[Drama 2019] Spring Night, 봄밤

[thistle]

12 hours ago, thistle said:

JI is reading to Eun-U.  It's looks like a story about people who have their heads covered and the line the book character says is, "What if I can never take this off?  Will I be stuck like this forever?  Thankfully, I can somewhat see through this, so it's not so bad."

 

This just kinda feels like it is a comment on the circumstances of our drama somehow, but I don't know this book (my knowledge of kiddie lit is nearly non-existent).

 

Gonna answer my own question because this was totally driving me nuts.    After asking a bunch of questions on various search engines, I've got it!

 

The book is Still Stuck by Shinsuke Yoshitake.   You can find more about it at Good Reads (a brilliant website for reader reviews and recommendations; it has been awhile since I've done so but I post there sometimes under a different screen name).

 

I think the story might be especially poignant for Eun-U because it ends with the boy's mom rescuing him, and we know that (even though he's very quiet about it) Eun-U misses having a mom.  This is something I've thought about particularly during my re-watch and seeing Eun-U's meeting with JI at the library.  Kids know when they are different from other kids; it bothers them.  Other kids will pick on them because they see it as there being something wrong with them for being different:  Eun-U has a grandma instead of a mom.  He's probably under pressure that the adults have no idea of.

 

[annamchoi]

this man to man talk..makes my heart worrisome  but I know JH can handle it..

 

 

 

[sally2]

@INJINFAN you had an interesting observation a few pages back:

both times JI and JH meet to talk in the park, she just assumes he is angry and wants to yell at her.  Her father has a bad temper and throws fits at all of the women in his family, so she has been conditioned to expect it.

 

This was not something I had considered, but it makes sense. I was a bit confused at Jeong-In's reaction when she met up with Ji-Ho, assuming that he'd want to tell at her. I don't consider yelling/tantrums to be an appropriate reaction/behaviour, so didn't understand why she would make that immediate leap to expect one.

 

I kind of imagined Jeong-In sits there passively (inwardly rolling her eyes) while her dad has his tantrums and the same when Gi-Seok has his (though we haven't seen his). Maybe they actually affect her more than I appreciated.

 

Also I'm kind of surprised her dad even bothers with his anymore, from what we've seen the mother puts him in his place fairly well (like when she invades his space so much that he fell over). Though at the same time Mum does pamper Dad- like fetching the fruit from the pantry, and tidying up his clothes in the bedroom after he'd strewn them about in a huff.

[mintip]

On 6/13/2019 at 1:37 AM, thistle said:

 

Lastly, the music.  Why have I never heard of Rachael Yamagata before?  She's amazing.

Love director's work since A Wife’s Credentials.❤️
As for Rachael Yamagata they worked together during Something in the Rain too. I wonder, how did they start cooperating?

 

 

By the way, there are some ideas why Seo In is light-headed and doesn't feel well:

 

1. Pregnancy. I hope it's a false alarm. As far as I know, abortion is illegal in Korea. If she's is pregnant, she has no choice but to give birth!

 

2. Concussion of the brain or smth related to her health since her husband is violent.

 

3. Stress. Again related to her family situation, divorce, work etc. Hope thas is a right answer.

[INJINFAN]

@sally2,  And JI's sister married a guy with anger issues, so she was conditioned, also.  GS says what people who have uncontrolled tempers say, "I have a short fuse."  They think this personality assessment gives them the right to throw tantrums and not be accountable and others don't do it because they have a longer fuse, I guess. But she and SI grew up dealing with a short fuse father and it feels familiar to them. JI's conditioned response is to get quiet, listen and not argue.  It doesn't mean she is convinced, she just thinks her own thoughts, or as you said, inwardly rolls her eyes.  JH is so different, she is not sure how to take him.  He had someone leave him, (or possibly, just the situation) and he is conditioned to being afraid she will run away if there is a problem.  She doesn't understand at first that a good bit of his reluctance is about protecting her.  She is not used to someone looking out for her.  Even the dropped chop sticks was a sign that GS expected for her to look out for herself and not expect much from him.

[thistle]

43 minutes ago, sally2 said:

I kind of imagined Jeong-In sits there passively (inwardly rolling her eyes) while her dad has his tantrums and the same when Gi-Seok has his (though we haven't seen his). Maybe they actually affect her more than I appreciated.

 

These days girls are generally taught to fight and stand up for themselves (which is generally a good thing) so they don't have the experience that teaches them that being passive does Not mean being weak.  It can really be the polar opposite.

 

Speaking as someone who grew up in a household with a dad far worse than JI has, I'm gonna say that when someone "sits there passively (inwardly rolling her eyes)" it's a survival tactic. 

 

Since this is slightly OT:

Spoiler

 

It takes real strength and courage not to fight back, and it requires bravery to just sit there and take the brunt of the onslaught without falling apart or giving in.  It also requires common sense because you have to weigh the odds to realize that you won't survive for long if you kick up a fuss. 

 

Appearing to accept while you are actually fighting for control and silently refusing to let go of your own worth is an exceedingly hard skill to master.

 

The main lesson I learned from my own life:  The only way to win against an abuser is to last one minute longer than he does.  Seriously. 

 

Please remember this when you are in an unwinnable fight against an unbeatable foe!  If you visibly fight back, you are probably gonna be toast but no one will notice if you just tolerate and bide your time until you can safely escape.  Even abusers get tired and eventually wear up or give out.  Just survive.  That's all you've gotta do is survive until you can move on. 

 

 

GS is the sort of man that a woman will choose if she has a bad family history.  An abused person will nearly always unconsciously choose an abuser over a good man. 

 

The fact that JH is able to reach JI with his kindness, gentleness, and concern is wonderful.  It means that she has not been completely beaten down by her dad and by GS.  The fact that she is still able to rebel is a testament to the sort of strength it takes to remain passive when absolutely necessary.  Her tsundere character shows that there is a fighter inside.

 

 

[ck1Oz]

@Chellsee you're curious because you have eaten it before? Isn't it kalguksu? Bajirak galguksu? Or some sort of clams then. My children like dak kalguksu. I am only commenting because I cooked a haemul jeongol tonight and it was so good. Now the photo is making me hungry even though we don't have those clams in Australia. But have cockles. 

 

@thistle thanks for the info. And since I am curious found it in my state's library system. And put a hold on it. I laugh as I write this. Kiddie literature?

Try this 똥이 때굴때굴. That's my kids kiddie literature. Lol. I went through way too many of these type of books and if I recall the kid playing Eun U is my son's age. Btw it wasn't such a bad book even though I joke about it. It was good for toddlers.

 

Lol. This has been a surprising soompi stop by. Darn it, guess I will be making kalguksu this weekend now. It's a cold, cold winter week here. Been stuffing myself with winter stews. I cooked Andong jjimdak last week and it was so good with the dangmyeon. You should try eating it @Chellsee. If you like Korean dishes in the dramas.

[INJINFAN]

14 minutes ago, INJINFAN said:

@sally2,  And JI's sister married a guy with anger issues, so she was conditioned, also.  GS says what people who have uncontrolled tempers say, "I have a short fuse."  They think this personality assessment gives them the right to throw tantrums and not be accountable and others don't do it because they have a longer fuse, I guess. But she and SI grew up dealing with a short fuse father and it feels familiar to them. JI's conditioned response is to get quiet, listen and not argue.  It doesn't mean she is convinced, she just thinks her own thoughts, or as you said, inwardly rolls her eyes.  JH is so different, she is not sure how to take him.  He had someone leave him, (or possibly, just the situation) and he is conditioned to being afraid she will run away if there is a problem.  She doesn't understand at first that a good bit of his reluctance is about protecting her.  She is not used to someone looking out for her.  Even the dropped chop sticks was a sign that GS expected for her to look out for herself and not expect much from him.

Just remembered, JI's father told his wife abuser son-in-law that GS just needed to take control of JI and get married.  Force was the way to negotiate with women.

[thistle]

10 minutes ago, mintip said:

As for Rachael Yamagata they worked together during Something in the Rain too. I wonder, how did they start cooperating?

 

I didn't pay as much attention to the music during Something In the Rain because

 

Spoiler

I was really bothered by the use of the song (not by Rachael Yamagata) Stand By Your Man because obviously someone missed the fact of what the song was really about, and I can only mark that down to an error in understanding due to culture or language.  It was SO wrong that I found it distracting. 

 

Stand By Your Man is a song about a woman whose husband is cheating on her, and another woman encourages her to "give him all the love you can" (meaning lots of sex at home) in the hope that he will stop chasing other women.  The phrases used in the song would be very familiar to women at the time it was written in 1969 but maybe not as  much now. 

 

Anyhow someone on the production team at Something In the Rain did not understand but I did and I kept waiting for the ML to cheat which was really distracting.

 

Apparently Rachael Yamagata has been on the US music scene for awhile, and I think I heard her interviewed once on NPR but am not sure.  And I don't really listen to popular American music (event though I am American).  Looks like I've been missing out on a great talent!

8 minutes ago, ck1Oz said:

@thistle thanks for the info. And since I am curious found it in my state's library system. And put a hold on it.

 

Glad I could find it.    I'm thinking of hunting up a cheap copy on eBay.  Looks like a really cute book!

[mintip]

On 6/17/2019 at 5:35 AM, richelle said:

 

Oh yes, that was her most i think intimate kissing scene. To think that the drama was a romcom. So for this, i am expecting more too. Also because this is a melodrama and the director also is known to be good in directing intimate scenes. But the downside is this is shown in MBC so i am thinking the scenes will be tamed compared to SITR. As long as we will be rewarded in lovey dovey scenes then i am good. The tagline is we will all fall in love so that should what we should feel in the coming episodes

Yes! Do you remember that super intimate scene "pots and pans" in Secret Love Affair? 

[thistle]

3 minutes ago, mintip said:

Yes! Do you remember that super intimate scene "pots and pans" in Secret Love Affair? 

 

Oh my.  Why is it so warm in here?!  Now there was a drama with some intense longing and lust.  (The orgasmic piano duet!)

 

Yeah, it's definitely correct to say that the director knows how to direct his way around a love scene.

[ck1Oz]

@thistle well that was interesting. The library had several of his books actually. Just put a hold on all of them excluding the one where the grandfather died. There were Korean and Japanese versions too. I say surprising as my state Is not very big and only certain libraries have East Asian language collections. The Korean ones were romanized with no photos. So I borrowed it just for curiosity. And the titles were not the same books as the English ones. In case you're googling the author's works. Vs drama  book.

 

 

Ok. In order not to be OTT, I am not sure If it is better to watch one episode at a time or  episodes at once. This drama tends to leave me drained after each episode.

[gm4queen]

 

Have you ever felt that the spring is the most beautiful season of the year??! I am feeling it now, because of One Spring Night! What a beautiful feeling this is! Spring, full moon & slow burning love is the most perfect combination I've ever seen in a k-drama!  Just fantastic... 

 

And I am purely new to the leads, Jung Hae In & Han Ji Min!! But their acting is all enough to me.. I am unknowingly attracted to them!! Such a beautiful love story of a single father & a young woman! I am really looking forward for the next eps... I sense in past eps that some villains are about to arrive at the show but I oppose my own theory!! Villains don't match here... Let their blossoming love flow like a river.. They will face so many obstacles but I know that they will have the victory at the end! 

 

And it seems like some chingus here recall their dark memories with this drama.... Just want to tell everyone that, Don't take it too hard because the spring is coming to heal all your wounds!!!!

 

Surprisingly, we are almost half way through the drama!! Time flies fast!! Let the magic of love begins..

        

[thistle]

7 minutes ago, ck1Oz said:

I am not sure If it is better to watch one episode at a time or  episodes at once. This drama tends to leave me drained after each episode.

 

I'm re-watching and I just sort of wore out midway through episode 4 last night (which is why I went off on a tangent going book hunting).  This is a beautiful and brilliant show but it is a bit exhausting.

 

Thanks for the book info!  I don't think the library in my small town in the Southern US will have it--I'd have to go to a university town a hundred miles away; that's why I'm thinking eBay is my best option.  But I'll check BookFinder first (the best place on the web to price books).

 

One thing I notice about the cinematography on Spring Night is how grey the background tends to be.  It is so often night or indoors.  That's very evocative (and it can add to that feeling of viewer tiredness, IMHO).  Will be interested if we get to see more light as our couple starts to find their way closer.

[bebebisous33]

@INJINFAN Even JI's mother knows about GS's temper because she pointed it out once. This is important because once she knows what SH did to SI, I doubt that she will allow her other daughter JI to have a similar fate. So far, she is still unaware of the abuse. She just realized that SH didn't show any respect towards her daughter and didn't treat her very well.  

 

By the way I see some similarities between JI's father and GS: both are not just passive-aggressive and self-centered, but they are also suffering from a lower self-esteem at the same time. Both share the same experience as well: these men are looked down by the chairman Kwon. In my opinion, both are trying to use their position in order to force others to do what they want in order to boost their self-esteem... That way, they can compensate what they are missing in their life: recognition. The father did put SI under pressure so that his daughter agreed to marry SH. Through the marriage, the father can show that he has been able to come in contact with a powerful family and he feels recognized by members from the higher society. It is the same with GS. He wanted to marry JI because it was more convenient and JI had been so far very lenient and understanding with him. He thought that JI would always be like this. And now he is trying to impose his will onto her because this marriage which was in the beginning a way to boost his self-confidence has now become a matter of pride. 

 

And the similarities between GS and JI's father can explain why JI accepted GS as a boyfriend for 4 years because since her childhood, she had been used to deal with such a character. In the beginning, JI never dared to express her opinion and her feelings in front of GS, the latter always got the silence treatment.

JI did the same in the past with her father: her hunger strike is very similar to the silence treatment. She doesn't show any direct opposition but use a different method to express her feelings and be recognized. When she said nothing in the car, GS knew that she was not happy... but GS tried to put the blame on her.  

[richelle]

Finally it's Wednesday. Dear writernim, please be good to us okay. Our wait is getting harder each week so please reward as always lol. MBC is atleast promoting their 2 shows at the new timeslot. Good for them

 

 

 

[richelle]

5 hours ago, mintip said:

Yes! Do you remember that super intimate scene "pots and pans" in Secret Love Affair? 

 

Oh my who will forget that pots and pans in SLA lol. All are super pump up and boom lol. SLA, SITR, a wife's credentials were all on cable so it may have a different take on the scenes here in OSN because it is shown in public channel. We will see. My concern more is on the story as we are already half way. It took me quite a while to finish SITR and with 8 episodes left, my hopes are high

[Chellsee]

New still cuts... the man to man talk of GS and JH. 

 

 

 

[richelle]

I do think SI is pregnant. Noticed that she likes to sleep a lot, subtle hints that she is on the way. Wonder what she will do once confirmed

[INJINFAN]

What are her rights in Korea to sole custody?  If she proves abuse, can she make him have supervised custodial visits?  Can she get a divorce if he doesn't consent? A pregnancy will increase the pressure for them to stay together.   I think the baby makes it harder for her to hide from him.  If she was thinking about studying abroad and not letting him know where she is, a baby makes that almost impossible.  Jae-In accused JI of not liking children, and when JI objected, she said she guessed it was SI.  Is there someone in her family who would raise it?  Her mother, JI, or Jae-In?  Hard to picture.  If she doesn't raise it, would her husband have the right to raise it within his family?  A pregnancy really complicates matters, as it did for JH's family, but none of them can imagine life without Eun-U.    I am sure there will be insights and parallels drawn between the two situations and more empathy for JH from her family than there might have been otherwise.  There might even be a sweet conversation between SI and JH about how Eun-U has changed his life for the better.