AM

Nothing really stood out to me regarding the plot of this movie. True, it was interesting seeing that they tried to incorporate two different cultures together. But the story line was pretty predictable.
The main leading girl had me laughing my head off at her vietnamese accent. I had to read the sub titles to understand what she was saying. The way they protrayed vietnamese girls upset me abit, it upsets me the way vietnam girls are generlised.
Loved Lee Dong-Wook in "My Girl", his viet was not as bad as the lead. I heard this movie got great reviews though, i just found it alright, nothing to be excited about..

» Posted by van at April 20, 2006 10:17 AM

Nothing really stood out to me regarding the plot of this movie. True, it was interesting seeing that they tried to incorporate two different cultures together. But the story line was pretty predictable.
The main leading girl had me laughing my head off at her vietnamese accent. I had to read the sub titles to understand what she was saying. The way they protrayed vietnamese girls upset me abit, it upsets me the way vietnam girls are generlised.
Loved Lee Dong-Wook in "My Girl", his viet was not as bad as the lead. I heard this movie got great reviews though, i just found it alright, nothing to be excited about..

» Posted by van at April 20, 2006 10:21 AM

Thanks for telling us who the singer of that song is...I've been trying to find it everywhere!

» Posted by angelsparkz@hotmail.com at May 1, 2006 05:30 PM

Hi. I'm a Vietnamese American who speaks Korean (no, I'm not lying) and I'm feeling a mix of disappointment, frustration, embarrassment, and sadness because of how the Koreans think of the Vietnamese. I was very offended. I find both cultures to be likable and when you really get to know them both like I do you will find many similiarities. Korean is like my third language, English being my first and Vietnamese being my second. I tried really hard to study the Korean language because it was very interesting. Obviously, I have nothing against Korea or its foundation and as I grow up I begin to love my nationality even more. I just really hope that the Vietnamese and Koreans will get along. See, throughout life I've always felt that there were two sides in the Asian race. One side consists of the "big dogs"; the Koreans, the Japanese, and the Chinese. And the other side are the islanders; the Vietnamese, the Filipinos, the Thailands, the Laos (am I forgetting another Asian nationality that should be mentioned?) It's messed up. I mean, we're all Asians. Vietnamese are influenced by the Chinese. So are the Koreans! I know I shouldn't be so worked up about this but I am. I feel so offended right now.

» Posted by anonymous at May 26, 2006 01:06 PM

I'm glad I live in America where people are more open-minded and I have a lot of free choices. Vietnam is a poor country with a corrupted government. People do what they do to survive. The women usually 'sacrifice' themselves for a better life for them and their family. Why can't people understand that? Do you honestly believe these women want to sell themselves off to strangers? It's because we're living spoiled lives and we don't face these kinds of difficult situations so we don't understand. Instead of feeling compassion for these people, others belittle them because they lack the resources to better themselves. This just makes me so annoyed.

» Posted by comment at August 30, 2006 04:51 PM

I'm a Vietnamese,and i really sad when watching this film.....i hope before making the film,director take the time to find out about Vietnam,Vietnamese,culture....perhap Vietnam is a poor country if you search at economics,at GDP...why?? because our country was economic blocked by american for 20 years,.we don't have occasions to develope as Korean,but then when america President dicided to permanent relation ,our country have been developing very fastly!!I verry proud of my country history,we won France and America in the world war,we have indepentdent,and we feel happy with communism,may be we poor but we happied.are happying and will happy.you have neve come to Vietnam so please don't say incorrect thing about Vietnam,it's so stupid..we proud of language.we have a particular language,not influent by other languages,but Korean language have been influented by Chinese language,and Japanese style.We prouf of culture,we don't have America military base,mercanarys...but Korean have!!!lol!!!!

» Posted by yumia at October 25, 2006 12:13 AM

SBS's Special Commemorative K-Drama "Hanoi Bride: or "Bride from Hanoi" Yet Another K-Classic

It is commendable to note that SBS lends a helping hand to Vietnam by producing this special 2-part series shot in Hanoi and Korea to commemorate the end of the Vietnam War, its 30th Anniversary a joint project perhaps which includes Vietnamese cast.

Besides the beautiful locations shooting on the landmarks of Hanoi, the cast also made efforts to learn to speak Vietnamese language too !

The philosophy/life skill imparted in this storyline is I discovered - "marriage is about buying a pair of shoes: you should have the right to choose a pair you feel comfortable and not to be over duly concerned about how people feel about it".

I'm deeply impressed as usual by the writer whose hidden message and impact to me is not so much on the romance between the lead actor and lead actress but rather the impact of their romance on the lead actor's elder brother and his sweetheart love - a girl from the same hometown and much better qualified than the elder brother who was a farmer.

The exciting part is both brothers "fell for the same Vietnamese girl" and when the elder brother returned to Korea with a future Hanoi bride under a matchmaking programme organised by the Korean government, the younger doctor brother was shocked to see his Hanoi girlfriend whom he lost contact due to man-made circumstances....................

The elder brother had yet to consummate their marriage but the trip to Korea was regarded more of an exploratory trip for the future bride to consider marrying him. However, the future bride had a hidden agenda to look up for her doctor boyfriend whom she discovered was actually the younger brother of her potential husband-to -be.

Her apprearance created tension to all and had enabled the elder brother's sweetheart to re-discover the wholesome character of the elder brother who had always put her in his heart until he had to give in to their mother's persistent pressures to find a spouse.

Happy ending for both brothers whereby the elder brother's former sweetheart began to see him from a human perspective rather than by qualifications (case of a woman marrying down) and through the Hanoi Bride 's "counselling" she gathered her courage/will to accept him while the younger doctor brother returned to Hanoi to look for his "lost pair of shoes" (case of a man marrying a woman of lower social status as their mother initially was strongly against this marriage as she preferred his lady doctor colleague as her daughter-in-law - scolding intensely his younger son for not choosing a diamond in front of him !

I find that I can connect very well with the traditional Asian values,thoughts, mindset and concerns aired by the parents' characters which mirrors the way we also think when choosing a life partner to a certain extent at least for our generation...............

Please watch when you have the chance !
Thank you for your time and wishing one & all a healthy & fruitful year ahead.

Best regards,
Wee Fong-Fong (Miss)
Singapore

» Posted by WEE FONG - FONG (Miss) at January 16, 2007 09:38 PM

i saw this movie. it was translate into my lanuage. I love this movie so much. The character Kim Ok-Bin and Lee Dong-Wook make a great couple. The look good together.kim ok-bin is so beautiful and lee dong wook is so cute.

» Posted by thor_gurl at January 30, 2007 01:22 PM

initially, after watching this drama, i too felt that the director portrayed the vietnamese in a negative light.

but after reading this commentary, i can see how there are some attempts to convey glimpses of reality, of the issue of 'bride trafficking' and its emotional scars that come with it. although there are flaws, an attempt to address the issue is a good place to start, so i commend the film for at least trying to do that.

» Posted by anonymous at January 31, 2007 01:48 AM

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