Wen Dongen succeeds in revenge!
This made fans put down a heart.
Moon Dong-eun is the heroine of the Korean drama "Dark Glory", played by Song Hye-kyo.
Before the second season was broadcast at 4 p.m. on March 10, some netizens expected Qiao Mei to "kill all sides" and never engage in a "harmonious society".
This is Netflix's other high-topic Korean work after "Squid Game".
The first season of "Dark Glory", which will be broadcast at the end of 2022, will soon become a "hot player" in Netflix's non-English genre, and it has the momentum to catch up with "Squid Game". Despite not having the latter's global popularity, "Dark Glory" also blows a "whirlwind of revenge" in Asia.
From "Kingdom" in 2019, to "Squid Game" in 2021, to "Dark Glory", there is no doubt that Korean-language film and television dramas have made a solid name for themselves on the Netflix platform, a platform with English as the mainstream.
How is it done?
|"Dark Glory" returns to the essence of the revenge cool story
"Dark Glory" tells the story of the heroine Wen Dongen, who was deeply injured by school violence, and spent her life on revenge. For audiences who have been bullied as children, it is too cool to be cool (of course, the absence of this experience does not hinder the feeling of watching the show).
And this show also meets the public's expectations for revenge dramas, and the first season has shown "potential", so that people can't stop.
What is expected by the public?
Before the start of the second season, some netizens posted: "Don't engage in whitewashing and harmonious ending!" Kill them! Others said: "Qiao Mei killed me crazy!" Don't give me a harmonious society! These remarks can show the audience's desire for the ending.
Obviously, screenwriter Kim Eun-sook is also well versed in user needs.
On March 8, two days before the launch of the second season of "Dark Glory", Netflix Korea held a preview screening party, and the main creators gathered. At the meeting, Kim Eun-sook confessed the before and after of creating this drama.
At the media preview on March 8, from right to left, directors Ahn Ji-ho, Song Hye Kyo and screenwriter Kim Eun-sook were presented
Kim Eun-suk, who is famous for her screenwriter "Lonely and Brilliant God: Ghost", has always been good at romance dramas, and this is the first time to try this revenge theme, and the inspiration for creation comes from an exchange with her daughter.
One day, my daughter, who was still in school, asked Kim Eun-suk: "If in the school bullying, it is someone else who beats me to death, are you more heartbroken?" Or do I beat others to death, and you hurt more? ”
In the days that followed, Kim Eun-sook pondered the question. In search of answers, she began to try to construct a scenario and write a story. This is the prototype of "Dark Glory".
Kim Eun-sook believes that if someone beats him to death, there is a solution, "because I have the capital to drag the perpetrator to the end of hell." But the reality is the opposite, not everyone is as rich as me, and many are like Wen Dongen, helpless victims. ”
And what will be the creative end of this show? She said, "Wen Dongen's revenge will go in the direction of success, please be sure to watch the end." When the host asked Kim Eun-suk, which line was "exploded"? Her answer was—"What's not to blow up?" ”
And in mid-February, Tang Jiang, vice president of content at Netflix Korea, also said of "Dark Glory": "Don'en's revenge has just begun, it's too cruel!" ”
What this portends is self-explanatory. The second and final season (I don't know if it will be filmed), Douban is currently 9.2 points (opening score 9.4).
Obviously, the finale meets the expectations of "revenge success" and does not have a negative evaluation of "rotten end" - unlike "The Little Son of the Chaebol" whose score fell from 8.5 to 7.2.
| Song Huiqiao returned to the spotlight with "Dark Glory"
Since "Descendants of the Sun" in 2016, Song Huiqiao has been silent until now.
Although there are also two dramas "Boyfriend" and "Now Breaking Up" launched in the middle, they have received mediocre responses. On December 30, 2022, after the first season of "Dark Glory" was broadcast, it immediately attracted widespread attention, and many people exclaimed - Qiao Mei killed crazy!
Interestingly, before the first season of "Dark Glory" was launched, Song Hye Kyo's ex-husband Song Joong Ki's "The Little Son of the Chaebol Family" had just come off the line and was criticized for the controversy. The audience inevitably compared the works of the two and thought that "Dark Glory" was better.
Undoubtedly, Song Huiqiao fought a turnover.
At the preview screening on March 8, Song Huiqiao admitted that before the first part of "Dark Glory" was broadcast, he was actually worried, because the first time he tried a genre drama, there were many shortcomings.
However, after the series was launched, the audience received good feedback, and Song Huiqiao was relieved. This is also the first time that she has starred in the drama explosion after six or seven years, which is very important to her.
Song Huiqiao at the preview screening
Behind the welcome, of course, there is giving. During the filming, the character Wen Dongen played by Song Huiqiao was burned all over his body after being bullied - scar makeup is not easy to makeup.
In episode 6 of the first season, there is a scene where Wen Dongen needs to take off his coat in front of the male protagonist to show his scars all over his body.
To wear this kind of makeup, you need to take off your clothes for four or five hours continuously. Because of frequent makeup, Song Huiqiao's skin once had allergic problems.
In order to fit the role, Song Huiqiao must also lose weight.
Talking about the scene where the whole body scars were shown, she said: "I only ate bananas 3 days before filming, didn't even drink a drop of water, and I felt like I was dying before I acted in that scene, but I also interpreted it better because my body was very tired." ”
In fact, for girls, losing weight is not easy. In the end, Song Huiqiao lost 17 kilograms in two months, so that her face shape lost its impression of roundness - I have to say that she has perseverance.
When starring in the first season, Song Huiqiao was almost expressionless, which was to show the coldness of the heroine. However, the emotional outpouring of the second season is quite ups and downs, which can be said to be a complete "big explosion".
Song Huiqiao commented on his acting skills: "When I first acted, I still had the shadow of 'Song Huiqiao', but in the later stage, it has become 100% 'Wen Dongen', and the acting skills are more suitable for the plot requirements. ”
|Netflix Korea's explosive methodology
Since entering Korea in 2016, Netflix has invested more than 1 trillion won (about 5.1 billion yuan) to develop Korean-language works by 2021. In fact, in terms of investment, 5 years is less than one-third of the annual content cost of Chinese mainland long-form video platforms - iQiyi will spend about 16.5 billion yuan on content alone in 2022.
However, although the investment is only a fraction of Chinese mainland "friendly business", it has made "Squid Game" Netflix's most popular non-English series in the world. And now the popularity of "Dark Glory" again has also made how film and television dramas "go to sea" a kind of "obvious learning" worthy of reference by China's long video platform.
In fact, it is not limited to the content produced by Netflix, the Korean local film "Parasite" won four awards at the 2020 Oscars for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Original Screenplay and Best International Film.
The achievements of Korean dramas and Korean films in the global market are obvious to all, what is the methodology?
Tang Jiang, vice president of Korean content, who joined Netflix in 2018, is behind bringing Korean dramas to the world.
Tang Jiang believes that "there are many excellent creators in Korea, and "Squid Game" has opened a door for them and many works on the platform, helping South Korea and the Korean entertainment industry to invest more resources in future development." ”
According to Netflix Top10 data, recently, the first place in watching non-English dramas fell to "Dark Glory". In addition, the Korean-language documentary "In the Name of God: Betrayal of Faith" about the cult is in the TOP5 position, and this work is also full of topics.
In the Name of God: A Betrayal of Faith
In 2022, in the list of non-English programs with the highest number of watched hours on Netflix, there are 3 Korean works in the top ten, and the winner is "Squid Game", with 1.65 billion hours of broadcast hours, becoming the most watched non-English program in the history of the platform. No. 4 and No. 6 are also Korean dramas - "Corpse Campus" and "Very Lawyer Woo Young-woo", both launched after "Squid Game".
This means that Korean-language film and television content has broken national borders and language barriers and swept the world, allowing non-Asian audiences to see it.
Six-in-ten Netflix viewers worldwide have now watched at least one Korean show, and the percentage of Latin American viewers is even higher, at nearly 85 percent.
Before Netflix entered Latin America, there was no legal way to watch South Korean programming. At first, only a small number of viewers watched Korean programs, but after moving in, more people began to watch them. Especially in Mexico, Brazil and other places, Korean film and television dramas are more loved.
Tang Jiang, vice president of Netflix Korea, revealed that no matter how popular it is overseas, the production is from the perspective of the Korean audience, and the work must be close to the local culture, and there is no need to do "very Hollywood" programs in order to attract the attention of global audiences.
That is to say, "localization" is the basis of production. "I firmly believe that a good story must first impress your own people."
Tang Jiang took "D.P: Deserter Pursuit Order" as an example, because Korean men have served in the army, they can evoke the memories of the audience when watching. "I've spent more than half of my life in Korea, and so have the people I work with on Netflix, because we're all Korean and understand our stories," he said. ”
The popularity of streaming platforms has made film and television works far-reaching. However, when producing film and television dramas, it is not only difficult to grasp the direction but also to satisfy audiences in other countries, but also the original creativity may not be able to play well.
"D.P: Deserter Pursuit Order" stills
Constantly changing and absolutely unchanging
In January, Netflix announced 34 Korean works that will be launched, in addition to the second season of popular Korean dramas such as "Dark Glory", "Sweet Home" and "D.P: Deserter Hunt", there are also new works such as Park Seo-joon's "Monster of Beijing" and Kim Woo Bin's "Doom Knight".
In addition to Korean dramas and Korean films, a large number of unscripted programs such as variety shows and reality shows will be launched in 2023 to expand the proportion of Korean-language works on the platform.
In 2023, one of Netflix's goals in South Korea is to bring at least 1 to 2 original Korean shows that they like and quality to every global user, regardless of genre. Therefore, developing new genres and new generations of creators is a major priority.
Developing more diverse genres means not only collaborating with high-profile creators, but also discovering new blood. For example, the movie "20th Century Girl" broadcast in October last year is director Fang Youli's first feature film, while "D.P" director Han Junxi used to mainly make movies, but also directed TV series because of Netflix's invitation.
Han Junxi released his first feature film "Chinatown" in 2015, which won the Baeksang Art Award for Best New Director. In August 2021, he directed "D.P: Deserter Hunt" to open up global popularity, and the series won the best work in the TV category of the Baeksang Art Awards and the best work in the TV series category of the Blue Dragon Award, and the good results and high evaluation made Netflix decide to produce the second season, which is expected to be launched in the third quarter of 2023.
In addition, Netflix's original Korean-language film "Killing Bok-soon" is a new work by high-profile emerging director Bian Sung-hyun. In 2022, Bian Sung-hyun became famous with the movie "Made by King" (starring Xue Jingqiu and Lee Sun-kyun), and won the Baeksang Art Award and the Grand Bell Award for Best Director. This time, "Killing Fushun", starring Quan Duyan and Xue Jingqiu, which was written and directed by Cannes actresses, was also selected for the special screening unit of the Berlin Film Festival.
"Kill Fushun"
At the end of 2021, Netflix's love reality show "Single is Hell" cooperated with TV station JTBC was also very topical and highly discussed on the Internet. In addition to being popular, it was also shortlisted for the best variety show at the 58th Baeksang Art Awards.
In January this year, the physical variety show "The Top of Physical Fitness: The Challenge of 100 People" was launched, and it rushed into the Netflix Top 10 global non-English variety show viewing time champion.
But localization is not copying.
Generally, Korean variety shows often use Korean creative subtitle special effects to annotate the situation and add interest, but Netflix's Korean variety does not have these bells and whistles of subtitle special effects, because these things are difficult to resonate with overseas audiences, "so we have adjusted and simplified this part to allow the audience to better understand the content." Tang Jiang explained. This requires stepping out of the original framework and adopting a different approach.
With the gradual increase in the acceptance of variety shows, Netflix will have an original Korean variety show in an average of 1 to 2 months in 2023, including the suspense genre "Devil's Scheme" and the zombie survival show "Zombie Universe".
For the future development planning of Korean content, Netflix Korea does not require any specific types of works, from the standpoint of the platform, everything can be changed or adjusted, as far as possible to take care of the different needs of users in various regions and provide rich choices.
However, what remains unchanged is that "content must be developed close to the Korean market," Mr. Tang said.
Written by | brook
Curated | Editorial Department of Entertainment Spring and Autumn