The Hidden Angle l 'When the Weather is Fine', 'A Piece of Your Mind' portray moods and feelings like paintings
'When the Weather is Fine' and 'A Piece of Mind' are two shows that are currently being aired on JTBC and tvN in South Korea. The only similarity between the two shows is the way both of them paint the lead characters' struggle with depression, loneliness and even grief. It is not even the visual portrayal that is similar but how the two shows manage to paint melancholy that results from feelings of grief, loneliness and depression so beautifully.
Let's take 'When the Weather is Fine' for example, starring Park Min-young and Seo Kang-joon, this show is about two individuals, each struggling to come to terms with the trauma that was inflicted upon them when they were younger. Hae-won (Min-young) had to leave the city and return to her grandmother's place in Hyecheon because her mother was jailed for murdering her father. It was self-defense due to domestic abuse, yet Myeong-yu, Hae-won's mother claims that she killed her husband and so ends up in prison.
Eun-seop (Kang-joon), on the other hand, was abandoned by his mother and a while later, by his father. His uncle continues to tell him that he is meant to live alone and that it runs in their family to abandon people they love. Eun-seop had been found by Hwi's father in the woods fortunately or he might not have survived very long. Every moment of his life, Eun-seop contemplates his every move. Warmth, love and affection bring him discomfort because he worried that all of it will disappear just like the first time. Now, Hae-won and Eun-seop have fallen in love.
The journey to this moment was filled with silent moments, soft cello music in the background as visuals of a cold sleepy town was used multiple times to reflect the mood of the lead characters. Hyecheon is known to be beautiful in winter but the town is cold and harsh most of the time more than being beautiful and it is befitting of where the characters are in their life.
As the two begin to open up to each other and break the walls around their hearts, we see more of the ice in the town thawing. There is snowfall as well in between which captures the heart of show which is to go to the person you love 'When the Weather is Fine'. Is it not just the weather that is used as a metaphor in the show, but beautiful strains of music, especially the cello, plays in the background at different moments. Then there is the somber mood that is set by the characters themselves who are subtle, discussing the most painful moments in the form of poetry and prose that they love and all of it ties in the mood of melancholy.
Then, we have 'A Piece of Your Mind' which premiered only very recently but has already captured the attention of fans with its interesting setup. A young boy, Moon Ha Won (Jung Hae-in), and a girl Kim Ji Soo (Park Joo Hyun) fall in love when the two turn out to be the only Korean residents in Oslo, Norway. However, their relationship takes an unexpected turn when Ha Won's mother passes away and he had to leave Ji Soo behind. In the time that it takes Ha Won to go to college and pursue education, Ji Soo falls in love with another Korean boy who lived in the town and Ha Won and Ji Soo's relationship gets frayed.
Ha Won hasn't given up on his love for Ji Soo and believes that he can live as long as he can have just a piece of Ji Soo with him. That is how Seo-woo (Chae Seo-bin), a music programmer gets involved with him. She is hired to procure the voice of Ji Soo for an AI program that Ha Won has created. Ji Soo's untimely death is what brings Seo-woo and Ha Won close and the way these two overcome their grief is what is painted in the initial episodes of 'A Piece of Your Mind'.
The road that your loved one walked, walking the same road in their absence after they have passed, would bring you a form of comfort is expressed in a touching manner. The songs that Ji Soo listened to, the sights that she saw -- all of this is painted with pastels and most of the initial scenes take place at the rise of the sun or when it sets. It is as if the beginning of relationships and its end are being marked. Then there is a scene of both Ha Won and Ji Soo watching the shadows play on the ceiling, against marked by the movement of the sun. The shadows ebb and flow is another indication of the ebb and flow of Ha Won and Ji Soo's relationship. The grief here doesn't take dark tones and especially no grays because despite what many believe, even overcoming grief is beautiful.
'The Hidden Angle’ is a weekly column examining narratives, frames and sounds that add value to movies and shows but are not part of conversations surrounding their success or failure. The column will be published Fridays.