Back to "The Legend", this Korean blockbuster retells the saga of King Kwanggaet'o of the ancient state Koguryo and is awash with big battle scenes, and abit of The Lord of The Rings-like visual effects. It is also one of the most expensive Korean production ever, at 43 billion won (S$60.27 million). Kwanggaet'o's reign marked a high point in Korean dynastic history, and the drama follows his rise to power, military conquests and romantic encounters. I was fascinated with the ancient history of Korea after watching this drama and have even borrowed a book about it from the library! "The Legend" is also a continuation of the drama about King Jumong who was the founder of Koguryo.
In "The Legend", the story starts with 2000 years ago before the founding of Koguryo. The god's son, Lord Hwanwoong, was sent from the heavens to make the world a better place. He falls in love with Saeoh from the bear tribe and gives her the phoenix necklace. The power of the phoenix had initially belonged to Kajin, the leader of the tiger tribe. She had fallen in love with Lord Hwanwoong and given up her power after he saved her when she tried to kill him. However, Kajin becomes jealous after Saeoh had given birth to Lord Hwanwoong's son. She takes the baby and throws him off a cliff. Saeoh, thinking that her son had died, is overcome with grief and turns into the black phoenix to destroy the world. Lord Hwanwoong had to kill her to stop her. Afterwards, Lord Hwanwoong returns to the Heavens and prophecizes that 2000 years later, the true Joo Shin king will come to Earth. With the help of the four gods, he will rebuild the kingdom of Joo Shin.
The story then starts from the birth of the great king two thousand years later. The trouble begins when two boys are born on the same night to the same royal family. Dam Deok (Bae Yong Joon)the bright mature one, who is brought up by a cautious father and taught to hide his abilities and does not know that he is born during the sighting the of the Jyusin star initially. He had grown up to be a pleasant young man, but in his heart he always suffered because of Hogae's mother who had committed suicide, causing Hogae to believe that Dam Deok killed her. He was later found to be the destined King of Jushin. As the 19th king of Koguryo, he was initially despised by the leaders of the four tribes that form his parliament due to influence from Ho Gae's father who was the chancellor of the parliament. However, he proves himself to be an excellent fighter and a schemer who can win battles without a single casualty on his side or both.
Dam Deok's cousin, Ho Gae (Oh Kwang Rok), who is encouraged by his ambitious mother to show off and prove he is the true monarch to everyone. He grows up as the heart-throb of the kingdom and is widely accepted as monarch-to-be as everyone knows that he was born on the night of the sighting of Jyusin star. At first Ho Gae was very open and pleasant towards Dam Deok when they were kids, but after his mother's death, he resolved to take revenge and proved that he is the rightful Joo Shin King. He also hated Dam Deok as the woman he loved, Gi Ha (Moon So Ri) only has eyes for Dam Deok. This lead to his character changing devastingly to a cold, cool type from a warm, pleasant person. He had been winning many battles as early as his teens, and grew to be a powerful warrior.
Enter two orphaned, long lost sisters who might both be reincarnations of the Phoenix. One sister, Gi Ha,has been adopted by an evil cult and sent to the palace as a priestess since young as a bait to hook the future king who was thought to be Ho Gae. She met Damdeok by chance one night in the royal library and began to have a crush on him. Their relationship was very fine, until the day that Damdeok's father faked his death as an assassination by Gi Ha to prevent any harm on Damdeok. She changed after that and became vicous and cold-blooded, especially after seeing Dam Deok having a good time with Sujini.
The other sister, Suzini (Lee Ji Ah), grows up on the streets before she too is thrown into the royal cousins' lives. I like her character most and she is like the female version of Legolas from the Lord of the Ring. She looks so cool fighting battles alongside Dam Deok with her bows and arrows. Her character was very funny as she likes drinking and gambling and was not like the typical female heroine. I kept hoping that Dam Deok would like her and they would be together in the end. I was also quite irritated with Ho Gae's character towards the end as he was blinded by his love for Gi Ha and just following whatever she wants. Hubby and me were hooked to the drama and wanted to find out the ending and spent one whole Saturday night to finish watching it. I did not really like the ending and was hoping that there could be more scenes of Dam Deok and Suzini towards the end but i did like the part where Dam Deok finally figures out the real task for the Ju Shin King. Guess it ended the drama nicely...
3 comments:
I recently watched this too and was pleasantly surprised by how much I liked it. BJH turned me off initially with his "Jesus" like impression and white hair, but the rest of the story grows on you and you really get involved with all the characters. Great ensemble acting. My favourites were Sujini, the female swordsmith and the guardian who became the invincible warrior. He's hot.
i got a cd about this legend.i like the most is 秀芝妮社is so cool and pretty!i try to find about this legend book in singapore library,but i cant find any information.i will like u to talk mi more about this legend since u have the book with u
hmmm.. i really love this korean drama.. the whole cast is definitely great!! love it.. ahahah
Post a Comment