There are many Korean screenwriters whose work I love, but none of them have made me laugh as hard and cry as hard (often in the same episode) as Jin Soo Wan. I stumbled across her work years ago when I watched Capital Scandal and wondered how in the world anyone would pull off a rom-com set during the Japanese occupation. And then I watched her do it and marveled at how she balanced the jazzy technicolor surface with a remarkably nuanced look at the ways people survive a time of terror. Her work is often uneven, and her use of metaphor and magical realism may not work for everyone, but no other k-drama writer I’ve encountered is as skilled at capturing the full range of human emotions, from the hilarious to the absurd to the horrifying. She also has a weird knack for writing the best second-to-last episodes in dramaland (looking at you Capital Scandal, Kill Me, Heal Me & Twinkling Watermelon). I don’t know what possessed typewriters or magical music stores will be lurking in her next drama, but I hope it doesn’t take another 6 years to have one of her dramas on my screen again.
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wonhwa
December 30, 2023 at 10:20 AM
#2023RoundUp
Freestyle: Screenwriter Shout-Out
There are many Korean screenwriters whose work I love, but none of them have made me laugh as hard and cry as hard (often in the same episode) as Jin Soo Wan. I stumbled across her work years ago when I watched Capital Scandal and wondered how in the world anyone would pull off a rom-com set during the Japanese occupation. And then I watched her do it and marveled at how she balanced the jazzy technicolor surface with a remarkably nuanced look at the ways people survive a time of terror. Her work is often uneven, and her use of metaphor and magical realism may not work for everyone, but no other k-drama writer I’ve encountered is as skilled at capturing the full range of human emotions, from the hilarious to the absurd to the horrifying. She also has a weird knack for writing the best second-to-last episodes in dramaland (looking at you Capital Scandal, Kill Me, Heal Me & Twinkling Watermelon). I don’t know what possessed typewriters or magical music stores will be lurking in her next drama, but I hope it doesn’t take another 6 years to have one of her dramas on my screen again.