My Mister
She crushed a ladybug. This scene set the tone for the following episodes of My Mister, the 2018 tvN Korean drama series created by Studio Dragon (airing on Netlfix). New to Korean TV, l have just stumbled on My Mister and in equal parts, scarred and full of admiration for the shows ensemble cast and their stories.
My Mister , lead character Lee Ji-an played by actor IU.
My Mister follows the relationship between the two main characters portrayed by actors IU and Lee Sun-Kyun. Supplementing the stories of the two lead characters is office politics, family tension and community loyalty. My Mister has a grit that was genuine and having seen a few Korean dramas which seemed to focus on the higher socio economic end of Korean society, My Mister presented a true localised flavour to what its like to struggle day to day, through the grind of life. Weaving in a series of overlapping stories, including a unsettling ‘loan shark’ played by Jang Ki-yong, the relationship of 3 brothers and their mother (played by Go Doo-shim), the connections to the local working class community and the tension of the lead characters wife (played by Lee Ji-ah) having an affair with her husbands boss (played by Kim Yeong-min). This ‘tension’ is married with typical Korean kdrama wackiness, like the 2 brothers (plated by Song Sae-byeok and Park Ho-san) cleaning van constantly tipping over as it drives the local streets and some serious drinking at the local bar (a community drop in). Hats off to shows writer (Park Hae-young) , director (Kim Won-seok) and production team because the best shows are never the result of one or two people.
In searching for more information about My Mister, l found praise from The Alchemist author, Paulo Coehlo, whom said "It was a masterpiece. It’s one of the best works I’ve seen recently. It shows the intricacy of human psychology and has a rich story.” Whilst My Mister is an ensemble cast full of engaging and authentic characters, from my perspective the show was dominated by the acting of IU, whom balanced scary and intimidating with likeable at the same time. As a viewer, we really do want her to win. A dream role for any actor.
S.W