Resurrection (South Korean TV series)

Resurrection

Promotional poster for Resurrection
Also known as Rebirth
Revenge
Life Again
Genre Melodrama
Romance
Thriller
Written by Kim Ji-woo
Directed by Park Chan-hong
Jeon Chang-geun
Starring Uhm Tae-woong
Han Ji-min
Opening theme "Innocent" by Kim Tae-hoon
Composer(s) Ji Pyung-kwon
Country of origin South Korea
Original language(s) Korean
No. of episodes 24
Production
Producer(s) Hong Seong-deok
Editor(s) Kim Young-joo
Location(s) Korea
Cinematography Byun Choon-ho
Running time 70 minutes
Wednesdays and Thursdays at 21:50 (KST)
Broadcast
Original channel Korean Broadcasting System
Picture format 16/9 (HDTV)
Original run 1 June 2005 – 18 August 2005
Chronology
Preceded by Emperor of the Sea
Followed by My Rosy Life
External links
Website

Resurrection (Hangul: 부활; RR: Bu-hwal; also known as Rebirth and Revenge) is a 2005 South Korean television series starring Uhm Tae-woong, Han Ji-min, So Yi-hyun, Go Joo-won, Kang Shin-il, Kim Kap-soo, Kim Kyu-chul, Gi Ju-bong, and Lee Jung-gil. The series is about a man who pretends to be his identical twin brother in order to unearth the conspiracy surrounding his father's death and wreak revenge on his murderers.[1][2] It aired on KBS2 from June 1 to August 18, 2005 on Wednesdays and Thursdays at 21:50 for 24 episodes.

The series is the first installment of the revenge trilogy by director Park Chan-hong and writer Kim Ji-woo, followed by The Devil in 2007 and Shark in 2013.[3]

Plot

After a horrific car crash kills his father, young Ha-eun is taken in by a family of strangers and raised to be a caring, happy young man (Uhm Tae-woong). He becomes a police officer and begins to look into the death of his father, only to discover some horrifying truths about not only the accident, but also his own identity. Ha-eun discovers that his name is really Yoo Kang-hyuk and that he has a twin brother called Shin-hyuk (also played by Uhm), who is now VP of a large company. When a cruel twist of fate gives Ha-eun the opportunity to assume his brother's identity, he sees this as his chance to discover the truth about his tragic past and avenge the wrongs done to him and his family.[4]

Cast

Reception

In the same timeslot as hit series My Name is Kim Sam-soon, ratings suffered as a result, going down as much as 7% compared to Sam-soon's high 40s. But broadcaster KBS received numerous requests from viewers to re-run the show during weekends, so they could watch both dramas; the re-runs recorded encouraging numbers.[7] And after Sam-soon finished airing, ratings for Resurrection shot up to 20%, reaching a peak of 22.9% on the drama's finale, with the number of messages posted by viewers on its bulletin board surpassing one million.[8] Called a "mania drama" (Korean slang for cult hit - TV series with a tremendous following online, that somehow end up struggling in the ratings), Resurrection gained praise for its tight plotting, complex characterization, and a career-making, emotionally intense performance from Uhm Tae-woong.[9][10]

Ratings

Date Episode Nationwide Seoul
2005-06-01 1 10.9% (16th) 11.0% (15th)
2005-06-02 2 9.6% (17th) 9.7% (16th)
2005-06-08 3 7.8% 8.5%
2005-06-09 4 6.9% 9.4%
2005-06-15 5 8.6% 9.2% (19th)
2005-06-16 6 9.6% (20th) 9.6%
2005-06-22 7 8.4% 9.0% (20th)
2005-06-23 8 9.1% (18th) 9.3% (17th)
2005-06-29 9 8.4% 10.3%
2005-06-30 10 9.5% (20th) 9.7% (20th)
2005-07-06 11 9.3% (19th) 9.2%
2005-07-07 12 9.7% (19th) 9.2% (20th)
2005-07-13 13 9.6% 9.3% (18th)
2005-07-14 14 9.9% (20th) 10.1% (17th)
2005-07-20 15 9.1% (18th) 8.7%
2005-07-21 16 8.0% 8.7%
2005-07-27 17 16.0% (8th) 15.3% (8th)
2005-07-28 18 15.9% (9th) 14.8% (10th)
2005-08-03 19 16.1% (7th) 15.5% (7th)
2005-08-04 20 15.9% (9th) 14.3% (10th)
2005-08-10 21 15.9% (8th) 15.9% (9th)
2005-08-11 22 16.3% (9th) 16.1% (10th)
2005-08-17 23 20.2% (5th) 19.8% (5th)
2005-08-18 24 22.9% (4th) 23.3% (3rd)
Average 11.9% 11.9%

Source: TNS Media Korea

Awards and nominations

Year Award Category Recipient Result Ref.
2005 KBS Drama Awards Excellence Award, Actor Uhm Tae-woong Won [11]
Best Supporting Actor Kim Kyu-chul Nominated [12]
Kang Shin-il Nominated [12]
Best New Actress Han Ji-min Won [11]
Best Writer Kim Ji-woo Won [11]
Best Couple Award Uhm Tae-woong and Han Ji-min Won [11]
2006
Baeksang Arts Awards
Best Actor (TV) Uhm Tae-woong Nominated [13]

International broadcast

Resurrection first aired in Japan on cable channel So-net beginning April 5, 2006, which was lead actor Uhm Tae-woong's birthday.[14] Its popularity led to reruns on multiple channels, including Tokyo MXTV, FBC Fukuoka TV and TV Hokkaido.[15]

References

  1. "KOREAN TV DRAMA REVIEWS: 부활 (Rebirth - Director's Cut) PART 1". Twitch Film. 12 April 2006. Retrieved 2012-11-18.
  2. "KOREAN TV DRAMA REVIEWS: 부활 (Rebirth - Director's Cut) PART 2". Twitch Film. 12 April 2006. Retrieved 2012-11-18.
  3. Bae, Sun-young (23 May 2013). "Kim Nam-gil and Son Ye-jin Returning with Hot Romance and Cold Revenge". TenAsia. Retrieved 2013-05-23.
  4. "Revenge". KBS Global Marketing. Retrieved 2012-11-04.
  5. "Um Tae-woong to Play Lead in KBS Miniseries Resurrection". KBS Global. 23 March 2005. Retrieved 2012-11-18.
  6. "Han Ji-min: I am a Happy Woman Addicted to Revenge". KBS Global. 7 July 2005. Retrieved 2012-11-18.
  7. "Viewers Request Re-runs of Revenge". KBS Global. 3 June 2005. Retrieved 2013-02-23.
  8. "Final episode of Revenge records series' highest viewer ratings". KBS Global. 19 August 2005. Retrieved 2012-11-18.
  9. "KOREAN TV DRAMA REVIEWS: 부활 (Rebirth)". Twitch Film. 4 November 2005. Retrieved 2012-11-18.
  10. "Documentary for Hit Drama Revenge Being Produced in Japan". KBS Global. 10 February 2006. Retrieved 2013-02-23.
  11. 11.0 11.1 11.2 11.3 "2005 KBS Drama Awards". Korean Broadcasting System (in Korean). Retrieved 2012-11-04.
  12. 12.0 12.1 "Nominations for KBS 연기대상 (KBS Drama Awards) Announced". Twitch Film. 22 December 2005. Retrieved 2012-11-18.
  13. "42nd Baeksang Awards Nominations + Winners". Twitch Film. 14 April 2006. Retrieved 2012-11-18.
  14. "Dramas Starring Uhm Tae-woong to Air in Japan". KBS Global. 5 April 2006. Retrieved 2014-01-30.
  15. "Japanese Fans Keen on Drama Mawang". KBS Global. 13 April 2007. Retrieved 2014-01-30.

External links