Review on Korean Drama: Painter of the Wind (2008)

Title: Painter of the Wind (2008)

Genre: Period Drama, Romance, Comedy
Duration: 20 episodes
Cast:
Moon Geun Young as Shin Yoon Bok
Park Shin Yang as Kim Hong Do
Moon Chae Won as Jeong Hyang
Bae Soo Bin as King Jeong Jo
Lee Joon as Shin Young Bok

Synopsis:

"What is a painting? Painting is the absence of someone or making you remember someone who is not there.  Painting is missing someone..."

In the beginning, it already gave me the expectation that it would not have a happy ending showing the painting of a woman and Kim Hong Do (Park Shin Yang) crying for the lady in the painting, talking about her as if she lives in his past. Kim Hong Do was a genius in painting, with a keen sense to details and so well-loved by the king that officials and painters envied him so much they schemed devious ways to send him away from the court.  He was sent to the mountains and was only allowed back to investigate the truth about the painting that made the queen so mad.

The woman in the painting is none other than his disciple, Shin Yoon Bok (Moon Geun Young) who was the daughter of Kim Hong Do's best friend.  It was believed that his best friend and his family were killed 10 years ago due to some big conspiracy that involves the legitimacy of the king.  When they were killed though, Yoon Bok was able to hide and evade being killed that night.

Yoon Bok was so talented that after her family was killed, she was adopted by one of the members of the Ministry of Painting, after seeing how talented she was in painting. He believed that with her genius in painting, she would be one of the royal painters someday and with this in mind, he adopted her.  He made her wear a man's clothes, and provided everything to develop her talent. At that time, women were not allowed to pursue the art of painting.  

To protect her and her identity, his brother, Shin Young Bok (Lee Joon) always followed her around making sure she's far from harm and from discovery.  Shin Young dared not confess his real feelings for her sister and preferred to exert all effort to support her and to make her happy even at the expense of his life.  To Young Bok, his adopted sister is simply "god".  He gave her unconditional and undying devotion, not sparing any thought for his well-being.  To save his sister, he would willingly lay his life for her, burying his feelings for her and watching her from a distance.

In the beginning, Kim Hong Do was  just so impressed with how talented Yoon Bok was that he could not bear to reveal that she was the one who was behind the painting that made the queen mad.  He could not bear to sacrifice losing her hand and so offered to have his hand destroyed in her stead.  He sent her away to protect her but realizing how her master would protect her, she decided to return and take the responsibility for painting the picture.  

Hearing her confess, Young Bok declared he was the culprit and begged to bear the full responsibility for the painting and to spare his sister.  Hong Do pleaded with the king, telling him that he could not bear to have this kind of talent go to waste that the king devised a plan to force the queen to cancel the harsh punishment. Instead, Shin Young Bok was sent to the place where they mixed paints.  Young Bok was more than happy to bear the consequences for his sister but Yoon Bok was distraught with guilt that her brother will suffer for her.  In her anguish, she also hit her hand with a big stone and lost her drive for painting.  

Hong Do had to carefully draw her out of the shell and make her want to paint again.  It started the journey for the master and disciple towards the pursuit of improving their craft and overcoming overwhelming odds.  Compared to the paintings at that time, both their paintings were lively-spirited, detailed and a lot were very controversial.  Shin Yoon Bok dared to confront the limits of society by painting women which were not allowed at that time.  It was believed that if they painted women, the painter would fall in love with the subject. She went to great lengths to portray every detail which made the paintings come to life and also which brought her to difficult situations for a couple of times.

After so much struggle and drama, Hong Do and Yoon Bok became the royal artists and were commissioned to paint the king's portrait to lift him to a new level. Yoon Bok was striving to please the king in the hopes that she would be able to ask the king to let his brother return to the ministry of painting to be able to paint again. Unfortunately, the paint (ink) to be used for the robe was jeopardized that Young Bok had to mix so much paint to be able to finish the king's portrait. Unbeknownst to Yoon Bok, his brother was poisoned due to mixing too much paint for her that he hallucinated and fell, dying instantly.  He visited her in her sleep and said his goodbye to her.  (This was where I started to cry...bawl was more like it)

Unable to accept his death, she tore the king's painting after hearing the ministers question the quality of the paint used in the portrait, calling it unfit and vulgar.  At that time, all paint to be used for the king's portrait had to be approved prior to being used.  This shocked everyone including the king and made him so furious he ordered to have her head cut.  

Hong Do knelt in front of the gate pleading for an audience with the king.  The king though was too angry he ignored the pleas.  Taunted by the other ministers on his sincerity for pleading for his disciple's life, he threw his precious hand into the fire to show and clamoured for the king to forgive her.  The king moved by the master's love for his disciple, decided to hear Hong Do's plea for her life. (I was just crying right when her brother fell until the final judgement was given. Longest I've cried for any scene. LOL)

Review:

This drama gave me so much pain.  I don't think I have ever cried that much for a drama it became ridiculous. I was crying even before the drama started and still crying even when the scene was no longer that dramatic. I just felt so much for the characters in the show. This show has superb cast and the leads were just awesome. 

I was initially disappointed and worried about the huuuuugeeee age gap between the leads.  I felt it would make the story awkward.  

Also, the parts wherein it showed Yoon Bok's confused towards the feelings she had for the Jeong Hyang (Moon Chae Won) made me cringe and I was almost wanted to literally grab her shoulders and stop her.  Being a genius, both artists had to struggle with so much specially Young Bok.  She was so passionate towards her art, so emotional that she unintentionally endangers everyone who loves her.    

I loved how they showed how the paintings were made and the passion the painters showed in creating their masterpieces that it actually made me want to paint...Unfortunately, painting never agreed with me.

I love his brother's selfless devotion to her, never sparing a thought for his well-being if it means Yoon Bok would be able to continue with her passion for painting.  It was an unrequited love until the end and the only consolation he got was a tearful hug he got from her when he gave her the paint that would ultimately lead to his untimely death.  Everything that Yoon Bok did that was careless was almost always because of her guilt for her brother's sacrifice.  I almost hated her for it because ultimately, Kim Hong Do would have to strive harder, offering his life in exchange for hers, time and time again.
It was evident that Hong Do loved Young Bok with his devotion and selfless offering to follow her wherever she may be.  For all the troubles she brought, she also breathes new life to his paintings and he begun to enjoy life again.   Unfortunately, in the end, all he had is the painting of her and forever be reminded of her absence and his pain.
Having seen so many Korean dramas, there are only a few actors who are able to bring so much emotion and character on screen without overdoing it.  A little quirk of the brow, a mischievous smile, expressive eyes...Moon Geun Young's acting was definitely excellent on this drama.  She brought so many emotions and so many expressions.  She really deserved to be the female protagonist for this drama.
This definitely would be one of my favourite dramas and a sure classic but I'm not sure I would recommend you to watch it unless you're prepared to shed buckets of tears.  Definitely 10 out of 10 stars for me.