A Sad Love Story

Sad Love Story/ Sad Sonata

Cast:
Kwon Sang Woo
Kim Hee Sun
Yeon Jeong Hoon

A story about love, friendship, and music. Hae In is blind. She does her best to live her life in blindness. Kids often tease Hae In and performed mean acts to her. One day Jun Young meets Hae In on a playground. Jun Young becomes Hae In's defender and he starts to care for her because she is so fragile. Their friendship blossoms into love. Hae In moves away to the United States and leaves Jun Young behind. They promise to find one another again.

This series took me the longest to finish. I can do a marathon of this series since I bought it 2 weeks ago and really make adjustments for watching what I want. But in this drama, I failed to do so. There's too much pain in my heart, believe it or not. Watching it reminds me of "Stairway to Heaven", aside from Kwon Sang Woo joining the cast in the latter. I was actually comparing the two. There are a lot of similar scenes: lovers in the snow, the girl won't recognize her loved one, hospital and operations, lovers running after each other, playing the martyr acts of self-sacrifice, etc. How the whole love story works is almost the same except that in here, Kwon Sang Woo (the lead actor role) mostly does the "giving-up/sacrificing part". The usual evil and misfortune that surrounds the lead actors in the series is also the common "separating the two lovers" thing. The difference between the misfortunes of the pair of Seo Jun Young-Park Hae In (Kwon Sang Woo and Kim Hee Sun) from that of Cha Song Ju-Han Jung Suh (Stairway to Heaven) is that the misfortunes experienced by the latter is mostly induced by people who tries to break them apart. In Sad Love Story, it is really the big word "fate" that made the ending for the both of them.


Seo Jun Young and Park Hae In

The title says it all. It's a sad love story, so expect a really, really sad ending. I find it a little bit usual, though. The lines "We will meet again in the next life. Wait for me" are so melancholy-inducing lines that one used so many times already.

There are some drastic events that quite need some explanation like "How the hell did the bad boy (Jun Young's mortal enemy since childhood), become successful?" I also disliked how the woman is represented in the drama. Park Hae In is so weak (Well, almost all Korean soaps portray this image of women). Oftentimes she feels bored and useless (all she did was knit and play the piano). But the ultimate "loathing characteristic" of hers is being fickle-minded. I hate her character. I hate it whenever she would decide to go back to Jun Young and she would kneel in front of Geon Woo, feel sorry and ask for forgiveness and then the next thing that happens is she is preparing for her engagement to Geon Woo. I was not satisfied with the comic relief that the drama tries to attain (with the characters of the Charlie (bald guy), nagging wife, unprofitable husband, the aunt of Hae In, Jin Pyo (friend of Jun Young and Geon Woo) and a bunch of girls from the club). I deem it was necessary to maintain emotional balance in the series, but it was all in vain. The drama is swarmed with grief and sadness, there's no way to go or to do other than feel sorry for the characters and sympathize with them. I am telling you, this drama is one of those that give you emotional torture.


Collage


I like the parts where in there was major visual treat when Kwon Sang Woo plays the guitar, the piano and tries to sing. I salute him for being a talented actor. I admire how he can cry in a scene that easily. Just observe how "drippy" his tears can get (perhaps because of how small his eyes are). Yeon Jeong Hoon also has an endurable performance especially during his "America/studying days". His English and his voice are so great that if I was the one who makes decision in the company, I would've hired him and gave him a record deal right away. But too late, Hae In's cockroach-sounding voice, accent and pronunciation prevailed and were the keys to secure interviews and photo shoots.


kwon sang woo as seo jun young


Best friends' Geon Woo (right) and Jun Gi (left)

I don't like the excessive regressing parts while a sentimental song is playing in the drama. It kills me. The 20 episodes could have been chopped into a shorter one without those redundant "in the past" scenes. Every time that would happen, it is like watching the music video for the song over and over again.

But hey, I still endured the series even if it caused me to sleep for only two hours (I tried to finish 6 episodes for a day), not have breakfast and lunch and to miss Kris Aquino and James Yap's exclusive interview in The Buzz. I thought this series would be a better way to escape from the suffocating world of Pinoy entertainment. I am glad I wasn't that disappointed.



Kwon Sang Woo also as Choi Jun Kyu