War of Money / Money Warfare
by javabeans
SBS’s new Wednesday-Thursday drama, War of Money (쩐의 전쟁), kicked off to a healthy ratings start in the 16%-17% range, then jumped up to above 24% for its second episode. That’s enough of a leap to be considered noteworthy. (And anything above 20% in its first week is quite a feat.)
This drama had quite some buzz leading up to its premiere, probably mostly due to the casting of lead actor Park Shin Yang, who is perhaps best known for his role in Lovers in Paris. As for me, the only actor I’m familiar with is Shin Dong Wook, from Cloud Stairway and Soulmate.
SONG OF THE DAY
War of Money OST – “Simple Life” by Sweet Sorrow
[ zShare download ]
PRODUCTION
Director Jung Tae Yoo / 정새유 :: Bad Family, 101st Proposal
Writer Lee Hyang Hee / 이향희 :: Solace, Loveholic
Official website: http://tv.sbs.co.kr/warofmoney/
CAST
Park Shin Yang / 박신양 :: Lovers in Paris
Park Jin Hee / 박진희 :: Come Back, Soon Ae
Kim Jung Hwa / 김정화 :: Something about 1%, Into the sunlight, Snow White
Shin Dong Wook / 신동욱 :: Soulmate, Goodbye Sadness, Cloud Stairway
First broadcast: May 16
Here’s the thing. Episode 1 of War of Money pissed me off. I almost quit entirely because I figured it wasn’t healthy for my blood pressure.
It’s not a bad show. The director is competent, the acting is good. It’s the story that got my blood boiling. I’m sure it was meant to, but I didn’t respond to it.
The setup is this: A man (Park Shin Yang’s Geum Na Ra character) lives a nice life with a lovely family. Gorgeous, caring girlfriend Lee Cha Yeon. Younger sister getting happily married. Decent job. (He has an interesting choice of name, since Na Ra is traditionally feminine. His father explains that he named him Na Ra because of its meaning — “nation” — hoping for his son’s successful future.)
But his sister’s wedding is ruined by loan sharks who come to collect money from Na Ra’s father, and they realize his father’s indebted up to his eyeballs. Or more. He’s so in debt his shadow owes rent. The amount is in excess of 500 million won and the house is being repossessed. Na Ra’s father runs away, naively believing that if he disappears, the lenders will leave his family alone. (But it sure is cowardly.) His mother collapses from the strain and requires surgery. Na Ra’s denied a bank loan. Nobody will lend him money, and he’s bordering on being fired. He’s desperate. Life sucks.
Initially, he rejects money offered by his rich girlfriend Cha Yeon. But with the situation spiraling out of control, he asks for her help. She happily offers, but her grandmother (who was in Bad Family and just finished up her role in Hello! Miss) has always disliked Na Ra, and offers him the money if he will leave Cha Yeon. He refuses.
But then, he gets the call that the hospital is about to kick their mother out without surgery. They don’t even have a house to return to. What to do?
So Na Ra takes the deal. Upon hearing about this, Cha Yeon goes to Na Ra to try to reason with him — she knows why he was forced into this. But Na Ra tells her he means it. He didn’t know he was the type of guy who could sell out his love for money, but right now he needs money more than her. And as one last parting insult, he asks Cha Yeon as she’s leaving him if she has any money she can lend him. (One of the few scenes I really liked, because it was so ballsy and desperate.) She flings all the cash she’s carrying at him, then stalks off in a fury.
Oh yeah, and then his father dies. Presumably suicide.
There’s more that goes on — the female lead, Seo Ju Hee (played by Park Jin Hee) is perhaps the only character I remotely like (and I find the actress stunning, in a girl-next-door way), but her problems are also entirely money-based and somewhat cliched (“I don’t trust men anymore; I only trust money”).
I appreciate a thematically relevant drama, but it felt like the series was trying to hammer in the “money warfare” theme a little too hard. We get it. But my biggest block with this series is entirely a personal-opinion issue, NOT a quality issue. Judge for yourselves if you like it, because I’m sure some will. I just personally found it too depressing. Everything seemed so real (just more dire). Maybe I’m too used to seeing or hearing about people’s money desperations and woes in real life to find any entertainment value in watching it unfold onscreen.
But this may perhaps explain the appeal of the show to Koreans (aside from sadomasochism?) — these private loans and debts are a huge problem in Korean society these days, and I’m sure everyone can relate, sadly enough.
After vowing not to watch any more after the first episode, I decided to give the show another try. Partly because I wanted to see Shin Dong Wook act as a coldhearted badass and partly because I loved the PD’s prior work Bad Family (which is another show that started slow but ended up fantastic).
So I watched Episode 2, and it IS a little less with the hissy-fitting and a little more with the proactive bootstraps-pulling — but not before we kick Na Ra down some more:
His mother dies too, Na Ra loses everything, becomes homeless, and constantly runs from the loan sharks. His sister (Song Hye Gyo’s friend from Full House) sells herself to a hostess bar because she can’t stand being a burden to her new husband and her brother.
Na Ra begs a famous moneylender for money advice, and embarks in Karate Kid-like lessons on the meaning of money and human nature.
It got better, but overall my opinion didn’t change.
This is a decent show. But I don’t like it. That’s all right with me. I’m sure there will be some people who love the show for reasons that I dislike it. It looks poised to become a sure hit, so I foresee lots of continued press and attention given to War of Money.
With S2 will be fansubbing this drama (you can check on the wiki site for updates on subbing status) so if this is your cup of tea, enjoy.
Tags: first episodes, Kim Jung-hwa, Park Jin-hee, Park Shin-yang, Shin Dong-wook, War of Money
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1 Sal
May 18, 2007 at 2:25 PM
Interesting how it starts out with a kick in the stomach. I wonder if it's like those reverse melodrama/comedies which start out funny but end sad. Perhaps this one starts out sad and ends funny!
So many good dramas being released this year! Thanks for covering some of them!
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2 Ter
May 18, 2007 at 5:51 PM
The premise of this drama does not appeal to me. And the whole drama in general seems like its aimed at middle aged to older aged audiences. Anyways, I'm still trying to catch up on Dal Ja and get started on Thank You.
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3 wandergirl
May 18, 2007 at 11:16 PM
Oops, you linked a cap from Flowers for My Life-- http://javabeans.files.wordpress.com/2007/05/18-020.jpg
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4 javabeans
May 19, 2007 at 10:39 AM
thanks wandergirl, that's fixed now. wordpress sometimes does that to me. i've got to keep an eye on that.
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5 ginnie
May 19, 2007 at 1:03 PM
Sarah..there is another capture that's not supposed to be in Episode Eight QSS Summary. I was reading summaries again due to my QSS withdrawal and found that that cap was mis-linked.
WOW..War of Money's ratings are really high. Those ahjummas and their remotes.
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6 javabeans
May 19, 2007 at 2:04 PM
thank you ginnie! sigh, i have got to figure out a better system for naming my caps. wordpress gets confused even though i've tried to be careful. i've literally got thousands of pics so you can see how that would be a pain to do each manually. i think i'm okay for now though...
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7 young hoon
May 20, 2007 at 2:03 AM
where did you download the Money Warfare OST(Simple Life)? pls send to my mail..........
and may you please download the whole episode and send to me
thanks.........
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8 jiangzemin
May 20, 2007 at 6:03 PM
thanks for the review, for all those same reasons, the drama depresses me. but i'm still interested in the story 'cause park shin yang is so desperate and real. like asking his girlfriend for money as she's leaving, and taking out the pagoda with a sledgehammer. it's so ballsy and crazy. i get the feeling once they stop throwing more awful stuff his direction, i'll like this drama a lot more. i'm kind of hoping you'll stick it out too, 'cause i'd like to read your opinion about it.
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9 joyce
May 21, 2007 at 11:45 PM
yes.. ginnie those ahjummas and their remotes..
i just watched this.. and it was very well-paced
hahaha
and it was very cruel and in-your-face...
thats the reasons why i really like the first two episodes
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10 ginnie
May 24, 2007 at 12:23 AM
Those ahjummas love this storyline as well as the actors I think. The actors look mature enough for the audience, perhaps?
This is crazy...I just read the third episode got even higher ratings..8% higher than its debut's ratings...CRAZY. I think it might go above 30% and become one of those 2007 hits. Right now, I think, only two modern mini series are doing that well in ratings..My Man's Woman (theme:adultery, revenge, marriage--competitor: HIT, Flowers of Life) and War of Money (theme: money, love, selfishness--competitor:Devil, Meri-Daegu) . Both of them are with older, more experienced actors compared to their competitors of the same time slot and deals with emotional family-type themes.
haha..I don't know why...i think the ratings in korea are very bizarre.
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11
May 24, 2007 at 9:00 PM
I am not an ajumma but I just saw the first episode (which was quite mad) and I'm looking forward to seeing the entire series :D It looks like it will be quite interesting. hahaha.
I generally don't like the first episodes of most dramas because most can't find interesting ways to introduce the characters (Hotelier was a snoozefest) so may end up being rather bizzare. This episode was okay by those standards and I must say that I'm looking forward to seeing how the story unfolds :)
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12 knuts
May 26, 2007 at 10:29 PM
I must say, I am also not partifcularly fond of the first 3 or 4 eps of this serie. Was very surprised to learn about the high ratings. It must be the theme of this drama, since the story is bit hmmm so far. I find it a bit hard to digest that the mail lead Kim Na Ra would actually sink so low as to eat from garbage bins. Could he not even get a job as a cleaner?
Though, still watching and hoping for better times. I think/hope it is getting better after ep 4. I guess 4 eps were used to introduce the characters and create the setting, but would have been better to my taste if they had shorten that to 1 or 2 eps.
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13 infiniti512
May 29, 2007 at 5:22 PM
I'm just happy to see Shin Dongwook but the drama is a bit sad and over the top. I hope it gets better.
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14 kiwee
May 31, 2007 at 3:37 PM
I'm not an ajumma and i love this drama; i find it hilarious. puhaha its one of those i actually laugh out loud.
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15 kiwee
May 31, 2007 at 3:42 PM
and i also dont think ratings are bizarre. sometimes they're an accurate representation of my views of some dramas. but then again sometimes theyre not.
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16 younh hoon
June 3, 2007 at 12:46 AM
I like the drama I think its good thats why I think it deserve the rating......
may you pls give me the lyrics of Simple Life.....
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17 haezi
June 5, 2007 at 11:48 PM
love this series. it's not another typical romance and the plot is rarely slow. i love how park shin yang's character manages to find solutions to everyone's money problem except for his own. it's the first time i actually enjoy watching him on television. he may be a little awkward in some parts but his charisma is a force to be reckoned
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18 josephine
June 8, 2007 at 1:54 AM
i reli reli love this drama...so far i've finish watching until episode 2...Reli reli hope that you will write the sypnosis on this drama...
The story line are fresh and it's also different...
i reli reli appreciated if you decide to write the episode summary because i simply love the way you summarise all the korean drama...
looking forward to it!!!
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19 josephine
June 8, 2007 at 1:55 AM
Pls pls.....I hope you will consider to summarise the episode summary
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20 Philippa
June 11, 2007 at 8:31 PM
I'm going to start watching this drama and reading your summaries after my exams this week! Thanks a lot again. I hope you keep writing the summary for this, if this drama is good, I'm not sure if it is though. lol. My Korean friend told me it's good. But please prioritize Flowers of my Life, Air City and Bad Couple! Thanks again!
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21 Goofyfooter
June 19, 2007 at 3:48 PM
I had the same initial reaction. It was quite maddening. I was going to stop without even finishing the first episode. How that quickly changed. It's an interesting critique on individual greed for money and many facets of the Korean social norm. There were many religiously significant scenes. Destruction of the pagoda after the mother's death: You shall have no other gods before Me. Na Ra's drunking tirade and his citation of the Camel and the Eye of a Needle. Na Ra, after finding out that his loan-shark boss was responsible for his father's debt, steals a street umbrella. He rests the umbrella on the back of his neck with his arms on each side (much like Christ on the cross). He then shouts that he will judge everyone. There is more.... In the end, I suspect the writer's intent is to convey his religious message to the nation (or na ra). I find this drama thought provoking.
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22 bumfromkorea
June 20, 2007 at 1:25 PM
It is quite realistic show... and dear Christ knows Korean dramas can use realism these days.
What's interesting is that the original work it is based on is often describes as "a story of a man destroyed by his obsession with money". I wonder how that'll work out in this... (the two girls aren't even in the original story, so... we'll see ^^)
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23 samm
June 25, 2007 at 11:12 AM
i was just wondering where you could download the whole money's warfare ost cd. because i really love all the songs
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24 sam yoon
June 28, 2007 at 11:01 AM
me too. about the ost cd.
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25 Anonymous
June 28, 2007 at 7:16 PM
It must be the theme of this drama, since the story is bit hmmm so far. I find it a bit hard to digest that the mail lead Kim Na Ra would actually sink so low as to eat from garbage bins. Could he not even get a job as a cleaner?
Actually, I think this drama�s story is extremely well-written and fast-paced. Also, I think the reason that it appeals to so many Koreans (myself included XD) is because that many people can relate to this, sadly (as someone else mentioned). Many people in Korea have suffered under �sachae� (money-lenders), and there are probably many people who have similar stories to that of Geum Nara. This drama also, like many other K-Dramas, draws upon things like family values and honor, which many Koreans can also relate to. Anyway, I really, really, enjoyed the first few episodes, and I can�t wait to watch the entirety of this show!
(He has an interesting choice of name, since Na Ra is traditionally feminine. His father explains that he named him Na Ra because of its meaning � �nation� � hoping for his son�s successful future.)
This doesn�t really matter, but it was something that bugged me. Actually, Nara�s full name, �Geum Nara�, can mean �obtain money�, and I�m pretty sure it isn�t relevant to �nara� meaning �nation�. His last name, �Geum�, means �gold�, or money, in Korean.
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