I said in the “What Are You Watching” October thread that my primary reason for watching this kdrama is Yoo In Shik the director. He directed:

“Vagabond” (2019) which I dropped because of the script,
“Extraordinary Attorney Woo” (2022) which I didn’t watch for obvious reason, and
The “Dr. Romantic” series. I watched Season 3 in 2023.

I just have enough time to discuss the Opening Scene.

1. The opening montage

Right from the beginning, I’m sensing deception.

The montage of old clippings show a painful time in Korea’s history when the Japanese occupied their land. I’ll highlight a few clips:

a. The clip of a smiling old man wearing a straw hat and white hanbok and smoking a long pipe.

Back in 1919, Japanese military police were arresting and targeting elderly Korean men who were wearing this traditional attire.

Why?

Because the colonizers wanted Koreans to assimilate their culture. They wanted to stamp out the “inferior” Korean lifestyle.

b. the clips of the elephant and monkeys in cages.

To audience unfamiliar with Korean history, the clips look inoffensive. Zoos are fun places to visit, right?

But there’s a missing context here. Back in 1909, the Japanese colonizers converted one of the Joseon palaces, the Changgyeonggung – which was the primary residence of the royal family – into a zoo in a not-so-subtle move to degrade the Korean monarchy and, in effect, humiliate the Korean people.

My point here is that the opening montage is a reminder of the annexation of Korea by Japan. But as grim as the images are, they are counterpointed, no, NEGATED by the PLAYFUL ragtime music.

To me, this editing is great directorial choice.

Why?

Because it underscores the theme of lies, deception, and political illusions in this kdrama. The opening scene sets out to deceive us viewers. We’re being conditioned to ignore our “lying” eyes and to go with the flow of the happy music. The music is tricking us into thinking that what we’re seeing is upbeat, hopeful, and even, swinging times when, in fact, the conditions shown in the montage are the reasons behind the surging resistance movement against the Japanese.

2. The Keijo train station

Let’s now observe how the opening montage transitions into the present narrative timeline, the Spring of 1932.

There’s a grainy footage of a black-and-white tram passing in front of Seoul Station and this tram suddenly morphs into a blue-grey tram.

As far as I know, this technique of connecting two scenes with a visual object is called a “graphic match cut.” This match cut works for me because I get the symbolism of the tram. It tells me that political change is on its way. Whether one wants to get on board the national resistance or not, the movement is coming.

When the tram exits to the right of the screen, our heroine is revealed standing in front of the train station with her back is turned to the camera. She’s wearing a black cloche hat, and an orange, Western-style coat dress. She’s filmed in sharp focus while the background is blurry.

To me, her pose is artistically chosen to show scale. In the grand scheme of things, she’s merely an accidental player. She’s just a small-time pickpocket about to be swept up in a big movement that’s unfolding inside the train station.

Now, the train station is called Keijo Station in Japanese or Gyeongseong Station in Korean.

Sidenote: In those days, Seoul Station was the primary gateway for Japan’s invasion of Manchuria, China. In fact, the signboard on the train in Episode 1 indicated its two terminals, Keijo and Hoten. Hoten became a POW camp in Manchuria during World War II.

Anyway, to get back on track here…

Keijo is an interesting word. We know that it’s the Japanese colonial name for Gyeongseong.

Keijo = Gyeongseong = Seoul

But depending on how it’s written (or its “kanji”), the word can have other meanings. I think two of them are relevant to the story.

a. From a financial context, the word “keijo” means “appropriation” or “summing up,” as in “to appropriate funds” or “to sum up the budget.”

The Keijo station then is an appropriate hang-out for a pickpocket like our female lead. She “appropriates” or steals other individuals’ possessions without permission.

b. The word “keijo” also means “competing women” or “competitive girl.”

In this episode, we can easily spot the two women with competing interests. On one side, there’s Yoo SoRan (SR) who has a suicide mission to accomplish, and on the other side, there’s our young female lead Lee GaGyeon (GG) who needs money to finance her escape to America. Their interests clash and interfere with each other.

Of the two women, I think GG is the more “competitive girl.”

Given that we have two competing women, I see the Keijo station as a symbolic divider between the two women. It should have separated the two females and kept them in their respective lanes, so to speak. GG can flit on one side of the platform, pilfering from her clueless victims with her sidekick, while SR stands behind her husband, closing in on her prey, the Japanese Inspector General. Their two worlds would not have collided if GG had stayed in her own lane. But after stealing SR’s luggage, she embroils herself in a situation of massive national consequence.

3. The hidden faces

Did you notice them?

In keeping with the theme of lies, deception, and subterfuge, the director initially conceals the faces of the main characters from the viewers.

Let’s take GG first.

As I mentioned earlier, her back is turned to the camera. As she begins walking, the camera focuses on her heels and her leather bag. When the camera moves in front, her face is blurred. Then, it’s covered by passersby.

The concealment of her teases our curiosity. We want to know what kind of person she is.

But when her face is finally revealed to us, she steps on poop. She looks down at her shoe, says “Aish!” in disgust, then wipes off the poop on the ground. All the while, she keeps smiling. She reassures herself, “Something good better be coming my way today.”

To me, this moment reveals three things about her character:

One, she doesn’t look where she’s going. It’s not because she’s clumsy. It’s because she’s so single-minded about her objective (i.e., stealing) that she tunes out her physical environment, and danger in front of her.

Two, she’s superstitious and believes in her good luck.

Three, she has a can-do attitude. She’s resilient and focused on the job.

Afterwards, she heads for the station with a bounce in her step. Her cheerful face and jaunty movement match the happy background music. Clearly, she’s putting on an act here. She must look like she doesn’t have a care in the world so nobody will mistake her for a petty crook.

Next, there’s SoRan (SR).

Like with GG, the director also conceals her face in the beginning.

The camera shows the faces of passengers aboard the train; they’re excited to disembark. Then, it zooms in on the back of SR’s motionless head before focusing on her hands. She opens her purse, pushes aside a burgundy American passport, and takes out a ring and puts it on.

Two comments:

a. Her husband Philip Yoo must have gotten her the passport. In all likelihood, this passport functions as a Chekhov’s gun. Meaning, it’s introduced right now because it will later play an important role in the story. Perhaps GG will end up using it to escape to America.

b. The fact that SoRan put on the ring at the last moment tells me that she views the ring nothing more than a prop. She isn’t really in love with Philip. She’s putting on a performance like GG.

When the train comes to a standstill, she stands up with one hand on her belly and another hand reaching for her luggage. Her male seatmate, noticing her baby bump, offers to get it down from the rack for her. Instantly, she lays her hands on the luggage to stop him.

Two comments:

a. This is when the director finally reveals her face. Just like GG’s face is exposed when she stepped on poop, SR’s face is revealed when she panics that her bag is about to be taken away.

b. GG is a better actress than SR. To me, SR gave the game away when she instantly let go of her baby bump and placed both hands on the luggage. Her action told me that protecting her luggage is more crucial to her than protecting her supposed baby in the womb. What kind of mother does that? 🤣

In comparison, GG stayed in character when she stepped on the poo. She never stopped smiling; she carried on her carefree act until the end.

Then, there’s also the Japanese Inspector General, Sato Shiniki.

Like with the two women, the director also conceals Shiniki’s face when he first appears in the story. Not only is Shiniki’s back facing the camera but he’s also backlit so all the viewers can see is his silhouette. To me, his silhouette reinforces the impression that he’s the bête noire or the bane of Koreans’ existence.

As with GG, the camera focuses on his tailored pinstripe pants and shiny patent shoes before his face is shown. Funnily enough, the band’s marching song for Shiniki reminds me of music played for Darth Vader.

His face is finally revealed when a little girl offers him a bouquet of flowers as a welcome gift. To me, that’s what he’s hiding. He acts like he’s kind to children, but in truth, he can shoot an innocent child dead in cold blood.

Aside from the Shiniki, the faces of Interpreter Suzuki and Sato Hideo are also initially hidden.

In the case of Suzuki, his face is just a face in the crowd, gathered to welcome the Inspector General. Then, when the camera shifts to the side, it captures solely his side view. After that, he’s blocked by other bystanders. Then the camera is moved right behind his shoulder to give a close-up of Shiniki.

I think it’s amusing that the director went to great lengths to hide his face from the viewers.

As for Sato Hideo, when GG first sees him, he’s behind the door, wrapping his younger sister in a fur stole. She can barely see his whole face.

Sato Hideo, Suzuki, Shiniki, SoRan, and GaGyeong. I interpret all their concealed faces as a sign that they are hiding something. They’re engaged in various forms of lies and deception. That’s why the director went an extra mile to hide them.

The only two faces of major characters not hidden from first sight in this opening scene are:

Philip Yoo, the Korean-American reporter from Hawaii, and
Fukuda, the Chief of Police

I interpret this to mean that the motivations, loyalties and true natures of these character are plain to see. Philip Yoo is obviously in love with SR and will do anything for her. And Fukuda is, of course, the villain in this story.

4. Who’s winner in the first encounter?

Clearly, the winner in the opening scene is GG. Because of her quick thinking and resourcefulness, she leaves the train station with stolen valuables and SR’s luggage.

Will move on to other kdramas.