I expected some of the dvds I purchased in India to not work but I have tried Wanted - didn't work and then gave Dus Kahaniyaan a try and it didn't work either. Seriously what is wrong with the Indian dvd manufacturers? Even the pirated goods are better than these... Anyway after that I have Chandni Chowk to China a try and it worked brilliantly but I fell asleep before the intermission - not that the film is bad, in fact I liked it better than I thought I would. But I just lost some heart after the first two films didn't work. I suspect Dus Kahaniyan will not work at the computer either since that is a rather large blot on the disc.
Then my Jumong dvds have arrived! All the four volumes in their nicely packaged, quality glory.
I have watched the first three episodes when they came out in the Goong dvd but it was some time ago so I re watched them and got into the story.
Now these series are 80 episodes and after watching 9 of those I'm really into the story. It develops at a leisurely pace with flashbacks even at this early stage. The actors are all good and Song Il Gook is really handsome with those cheekbones and lovely full lips. His performance is decent too. The leading lady is acted by Han Hye Jin and she is ok I suppose these series are all about Jumong. And I plan on telling all about it here because I like reading this sort of stuff and hope to enjoy writing about it as well.
What happened so far is that we get to watch two episodes before Jumong becomes 20 years old all of a sudden with a "20 Years Later" note on screen.
Haemosu is a descendant of Ancien Josun which was invaded by the Hans many years ago and now divided into tribes and small kingdoms. Haemosu's dream is to unite all these and invade the land back. Hans treat their guys and immigrants bad and do not hesitate to kill them etc.
Haemosu is not only an excellent warrior, he is a very charismatic leader as well. The crown prince of Puyo Kumwa is his best friend and totally believes his cause and helps him out to achieve it.
One of the lead characters is Lady Yuhwa to whom Kumwa fell for at first sight but she is not interested (mostly due to the fact that Kumwa is already married and has a baby son). Yuhwa is the daughter of the chief of one of the tribes.
Of course she meets Haemosu, in fact, she saves her when he was badly wounded and hunted like an animal by Han troups who understandably want to get rid of him.
After Yuhwa saves him they start to like eachother but Heamosu being the righteous hero he is decides to leave to save her and her tribe from danger. Alas as soon as he left Han soldiers attack the tribe and kill them all - leaving only Yuhwa alive to be publicly executed as an example.
Yuhwa is saved by Kumwa and brought to the palace - of course his wife Won doesn't like it since it is obvious that her husband is in love with Yuhwa.
Meanwhile Haemosu hears about all these from another tribe chief he met on the road and he decides to join them to the city where Yuhwa will be executed. The Chief, Yontabal is also one of the main characters of the drama. His wife is pregnant and when they were attacked by some robbers Haemosu saves everyone with his amazing fight skills. So Yontabal, who is a clever man, changes his original decision to sell him of to the Han authorities (yeah he figured out that this migrant is Haemosu very early on) since he saved his wife, his daughter and his business.
Haemosu and Kumwa are united and Kumwa also unites him and Yuhwa since he values Haemosu above anything else in his life, his life included. So he convinces his father, the King to help Haemosu to form a united front against Han. And everyone is willing to come together since Haemosu is that kind of guy.
But Puyo as a kingdom wants power for itself and Prime Minister and the Sorceress have no trouble convincing Kumwa's father, the King, to betray Haemosu. So Haemosu is captured and blinded by Han soldiers and Yuhwa is pregnant with Haemosu's baby. Kumwa saves Haemosu from execution but when escaping Haemosu is shot by arrows and falls into a river.
Thinking that he is dead Yuhwa is devastated but Kumwa offers to take her as a concubine and raise the child as his. Yuhwa doesn't accept this offer out of love and loyalty to Haemosu but Prime Minister and the Sorceress order a general to assasinate Yuhwa and the baby since the Sorceress believes that Jumong can be a danger to Puyo (she sees a vision of a three legged crow).
The General before killing Yuhwa and the baby tells her that The King betrayed Haemosu and just as he was going to slash them he is struck by lightning (no kidding!) but before that Yuhwa asks him if Kumwa was in on this plan and the general says no.
Yuhwa then decides to go the palace as a concubine and agrees to raise Jumong as a prince of Puyo.
Jumong turns out to be player with a kind heart with no interest in martial arts at all. But his elder half brothers, the idiotic Youngpo and the smart and dangerous Daeso try to kill him during a journey to see some sacred bow (Jumong ends up breaking that bow). But they couldn't succeed since Sosuhno saves him. Sosuhno is daughter of Yontabal, and she was born during the attack saved by Haemosu.
Anyway, Yuhwa asks Jumong to learn martial arts and be the crown prince since she has a mission for him to achieve (Haemosu's vision and also a bit of a revenge I suppose).
Ok this is taking too long so yadda yadda yadda and
Now Jumong is together with Haemosu (he was being held by the Sorceress in a secret prison for 20 years) he is teaching him martial arts.
Sosuhno is interested in Jumong and this interest grows after he saved him from a villain.
Daesu is also interested in Sosuhno and Sosuhno is also a bit of interested in him.
At the end of episode 9, during a beautiful sunset, Jumong finally tells Haemosu who his father (he thinks he is son of Kumwa) is and that the brothers who want to kill him are the other two princes of Puyo. Imagine Haemosu's shock.
Apart from Jumong, I'm very very much into Tess of The D'urbervilles. Thomas Hardy is such a great writer.
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