Alone in Love

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Alone in Love (연애시대)
Genre Dramedy
Starring Son Ye Jin
Gam Wu-seong
Gong Hyeong-Jin
Lee Hana
Country of origin South Korea
No. of episodes 16
Production
Running time approx. 60 minutes
Broadcast
Original channel SBS
Original run April 3, 2006 – May 23, 2006
Links
Official website

Alone in Love (Korean: 연애시대, Hanja: 戀愛時代) is a 16-episode South Korean TV drama series aired in 2006, starring Son Ye-jin, Gam Wu-seong, Lee Hana and Gong Hyeong-Jin. The story is about a divorced couple still in love.

Contents

[edit] Overview

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

This is the story of two ordinary people who meet and fall in love, marry and divorce, but are unable to move on from that point, because their love did not end when they separated. Eun-Ho (Son Ye Jin) and Dong-Jin (Gam Wu-seong) meet one day at the bookstore where he works at and they're immediately drawn to each other. They fall in love after subsequent meetings, and the two are married like millions of others who are in similar situations. But two years later they are divorced, and that's where the story opens. A pair of divorcees sitting across from each other talking about each other's lives. There's nothing about them that stands out from the crowd. They have ordinary jobs, he works at a bookstore and she at the fitness club. Neither is extremely good-looking, nor rich, nor charismatic. But there is something different about them, and as the story reveals the reasons behind their divorce, their continuing meetings after divorce, their mingling in each other's lives, their matchmaking attempt for each other, and their internal monologues about each other, it becomes apparent they are each other's destiny if such thing exists. But even so, getting back together might be asking too much, since that would open up a wound that they've tried to bury for 3 years. Furthermore their new love-interests, Mi-Yeon (Oh Yoon-Ah) and Hyeon-Joong (Lee Jin-Wook) are marking their steps into Dong-Jin and Eun-Ho's lives, and the new love might just be a wiser option for two that have tried but failed already. In fact, Hyeon-Joong may have more things in common with Eun-Ho than she ever did with Dong-Jin, and Mi-Yeon seems to need Dong-Jin more than Eun-Ho ever did, this alone might be enough for the pair of divorcees to finally cut the tie between them.

After losing a much expected baby, the couple fails to heal the wound together, choosing instead to separate before "they see the worst of each other." But even a year and a half after their divorce, the two meet up in their favorite bakery for breakfasts, quarrel over trivial things like a married couple and eat dinner on their wedding anniversary with a free meal coupon provided by the hotel where they got married. While wondering whether the lingering feelings are love, Dong-jin and Eun-ho are both too afraid to start over - and more afraid to end the relationship completely. With neither brave enough to confront each other about the misunderstanding on the day Eun-ho had a stillborn baby, they are unable to move on. Although they had gone through marriage, they are no better in solving the problem than other lovers. Having "failed" once, love turns into fear. Eun-ho constantly wonders to herself, "Where and when does love begin? Are they feelings of worry and longing love? If one loses sleep over the lingering face, is that love? If one's heart keeps on aching after a long time, was that love?"

Alone in Love was neither a light and sugary love story with pink balloons flying out of car trunks, nor a macroscopic analysis on the issue of love and marriage. Through dry monologues of the two main characters and realistic depictions of life, the drama placed the main characters in the vulnerable gap between the married and the unmarried. As the two main characters approached love and marriage from separate views, the drama turned into viewers' own stories, even for those who had never married, divorced or ached over love before. Actor Gam and actress Son - currently the two most-wanted people in the local entertainment scene - also showed off the best of their acting skills already proven through several movies including King and the Clown and April Snow, respectively.

For Eun-ho, love becomes simply too painful. "Love hurts. At the beginning the hope hurts. After a while, the desire to know everything about him hurts, and when it ends, it hurts because love doesn't end at the same moment for the two people," she says to herself. "Nothing is sad or funny. I am neither angry nor happy. But when an unexpected sigh passes through my body, the small gap between the ribs aches with a penetrating chill."

Dong-jin, on the other hand, strives to move on. For him, unraveling Eun-ho's misunderstanding about the day when she had a stillborn child - which he spent next to the dead baby - is meaningless as it will only deepen their wounds.

After meeting someone new, Dong-jin tries to justify his new romance by saying to himself, "Since when did I stop talking about my future hope? Growing up means losing hope and realizing that tomorrow won't be different from today. This is why grown ups love. Romance is like a naive hope that makes them wait for a different tomorrow with a fluttering heart." Watching Dong-jin and Eun-ho hesitate and vacillate, many viewers wondered with frustration why the two main characters couldn't be more frank about their feelings. None the less, perhaps the frustration had been pointed toward themselves. For many of those confused men and women out there, "Alone in Love" gave a valuable piece of advice. Hesitate, regret, stumble, collapse and do whatever else it takes. But although you can be "alone in love," only two can take it up to marriage.

Spoilers end here.

[edit] Cast & Characters

Actor Character Description
Son Ye Jin Yu Eun-Ho 29 years old, born in Busan. She was a swimmer when she was in a high school. She is now working in a fitness club. She had got married with Dong-Jin who she met in a library, but they got divorced after two years of marriage.
Gam Wu-seong Lee Dong-Jin 33 years old, born in Seoul. He works in a big library. One day he fell in love with Eun-Ho. He's hesitant about deciding things of his love life.
Lee Hana Yu Ji-Ho 24 years old, little sister of Eun-Ho.
Gong Hyeong-Jin Gong Joon-Pyo 33 years old, a gynaecologist in a general hospital. He falls in love with Ji-Ho.
Moon Jeong-Hee Chung Yu-Gyoung She went to the same middle school with Dong-Jin. She marries Dong-Jin.
Oh Yoon-Ah Kim Mi-Yeon 29 years old. She went to the same elementary school with Eun-Ho. She has a daughter from the previous marriage. She falls in love with Dong-Jin.
Lee Jin-Wook Min Hyun-Jung 26 years old. This rich man is very passionate about love.
Seo Tae-Hwa Cheong Yun-Su 38 years old. He's a professor in psychology. He falls in love with Eun-Ho.
Cho Hye-Young Choi Young-In She got married with Yoon-Soo while she was abroad to study. Her family is very rich.
Jin Ji-Hee Cho Eun-Sol 7 years old. Mi-Youn's daughter. She doesn't talk much but very thoughtful.
Ha Jae-Suk Nah Yu-Ri 28 years old. She's a pro wrestler.
Kim Gab-Su Yu Gi-Young Eun-Ho's father. He's a pastor.

[edit] Comments on Alone in Love

  • Gam Wu-Seong
I started acting as I just wanted to be in films, but it took me a good 10 years to find the right level, that kind of performance a good actor requires. When it comes to Dramas, if you work with talented people, then there's no reason to turn them down. All you need to do is adjust to the dynamics used in this industry, which can be quite different to those you find in Chungmuro. What's important is what the production team, the crew and the producer have in mind. The most important thing when acting is finding a kind of harmony with your partner, that's what counts. And Son Ye-Jin is the best of both worlds: she hasn't been acting for too long, but she's always very professional, a good actress, and also a very beautiful person. An actress who helped me a lot in the past was Shim Hye-Jin [they worked together in 1998's 수줍은 연인 (Shy Lovers)]. She both influenced the way I acted, and how I approached this profession. In terms of male actors, I'd certainly say Han Suk-kyu. Thanks to them, I was able to find what kind of actor I was and could be, deep down. In a way, working with Ye-Jin reminded me of the times I spent with Shim Hye-Jin, she has the same kind of aggressive spirit when acting. I'd like to be remembered as a non-mainstream actor who can give viewers confidence. Right from the beginning, I never really paid much attention to working for a huge management company and similar things. Since I haven't been on TV for 4 years [2002's 현정아 사랑해 (I Love You, Hyun-Jung)], I wanted to work in something different, a Drama you can't compare with the others. Just like what happened for 왕의 남자(The King and the Clown), more than ratings, my sense of satisfaction regarding this project is what counted the most.
  • Son Ye-Jin
It's a nasty and mean character, but someone you can't hate. That's how Dong-Jin (Gam) looks in Eun-Ho's eyes. You look at him in a certain way he and seems OK, but then again he's always so impulsive and cheeky. In 작업의 정석 (The Art of Seduction) we always tried to go for comic situations in every scene, and that kind of exaggeration was the most enjoyable aspect of the show. But if you compare it with 'Alone in Love', this is much more natural. There's a kind of boyish side to her, while at the same time maintaining that natural femininity. Even speech patterns and dialogue are much different that what I was used to. You could say it's a character you can find easily in real life, but someone who doesn't feature in TV Dramas too often. Of course we're not dealing with something too heavy handed and dark, it's just a little more mature and realistic, with an ironic and lightweight touch which really appealed to me. What I liked the most about Eun-Ho was the fact even after divorce she'd worry if her husband was in pain, like a mother figure. She's very mature. If I think of my roles in 클래식 (The Classic) and 여름향기(Summer Scent), I don't think I'd be able to go back to that kind of character. Even looking at 연애소설 (Lovers Concerto), it feels like the kind of acting I could only do at that age. Sure, if I did it again I'd probably do it pretty well, but it would still feel really awkward. I want to do roles which fit my age and personality now, that's what most important to me.
  • Han Ji-Seung, director
I always wanted to try something like a Miniseries format, and then they offered me to produce 'Alone in Love', so I said, why not? I was really intrigued by the original novel, and since producers Yellow Film promised to respect my production methods, accepting their offer was even easier. I knew and worried that the Drama shooting system [shooting on the fly] wouldn't fit with my style, especially as someone who never worked in this field before. Of course I was also aware of how much more difficult shooting TV Dramas before broadcast can be, for a variety of issues, but they allowed me to shoot a good 8 episodes out of the final 16 before airing the first, so that's how we started. Many people seem to be interested in this show because of its themes, but we're not dealing with one of those Dramas where characters are trying to make up their mind between marrying or not. Personally, it's not really that important that the two main characters were married in the past. What we're focusing on here is the way they cope with this break up, how they start a sort of 'new life' after leaving behind people they loved. And those are the kind of details I wanted to focus on in developing this Drama. Of course the original novel had a lot of comic elements, even going as far as slapstick, but even though we tried to do the same in the show, compared to other Dramas we're dealing with something much more serious. I guess the biggest difference between TV Dramas and Movies is that the latter start from a full shot and then slowly zoom in to find more details, whereas Dramas start from a closeup, and then expand the view. Just this new challenge that difference makes was exciting for me, as a producer.

[edit] Trivia

[edit] Ratings

Episode No. South Korea Seoul and Gyeonggi-do
Ep. 1 12.9% 14.5%
Ep. 2 11.5% 12.2%
Ep. 3 12.6% 13.4%
Ep. 4 12.9% 14.2%
Ep. 5 12.3% 13.6%
Ep. 6 14.1% 15.8%
Ep. 7 13.1% 14.7%
Ep. 8 13.4% 15.1%
Ep. 9 13.2% 14.8%
Ep.10 10.9% 11.1%
Ep.11 14.6% 17.1%
Ep.12 14.8% 16.9%
Ep.13 13.5% 15.2%
Ep.14 14.9% 17.1%
Ep.15 13.8% 15.7%
Ep.16 17.4% 19.1%
Average 13.5% 15.0%

Source: TNS Media Korea

[edit] Soundtrack

  • Title: Alone In Love OST (SBS TV Series)
  • Released: 8 May 2006, EMI Music Korea Ltd.
  • Singers: Yoon Jong-shin, Chung Won-young, Roh Young-sim
  • Language: Korean
  • Songs
1 Love Is…
2 만약에 우리(Original bossa_ver) - 진호
3 Breeze - 이재준
4 아무리 생각해도 난 너를
5 사랑이 사랑에게 묻다
6 사랑이 사랑에게 말하다
7 보내지 못한 마음 (Piano Ver.)
8 독백
9 영국 런던 그리니치 천문대
10 나폴리 피자
11 우린 이미 끝났는데
12 은솔이와 실전화 아저씨 - 이재준
13 그녀 미소
14 When I Saw you(내 사랑을 바다에 맹세해,부서지는 파도에 맹세해)
15 I`m Still With You - 진호
16 모빌 박스
17 긴 슬픔
18 그건 바로 사랑이었을까
19 당신의 행운을 돌려드립니다
20 Frankly Speaking - 최우혁
21 만약에 우리(Samba ver.) - 진호/김정배
22 보내지 못한 마음(piano & guitar with strings)
23 After Love(그 남자의 20kg 감량에 대한 열망)
24 YK259 Zipper

[edit] See also

[edit] References

[edit] External links

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