Jo Hyun Jae

“Only You” is being re-shown for the Nth time on Chinese TV – this time on Sichuan’s SCTV5 from October 19 and on Taiwan’s Star TV’s Channel V from Oct.18.  This must be the most re-run JHJ drama.  His dramas will just keep repeating their runs until he has something new.

And “Seo Dong Yo” will be shown again on Japan’s DATV from November 19.

(Credit: 1st video by http://cafe.daun.net/hyunjaeAnPam; 2nd courtesy of SBS; www.johyunjae.hk.  Thanks!)

The day after Jo Hyun-Jae’s discharge in June, EVER organized a trip to Buyeo for overseas fans.  One of the highlights of the day was a visit to the Tree of Love in “Seo Dong Yo” where Seo Dong and Princess Shinhwa meet several times in the course of the drama.  Of course in the light of day and without the lovers, the tree does not look half as romantic as it does in these photos and the video.  Still, it is a precious experience which I shall always cherish.

Although you said you would wait for me, I never thought you would wait this long.

After my mother died, when my heart was a void, I met you Princess for the first time.  The moment I saw you, my heart suddenly lit up.

And then in the ten years following, not only did I not accomplish anything, I was even lost.  And just when I was full of despair, I met you Princess again.  The moment I saw you, my heart filled with hope.  Because there was hope, I found myself again.

I understand this is all because of you, Princess.  But I disobeyed your wishes and returned here, and then I tried to avoid you.  During this process when I tried very hard to find myself again, you were always by my side — to help me, enlighten me, recognize me, and even use respectul forms of speech to me.

All that time, all those places, you are always by my side, so I will not evade anymore.  I have been thinking about you, Princess, and I do not wish to evade anymore.

 (Credit: http://hyunjaelove.jp; www.johyunjae.hk.  Thanks!)

Not a new video, but new to this blog.  So, enjoy!

And if you have nothing better to do on Sunday, how about watching another MV of SDY?

(Credit: Param of CarpeDiemJAPAN for MV1 and 3.1 for MV2. Thanks!)

Last thing on our schedule of the day was the Buyeo National Museum.  The Buyeo National Museum has 10,000 relics that were discovered from various historic sites.  There is a historic exhibit of Baekje relics (what we’re primarily interested in — all photos below are from this exhibit – from Row 2), a prehistoric exhibit centering on the Bronze Age, Buddhism and art exhibit, and outdoor exhibit area.

The centre-piece of the Buyeo National Museum is of course the Gilt Bronze Incense-Burner of Baekje which plays such a prominent part in “Seo Dong Yo”.

This gilt bronze incense-burner, unearthed on a temple site of Buyeo in December 1993, is a masterpiece 64 cm in height , 19 cm in girth, and 11.8 kg in weight, consisting of the base, body, lid, and knob.  In the base part, a dragon raises its head, supporting the main body.  The main body of the incense-burner closely resembles a blossoming lotus flower.  On the lateral surface 26 different animals are depicted.

The gilt bronze incense-burner from two different angles

On the lid there is scenery of 23 mountains shaping 4 to 5 layers of deep-mountain ranges.  5 musicians with various instruments and 16 other characters are also illustrated.  39 animals including the Chinese phoenix, dragon, tiger, and deer are depicted.  6 different trees, 12 boulders, trails, creeks, waterfalls, lakes, and other land features compose the changing scenery.  On top of the lid, a separate Chinese phoenix is mounted, standing up with its wings folded and tail raised.  Five holes are drilled on the lid to naturally ventilate the incense flow.

This cultural treasure shows the mental world of Baekje people comprising of Buddhism, Taoism, principles of Yin and Yang, etc.  This beautiful incense-burner testifies to the artistic perfection and technological achievement of the period.

This is an 11-time enlarged model of 8.3m in height, reproduced in Oct.2002, which stands on the grounds of the museum.  But on the day of our visit, it was travelling for an exhibition elsewhere.

This concludes our account of our tour of Buyeo.  We had a wonderful time, thanks to EVER!  Seeing some of the locations of the drama made us appreciate “Seo Dong Yo” and Jo Hyun-Jae all the more.  We were resolved to watch SDY again (for the Nth time) when we got home.

(THE END)

(Credit: Description of incense-burner and last photo from Official Korea Tourism Guide Site – “Into the Kingdom of Baekje – Travelling Buyeo”.  Thanks!) 

Buyeo’s “Seo Dong Yo” film set also consists of the Baekje Palace (1st row), Silla Palace, Taehaksa (Baekje’s laboratory – 2nd row), and Haneulchae (the village of the scientific scholars.)  See how many of these buildings you recognize from the drama.

Yes, that’s a cardboard life-size Princess Seonhwa in that photo above (2nd last row.)   It’s a pity some of the buildings are under renovation (like the Silla Palace), so they’re not shown here.  Flags in photo (last row) say “Baekje” (fore) and “Silla” (back).

When I told my husband I went to the film set of SDY, the first thing he said was: “So, is it 30 paces from the palace to the pier?  And are the walls really paper-thin?”  He watched SDY last year of his own volition. (Well, I might have done a little hard sell!)  His remarks afterwards: “Baekje Palace has the best location – it’s within walking distance of everywhere.” and ”Now I know ‘The walls have ears’ originated in ancient Korea – every time a secret is told, someone outside overhears it.”  He really has a wry sense of humour.  But he actually enjoyed the drama (at least he watched it to the very end), and I think he became a Lee Bo-Young fan.

(TO BE CONTINUED)

“Seo Dong Yo” film set 

The Village, with numerous thatched cottages, where the ordinary folks live and work

This village is not detached from the other parts of the city; in fact, it is interwoven with the grand houses which we will be featuring tomorrow.  That’s the prison, in case you’re wondering (the cage-like structure two rows above) and those are swords in the photo next to it.

(TO BE CONTINUED)

In order to film “Seo Dong Yo”, the production crew built a whole city from the grounds up at Buyeo.  Here are some photos of the site under construction.

JHJ studying script

(Credit: http://cafe.daum.net/hyunjaelove; blog.naver.com; www.johyunjae.hk.  Thanks!)

“Seo Dong Yo” film set

In order to film “Seo Dong Yo”, the production crew built the drama set in Baekje’s capital city, Buyeo.

We were like Alice in Wonderland — everything was wondrous and delightful.  The presence of Jo Hyun-Jae was everywhere.  As we wandered around, there were lots of “Ooh!” and “Aah!” as JHJ fans recognized one setting after another, recalling one scene after another.

The Entrance

There was one place where we’re certain JHJ must have frequented, but which we could not go into, so we did the next best thing and went to the LADIES next door.

(TO BE CONTINUED)

It’s been a while since we’ve had anything on “Seo Dong Yo” which must be every JHJ fan’s favourite.  When asked to cite their favourite JHJ drama, most fans would say: “SDY, of course, and ……..LL or OY or whatever.”

This MV actually has English translation of the lyrics of the song — a rarity (for which we are most grateful to those responsible.)

That kiss at the beginning is perfectly timed.  Below is a video of the shooting of this scene, and surprisingly (or not so surprisingly) it didn’t require too many takes to get it right.  It’s one of our favourite moments in the drama.

Director Lee Byung-Hoon shows his two actors how he wants it done, even demonstrating how to kiss!  You’ll be surprised a few seconds on the screen requires so much preparation and rehearsal.  We notice JHJ grimacing after one NG — it must hurt to be kneeling on one knee for such a long time.  And it’s raining too — everybody else is sheltering under umbrellas, except the two stars.

(Credit: Names on MV; www.johyunjae.hk.  Thanks!)

This is from that Japanese magazine on Korean historical drama that we featured in our 2010.3.5 post “SDY in historical drama magazine”, 2010.3.18 post “Director Lee talks about JHJ”, and 2010.3.22 post “JHJ in historical drama magazine” under Category: JHJ magazine.

In the dramas that I have directed, the male lead is invariably played by an actor over 30 years of age — Ji Jin-Hee in “Jewel in the palace”(Dae Jang Geum), Jun Kwang-Ryul in “The legendary doctor Huh Joon”, Lee Jae-Ryong in “Sando”, Lee Seo-Jin in “Yi San” (Lee San, Wind of the palace.)  There is only one exception, and that is Jo Hyun-Jae in “Seo Dong Yo”.

Jo Hyun-Jae possesses the aura and style of an aristocrat and a certain charisma, but there is always a faint hint of sadness on his face.  He has to be under the cameras day and night continuously.  The long and tongue-twisting dialogue in ancient language makes it very difficult for him.  But we cooperate well together and we get used to one another.  I would say it is good training for him.

That winter (2005) when we were filming “Seo Dong Yo” was very cold and snowed a lot which made filming on location so much more difficult.  At that time there was a blizzard along the western coast highway, and one of the actors had a car accident.  Since this director made enormous demands on JHJ, he normally left immediately after finishing his shots.  But because of the heavy snow, the roads were blocked, so he was stranded and could not leave.

Since “Jewel in the palace” started the Korean wave, the “Seo Dong Yo” locations are favourites with fans.  “Seo Dong Yo” first aired in 2005 when Korean dramas were still very popular.  There were many fans which came in groups to our filming locations which made work very difficult.

During the filming of “Seo Dong Yo”, what impressed me most were the fans.  Jo Hyun-Jae and Lee Bo-Young  are more or less the same age – in their mid-20s.  Those JHJ fans who came from all over Korea in tourist buses were all ajumas in their 30s and 40s.  Every visit brought groups of over 100 who brought all kinds of food for JHJ.  JHJ could not possibly eat all that, so he shared with the entire crew.

On the other hand, Lee Bo-Young’s fans were all high school boys.  On her birthday, they all wore top hats and with candles in hand sang “Happy birthday”.  That was one marvellous performance on set.

(Rest of article has nothing to do with JHJ.)

The magazine came with a DVD.  I stoically sat through the first 10 minutes but had to fast-forward the rest.  It’s not because they are speaking Korean and the subtitles are in Japanese.  Director Lee sits chatting with 3 not-young, not-good-looking supporting actors (two male, one female — I only recognize Bumro’s Dad in SDY, but I think he’s there in his capacity of Jang Geum’s stepfather in “Jewel in the palace.”)  They just sit on the floor talking about I-don’t-know-what, and only clips and actors from “Jewel in the palace” are shown.  There is NOTHING on “Seo Dong Yo” or JHJ!  I feel cheated!

(Credit: English translation based on Chinese translation on johyunjae.hk.  First photo from Param of CarpeDiemJAPAN, second photo from EVERjohyunjae.co.kr.  Many thanks!)