Jo Hyun Jae

I watched “Star’s Echo” online after I’d exhausted all Jo Hyun-Jae’s dramas (those that can be bought.)  I don’t like watching anything on the computer; it’s very hard on my eyes.  But in this case it could not be helped.

“Star’s Echo” (2004) is a joint Korean-Japanese production between MBC and Fuji TV, the third collaboration by South Korean and Japanese television companies, after “Friends” in 2001 and “Passing Rain” in 2002.

The story is centred on the relationship between a musically gifted South Korean man Sung-Jae (played by Jo Hyun-Jae) and a Japanese woman Misaki (Noriko Nakagoshi) and how he helps her overcome her guilt and grief and how she encourages him to pursue his song-writing career.

The broad outlines of the story are pretty promising, but the execution of the plot leaves something to be desired.  Part 1 which lays the groundwork of the story and establishes the relationships of the characters is a little loose, especially the part concerning the JHJ character Sung-Jae.  His family is facing financial ruin; his father is thrown into jail; he has to resort to all sorts of means to make money, even selling pirated discs (CDs?)  His relationship with his girlfriend Ji-Young (played by Lee Da-Hae) is precarious and she finally jilts him.  All these are barely touched on; there are no developments or dramatic scenes.

Part 2 flows more smoothly, since all the other threads are more or less wrapped up and it concentrates more on the central relationship which has begun to unravel.  There are not many opportunities for JHJ to act.  The script jumps from one short scene to another.  This has nothing to do with the length of the drama.  Remember “The Joy of Love”?  In 10 minutes that director is able to delineate relationship in a few deft touches.  Maybe it is the editing in “Star’s Echo” — definitely not its strong point.  But JHJ shows in a few short sequences that he can be an action star, notably in a scene when he jumps from one rooftop to another and in another scene when he is shooting hoops (playing basketball.)

JHJ looks good in this two-hour (two-part) drama; in fact, he looks better than his female co-star Noriko Nakagoshi (NN).  I think casting her is a mistake.  The one word I would use to describe her is “cold”.  There is no chemistry between them, and it has nothing to do with different nationalities.  That JHJ and NN both speak in their respective native language, Korean and Japanese, most of the time does not help either.  Don’t get me wrong: NN gives an adequate performance; it’s just Misaki’s relationship with Sung-Jae is not terribly moving or memorable.

They get off on the wrong foot.  Their first meeting is a collision, literally.  He picks up the necklace that she drops and gives it to his girlfriend.  He tries to kiss her after a night out and is rebuffed.  Later when he tells her: “I think I’ve fallen in love with you”, I feel like laughing.  I’m sorry, but it’s really funny the way he says it.   And how come Sung-Jae who lives in a roof-top apartment never locks his door which allows the two women to go in and out at will, resulting in a plot-twisting misunderstanding.

I don’t recognize Lee Da-Hae (as JHJ’s Korean girlfriend) at all, even though I quite like her in “My Girl”.  She is not as pretty here, and she has only one facial expression — a scowl.  I do recognize Lee Jun-Ki and it is appropriate he has a bit part here as the boyfriend of a colleague of Misaki’s.  And now both Lees are big stars in Korea.

But I do like the ending of “Star’s Echo”.  I always like happy endings, so rare in JHJ dramas.   I like JHJ in a brown jacket, wearing a beige scarf and carrying a knapsack.  I like the way he walks on the snow to Misaki’s parents’ ranch.  I like the subdued reunion between the lovers — nothing passionate or dramatic, just quiet gratification and shy smiles.  JHJ’s eyes can smile and sparkle!

And I like the title “Star’s Echo”, explained in Part 2 as electronically generated sound made by stars, like some kind of Morse code, which inspires Sung-Jae to start writing music again.  Misaki loves to look at stars, so much so that Sung-Jae has to tell her (in the best-acted scene in the whole drama) that people and stars are different — stars are stationary but people can change.  The drama ends with the two of them gazing at the heavens, trying to pick out the “cowboy” star and the “weaver” star.  Misaki says it’s a Japanese myth and Sung-Jae says it’s Korean.  Sorry, folks!  This tragic story of the lovers, the cowboy and the weaver, who can only meet once a year is an ancient Chinese legend.  (Period)

(Credit: Photos courtesy of CarpeDiemJAPAN.  Thanks!)