Sending off East of Eden

162 March 9, 2009

by javabeans

With East of Eden finally heading to its close this week — Tuesday will broadcast its final episode — the drama’s stars Song Seung-heon and Yeon Jung-hoon gave a closing press conference on the afternoon of Monday, March 9, at Seoul’s Lotte Hotel.

Since I haven’t been covering this drama in detail, you can consider this your East of Eden Open Thread — which means, feel free to comment on anything/everything Eden-related. (I’d done a similar open thread when Tazza ended, although I forgot to keep doing these when other dramas wrapped.)

SONG OF THE DAY

East of Eden OST – “Crazy Woman” by Kim Yeon-ji [ Download ]

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Song Seung-heon said that he’d like to try a villain role at some point. As for his character, he admits that the role didn’t show that much range or change, and that “I felt my own limitations.” He recalls feeling a strong impact when watching Choi Min-shik acting in Oldboy, “that when I look back at myself wondering whether I could take on a role like that too, I feel a little embarrassed.” Song feels he’s gotten better at understanding and analyzing his characters, “but I’m still lacking in how I express that.”

(Perhaps the uproar over his shared MBC Daesang award embarrassed him too, because he has said that he doesn’t think he deserved it, either.)

Meanwhile, Yeon Jung-hoon admits that after living as his Dong-wook character for so long, “My throat hurts a lot from all the crying and shouting.” (LOL.) He hasn’t lined up a new project yet, but says, “For my next project, I’d like to leave Lee Dong-wook behind and take on a light, sweet love story.” (Perhaps with wifey Han Ga-in, maybe? That could be cute.)

Regarding some of the harsh criticism leveled at East of Eden, Song admitted, “It’s true that there was some sharp criticism for the flawed parts. Some people pointed out it was boring, while others called it stylized new wave drama, but I think we were able to express the essence of love.”

Song also admits, “It would be a lie to say I wasn’t aware of the ratings numbers. We had gotten higher-than-average numbers, but in the latter part, they went down. I felt myself that the bloodline dispute got too drawn out.” About timeslot rival Boys Before Flowers, Song said, “It’s based on a famous original manga, and I think the rookie actors took on their roles wonderfully. However, we were diligently working on our own filming, so I don’t think it was that much on our minds.”

Monday’s episode of East of Eden was pre-empted for a baseball game, so Tuesday will actually air both the 55th and 56th episodes.

Via Segye, E Daily

162

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151 rddey

March 14, 2009 at 4:09 PM

EOE has a very talented casts who are able to out the characters inspite of its bad plots.

All the actors must have very drained and tired after 7 months of filming. I happen to see LYH new photo CF and she looks very changed. She look very tired and haggard and very old and worn . She has lost the innonence look Just seeing from CF a few months ago, there is a lot of difference.maybe this project is just too much for her handling. She should take a long break before coming back.

It is good the rest of the actors are taking a break too to recover too

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152 !

March 16, 2009 at 1:59 AM

I really like this drama. i love it to bits... except for the ending. i'm not satisfy with STH's ending.what i hoped wad he will be humiliated in jail and died there, that serve him better for being such an evil person.
but other than that, i really think this story is one of the best Kdrama ever. Its worth watching. congrats to all the cast and crew members!!

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153 ု့khinmoh

April 26, 2009 at 3:43 AM

OH.........
THIS IS VERY NICE FILM.
I really like your drama.
SSH.................................................

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154 Emily

April 30, 2009 at 11:17 PM

I am on episode 20 and actually, have begun to tire of this show's excessive violence and constant repetitive melodrama. How many shots of that bird cage are we going to be subjected to??? How many times do we need to see that secret and special family greeting??? I'll admit that I was touched by the first few episodes and even appropriately bawled along with the characters. I agree with many of the other commenters here. Kim Bum did a spectacular job portraying the younger Dong-Chul. However, I did want to like the older Dong-Chul too, based on his immediate and palpable sex appeal. I guess I haven't watched enough of the episodes to tire of the male lead yet, but I am getting tired of the plot that sometimes border on ridiculous. I mean, yes, suspension of disbelief is required for most dramas, but sometimes, i feel my patience stretched thin when Dong-Chul and his gang of four magically swoops in and foils Shin Tae Hwan and his evil plans yet again! Stuff of comic books, almost. I also agree that the female lead is really disappointingly weak. I wanted to like her too, but then her character became annoying. Some people were saying that she was given more screen time than the other male lead, but on the other hand, most of the screen time that I've seen her in haven't been very positive. She's often portrayed as whiny, pouting, sulky, ineffectual. Her love for Dong-Chul seemed to be unimportant, because Dong-Chul has "more important" things to do. So I guess this drama has a bit of a difficult time figuring out what to focus on. It seems like the romance is a side dish garnishing the main story of the brothers and their obsessive revenge. And yet it's a garnish that's also irritating and not adding value to the overall production. I am still debating if I want to watch until the last episode, but I'm starting to think my time could be better spent elsewhere.

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155 Lui Sneakers

May 10, 2009 at 7:25 PM

Yeon Jung-hoon was really great in the last episode. I really bawled my eyes out because of him. Song Seung-hun was good, too when he was dying, and man is he hot!!! I enjoyed this series a lot and I am saddened after watching it.

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156 zakiah

July 23, 2010 at 7:54 PM

This the best drama that i have a seen,..G00D LUCK(''-")

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157 Beezus

January 4, 2015 at 3:11 PM

I can't figure out the harsh criticism for SSH in EOE. If not for his performance (and that of the actress portraying his mother) EOE could not have held my attention. Oh, the endless tears! (Not mine. After about the first 7-8 episodes of this drama I am no longer so quickly moved to tears by anything, and I used to be famous for wailing the moment tears showed up on the screen.)

But SSH working on the docks in a wifebeater tshirt and tenderly taking care of his friends 8-months pregnant wife, crying tears of disappointment over his brother's actions, and most of all, his long drawn out sighs (he is the best sigh-er and I just want to hug him to pieces every time he breathes one out) made 56 episodes worth sitting through.

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158 Sara

January 31, 2015 at 11:30 PM

This is the best drama I've ever seen. loved it so much... Bt I wish they were real brothers... :(

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159 Sara

January 31, 2015 at 11:31 PM

This has been the best drama I've ever seen... Bt I wish they were real brothers and the story was different

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160 Sara

March 12, 2015 at 5:53 PM

this is the best drama ever...

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161 Heartbroken

March 12, 2018 at 6:05 AM

Why East of Eden promotes rape, in such a disgusting way? Is this really what is happening in South Korea?A country that screams to the world, rape the girl that doesn't want you and loves someone else and you will live happy ever after. The rapist has a happy ending and is praised and loved by everyone, on forums , in reviews,in the movies. How could this happen?! People watch this and get the wrong idea, that rape and torture is ok. He did it for love.

How could the writter create such a character, a monster like him should never be forgiven , but locked in jail.You even added a child to this. Shame on all the people involved in creating and promoting this.