Ep 1 Title: The Wind Blowing through a Willow Tree
Opening scene: a young man leisurely makes coffee for himself. He looks outside the window at a tree shedding leaves.
Next, a woman walks down an empty road with her rolling luggage.
She receives a phone call from a “Headmaster” and disconnects it. She stops by closed bookshop and peeks through glass windows. Nobody’s inside. She looks up and reads the sign on the roof, “Good Night Bookstore.”
Then, at a crossroad, the coffee man spots the woman from the distance. A little boy talks to him and he answers distractedly.
So the boy asks him, “Did you see something? What did you see? A ghost?”
He replies no as he watches the woman walk up the hill toward the Hodu guesthouse.
Now, that’s the hook of this kdrama.
In the first four minutes, the dormant relationship of the two lead characters is introduced to the viewers. The guy, EunSub, is waiting for the girl, HaeWon, to reappear.
For me, that’s the significance of the title of this episode, “The wind blowing through the willow tree.”
When the strong winds has blown away all the leaves from the willow tree, EunSub knows it’s time for HaeWon to blow in herself, and stay a while in their sleepy town. She’s like that famous nanny, Mary Poppins, except that she travels with a bright red luggage instead of carpetbag.
Eunsub writes in his Good Night Bookstore Private Blog Posting. “There’s only one reason why I like winter. The leaves that were covering my window have fallen, so I can now see your window across the street. And because of Christmas and New Year’s Day, you come back to this town and spend a few days here.”
As for Haewon, it’s significant that her first stop was at the bookstore. It’s clear that she knows Eunsub and that she came to see if he was in.
That night of her arrival, she leaves her house at night to walk down a dirt road. She stops in front of a deserted field and stares up at the dark sky. Soon, she’s joined by Eunsub on his bike. She doesn’t seem surprised to see him, although she couldn’t have known that he’d spotted her walking from his window and quickly decided to bike out to where she was to meet her.
But when he reaches her, he doesn’t welcome her home and waits for her to acknowledge him. So they stare at each other until she speaks up first.
HW: Hi.
ES: Hi.
Viewers can’t be faulted for thinking that these two are strangers to each other. Their terse greetings and stoic faces belie their long acquaintance.
HW: Hey. Over there. Those things that look like marshmallows. What are they called? Do you know?
ES: Bales. (pausing) It’s also called silage.
HW: Oh, right. That was the name.
Aside from their perplexing lack of friendliness, the other interesting thing about their nighttime encounter is that EunSub and HaeWon had this same, exact conversation when they were in high school.
He’d been biking when he came across her staring at the bales of hay. She struck up the conversation first.
HW: Hey. Over there. Those things that look like marshmallows. What are they called?
Back then, he’d been startled by her question, thought she was talking to someone else. So he looked around him before replying.
HW: Do you know?
ES: Bales. It’s also called silage.
Eunsub remembered that day clearly because he had written their meeting down in his diary. Word for word. And he had given HaeWon a new name, Irene.
My take here is for the adult Haewon and Eunsub, this conversation about the silage had a special context and a unique meaning for both of them. I suspect that she remembered what those marshmallows were called but she was repeating their old conversation, and pretending she was doing it unintentionally, because that was her way of re-connecting with Eunsub. It was like a secret communication or private joke that only the two of them knew.
That’s why, for me, the little boy wasn’t wrong when he asked EunSub if he’d seen a ghost. EunSub did indeed see a ghost.
You see, he saw a ghost, a ghost that only comes at that time of the year when the cold wind blows through the willow tree. Haewon exists to him as a figment of his memories and an object of his crush. After all these years, he remains tongue-tied and scared to talk to her, like she’s some kind of ghost.
That’s why I thought it was funny when he creeping to her house and she reappeared. He was shocked like he’d seen a ghost.
In addition, Haewon “ghosts” people. She disappears and avoids people at will. Four times, this tendency of hers was displayed in the story. One, when she left the Headmaster in a lurch. Two, when her Aunt was surprised to see her there back home after not hearing a word from her. Three, when she was asked about her mother, and she evaded answering.
And four, when EunSub asked her how long she’d be around.
ES: How long are you staying this time? (avoiding her eyes, pretending nonchalance)
HW: Until spring, I think.
ES: (startled) Spring?
HW: Probably.
ES: (searching for a word to say) See you around.
My take here is that this must be one of her longest stays yet, so EunSub took pains to rein in his excitement. He didn’t want to look like a fool in front of her. That’s why he tossed the car keys at her. He knew she needed a car to get around but he also wanted to look cool (and not pushy) about offering his help.
Overall, the kdrama was pretty. I thought there were unnecessary repetitions of a few events. The director’s objective was most likely to provide a His/Hers perspective but the scenes could have been edited better or just combined to avoid redundancy.
I expect the landscape and the weather to be used extensively in the drama to convey the emotional complexities of the two characters.
For instance, this first view of HaeWon crossing the bridge indicates her “crossing over” to her new, slower-paced life.
And these shots of HaeWon and EunSub with a good deal of space separating them indicate that they weren’t yet comfortable in each other’s company. They’re keeping their distance.
I can’t complain much about the cinematography but I’m not sure I’m in the mood for a meditative work on the healing power of love.
I’ll give this kdrama three more weeks to blow me away.
“ I can’t complain much about the cinematography but I’m not sure I’m in the mood for a meditative work on the healing power of love.
I’ll give this kdrama three more weeks to blow me away.”
😂 Ditto. The cinematography is beautiful. Yes to the mood… I am not sure I am in the hot chocolate with marshmallow (silage) type mood. I struggled to stay awake and concentrate. It is so slow I was almost lulled to sleep.
The first episode was slower what I was expecting but I’m really curious about the characters. So wait and see.
I would say this story is better suited for a movie and not a drama. I’ll just tune in to your reviews instead of watching the drama.
Or maybe I should just binge-watch this?
I can watch everything in one go and fast-forward through everything.
We shall see.
Episode 1 (and 2 so maybe SPOILERS!!)
Searching (and Finding)
I ended up reading this piece here about this show, and a bit of the recap on Dramabeans. I decided I might not mind something moody and heavier since there’s always the fluff of I’ve Fallen for You
So I watched the first 2 episodes and tried to see if there was more to the script than just mood.
The title: I’ll Find You on a Beautiful Day got me thinking that there’d be a theme of searching for something lost or something never had.
Hae Won had lost her immediate family, trust in friends, and her job, and returns to the one place she had friends and a family of sorts, with her grandma.
Eun Seop has family and a settled life, but is alone and unable to admit to liking Hae Won since high school, worse he continually stymies himself and is his own worst enemy in the department of dating Hae Won.
Hae Won’s Aunt seems to have lost her desire to write, to run the guesthouse, and maybe even to live. She wears dark glasses all the time, hiding her true thoughts from herself and from others.
These are people looking for themselves, for a sense of belonging, for courage, for purpose, for warmth and family.
The Wind Blowing Through the Willow Tree
I looked up what a willow tree symbolises: life, balance, growth, harmony and the ability to bend and adjust, to bend as the wind blows without breaking, and regaining it’s more or less upright position.
The wind and willow motif is repeated in the curtains of Hae Won’s window, – which I believe have a pattern of willow leaves on it, – that also blew in the wind when she opened the window. She may have copied her curtain to draw the willow leaf pattern with henna on her hand. (Ep 2)
There is a question/saying: “What wind blew you here?” Might it be too much to read into this that Hae Won has been blown back to her old home, after being blown about and battered in Seoul. She has tried to bend, give way and accept her untenable position in the academy, but is exhausted. However like the willow tree she is still standing.
By contrast, her aunt seems to have given up trying to rebound after whatever strong winds blew at her. (I’m interested to know why Eun Seop calls her by her name, it’s so familiar and impolite for a young man to do so.)
Eun Seop waits for every winter to have Hae Won blow back into his life. He has his leaves blown about chaotically when Hae Won is nearby, but he tries to look disinterested and distant.
Good Night Bookstore
There’s also a theme of being able to sleep well at night as a sign of a good life.
Eun Seop wrote “Sleeping well is a good thing. (So is…) Waking up well, eating well, working well, and getting a good rest. And if you sleep well at night, that is what you call a really good life. So have a good night, everyone.”
The irony is that Eun Seop has insomnia and is posting comments each night on the blog of the World’s Oldest Dispersed Nocturnal Organisation/Good Night Club (I think he means an international Insomniac’s group), but he calls his bookstore good night, when he generally has a bad night. It is also ironic that Hae Won remembered his words about good sleep but then wakes up/or can’t sleep, and ends up at his place more than once.
I think I will continue watching this show to watch for the lifting of the melancholy of the early episodes (the shift in the 2nd episode indicates that this will happen), and to see what the Beautiful Day part of the title refers to.
Come to think of it, there were several instances of rain (and yellow umbrellas!!). Taking the beautiful day to be a metaphor, I guess I’m starting to catch a glimpse of it.
“ The irony is that Eun Seop has insomnia and is posting comments each night on the blog of the World’s Oldest Dispersed Nocturnal Organisation/Good Night Club (I think he means an international Insomniac’s group), but he calls his bookstore good night, when he generally has a bad night. It is also ironic that Hae Won remembered his words about good sleep but then wakes up/or can’t sleep, and ends up at his place more than once.”
Yes I did find that odd. With all his talk about having a “good night (sleep)” as his one goal in life, sleep escapes him. HW on the other hand seems to have less of a problem sleeping? You would think that with his idyllic carefree lifestyle, he would be the one to sleep better as opposed to her with her stressful, dysfunctional life. I thought perhaps it was self inflicted because night was his time to engage in his Walter Mitty life with Irene…hence he never seemed morose when night fell and sleep eluded him…he almost revelled in it? Or it could just be the copious amounts of coffee he imbibes? It was his time to spend recounting Irene. I wonder what he writes about when she’s not there? 🤔
The book that he has multiple copies of is The Wind In The Willows by Kenneth Grahame (not sure why Translators subbed it that way in the drama). The much loved book about pastoral England. And this drama has the same feel about it. Nostalgia. I zoomed in on the book she borrowed and it had Mole and Rat pics on the cover. And he did mutter under his breath that a particular version was his favourite because of the illustrations. I remember not much liking the actual book (which I read aloud to my children), I was far too impatient and wanted more excitement in my literature 😂. Potentially I feel that this drama will have lots of metaphors, motifs and writing material to draw on because it’s blatantly obvious that the writer/PD has taken great pains to instil that in the cinematography and painted scenes. The dreariness and chill in her aunt’s dilapidated guesthouse (winter) contrasting the warmth (promise of spring) of the bookstore (which draws her). Her aunt’s sunglasses (we have yet to see her eyes) which I think are due to migraines she has (but could well be some more serious medical condition). She no longer sees the world with unfiltered eyes…there’s a gloominess and pessimism that shrouds her. The fact that ES maintains his distance from HW even when she asked for his car keys…he tosses them to her. 😂
It’s winter now in the drama. In the past she’s only stayed a few days and left. This time, she’s staying till Spring. She’s blown in this time and potentially staying to thaw out. But yes, everyone in the drama seems to be in some form of hibernation (Winter) and need the Spring awakening in some form or other.
SKJ still doesn’t hit the right notes for me. Usually I would adore reserved characters like ES. A cerebral quiet man with a penchant for verse and a bibliophile to boot? Yes please. 😍. But alas, my cold heart has not been warmed by his ES. I will persist in watching for a few more weeks. Hospital Playlist is coming soon and that’s on my must watch list. I will keep reading here though even if I leave the bucolic shores of Bookhyun Village and sail into the hectic hullabaloo of a city Hospital.
#nrllee You are right to point out that he is far from depressed at night. That is the time he is more chipper, at least in the tone of his blog posts. It is probably accurate in that night is a good time for him, on occasion (Ep 2).
I was noting that HW comes (runs away) from the hustle and injustice of her life in Seoul to the peaceful farming community, but instead of being able to sleep peacefully, she has brought her troubled mind with her. You’re right also in saying that this show is about ‘healing’. And instead of having peaceful nights’ sleep, she seems to end up seeking out ES.
His sister was reading his journal, but it’s not clear if he has been writing about Irene as if he has been interacting with her all the days even when HW was not near. Being a ‘Walter Mitty’ is a pretty good description of him. I’m going to be frustrated by his continual stymieing of his own self, in getting the girl. It’s funny for a while seeing him be his own worst enemy, but will get tiring pretty soon. I have hopes, though, that HW won’t let that continue.
The Wind in the Willows – I never read those tales actually. Glanced at them a bit, and they did not really appeal to me. A group of animal friends more or less in adventures helping each other out, or at least the group helping one trouble-maker, I gather. Maybe HW and ES can find their own little Willow group of friends. They look lonely.
I agree that we are waiting to see these chilled characters warm up in the Spring. Being in hibernation is a pretty apt analogy too.
I’m not enthused about Seo Kang Joon, but will give him a chance. I think a director could help him along. I’d like to see if Park Min Yeong as HW can warm up and improve his ineffectual character.
Ooooh, nice one, Nrllee!
Yes, I heard there were different versions of Wind in the Willows. I didn’t like the book either. None of my brothers liked it, come to think of it. We couldn’t identify with the crazy misadventures. Lol. Even back then, we knew that you play stupid games, you win stupid prizes.
I wonder who Toad would be then. The loopy aunt?
Hospital Playlist should be good. It’s done by the Reply 1988 writer, isn’t it? Just don’t get sucked into the husband-guessing game. 😈
“ Hospital Playlist should be good. It’s done by the Reply 1988 writer, isn’t it?”
Yes. And the premise sounds promising already. It’s called Hospital Playlist because it revolves around 5 friends who just happen to be Doctors (they met in Med School)…and wait for it…they are in (or used to be) a band…Doctors have hobbies too. That’s why the Playlist. Touted to be 3 Seasons. Each with 11 episodes? Just one episode a week. If their past works are anything to go by, then each episode may be more than an hour long? I know Prison Playbook was like that. I really enjoyed that drama too even though I didn’t expect to in the beginning. Same Writer.
I wonder about the Wind in the Willows link. Maybe it’s simply that the theme is nature, seasons and healing friendship. Most of the poems and recitations at the bookshop are linked to nature.
I had heard about Wind in the Willows, but only got familiar with it when someone gave my older daughter a video which turned out to be delightful. Awkward Mole is befriended by wise Ratty (messing about with his boat) who introduces him to confident, brave Otter, reclusive Badger, rich and wild Toad.
Watching this drama, with the characters so bundled up indoors and out against the sort of bitter cold I’ve not experienced since I emigrated, is making me homesick. Here are some words about winter from WitW: “No animal, according to the rules of animal-etiquette, is ever expected to do anything strenuous, or heroic, or even moderately active during the off-season of winter.” An excuse to watch dramas if I ever heard one.
I didn’t like this drama at first; the cinematography was beautiful but the story seemed too slow. However, the twists and links in the characters’ histories became more and more interesting. I’ll keep watching for a while longer.
I read Wind in the Willows. 😂 Will talk about it in Ep 2 review.
Plus the Sartie music.
And the two poems.
And the past perfect.
Just let me survive today….🤣
Also, if you read the book, the title is 😂 a hoax. There was no wind blowing through the willow. But there was wind through the reeds. 😈🤣
Mole and Toad tied their boat to a willow tree. That’s it. 😂😂
I’ll explain later.
Aww you poor thing. They’re making you work you hard? 🤪
Here have a cookie 🍪🍪🍪 and coffee ☕️
I’m still not sure about this drama. I’ll wait for your episode 2 review.
I am up to Ep4. This drama is littered with metaphors and motifs, and coupled with the mellow background music…it is obviously a labour of love (lots of research and painstaking camera work). So there is A LOT you can write about. BUT you need to be in a contemplative writing mood. It puts you in that zen mode, much like a meander through a monastery. Somber, cloistered, serene, meditative.
I love EunSub as a character – he’s my kind of man… but much as I adore the character, I still cannot warm to SKJ’s portrayal of him. For some reason his face seems frozen (I think that’s why I could put up with him as a robot) and he’s just not coming across convincingly as dorky, awkward and reserved. He’s just coming across as a robot? He doesn’t feel real at all? Maybe I am too harsh. I am supposed to feel sad for his character…or at least there are hints of it in the recent episodes…but I am not? Sigh…I am trying so hard to like him because there really is NOTHING to dislike about EunSub. It just isn’t happening for me. He’s so non-confrontational that he talks in 3rd party via prose and narratives. Cryptic to the extreme. No wonder the penny only drops for poor HW much later in the piece. 🤣. You will see what I mean in Ep3/4.
@nrllee, I rather like Eun-Seob. I think the actor has him down correctly. He is someone who is very cautious and inhibited in many ways and is, or has become, an observer. I’m not familiar with his other dramas, but I find that this actor’s face works well for a vulnerable character. When he’s not being observed, that is. When he is with HW, he has his give-nothing-away face on because he is so afraid of scaring her away.
I’ve got the song “Good Night Irene” stuck in my head. I didn’t understand why he called her that until ep. 3 and the river scene. Also this in my brain: Gymnopédie No. 1 by Erik Satie. Do you suppose they recorded it with too much pedal on purpose to distort it (or was it just the version I saw)?
I also like Lee Jae-wook as Lee Jang-woo. I thought this actor stole the show in ‘Search: www’. He has a lot of potential.
@packmule3, I am looking forward to your ep. 2. I hope that you accomplished all that you wished yesterday.
I really like this drama. It’s very slow but you have the time to focus on the details. The characters are enigmas you want to “solve”. I love the book club, the fact they have different age make it cute.
I like the actors. I think both PMY and SKJ are good in their roles, I like their chemistry too. PMY’s aunt and now the mother are so interesting.
It’s slow but I’m really excited to know more about all of them. It sucks because there will have no episode the next Monday 🙁
Watched episode 1, here’s what liked :
– the family eating together and ES being teased by his sister about having a girlfriend
– I laughed out loud when ES’ sister asked him whether Irene is HW when she saw them while she was biking 😁
– when ES said outright that he liked HW during the reunion
– their houses being walking distance from each other
Everyone was right that this drama is slow and at times for me the music is pensive but I’m interested in how their relationship will develop. I feel for ES for having the longest crush ever. ☺️ He was sweet already tending to her needs when she got locked out of her house, towel/coffee/jacket.
I’ll wait for your 2nd review and watch from there. I recognised Jessica from Vagabond as HW’s Aunty. 😊 She’s intriguing with wearing glasses all the time. 🤔
Are you kidding me? Is HW’s Auntie that Jessica from Vagabond???
Yup! 😄
That’s a shocker.
I could only see her dark glasses. I totally ignored her face.
I probably just recognised her because I finished Vagabond 🤦🏻♀️ So sad. 😆
Just started watching this (finished ep 2). Yes, the pace is slow, but I’m still intrigued to see where the story leads. I just finished What’s Wrong With Secretary Kim, which stars Park Min-Young so I’m interested to see her acting range in this series. I was thinking that HW’s Aunt wears the sunglasses b/c of her headaches–my gf wears sunglasses when she gets headaches.
How did you like What’s Wrong with Secretary Kim?
@packmule3 – What’s Wrong with Secretary Kim? was entertaining. I found it to be the run of the mill Americanized rom-com. I guess if you don’t want to think in-depth into anything; this would suffice.
Thanks, John_L.