What have I been doing this week? I’m glad you asked! Here’s what’s been on my watchlist this week:
*Note: My reviews usually contain spoilers. You have been warned. Proceed at your own risk.*
TV
Do You Like Brahms? (2020)
I went into Do You Like Brahms? fully expecting it to be heart-warming, but it exceeded those expectations and went above and beyond. While it wasn’t the perfect show (the second half had its fair share of problems), the performances by the actors and the overall feel of the show never wavered.
It’s been a while since I’ve seen a show where I was unfamiliar with the two leads. Despite having long careers and being seasoned actors, Park Eun-bin and Kim Min-jae feel fresh-faced and are delightful to watch. The characters themselves feel mature beyond their years, whether its Park’s Song-ah who feels a desperation to catch up to her peers because of her late start to playing the violin or Kim’s Joon-young who starts to feel the life of a famous musician wearing on him. They’re both so reserved yet so vulnerable, a dichotomy that helps to fuel their friendship and eventual romantic relationship (despite many failures to start). Song-ah provides Joon-young with a new perspective on a world that he’s grown rather cynical about, while she realizes that a love for the music comes above everything else when she sees the toll it takes on Joon-young to have his every performance calculated on the basis of it marketability rather than the joy it brings him
The cast is rounded out by Song-ah and Joon-young’s respective friends, each of varying degrees of closeness. I found Jung-kyung (Park Ji-hyun) rather annoying to begin with, but I like that the writer allows us to see that she is a product of her harsh upbringing and that she is making an effort by the end, while not fully redeeming or excusing her. Han Hyun-ho (Kim Sung-cheol) by contrast is tragic in the way he pursues Jung-kyung, despite being treated poorly time and time again. Add to that his difficult upbringing, his conviction to put his friends before himself, and constantly being put down by his mentors, and it’s no wonder that my heart breaks for him (admittedly, I also have a soft spot for him since his role in To.Jenny).
There are several mirror relationships to be found among the these friendships, all with the intent of referencing the tragic relationship between Johannes Brahms, Clara Schumann and Robert Schumann. Each had their own level of pining involved, but each served to show a different facet of their personalities – from Dong-yoon (Lee You-jin) and Min-sung’s (Bae Da-bin) push-and-pull to Jung-kyung’s egressive pursuit of Joon-young. The musical score and its accompanying metaphors help bring a bittersweet nuance to each pairing.
Despite a meandering middle and a slow pace, I don’t have any major complaints about the show. I enjoyed it for what it was, and I think the writers intention was more about showing the characters discovering a love for themselves rather than looking for it externally. It was beautifully shot, had a lovely soundtrack and strong performances. What more could I ask for?
Colourful Granny 