Saimdang, Bitui Ilgi

This is classy stuff. It took a year to make and marked the return of the brilliant. Lee Yeong-ae after 13 years. The production, cinematography and scale can't be faulted but the script flags about 1/3 of the way through only really picking up again towards the end. There is nothing missing (except perhaps some better comedic relief) but it is very drawn out at times. The music is very good and the costume designer created bright designs that really worked.

Personally I would have liked to get a better idea of her place in art history, not just be told. Shin Saimdang was brilliant. This is not a biopic and the whole love story is fiction. In fact she had eight children and the relationship with her husband is all wrong.

Hye-soo Park and the teenage Lee Gyeom were really convincing as the young lovers.

Still the acting is superb and the ending worth waiting for. The time slips are very cleverly done and work well. Enjoyed it but too long.