Goong

I decided to take a break from the t-dramas to watch a korean drama starring Yoon Eun Hye (YEH) and Joo Ji Hoon (JJH). YEH is my favourite korean actress - really, the only one that I remember the name of! - because of her amazing performance in "The Coffee Prince". Prior to that, she starred in another popular k-drama, entitled "Goong" (Palace) in korean, and "Princess Hours" in english.

"Goong" is set in a fictional 2006, when Korea is ruled by a constitutional monarchy. Everything else seems to be the same. The monarchy is starting to lose popularity, and so its members struggle to thing of a way to regain the people's trust and interest. The King, Queen, and Great Queen (dowager queen) remember a promise that the old King made to his old commoner friend - that the Crown Prince would be betrothed to the commoner's granddaughter. They seize upon this method to regain their popularity.

Now it just so happens (of course) that both the Crown Prince and his wife-to-be go to the same arts high school in Seoul. The Crown Prince Lee Shin (JJH) is a cold, proud creature, very reserved. Unbeknownst to his parents, he has a girlfriend, a dedicated ballet dancer, Min Hyo-rin (Song Ji Hyo), whom he has proposed to. However, she rejects him in order to pursue her dreams of being a top ballerina. The whole scene is overheard by Chae-kyung, the granddaughter of that commoner mentioned above.

Now Chae-kyung (YEH) is a silly but warm teenager in the arts department (Shin
is a film student). She's loved by all, especially her three best girl friends. After receiving the proposal from the royals, she reluctantly agrees, as her family is on hard times. You'd think that everyone would want to be Crown Princess - but that's not the case, because the royal family have to spend their life in the royal palace...they only leave for special functions and trips. Within the palace they have to follow the traditional ways of doing everything, such as wearing the han-bok (traditional costume) and putting their hair up in extravagant detail.

After being rejected, Shin agrees to marry Chae-kyung, and the two begin their life together. It's painful - she tries so hard to fit in and learn everything she needs to, while he mocks her at almost every opportunity. Every now and then he'll do something nice for her (something meaningful), revealing his kind spirit, but within seconds of being revealed, Shin will switch back to his reserved self. At this juncture, Lee Yul returns to the royal family after spending his childhood abroad. Yul was originally the Crown Prince (his father was the current King's older brother), but after his dad died, he and his mother were chased out of the palace. He has returned at the family's behest. Yul and Chae-kyung are in the same class, and quickly strike up a friendship, being the two "newbies" in the palace. Yul falls in love with Chae-kyung and decides to fight to reclaim his Crown Prince title so he can marry her (remember? Chae-kyung is supposed to marry the Crown Prince, whoever he is). Chae-kyung confides all her loneliness and her struggles of living in the palace to Yul, and he eventually tells her that he can't stand to see her like this, that it would be better for her to leave and be free than to stay and be the Crown Princess.

Meanwhile, for the sake of his marriage, Shin begins to break it off with Hyo-rin...though he slips a couple of times to be by her side. Unfortunately, in almost every instance, the two are caught by photographers. Some of these pictures make the local papers - the more dangerous ones fall into the hands of Yul's mother, who will do anything to see her child as Crown Prince. Chae-kyung, who rapidly became attached to Shin since they were spending every free moment together as part of their duties as the Crown couple, and Hyo-rin face off a couple of times, but Chae-kyung eventually lets go of Shin, knowing that he proposed to Hyo-rin first.

But eventually, Shin is captivated by Chae-kyung's warm nature (and is utterly jealous of Chae-kyung's close friendship with Yul), and breaks it off permanently with Hyo-rin. Hyo-rin attempts suicide, and after being rescued, realizes that it is her turn to let go of the Prince.

Yul feels no such thing, and reveals his love to Chae-kyung. She tells him that if she had met Yul first, she could have liked him, but that her heart belongs to Shin now. Shin, still jealous of Yul, crushes that little heart with his icy demeanor - well, actually, he sends very mixed signals. He's really tender to her at some moments, especially when she falls asleep beside him (usually they have separate bedrooms), but at other times...he's a complete bastard...and royal politics makes another foray into the drama. Yul's mother does some pretty heinous things, from blackmail to arson (and then blaming that arson on Shin), in order to get at that throne. Shin's older sister returns to the Palace after a trip to Africa and lends some sense to the crazy situation. In short, lots of bad stuff happens, and the royal situation is even worse than before Chae-kyung married Shin...

...and so the royal family decides to send Chae-kyung abroad to weather the storm. She agrees in order to save Shin's reputation. The most touching scene in the entire drama comes right about now...Chae-kyung declares her love for Shin and tells him that all he has to do is ask her to stay. She's shown that she loves him before, but never as explicitly as this. He freezes, and she begins to walk away, tears forming in the corners of her eyes...but he forces the words out of his lips..."stay with me. don't leave me alone." FINALLY the two kiss, and all is right with the world once more.

Chae-kyung goes to Macau, and has a great life out of the palace. After much debate, Yul and Shin both relinquish the heir position, and it is given to Shin's older sister instead (a better decision was never made - that girl is smart, sensible, modern, and filial. if anyone could turn around the royal mess, it'd be her). Shin goes to Macau and sees Chae-kyung truly happy for the first time...and begins to fear that she will say no when he asks her to really marry him and return to the palace. But after asking for an extension of time to think about it, she agrees, and the two are married in a gorgeous little ceremony.

This was really an addictive drama, and all the main leads were all pretty (though YEH's photo above isn't that nice). YEH was definitely a young young actress at the time - her performance is not nearly as strong as that in the "Coffee Prince", but she still held her own. Now, JJH - he was a new actor too, then, but he manages to portray nuances really well - you can see him struggling between his feelings for chae-kyung with just the tilt of his head (in an early episode at his birthday party when yul and chae-kyung share a plate together). And he's the master of "the look". The drama was also really enhanced by some of the more tender scenes between the two, though I was a little put off by the "cinderella" scene at the party...that was kinda obvious no? but all in all, a very good drama!! Especially for new actors. On my fav drama list, for sure.