Last drama review of the year.
Though I started this in 2008, I only finished watching this week.
Painter of the Wind 12-20! the end. Well, the King's portrait evaluation went swimmingly in the cabinet's favor as Yoon-bok stricken with grief, destroys the portrait. He is thus, sentenced to death. The solution was fairly obvious at the start of the story arc. It's nice and clever that the King made his cabinet members actually clear Yoon-bok themselves. Yoon-bok is given the name Hye-won by Tam-won as he is steps outside court painting into the private art world.
The next big arc starts as the gisaeng from the beginning of the series is able to get Yoon-bok a position with her 'patron', the merchant, in producing art that he could sell and brag about. I was previously undecided whether the King had a hidden agenda, but it doesn't seem too malevolent in terms of what he asks of Tam-won and Yoon-bok. He calls them back to help him find a lost portrait. Finally, we get to the story of Yoon-bok's father's death. There are some light-hearted breaks as they investigate where the lost portrait can be hidden. It's pretty fun watching whoever (production-wise) it is using such precise brushwork. Tam-won and Yook-bok are able to hunt down 5 separate portraits that make up the one that is missing. In the background the gisaeng continues to flirt with Yoon-bok. I think Yoon-bok admires her so much for being an ideal vision of a woman while Jeong-hyang kinda likes 'him' as a man. eep.
In Yoon-bok and Tam-won's investigations into the King's missing portrait (of his father), Yoon-bok dresses up as a female which illicits some interest from Tam-won. Thankfully, he restrains himself...cause stilll, the age-difference? weird. Both artists are able to recreate the prior King's portrait much to the praise of the King. He in turn, lets Tam-won investigate the death of Tam-won's friend (Yoon-bok's father) which is related to the missing portrait. In episode 16, Yoon-bok confesses her gender to Jeong-hyang who is devestated. In 17, Tam-won finally discovers her gender. They both are able to find the murderer, but need solid proof.
They then are manipulated into a no-win art competition with each other by Jeong-hyang's retainer, the merchant. The evaluation of Tam-won and Yoon-bok's art was pretty interesting as they just the works based on how well they depict the subject of 'fight'. The writers really put a nice twist to this as they lead us to believe Tam-won's mistake was the end, but there was great follow-through. This does lead to the merchant's downfall and Tam-won & Yoon-bok's revenge. I was amused by the romantic flashbacks between the girls as Jeong-hyang has to leave. With a little bit of action and bad sword fighting we get the bittersweet end.
Though I kept doubting the King, he does pull through as a 'good' guy. The ambivalence of his intentions and actions were probably the most realistic portrayal of a king there could be. His power was held back by tradition and his 'cabinet', but as long as he acted within the tradition, he was able to support Tam-won. Tam-won was a pillar of restraint which I wasn't sure the writers intended for him to be, but his cleverness was good to watch. Yoon-bok could have been a tad older to be better suited for the romantic scenes, but I think his/her enthusiasm and innocence was also a positive story turn. ~8/10 rating~ for a really well thought-out story and great actors. The transitions from story arc to story arc were seamless. It started off with many comedic moments and while it developed into a more serious drama, you kept wanting more.
I skimmed through the movie version and maaaan, is it smutty! While the drama was rated G, the movie could be NC-17. I'll post a review when I actually watch it. eep.
Painter of the Wind 12-20! the end. Well, the King's portrait evaluation went swimmingly in the cabinet's favor as Yoon-bok stricken with grief, destroys the portrait. He is thus, sentenced to death. The solution was fairly obvious at the start of the story arc. It's nice and clever that the King made his cabinet members actually clear Yoon-bok themselves. Yoon-bok is given the name Hye-won by Tam-won as he is steps outside court painting into the private art world.
The next big arc starts as the gisaeng from the beginning of the series is able to get Yoon-bok a position with her 'patron', the merchant, in producing art that he could sell and brag about. I was previously undecided whether the King had a hidden agenda, but it doesn't seem too malevolent in terms of what he asks of Tam-won and Yoon-bok. He calls them back to help him find a lost portrait. Finally, we get to the story of Yoon-bok's father's death. There are some light-hearted breaks as they investigate where the lost portrait can be hidden. It's pretty fun watching whoever (production-wise) it is using such precise brushwork. Tam-won and Yook-bok are able to hunt down 5 separate portraits that make up the one that is missing. In the background the gisaeng continues to flirt with Yoon-bok. I think Yoon-bok admires her so much for being an ideal vision of a woman while Jeong-hyang kinda likes 'him' as a man. eep.
In Yoon-bok and Tam-won's investigations into the King's missing portrait (of his father), Yoon-bok dresses up as a female which illicits some interest from Tam-won. Thankfully, he restrains himself...cause stilll, the age-difference? weird. Both artists are able to recreate the prior King's portrait much to the praise of the King. He in turn, lets Tam-won investigate the death of Tam-won's friend (Yoon-bok's father) which is related to the missing portrait. In episode 16, Yoon-bok confesses her gender to Jeong-hyang who is devestated. In 17, Tam-won finally discovers her gender. They both are able to find the murderer, but need solid proof.
They then are manipulated into a no-win art competition with each other by Jeong-hyang's retainer, the merchant. The evaluation of Tam-won and Yoon-bok's art was pretty interesting as they just the works based on how well they depict the subject of 'fight'. The writers really put a nice twist to this as they lead us to believe Tam-won's mistake was the end, but there was great follow-through. This does lead to the merchant's downfall and Tam-won & Yoon-bok's revenge. I was amused by the romantic flashbacks between the girls as Jeong-hyang has to leave. With a little bit of action and bad sword fighting we get the bittersweet end.
Though I kept doubting the King, he does pull through as a 'good' guy. The ambivalence of his intentions and actions were probably the most realistic portrayal of a king there could be. His power was held back by tradition and his 'cabinet', but as long as he acted within the tradition, he was able to support Tam-won. Tam-won was a pillar of restraint which I wasn't sure the writers intended for him to be, but his cleverness was good to watch. Yoon-bok could have been a tad older to be better suited for the romantic scenes, but I think his/her enthusiasm and innocence was also a positive story turn. ~8/10 rating~ for a really well thought-out story and great actors. The transitions from story arc to story arc were seamless. It started off with many comedic moments and while it developed into a more serious drama, you kept wanting more.
I skimmed through the movie version and maaaan, is it smutty! While the drama was rated G, the movie could be NC-17. I'll post a review when I actually watch it. eep.