Title: 총리와 나 Chongriwa Na
English Title: Prime Minister and I
Cast:
- 이범수 Lee Bum Soo
- 임윤아 Im Yoon Ah (윤아 YoonA)
- 윤시윤 Yoon Shi Yoon
- 채정안 Chae Jung Ahn
- 류진 Ryu Jin
- 최수한 Choi Soo Han
- 전민서 Jeon Min Seo
- 이도현 Lee Do Hyun
- 이한위 Lee Han Wie
- 이민호 Lee Min Ho
- 최덕문 Choi Duk Moon
- 민성욱 Min Sung Wook
- 전원주 Jun Won Joo
- 이영범 Lee Young Bum
- 정애연 Jung Ae Yeon
- 윤해영 Yoon Hae Young
- 장희웅 Jang Hee Woong
- 송민형 Song Min Hyung
- 김지완 Kim Ji Wan
- 고주연 Go Joo Yeon
SYNOPSIS
태민 Tae Min - 발걸음 Balgeol-eum (Steps)Nam Da Jung dreams of becoming a writer but has settled to work as a reporter in a scandal news magazine in order to pay the bills and to support her sick father who lives in a medical facility.
Da Jung's editor assigns her to uncover a scandal involving Kwon Yul, a well-respected public official who is appointed to become the prime minister in a few days time. Yul is a strict father to three young children: Kwon Woo Ri who is in middle school, Kwon Na Ra who is in elementary school, and Kwon Man Se who is in kindergarten.
While trying to get information to use for her article, Da Jung encounters Man Se with an unscrupulous reporter and instructs him not to say anything to the reporter. When Yul sees Da Jung with his son, he assumes that she's trying to get information about him from Man Se and sternly berates Da Jung.
A picture was taken of Yul's confrontation with Da Jung, and the two looked quite intimate in the photo that is spreading all over the internet. A scandal was brewing just as Yul is set to be appointed as the prime minister.
Da Jung decides to help Yul out of a potentially sticky situation by announcing that they are currently in a romantic relationship. Yul acknowledges that Da Jung's solution is the best option given the circumstances and they decide to announce their amicable break-up after a few weeks has passed.
Da Jung's father tells her that his dream is to walk her down the aisle. He is understandably worried when he finds out that Da Jung is dating a man with three children but he is also hoping that his only daughter will get married soon. Da Jung is later told by her father's doctor that her father has less than six months to live.
Yul's colleagues, particularly the president, are pressuring him to get married soon. When Da Jung hears about Yul's predicament, she asks him, "Can't we get married for real?... Can't you marry me for real? Can't you?"
REVIEW
Prime Minister and I is one of the best Korean dramas I have watched. Although it is typical of most dramas in its genre, the drama has managed to do everything a romantic comedy is supposed to do quite well.
I think the drama works well because of the amazing chemistry between lead actors Lee Bum Soo and Im Yoon Ah. They have that inexplicable couple chemistry that is not always present with two actors that get paired together in a production.
I don't really know how to explain it but generally, viewers root for a couple in a production because they are the advertised characters that will end up together in the end, or because the script was written well that their moments are romantic, or because the director did a good job in presenting the scenes as such.
However, once in a while, the casting directors will do a great job and cast two actors that have palpable chemistry with each other that if the production is awesome in all other ways (like writing, directing, acting), the actors' chemistry translates into their characters' chemistry and the production's greatness is intensified immensely. This rare occurrence happens in Prime Minister and I with the characters Nam Da Jung and Kwon Yul.
Most of the criticism for the drama is the huge age difference between the lead actors and I think it is unwarranted. It's probably because I don't have a problem with disassociating actors from their characters and when I'm watching a drama, I see the people on the screen as the characters living in their own world.
I like the discussion about the truth and how important it is to know the truth even though it is something that will only bring pain and suffering.
Nam Da Jung: The truth, do you think it's good to always know it?
Kwon Yul: I'm not sure. But why are you asking that?
Nam Da Jung: Just because... You know how there are times when people have to confront unwanted truths. But finding out the truth does not mean you're going to be happy. If anything, it can be more painful. What would you do?
Kwon Yul: If it were me, I would probably prefer to know the truth.
Nam Da Jung: Even if it means it will be more difficult and painful?
Kwon Yul: That's possible. Or you could just turn a blind eye and live your life. But wouldn't doing that means you're just fooling yourself and those around you?
I agree with Yul because I think it is better for people to face the reality in all its unpleasantness rather than to live in an imagined alternate reality where everything is satisfactory. It's not always easy to confront the unfortunate consequences of our choices and actions, but we have to do so in order to move forward with our lives.
I also like the discussion about creating our own paths in life, especially when it seems that all the other available paths are not suitable for us.
Kwon Yul: You said you knew every nook and cranny of Seoul, right? What if there was a road that a navigation system didn't detect? What would you do? Would you take that street?
Nam Da Jung: The destination is a place that you want to go to for sure, right?
Kwon Yul: Absolutely.
Nam Da Jung: Then you should go. It might take you off course in the beginning but as long as there's a destination, you'll get there someday. And it will only be a path if someone takes it. In that way, don't you think it will eventually show up in the navigation system?
Kwon Yul: 'It will only be a path if someone takes it.'
I felt Prime Minister and I dragged on in the last four episodes, mainly because it shifted focus on Yul's supposedly dead but turns out to be alive wife Park Na Young, a character I never thought about on account of her being supposedly dead and a character I never cared about once I knew about the choices she made in her life.
Objectively speaking, almost everything in the last four episodes made narrative sense. The only problem with the drama's ending is that it lacks emotional satisfaction because it focused on the side characters and tied up their loose ends, rather than focusing on the characters I cared the most about: Da Jung, Yul, and Yul's three children Kwon Woo Ri, Kwon Na Ra, and Kwon Man Se.
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총리와 나 Prime Minister and I
