White Christmas (Korean Drama)

‘White Christmas’ was an 8 episode long Drama Special which was aired on KBS2 as a part of Drama Special Anthology  Series that ran during 2011.

 (Since it’s a thriller, it’s not exactly the type that would be included in this blog ‘Lilac Reel’. But as I like this series really too much, and I think that a lot of people out there should know about ‘White Christmas’ and should watch it, I am including the review of it in ‘Lilac Reel’.)

“White Christmas’ is the best Psychological thriller that I have ever seen. Since it is a TV Drama instead of being a movie, it has the charm to keep us excited for a longer period than a movie would ever and happen to include a lot of details than a movie could contain in a limited time.  And hence ‘White Christmas’ is better than a movie.

The psychological aspect of ‘White Christmas’ is really terrific. The whole story revolves around one question – ‘Are monsters born, or made in to one?’ Do situations alter one’s behavior, and compel them to be cruel and selfish at situations? Are people born as cruel and selfish and as criminals? Is it a problem that are within them from birth? Or is it something that they become in to because of various life situations?

A man sets out to seek the answer of that questions from the 8 students confined inside a High School - Sushin High. The 8 students, many of them who has a troubled past or at least one or two things that is bothering them. 8 students who are already in a mess of distrust and fear because of an anonymous letter that came to them. 8 students who generally doesn't like each other much. And a man, who try to physiologically exploit them, trying to make them turn in to monsters (be selfish, cruel or do a crime).

The Drama keeps us excited all the 8 hours. Each episode being such a nerve wreaking experience. Excitement at its best quality.

The background music used in this drama is actually really excellent. They bring out the feel of each situation to a perfection. Especially the eerie songs. They just make us have Goosebumps. The song seems to be creeping in to our skin, and the scenes gets imprinted on our minds forever. Not just the music, there are a couple of poems used here which sets off the eerie mood really well. The ‘hide, hide, so that I can’t find you’ poem, and ‘have to take laundry in’ poem makes it feel no different from a horror movie, making everything too creepy.

Then there is that theme song of Yoo Eun Sung and Park Mu Yul, the broken up couple. The lyrics of their theme song seem really apt. And not just apt, it’s a really good lyrics in any sense. It’s sung by a woman, that brings out the magic of the lyrics more. Coz the lyrics are like a girl is declaring her feelings for the guy, in a brave and honest way. Like this is how I feel, no other way of telling that.

Not just the songs used, the whole set of the drama also brings out the feel of it. The snow cowered school set inside the mountains, looks beautiful, but isolated and haunted at the same time. There is something eerie about the snow.

One down side of the show is the acting. As many of the cast were just starters and many debuted in this drama, their acting were still underdeveloped and hence it could tamper the perfection of the show. Especially Esome. He acting stands out as the worst in this drama. They needed a better actress for the character of Yoo Eun Sung, as the character in itself is a complex one with a range of emotions. But Esome’s acting keeps us wishing if only it was being played by some better actress than her.  

And Kwang Jung Wook as Yang Kang Mo also gives a feel like he could have acted better. Have seen Kwang Jung Wook in ‘School 2013’, and ‘Shut up Flower Boy Band’, and he has definitely acted better in those two. As Yang Kang Mo he is not totally bad, just at times it’s a bit off. Like the time Kang Mo cries and laughs at the same time because Choi Chi Hoon is alive. That is an unusual and difficult expression he has to deliver, and only there the flaw shows. But Kwang Jung Wook actually suits the role of Yang Kang Mo. And I really think Kwang Jung Wook is a good supporting actor, and I really liked him in School 2013, so I won’t say much about his lack of acting in ‘White Christmas’.

Bad acting also stands out for Sung Joon…Just slightly, not too much. Though the role of Choi Chi Hoon might be a really charismatic role, and maybe the best role Sung Joon ever played, there are still instances where we wished if he could have acted better. Sung Joon’s acting skills have gone so way up since ‘White Christmas’, and he acts well now. Thankfully Sung Joon doesn't need to deliver too much emotions as Choi Chi Hoon, as the character of Choi Chi Hoon doesn't have the ability to feel much emotions. That way, Sung Joon getting any bad reviews for acting in ‘White Christmas’ really gets saved.

 Though Sung Joon and  Kim Woo Bin became big stars now, but then, at the time ‘White Christmas’ aired, they were still just beginners, and hence the flaws are acceptable.

But Kim Woo Bin does a really good job as Kang Mi Ru, by the way. There is not much flaws there. The role of Kang Mi Ru is typical Kim Woo Bin. So much like his signature roles. Kim Woo Bin seems to be born to play the playful twisted bully/outlaw character. And Kang Mi Ru fits just right in. The only flaw is in visual though. The hairstyle doesn't seem to suit him much (though it might be apt with the character), also his skin is not perfect as it is now.

But if we talk about good acting in the drama, Kim Sang Kyung, does such a great job as Kim Yo Han. The guy who kill while smiling. Who appears innocent and as a warm and caring person, but is a monster inside.

The other guys all do a good job in their respective roles. And they all seem really apt to play that role. (All cast seem apt except just for Esom as Yoo Eun Sung). Especially Lee Soo Hyuk as Yoon Su. I don’t think anyone else could have played that disturbed drug addicted teenage musician better.

Another down side might be that if you don’t pay attention you may not understand many details in the story. Especially since it’s a story of psychological experiences and emotions inside one’s mind. Many things are not explained much. So we have to guess the emotions of the characters clearly. If we don’t manage how the characters are feeling, we won’t understand the reason for their behavior in certain situations. I understood the whole emotional levels of the characters for better when I watched the whole series for a second time. So like that, you might not get some details on a first watch, so it’s better to watch once more, if you don’t understand the behaviors of characters.

For example, I totally had not understood why Kim Jae Kyu, who is so normal and harmless, suddenly turned vicious and confident and attacked Jo Young Jae, after hearing that Jo Young Jae had confessed he send the letter, when he had not, just to save himself. Of course, Jo Young Jae’s act was selfish. But what had made, Kim Jae Kyu, such a timid and harmless boy (despite the fact that he did what he did, he was still looking harmless), go crazy and beat him to a pulp. But on a second watch, I understood what Kim Jae Kyu might have been feeling at that time. So if you don’t try to relate to that character and see the situation from that character’s eyes, you may not understand why that character did what he did.

I still don’t understand the climax of Yoon Su in episode 8 though. Why does he feel like he is turning in to a monster? Complex mental psychology. I wish there was much explanation in that situation.

But the lack of explanations does gives the drama a good feel. It makes us think for ourselves and find out for ourselves. Like it’s a game for the viewers itself to figure out the problems in the emotions of the characters, and to figure out for ourselves, if a monster is born or made in to.

Characters

Baek Sung Hyun as Park Mu Yul : The most obedient boy of Sushin High. He is respected and trusted by students and teachers alike for his good behavior. But maybe the reason for My Yul’s abnormally good behavior is that he is burdened by the fact that his mother died while saving him from death. And maybe because he is looked up on as the kid who lived instead of his mother, he should live without any flaws, living up to his mother’s dreams.

Esom as Yoo Eun Sung : She was a bright and happy girl once. And according to the words of some, there were many girls in Sushin High who were much prettier than Yoo Eun Sung, but no one could laugh as bright as Eun Sung; her laughter had a charm to make everyone around happy. But one day Yoo Eun Sung changed to gloomy, depressed and suicidal. And no one but Yoo Eun Sung knows the reason for her change. Yoo Eun Sung was dating Park Moo Yul, but they break up after her sudden change.

Kim Young Kwang as Jo Young Jae : The bully of Sushin High. His nickname is ‘Jo Young Byong’, meaning ‘The Plague’. Even if Jo Young Jae is the bad guy for everyone and is a bully, the truth is that he might be the weakest among all. Just because he is scared that he is being a bully. Just because he is a coward that he likes to make sure he is safe and hence will attack everyone. 

Sung Joon as Choi Chi Hoon : The topper of Sushin High. Highly intelligent and hence always the highest scoring student. And hence the supposedly rival of Perfect Student Park Mu Yul, though there is no hostility between them. But Park Mu Yul could not beat Choi Chi Hoon even once, and this keeps bothering Mu Yul. Where was Choi Chi Hoon doesn't really bother about Mu Yul, or anything else. Chi Hoon is someone who only focus on studies and doesn't have the ability to have emotions about anything. He doesn't even know the faces of students in his own class.

Lee Soo Hyuk as Yoon Yoon Su : The son of a rich man. His Nickname is ‘Angel’ (used in a cruel mockery), as he got admission in Sushin High because his father gave donation to build the new dorms. Yoon Su’s taste is in music and he doesn't want to be in the studies focused Sushin High. Yoon Su’s father keeps giving donation to the school, and this doesn't make Yoon Su’s life in school any easier. He is out-casted as ‘angel’. Yoon Su is lonely, and depressed. And he has a drug addiction problem.

Kwang Jung Wook as Yang Kang Mo : Sushin High’s journalist and cameraman. He takes it to be his duty to record everything and have the tape recordings of every important event. Kang Mo has a hearing impairment and he needs a hearing aid to hear. But to cover for that he is normally a pleasant guy who likes to talk a lot. He hates Jo Young Jae, as Young Jae likes to Bully Kang Mo a lot. But Kang Mo is not scared of Young Jae, instead he like to talk back to Young Jae and talk insultingly about him all the time. 

Hong Jong Hyun as Kim Jae Kyu : A normal boy who is not special in any sense. He is a transfer student who moved to Sushin high after Spring of 2^nd year. When he gets mixed up in all the excitement, he just becomes sort of a side kick of Mu Yul. Or at least he follows Mu Yul and does what he is told to do. Untill his secret is reviled.

Kim Woo Bin as Kang Mi Ru : Nicknamed as ‘Michun Mi Ru’, meaning ‘Mad Mi Ru’, he is one crazy but intelligent and totally carefree outlaw type character of Sushin High. Once he was an excellent student, and was scouted in to Sushin High. Once in 1^st year he has even beat Choi Chi Hoon. But later he gave up studying, (maybe because it was too stressful to catch up to Choi Chi Hoon), and took up the road of total crazy lawbreaking and cool attitude. His most famous event in Sushin High is Bungee Jumping from the building’s roof.

Kim Sang Kyung as Kim Yo Han : The man who takes refuge in Sushin High after a car accident. He is a pshycaritist and hence offers to give therapy to the kids. Later he turns out to be someone really dangerous.

Jung Sook Won as Teacher Yoon Jong Il : The PE Teacher who stays back with the students in Sushin High during the holidays. He gets killed.

Lee El as Oh Jung Hye : Kim Yo Han’s mad stalker.

Story

Sushin High is a High School, which consists of the Country’s top students. A school which focus on studies so much. The place is secluded from the rest of the world as it is situated in the middle of mountain. The students say that the three years study there in that school, is like Alcatraz. No one is anyone’s friend there. All running exhausted towards one goal of scoring higher marks that others. Sushin High gives a break to their nonstop study only once during the year, and that is the 8 days Christmas vacation on every year.

So during Christmas Holidays of 2011, 7 students remain at School, and rest go home. The seven student that stay back are, Park Mu Yul, Yoo Eun Sung, Jo Young Jae, Choi Chi Hoon, Yoon Yoon Su, Yang Kang Mo, and Kim Jae Kyu. And The PE Teacher stay back with the students. These 8 are the only people in that secluded school.

On the night of December 24, an injured man arrives at the school gate and the students and teacher find him. The man, Kim Yo Han, tells he got in to a car accident while travelling alone. And since the road got blocked due to heavy snow fall the man can’t go to the main town. The students and the teacher lets Kim Yo Han stay with them in the school.

Later at night the students discover that each and every one of them had received a strange sounding letter. They had stayed back because of the letter.

The letter goes like this…

“I kept thinking about it. When did it all begin?

You tainted me, made me pitiful

You made me a monster in the corner

You silenced me

You ridiculed my false hopes

You took the only thing I had and put it around your neck.

I held out my hand and you let go

You deleted me from your eyes

Finally, you overtook me

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

After 8 days, walk up the path by the zelkova tree

Under the clock tower, you will see someone dead

The night that Jesus was born, I curse you.”

The Students doesn't know who sent this letter. And they are not sure if the sender meant what he wrote or if this is just a spam. But they dare not tell about this letter to the teacher, because they are not sure if they are not without any sin regarding the accusations in this letter.

So Park Mu Yul takes the responsibility of finding out the truth of the letter. He and Kim Jae Kyu, begins investigation regarding the letter.

Mean while the man who took refuge, happens to be a psychiatrist and he tells Park Mu Yul that whoever wrote the letter meant it, and is suffering from serious depression and aggression. This makes Mu Yul uneasy and he tries his best to find the sender.

While searching it turns out that the sender is saying the sins of not 1 person, but of 8 persons separately. But they are only 7 of them and there are 8 sins mentioned.

Kang Mi Ru, is staying in School, without permission and without the knowledge of any one these 7 students or the teacher. But Kang Mi Ru didn't get the latter nor does he have any connection to the letter. He just wants to find out who framed him and blew up the statue of the School’s Chairman, causing him (Mi Ru’s) expulsion. And Mi Ru doesn't get seen by students or the teacher, which is a miracle as the school is filled with Security Cameras. But Mi Ru has hacked in to the security system and Security Camera footage gets shown in his laptop, hence making him capable of free traveling inside the school.

But Mi Ru comes in front of the students for his own investigation, but students keeps silence about Mi Ru being in the school from the teacher. 

When Yoon Su pass out during investigation about the letter, the students are compelled to tell the teacher about the letter. The teacher goes to investigate something. Mi Ru see him looking at some students record. Teacher senses Mi Ru, and gives him a Judo throw and locks him in the nurse room (it’s more like a detention room).

The next morning the teacher is not found anywhere. When Mu Yul and other students go search for him in his room, they find that the teacher also had got the letter. (Thus making 8 persons for 8 sins in the letter).

The find Mi Ru, and lets him out of the room, and Mi Ru tells them which students record the teacher had been looking at. Looking at the students’ record, they find the sender of the letter…

But not long after that…the teacher is found dead and buried in snow in the court yard…

And now there are just the students isolated inside the school, filled with fear, distrust, doubts, and accusations at each other. Also in the presence of a bigger monster who wants to do emotional /psychological experiments on them, to know if ‘monsters are born or are made in to…’

The story and plot is actually really good and well thought of. And the story is of 4 days. From 24^th December 2011, to 28^thDecember 2011. The story of these 4 days is descriptively elapsed in to 8 episodes, ie 8 hours of viewing.

And the whole concept is a good one too. The question ‘are people born as monsters or are they made in to one because of the circumstances they live in’, seems to be a question which doesn't have a definite answer. Even the viewers are compelled to think and find the answer of that question. 

My Ratings of this Drama :10/10

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