Melody's Reading Corner: Korean Drama: Miss Ripley

Melody

Starring: Lee Da Hae, Park Yoo Chun of JYJ, Kim Seung Woo and Kang Hye Jung
Language: Korean (with Chinese, English subtitles)

I have been watching a few Korean drama series lately; and I have to admit I am addicted to watching them.

Miss Ripley (미스 리플리), the latest drama I watched, is a story of a young woman, Jang Mi Ri, who lies to get her way and how her greedy ambition has lead to the downfall of two men who has fallen in love with her.

Mi Ri was abandoned by her mother when she was nine. Her mother had chosen to leave the family and to marry a rich man. After the death of her father, Mi Ri was sent to an orphanage where she befriended Moon Hee Joo.

One day a Japanese family wanted to adopt Hee Joo, but Hee Joo had a stomach ache and the orphanage decided to send Mi Ri in her place instead. Mi Ri was then sent to Japan and she had a miserable childhood living with her adopted parents. They treated her badly and worst of all, the father had a huge gambling debts to pay and Mi Ri was forced to work in a bar when she was nineteen. She worked there for a few years under a man who called himself Hirayama. Hirayama had made her as one of the top bar girls but Mi Ri had been plotting ways to leave him once she has gotten back her passport and the contract she had with him. After much efforts, she managed to leave him and returned to South Korea.

Staying in a run down residential motel, she encountered a young man Song Yoo Hyun. Yoo Hyun also arrived from Japan recently and though he came from an affluent family, he always believed that one has to be independent and learn/earn things on his own. Yoo Hyun liked Mi Ri but the latter wasn't interested. She has bigger dreams to follow and most importantly, she needed to find a permanent job before she is deported to Japan. Unfortunately, finding a permanent job was a challenge due to Mi Ri's educational background as she only had a high school degree.

Meanwhile, Jang Myung Hoon, a hotelier needed someone who was able to speak the Japanese Hataka dialect to serve an important customer at the hotel. There was no one to fill up the position as the spoken dialect was extremely rare in South Korea. It was during a chance encounter with Mi Ri that Myung Hoon decided that she was the best person to fill that position. He offered Mi Ri the job on a temporarily basis but time was running out for her. Mi Ri had to decline the offer and muttered that even if she was graduated from Tokyo University, it would't change much of a thing for her. Myung Hoon misunderstood her remark and then told her that there was no reason for them not to hire her based on her qualification and that was where all her lies began.

In a nutshell, Miss Ripley is a romance story with a hint of crime. The characterisations and the plot development are great and there are several intense moments that made me watch with both anxiety and anticipation. Lee Da Hae, the actress who played Mi Ri, is magnificent for her acting skills in portraying the greedy young woman and you couldn't imagine how many times I cursed while watching her meddling between Myung Hoon and Yoo Hyun. As you can tell, Mi Ri isn't a likeable character but from another perspective, I couldn't help but to pity her too. From her point, I began to understand why she lied although what she did is absolutely wrong.

Myung Hoon and Yoo Hyun are two men whom I feel many women will fall in love with as they are both kind-hearted people and are so selfless, despite the prestigious positions they held.

I wouldn't say I liked the ending, though there is a twinge of bittersweet to it. In my opinion, bittersweet can be beautiful because one can always hope; and because it is not perfect, this what makes the memories more cherishable and unforgettable.