Crash landing on you
Where: Netflix When: 2019
Score: 3.5/5 Watch again: Yes
When did I watch: 1 June 2019 Language: Korean
I started watching this show the day before my birthday and finished it two days after. This may indicate that I really enjoyed this show but fails to include the information that I watched it two months into 2020 lockdown, suggesting it was about boredom than actual interest, having seemingly already watched everything else in English and Spanish on Netflix.
Crash Landing on You is a South Korean romantic drama directed by Lee Jeong-hyo. It is about Yoon Se-ri (Ye-jin Son), a high powered businesswoman from South Korea. Whose family is a bit of a mess in the usual rich people trope way, they are all competing for affection and power their patriarch except Yoon Se-ri who has gone out on her own and set up a successful company. Her father, after leaving prison, decides to give his company to Se-ri over her two brothers. Se-ri is prepared to take over her family company, she then goes paragliding in a storm and ends up 'crash landing' in North Korea. Here Se-ri comes across a Captain in the North Korean Special Police Force, Ri Jeong-hyeok (Hyun Bin). He, for some unexplainable reasons, believes her when she says it's an accident agrees to help her escape North Korea. Through the sixteen episodes Se-ri, supported by Jeong-hyeok and his men, tries to escape North Korea. Strange coincidences appear, and hijinks ensue. Through this Si-ri finds out about life in North Korea, makes friends, and falls in love with Captain Ri, who is more than he seems. They may have met before. Through these events, the show creates the world of North Korea and introduces many complex characters who have arks of their own.
This romantic drama at first seemed almost offensively overdramatic. But over many hours I spent with these characters I realised it was a self-reflection on Korean culture. I haven't watched much South Korean TV before this show, after more limited exploration of it, I see that this style is reminiscent of soap opera is prevalent in Koran drama. I still haven't watched a lot of Korean TV, but it became a real pleasure to watch. However, the storytelling was not sophisticated and relatively obvious in its reveal; it created an exciting discussion on borders and the difference they make to culture.
From my Western European perspective, where very few forms of love are now forbidden, it is difficult to find true 'Romeo and Juliet' love without going complete fantasy. For example, vampires and werewolves and Game of Throne's many incestuous romance storylines, which are all too farfetched or repugnant for the viewer to relate. They either create a comedic undertone to the media or set those conducting such illicit romances up to be the villain. The writer of this show creates an environment where the protagonists have to overcome preconceived prejudices about the other culture while the outsider sees their similarities and their fated compatibility. These ideas are seen clearly in the North/South divide in Korea.
In my opinion, the background characters are the best part of this show. Without their wit and humour, the series would have fallen into a melodrama rather than being self-aware. We, the viewer, would suffer under a deluge of sickeningly sweet romance. The two perfect cutout cardboard leads who fit their tropes of stalwart army guy and successful businesswomen would not have been able to capture the imagination of the viewer on their own entirely. The North Korean village women demonstrate the humanity and culture clash of the two Koreas. While Captain Ri's soldiers create a family around Si-ri, much life the dwarfs in Snow White, which is a pleasure to watch. All the actors bring an overdramatic style to their acting, which I believe (with my limited experience) fits the style of Korean drama.
As soon as we got to the Military demarcation line a thick yellow strip that runs halfway through the Korean peninsula, I wondered how else this show could have ended (there was still four hours left). The big yellow line, although I believe it to be fictitious, was clear visual of the physical barrier in their love story. The mythical barrier that has only been talked about as a storytelling device is brought into reality. The materialisation of this physical barrier indicates the end (or pausing) of their love story. As the characters move from one side to the other and then back, you see how the world could be but as the military and police watch on with guns showing the tension of these acts. This shoe made me realise that I love LGBTQ love stories because there is always an element of not being accepted by society, star crossed lovers, this gives me the same sense of anguish and investment in the story as Crash Landing on You has done.
I would watch this show again because of its length I had forgotten most of the senses by the time I finished it. However, I would have my finger on the fast forward button as it would be hard to sit through another sixteen hours. Furthermore, I find that I have to be in the mood watching anything with subtitles (not to sound uncultured), but those moods come and go so next year when I have a lot of time on my hands I may dive into this hidden gem again.
This story couldn't have been told anywhere else on the planet. Two cultures appear to be so similar, but at their heart are separated by ideology. One a time capsule of the past artificially stopped from growing but with a thriving capitalist network beneath the enforced communism, the other an economy booming where everyone appears to be affluent but with a dark underbelly which hides a multitude of sins.
