Sometimes an OP gushes about the cinematography of a kdrama when all she really means is that the landscape is beautiful. I think it’s a misconception that does a disservice to a cinematographer’s craft. He doesn’t only film bamboo groves, rapeseed fields, and distant horizons for beauty. He also chooses colors, lighting, texture, and a myriad of details to create a tableau that visually conveys what the scriptwriter has written in plain words. A scene isn’t randomly selected because it’s beautiful. It’s designed to add subtleties to the narrative.

Take for instance these following scenes widely raved for being picturesque.

I think there’s a common thread here: the growing romance between the two main characters. Here’s my explanation.

This scene was from the first episode.

After bandaging Lee Yul’s bloodied arm with her red hair ribbon, young YiSeo began to walk toward a forest wonderland of cherry blossom trees. Lee Yul trailed behind her, lighting her path with a lantern. Their path was strewn with flowers, and overhead, the branches sagged with the weight of blooming cherry blossoms. She reached out a hand to catch a drifting petal.

Now, to me, this scene was lovely because it evoked a popular Korean saying, “Let’s walk along the road with flowers.” 

To walk on flowers means to walk with good fortune or blessings. This “Let’s walk along the road with flowers” expresses a sincere wish for you to be happy and successful in the future. Or if you know of that song “White Christmas,” it’s similar to “May your days be merry and bright!” 😂

To me, the cinematography here underscored young Lee Yul’s innocent marriage proposal to Yoon YiSeo. He told her that he liked her and that he’d marry her. Essentially, he was promising her a happy future together when they grew up.

The choice of scenery and the season was appropriate because it was springtime and love was in the air, just like their love was set to blossom.

And his lantern was the right prop, too. She was leading the way, but in turn, he was LIGHTING her way.

Now, this next scene was from the third episode.

They had an honest, heart-to-heart conversation in the water mill. HongShim confessed her urgent need to be married to him or be doomed as a spinster, a concubine, or worse, a wife of a detestable guy.

This time around, the tables were turned. HongShim was the one to propose. WonDeuk didn’t exactly commit to her proposal, but he allowed himself to be dragged off to the town center for the shot-gun marriage.

To me, the colors of the landscape matched the characters here.

She was wearing vivid colors, red and green, while the field of rapeseed flowers was startlingly bold — just like her proposal and her lie about spending the night at the water mill. She often behaved impetuously, and that creepy Lord Park was attracted to her “feistiness.”  She was in a hurry to get married before sundown while WonDeuk was ambling along.

In contrast, WonDeuk was wearing white because he was about to get married. He wore white because he was a clean slate; his mind spotless. He had no inkling of the past, and his future was blank, too, and totally dependent on  HongShim to lead him down the right path.

And that’s why I think this panoramic scene was fitting. The view of the hillside was breathtakingly spectacular but it was also frightening — just like their marriage.

On one hand, HER marriage to WonDeuk gave her a brighter future, much brighter than the one awaiting her had she become a concubine. But THEIR marriage was also frightening because it involved just the two of them living together to face the great big unknown future.

Could they really make it work?  Their marriage was precipitated by HongShim’s boldness and deception rather than a mutual commitment. HongShim took advantage of his helpless situation.

Lastly, this scene from Episode 6.

To me, this scene showed the progression of their romance. This scene was after WonDeuk found HongShim drunk and upset with him.

A few days earlier, WonDeuk spotted her hugging a male stranger in the market and he began secretly testing her to gauge her feelings for the other man.

He observed her staring at the moon and waiting outside their house. He noticed that she refused to meet his gaze, as if she was guilty. Then, he puzzled over her reason for making him stay at home and wait up for her mysterious stranger.  He lied to her and told her that the stranger had arrived and left in order to check her reaction and confirm his suspicion. He concluded rationally, but mistakenly, that she was waiting for a lover.

When she confessed that she was waiting for her long-lost brother, he felt relieved. He offered his hand in commiseration but she rejected it. So he chased after her and grabbed her hand to hold it. Then, they walked in the night, with him leading her by the hand.

Now, if we compare this scene to the field of yellow rapeflowers and to the forest of cherry blossoms, this one is darker and more somber.  Their pretty clothes are gone. They wear shabby clothes now.

But the difference in settings and their clothing matched the sequence of event. They had promised to marry when they were kids so everything was springtime and pastel colors. They married when they were older, at the peak of their maturity (or immaturity for Lee Yul, lol) and their colors matched their personality.

Now, they were settling into their marriage. There’s something comforting in holding hands with your spouse as you stroll home at night.  

To me, the whole point of the camera highlighting their hands,

at first, zooming in on their clasped hands,

then, focusing on their silent awareness of their hands entwined together,

and finally panning out but still using their joint hands as the FOCAL point or the center of the screen,

was to emphasize that they finally connected as a couple. They’ve become united together.

See that? This is what cinematography does to the script. It adds nuance, context, depth.

So next time somebody mentions “Awesome cinematography!” go ahead and ask her to explain what she means by that. You’ll be surprised to hear the answer.

🙂