[Drama 2012] Cheongdamdong Alice / Alice in Cheongdamdong 청담동 앨리스

[Guest prisneo]

Love this drama very much and the OTP in this drama. A very good match.

[Ayame]

Posted this at the SiGeun thread, but I'll post this here as well. I saw this review on tumblr of CDDA (where they talk indepth about the characters and the plot) and I thought this was a great review. I just really like seeing other people's perspectives on the drama. It's an interesting read: click here.

[Guest anitgone]

@ayame, I also want to share another  awesome and insightful review of "Alice in Cheongdam-dong" by BetsyHp. 
Enjoy reading
Cr BetsyHp Creating Volumes

http://creatingvolumes.wordpress.com/2013/02/05/were-all-mad-here/

[Guest nhoctydado]

This is my second MV for my love - CDDA

I miss you - SK and SJ :x

[raewonkim]

HI to everyone.. I hope you still remember me. I am one of those who participated in giving views during PROSECUTOR PRINCESS days. Those were the days when I became crazy to this drama. He looks very handsome to me, with his melting smile, he gorgeously dressed, wearing eye glasses/shades, all suits him very well. 
After this drama, what will be the next project of PSH? thanks.

[Guest anitgone]

Hi everyone!@nhoctydado, that is one lovely and well made MV! I wish I had your talent, and THANK YOU for sharing it with us here at this thread! I thought they had great chemistry, my favorite scene will have to be the fake conversation in french. I love this drama to pieces and applaud the writers for giving us a fresh and atypical love story, if you will. Just want to remind everyone that there is also an MGY thread here in soompi:
http://forums.soompi.com/discussion/508/moon-geun-young-문근영/p1
We're all eagerly anticipating Moonie's next drama, which hasn't been confirmed by her agency, but was on MBC's news program recently. Whomever she will be paired with, am sure it will be awesome. 
Just one last comment about this drama. I thought it was marketed poorly as a rom-com, which it isn't. It was so much more than that, and I am too inarticulate to express why. I love the symbolisms and reference to "Alice in Wonderland", pointed out to me by more insightful and knowledgeable viewers. The social commentary was a welcome change and we were confronted with themes not commonly dealt in your typical rom coms. Calling it that will be a great injustice. The drama might not be everyone's cup of tea -- I think because it had so much realism, that we were also forced to look at our own gray selves. Who hasn't made a decision here that he/she felt guilty about? Do our decisions really define us or do our motivations make for who we really are? It would be nice to live in fantasy like CSJ, but as we all know, with time and in time, we all have to wake up to exist and live our lives int this world and all the ugliness and compromise that it comes with. If we can live our lives, with eyes half open like HSK,  would be a rarity, and a blessing. 
Thanks for sharing all your thoughts, it was fun watching and spazzing with all of you for two months. Now on to Moon's next drama!Keep safe and healthy, Happy Lunar New Year!!!

[Ayame]

I ordered Vol. 2 of the OST online, and I finally got it in the mail today. I scanned all the images in the album for everyone so please enjoy. I already scanned Vol.1 earlier: click here.

*Also, the scanned pictures I put under the spoiler tag are resized to a smaller size so it won't take long to load in this thread, but if you want to see the full size scanned album (which is huge lol), then go to the download link below.

For those who want a download link [password: sigeun]: click here

*The download link is a .zip file, if you don't know how to open .zip files, you can use Winzip.

[sCANS] CDDA OST Vol.2 (Scanned by Ayame)

[Guest nhoctydado]

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY

:x Love you - MGY & PSH :x

Tu es tout ce que j’aime

Ma saison préféré
C’est ton regard,
La ville ou je suis née
C’est ta mémoire
L’île ou je veut partir
Etre deja dans tes bras
Et l’air que je respire
Ne viendra que de toi

Refrain :
Tu es tout ce que j’ai
Tout ce que j’aime
Toute la vie dans mes veines
Comme l’eau du baptême
Tu es tout ce que j’ai
Le calme ou la tempête
Au loin nous entraîne
Tu es tout ce que j’aime

Les vallées de ton corps
Sont mes plus beaux voyages
Le pays que j’adore
C’est toujours ton rivage

Refrain :
Tu es tout ce que j’ai
Tout ce que j’aime
Toute la vie dans mes veines
Comme l’eau du baptême
Tu es tout ce que j’ai
Le calme ou la tempête
Au loin nous entraîne
Tu es tout ce que j’aime

Je suis un bateau libre
Je me noie pour te suivre

Refrain :
Tu es tout ce que j’ai
Tout ce que j’aime
Toute la vie dans mes veines
Comme l’eau du baptême
Tu es tout ce que j’ai
Le calme ou la tempête
Au loin nous entraîne
Tu es tout ce que j’aime (x2)

[Guest jackie121312]

Chingus, Vote for our princess moonie in
http://global.mnet.com/star/poll/result.m?poll_seq=62

[kabam]

hello everyone....im happy to share this positive CDDA review here from a very intelligent and beautiful person name NANCE at Parksihoo4udotcom...





"Cheongdam Dong Alice (CDDA) – A K-drama like no other"

If you asked me in November 2012 which is my favourite PSH drama, I would not hesitate to say FH.  However, this has changed since the airing of CDDA.  Now it is a toss-up between FH and CDDA.  I love FH as a family drama with its traditional values.  In CDDA, I enjoy the provoking realism wrapped under the guise of a children’s fairy tale – “Alice In Wonderland” (AIW) / “Alice through the looking glass” (ATTLG).

If I have to make the tough choice between the two, then I would go with CDDA.  Why?  Because I feel that PSH’s maturity, versatility, and depth of experience as an actor, and a great one at that, are reflected in that one characterisation of CSJ/JTC (CSJ).  The other reason why I like CDDA is because it is a brilliant metaphorical masterpiece, a deviation from the conventional K-dramas.

CDDA transformed PSH into a really shining star 

The No. 1 reason why I like CDDA is without doubt – it starred my favourite actor PSH – and CDDA brought out the best in him.

In an earlier interview PSH said that when he saw the script of CDDA, he really coveted the role of CSJ.  PSH always has a knack for picking great works; in CDDA, he has picked yet another winner.  In the complex, multi–faceted CSJ/JTC character that the writers created, PSH clearly showed his versatility and skill as an actor – from caring, in love, intense, maniacal, insecure, playful, emotional, sad, revengeful, angry, yearning…he excelled in the myriad of emotions that would have stretched even the most seasoned actor!  CSJ brought PSH to another level in his ability and credibility as an actor.  I believe he won far greater recognition in the entertainment industry and, like the Piped Piper, drew a whole new contingent of devoted fans.

CDDA – A brilliant metaphorical masterpiece

CDDA is not your typical K-drama.  Take it at face value and you will end up sorely disappointed.  The dialogues overshadowed the action scenes – so unlike the melodramas where you cry your guts out or rom-coms where they feed you romantic moments at frequent intervals.

I admire the writers’ guts to take on the risk of a non-populist approach in crafting a thought-provoking drama that subtly and intricately weaved powerful themes on social and human behavior under the cover of a rom-com.  This atypical approach resulted in an emotionally mixed audience – those who absolutely loved it, those who wrote it off completely, and those who didn’t understand it at all.  The loudest and biggest voices were from those whose concept of a rom-com is the “traditional boy-meets-girl, fall in love, face hurdles, kiss and make up, without the complex, mentally challenging crap”. CDDA’s rating did not hit the roof expected from a PSH-MYG combination.  Instead, it drew a faithful following from even the highest ranked in South Korean society – a presidential candidate, no less!

To enjoy CDDA, you need to open up your heart, your mind and your sense of sight and sound.  It is a thinking woman/man’s drama.  ”Alice in Wonderland” (AIW) it was touted and I dare to say also “Alice through the looking glass” (ATTLG) – so everyone’s expectation is that it is a fairy tale.  AIW is considered of a literary nonsense genre – and wasn’t CSJ’s PTSD and then non-PTSD at the end of the drama of a nonsensical nature?

Nonsensical fairy tale?  I thought CDDA was much more than that!  AIW/ATTLG loosely framed the plot and you were led to believe in this make-believe “siketoki” – clock rabbit – which would guide Alice through Wonderland. You were led to believe that HSK was Alice only to discover that there was also Alice in CSJ!  You were led through a make-believe world only to discover realism at the end.  People talked good about the first half of the drama but felt deflated in the second half.  To me, the first half was more about fantasy, the make-believe – closer in tune with the regular K-drama rom-coms, and hence why people liked it.  In the second half realism set in and that was when people bailed out, just too heavy for their comfort (and the dialogues set the tone).

The writers made the audience reflect at every turn – not everything was what you perceived, not everything was clear-cut -– look through the looking glass and reflect on yourself, just like in the fairy tale AIW/ATTLK.  Amazingly clever!

Reflect on the complex macro-societal issues of prejudice, materialism, rich-poor divide, society norms and expectations. Think about beautiful love between the rich and ugly love if a poor loved a rich.  Reflect on typical human behaviour that we take for granted — paternal love (CSJ’s father’s love for him), protective instinct and withdrawal at being hurt (CSJ’s PTSD), back stabbing (SIH vindictively showing the video for revenge) etc.  Not everything was straightforward and in-your-face; you needed to open your eyes and ears for hidden and inferred messages and meanings.  And what I really liked was that the writers were non-judgemental, no right or wrong, no black and white – exactly like in real life how people behave and react to circumstances.  Think SYJ who dropped CSJ like a sack of hot potatoes when he gave up his inheritance, plotted her way to successfully become a CDD wife.  In SYJ, the writers developed what the audience would consider a greedy, devious, manipulative woman at the beginning to being admired and supported by said audience at the end of the drama.

he writers group had us twisted around their little fingers that we couldn’t second guess their next move.  Take their writing any which way you wanted – so deep in meaning that you had to dissect it like a literary masterpiece or treat it like a piece of literary nonsense.  For me, I fell into the former camp – I enjoyed the metaphorical approach to the drama and the intrigue of not knowing what was around the corner and to be surprised!  Take the final episode – the scene of HSK visiting and declaring her love for CSJ when he was in drunken stupor.  The writers and directors had cleverly played around the theme of “dream” in AIW and twisted CSJ’s perceived dream and made it real.  And I liked how they depicted the different perspectives of the rich and the poor by using CSJ’s painting.  The rich folks (CSJ and his doctor friend) just didn’t get it but the ordinary folks (HSK, SJY, TH and Secretary Moon) figured it out immediately who bought CSJ’s painting.  Your call on literary masterpiece or literary nonsense!

AIW’s “A Mad Tea Party” talked of an inverse relationship (‘I see what I eat’ equalled ‘I eat what I see!”) and this was depicted by the HSK/CSJ relationship.  HSK was prepared to throw everything away because she was not useful to anyone and couldn’t succeed no matter how hard she worked.  By entering CDD, she wanted to be saved and CSJ did just that by having everything she needed.  Instead, she found that she was the one who did the saving — to protect him and be his “home”.  Daebak portrayal of inverse relationship indeed! 

And I just loved the quotable quotes and pockets of wisdom the writers built into the drama.  My favourite was Nazim Hikmet’s poem which JTC read out during the Artemis’ Christmas party – great inspirational piece!  And despite CSJ’s half crazed concept of love and being absolutely truthful, he did utter a memorable piece in “If we have unveiled everything and we can accept all and still embrace each other, then it is love.”

I could go on raving about why I so love CDDA but I think this is already an extensive essay, so I shall stop before I bore you to tears, if I haven’t already done so.  I am sure everyone has his/her own opinion on the subject – so I hope you can share your perspectives.

Obviously CDDA has its flaws – but that is something else I shall not cover here. My one regret is that the series is not much longer.  With 16 episodes, it is neither here nor there – too little to expand on the social issues and to develop the characters (and there is potential for further development on Team CSJ/HSK –TH, SYJ, CSJ’s doctor friend, Secretary Moon, HSK’s best friend, her sister, Driver Kim…maybe even SIH); and too long to merely scrap the surface of these.

P.S.   Have you thought about why they used French in CDDA?  OK, France is the fashion capital of the world…but there might be another reason – because Alice spoke French to the Mouse in AIW.

 

Credit:Nance at Parksihoo4udotcom 

photocredit as tagged ^^

[kaciemom]

Just finally finish watching this drama.  I wish I had watched it earlier and catch up on what was said in this forum.  Anyway, I love it.  And thank you all for sharing your inputs on this drama.

[Guest BoiceMelodyInspiritBeauty]

I just love PSH's character.. everytime he gets excited because of se gyeong. I wish they showed they're future family.

[mtoenlob]

Cheongdamdong Alice

"The world hangs on a thin thread, and that is the psyche of man...” – C. G. Jung

A journey to Cheongdamdong Alice is a trip to the inner recesses of man’s psyche, to catch a glimpse into the depth of his spirit, a look into his soul, a prevue of the workings of his mind and heart, of what makes him as he is.  It is a travel into the tormented world of a mind haunted by the ghosts of a troubled past; a discovery of what evil lies in the heart and mind of a woman scorned; a passage into the inner struggle of a good-natured girl crossing from innocence to the dark side of her soul and back.  Delve into the story of Cha Seung Jo, Seo Yoon Jo, Shin In Hwa and Han Se Kyung.

“Revenge, at first though sweet, Bitter ere long back on itself recoils.” – John Milton

Seung Jo was a man who during his darkest hours subsisted in the thoughts that some day vengeance will be his against the people whom he thought caused him so much grief.  In his deluded desire for revenge he lost himself.  He was one who looked at relationships with doubt and misgiving.  Trust is non-existent in his vocabulary and rightfully so for the very people whom he held so dear, the very persons whom he had believed in, were the very persons who had let him down.  Because his previous love left him scarred, when love presented itself again, he looked at it through rose-tinted glasses.  And when the veil of illusion had been shredded to reveal reality his mind rejected it. When confronted with what is truly is, he ran away.

“The peace of mind, lad, we must find.” – Theocritus

And there was Yoon Jo, who in spite of marriage into wealth, relishing a life within the high ranking status in society and wallowing in material affluence can’t seem to have one thing money can buy -  peace of mind.  Haunted by her secret past, she was always on the edge, tense with anxiety that her little secret will be found out. Her anguish turned into a nightmare when someone from her distant past emerged to haunt her.

“The measure of a man's real character is what he would do if he knew he never would be found out.”  - Thomas Babington Macaulay 

It is said that character makes a man or a woman.  And a man/woman of character commands respect and admiration of all.   In many cases heredity and upbringing play a great part in strengthening and perfecting a man's character. There is the influence of the environment, too, in which one lives.  This may be true but not in all cases. In In Hwa’s case, being born into wealth maybe her best advantage but it does not guarantee an admirable character.  Outwardly, she had all the aces – blessed with good looks, educated in the best school abroad, borne into a moneyed lineage - -  In Hwa exuded sophistication, style and elegance which belie her true character.  Bordering on megalomania, she looked down on people beneath her social status.  And when one person unknowingly challenged her superiority, the beast within her emerged  and In Hwa’s true character was revealed by what she did when no one was watching.

It is not what happens to us, but how we react to what happens to us, that will determine how our lives turn out. – Judy Belmont

"L'effort est ma force. C'est cela mon credo," my effort makes me and that's my motto.  This was Se Kyung’s motivating force that fueled her passion to forge on in spite of life’s seemingly favoring the odds.  For years she had believed that with patience, effort and good work would result to success and with success an improvement in her way of life.  But life has a way of testing the fortitude of man. It is full of challenges which at times may seem overwhelming. In these moments of test we may find ourselves questioning why despite the efforts we put in life seems to go nowhere.  This is the circumstances Se Kyung found herself in.  Both in love and in career, her world was a failure.   She realized that her situation appear hopeless as her goals and dreams seem to fade slowly further away. But SK was made of resilient steel. During these trying times, instead of being carried away with self-pity, she changed gear and with hardened determination propelled herself toward her goal -  to enter Cheongdamdong come what may and in whatever way.  In the process of achieving her goal she got rid of her innocence and crossed over to the dark side of her soul.  The Candy Se Kyung had turned into a black swan. Deception came into play and casted doubt in her mind and so began her internal struggle and conflict.

“Let your dreams change your reality, don't let your reality change your dreams.”― Jordan Rose

It is said that of all the emotions, there are only two that man can freely express – love and fear.  All others are mere offshoot of these two. Fear is the root cause of all negative emotions – anger, revenge, discontentment, prejudice, hate, envy, pride, etc. It is the darkness as love is to light.  With love, there is joy, peace, contentment and so on. Love and fear cannot co-exist. They negate each other. It’s either you have one or the other. Fear is the common thread that bind Seung Jo, Yoon Jo, In Hwa and Se Kyung.  Because of fear of rejection Seung Jo and Yoon Jo wore a mask.  Outwardly, beaming with confidence, success and bliss but were emotionally drained and empty. In their effort to live in their made-up world, they have led a life of lies and unhappiness.  In Hwa’s life was lived in fear of failure, fear of others being better than her thus pride, greed and envy ruled her being. In Hwa lived a boxed existence dictated by the family mandate that everything is done in accordance to business with money multiplied several times over as the end result. She must have been living a lonely existence.  As compared to the 3, Se Kyung’s fear may seem trivial or negligible, still it is fear, fear of not being given a fair share, a sense of having been badly treated hence she felt anger and resentment.  Goaded by these feelings, finding her family’s situation in dire strait and having Yoon Jo as her template, Se Kyung bit the bullet and swallowed the bitter pill.  Se Kyung entered the world of Cheongdamdong with the hope that it will alleviate her current despondent situation.

“Where should I go?" - Alice.   "That depends on where you want to end up." - The Cheshire Cat.”

Marketed as a rom-com, Cheongdamdong Alice is not your usual Korean rom-com drama.  It has its share of comedic moments effectively portrayed by Park Shi Hoo and the dramatic conflicts shown by Moon Geun Young’s thespic showcase. But what stood out is the message the drama conveyed which gradually takes shape and visualizes inside the viewer’s mind and heart.  The drama successfully strikes a common cord by effectively engaging the viewer’s intellectual and emotional capacity to empathize with the characters.  By understanding what the characters are going through, what motivates them, why they do what they do, looking at their strengths and weaknesses, the viewer identify himself with the characters and in the process has a better and deeper understanding of himself.  For me, this is a mark of a decent if not a great piece of dramatic work.  If it engages the senses, the intellect and the emotion, if it is able to move the viewer to tear, to anger, to sympathy and spark the mind to reflect and ponder and eventually come to a conclusion, then this drama is worth the hours spent in viewing it.  It is not perfect.  It has its flaws.  Its strength and weakness lies in the simplicity of the script and complexity of the story.  It has so much to offer but was limited due perhaps to time constraint. 

The actors pretty much did a decent job in fleshing out their characters.  As with her other artistic works, Moon Geun Young did not disappoint.  I particularly like her silent moments, her period of retrospect for it was in these moments where her eyes were the channels of her artistic outburst.  Words were unnecessary when her eyes spoke volumes of emotions in her silence yet maintained her dignified stance. You feel her frustration, her anger, her hurt, her longings, her determination. Park Shi Hoo is a revelation.  He is seldomly seen portraying a wacky character.  In spite of the silliness of his antics, he has imbued his character with the right amount of sensitivity and compassion.

As the drama concludes, we learn that the love in one’s life can change a person for better or for worse.  It can make a man a better person or a bitter person.  It can make him selfless or selfish.  It can make him hopeful or hopeless.  It can make him see rainbow or dark clouds.  As you experience it, it can make you ecstatic or crazy, grateful or resentful.  At the end it is how we look at things that determine our own sadness and happiness. 

As Seung Jo and Se Kyung successfully emerged from the storm (the rabbit hole), there is no assurance that life will be fair weather all the time.  Life offers no guarantee. But with a renewed faith in each other, even the dark clouds can turn into sunshine of blessings. 

[Guest anitgone]

Bravo @mtoenlob! ^^

[Guest iheartrice]

I really enjoyed this drama. Sometimes I felt the lead girl was kinda silly, but overall it was good. 

[Guest jackie121312]

Please don't forget to VOTE VOTE VOTE for Moonie EVERYDAY!!!!!!!!!!!! It's a very tight match now. She needs our vote everyday!
http://100479.net/ranking/?code=vote1&type=women

[Guest peekaboo1917]

Hi everbody,

How are you and hope all is well with you. Its been a while since my last post and the thread has been moving pretty fast until now since PSH's alleged rape case. Based on the previous thread on MGY's bashing, I am wondering what happened to the PSH fans who have been so vocal previously and now the silence when news reports broke out on PSH's incident. To them, I will say this. What goes around comes around. In the initial part of the thread, I was wondering why there so much publicity on PSH - photos, interviews, etc and the truth finally revealed to be his setting up of a new company. All I can say is that I am so glad that MGY is being so sensible to maintain a low profile irregardless of whether she is acting or not. For me, no news is good news. I am always looking foward to seeing in magazines or advertisements and any tiny whiny bit of news of her makes my day.

As to PSH, whether he is guilty or innocent, I don't care because I am not his fan. All I can say is that I am really disappointed in him for not exercising his common sense and judgement of which this incident could have been avoided. With no hard feelings, I sincerely hope he will wake up and learn his lesson and to exercise self-control.

[Guest MGYlove]

Moon Geun Young Looking over Possible Next Drama
Actress Moon Geun Young is positively considering a new MBC drama!

According to her agency, Namoo Actors, Moon Geun Young is looking over “Goddess of Fire” as her possible next project. A representative stated, “She’s looking over it, but nothing has been decided. She’s been carefully considering her next project for the second half of the year.”

“Goddess of Fire” is aiming to premiere on MBC this June, replacing Lee Seung Gi and miss A’s Suzy’s’ The Book of Gu.” The sageuk (historical drama) is about Baek Pa Sun, Joseon’s first female swindler and her life of extreme ups and downs.

Earlier this year, Moon Geun Young wrapped up her most recent drama, SBS’s “Alice in Cheongdamdong,” which she co-starred with Park Shi Hoo.
[c]soompi.com
rumors co-stars Jaejoong

[Guest MGYlove]

Park Shi Hoo 'Confessions of Murder'
Preview screening: 
12 Mar, Tuesday 
Plaza Singapura, Singapore 
7:15pm, GV Plaza Hall 10 

[c]ONE TV ASIA

[Guest MGYlove]

Secretary Moon tweeted : Frank Benson style ㅋㅋ
Smart boy@ianizing
cr:CDDA FB