<Bon Appétit, Your Majesty> ends in 2days. When I worked in the Korean drama field between 2010 and 2013, most dramas had 16 episodes. Of course, the trend these days is that everything is getting faster with faster development, but I feel like dramas like this would have been better with 16 episodes, so it's a shame. Anyway, I'd like to talk about a few things about this drama.
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| <Bon Appétit, Your Majesty> |
1. Historical Figures
In my last post, I talked about the real-life king (Yeonsangun), so let's skip that part. Other historical dramas often use exact names of historical figures. However, this drama uses subtle changes. This allows for a lighter fantasy tone and the potential for a different direction from the actual historical events, giving the story more options. Yeonsangun became Yeonhui-gun, Jeon-an became Jesan-gun, Jang Nok-su became Kang Mok-ju, Im Sung-jae became Im Song-jae, and Queen Insu became Queen Inju. Gong-gil, by the way, kept his original name.
Interestingly, Seo Gil-geum, who assists Ji-yeong, can later be set to become Jang-geum. The years are also perfectly matched. Jang-geum was the main character in the popular drama "Jewel in the Palace." With this setup, Seo Gil-geum will probably become an incredible chef and doctor later on.
2. Chinese (Ming Dynasty) Chefs
Below video shows an actress who played a Chinese female chef in a drama practicing Chinese and cooking. Despite their long appearances in the drama, these actresses aren't official cast members, so they receive significantly less. Still, you can tell they all practiced hard. Their professionalism is admirable.
3. Foreign Languages
Of the three Chinese chefs, I knew Jo Jae-yoon, who played Tang Baek-ryong, because he was famous. I saw the rest for the first time in this drama. Since I learned Chinese in China, I noticed their excellent pronunciation and assumed they were Chinese, but they were actually Korean. Learning a new language, especially Chinese, with its four tones, is incredibly challenging. If you look closely, only actor Jo Jae-yoon, who plays Dang Baek-ryong, has a significantly different voice from the real actor due to dubbing. He perfectly replicated his lip movements, making it feel like nothing was missing. When Chinese viewers praised the Chinese skills of the four actors, including the Chinese envoy, the Chinese dubbing actor who dubbed for Jo Jae-yoon dismissed his real Chinese, saying it was poor. The post became controversial and was subsequently deleted. Actors’ language can sound ridiculous to native speakers. My French student, while not particularly adept at the female lead's French, finds the show a delightful fusion of French and Korean cuisine. This is similar to how Koreans found Daniel Kim's Korean in the American drama "Lost" cute and entertaining, even though his pronunciation was not great. I think you guys also could find similar when 'Jaebeol' speaking English in the dramas. I can see that more non-Korean people are watching Korean dramas now, and the production team is scrutinizing the details and striving for perfection. If it's a short line or a serious scene, I think the actors should try to pronounce it more perfectly to help the viewers immerse themselves in the drama. However, I hope viewers will also acknowledge their efforts and be more tolerant of their imperfections.
For the same reason, ‘Empress Ki’, which I participated in, could never be remade. Ji Chang-wook's character, Ta-hwan, is Chinese, and at least half of the drama's cast is set in the Chinese royal family. Back in 2013, when the drama was produced, Netflix didn't exist, and the main audience was Korean. Therefore, no one, including myself, thought it strange to portray Chinese characters in Korean. Ha Ji-won's character, Ki Seung-nyang, is Korean, but more than half of the characters are Chinese. If this drama were remade today, they would all have to act in Chinese. Casting Chinese actors would be challenging due to the vastly different acting styles and production environments. Even if it weren't for the actors, it would be hard to satisfy all viewers including both countries. Now that Korean dramas are readily available in many countries, the production team needs to be even more careful about verifying historical accuracy and meticulously considering other cultures.
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| <Bon Appétit, Your Majesty> |
Finally, this drama must have a happy ending. What I was certain of was that in the last episode, when Ji-young was given three days to survive, the drama managed to lighten the mood by incorporating comedic elements despite the dire situation. This clearly demonstrates the tone this drama is aiming for. There will definitely be crises and sad moments, but ultimately, it will have a happy ending. Above all, I believe the two protagonists should meet in modern times. Well, not just because I want to see Lee Chae-min's model-fit modern fashion...