History teaches us so many things and it teaches these things in a way that can be considered shit by today's teaching standards. Lolz. Y'all know what I mean. Yeah, history has a knack for being so boring, you would easily think it's a recipe brewed to put folks to sleep.
Well, my adventure as a Cinephile has made it pretty obvious that history can also be quite interesting. I've gotten to know so much about history by checking out some shows that were meant to paint a good picture of what happened hundreds of years ago.
If you are curious enough, the Kdrama industry has a category of shows they call Sageuk. These can be translated to mean Historical Dramas.
And, here is the best part of the talking point. I have a highly recommended historical Kdrama for y'all. Tell me you are ready for this. Haha.
I'm aware that so many people think Kdramas are all about Oppas chasing Noonas around and trying to impress them with colourful flowers. Lolz. I won't even make bones about that misapprehension. Please, enjoy that category of Kdrama if that's what whets your appetite. But, if you expect any of that in this particular Kdrama, Under The Queen's Umbrella, be informed that you are about to get disappointed.
This is something different. It was a very 'stressful' drama and I like how the script did a good job of showing us that women, especially those that were ambitious enough to aim for wealth and power, have the capacity to do indescribable things. This was back in the Joseon dynasty... hundreds of years before 'civilization'.
Before I go any further, let's take a look at the profile of this historical Kdrama;
Drama: Under The Queen's Umbrella
Network: tvN
Genre: History, Politics, Drama, Comedy.
Episodes: 16
Release Date: Oct 15 - Dec 4, 2022
Streaming: Netflix
Politics may be a dirty game, but the dirtiness of the Politics that was played in Korea during the era of the Gorguyeo dynasty surely drags beyond the stretch of the imagination. The Royal Palace is a place where someone can die for seeing something he's not supposed to see and no one will make bones about that death.
Someone and his entire bloodline can be killed for committing a Capital offence. Court ladies and Eunches did a lot of monkey business which played a huge part in the intel-gathering and dissemination network in the Royal Palace. Princes were endlessly on each other's necks to become Crown Prince and subsequently get crowned to be King. As if that's not enough, the power tussle between the King and ministers also sparked several commotions.
This show gives a really good idea of how life was in the Royal Palace back then and it wasn't hard to piece things together since I already know ALOT about how their lifestyle was in those days. I've also seen a lot of historical Kdramas. What I particularly like about this show is the level of tension embedded in it and the fact that most of the tension was coming from the Consorts and their cohorts in their attempt to help their kids (Princes) get as much power and influence as possible.
Things escalated from the first scene of the show and, it felt really good to start diving into the details of the story immediately. While that is already impressive in itself, the best part of it was that they managed to maintain the momentum throughout the show. It got more intense and suspenseful and the characters understood their role to a tee.
The interaction between the Queen and her sons is always something to look forward to in this show. She already has a lot on her plate due to her role in running the Palace and she was dealing with a lot of Political warfare. However, she didn't allow that to get in the way of her maternal duties to her sons. I particularly enjoyed how she handled the transgender scandal relating to one of the Princes. Such scandal in a rigid Confucian society at that time would have led to a death sentence.
This was genuinely a delectable historical Kdrama to check out. I enjoyed every part of it.
Thanks For Not Missing Any Full-stop Or Comma
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