My Ahjussi is about JiAn (IU), a temp worker at DongHoon's (Lee Sun Kyun) company. She has a questionable past and a lot of baggage, while he has a seemingly decent life with a comfortable position at work and a successful lawyer wife, but feels hollow inside. As she somehow finds herself listening in on every part of DongHoon's life, initially to ruin his life, but then realising the kind of person is, she slowly finds her way to comfort and healing, while she herself helps him overcome the stagnation in his life.
Words aren't enough to describe how this quiet masterpiece of a drama made me feel and made me reflect on life. I went in with high hopes considering the rave reviews, though I did not know much about the story cos the synopsis everywhere is kinda vague. But what I got was so satisfying - not only a story about the redemption and healing of 2 pitiful and hurt characters, but also the message of how to live life with happiness and comfort. I thought the show had a lot of Buddhist themes, and it was fitting there was a monk character.
I've always liked dark female leads like JiAn because it seems like dramas always tend to have the male characters as the one with the dark and tragic back story, but I was more than enamoured by JiAn. She hardly speaks but every line she says carries so much meaning. Though JiAn's character and her relationship with DongHoon was SO compelling that I ended up being bored during scenes containing any other characters cos I just wanted to see them. Not through any fault of the side characters or their actors, but JiAn was just too fascinating. IU really knocked it out of the ballpark here. I watched Dream High, which was IU's debut, where she was decent. I also watched The Producers where IU did pretty good. But damn, she was downright impressive here. She carried a mostly blank expression but managed to use the tiniest of actions like a flicker of her eyes to show how much everything Ahjussi did affected her. And when the show called for a greater display of emotion (when Ahjussi beat up KwangIl and she breaks down, when she 'confesses', when she apologises, when Ahjussi finds her, when grandma passes away), IU managed to display the outburst of emotions in a way that was consistent with the stoniness of JiAn. It's unfair she's good at everything lol.
And our Ahjussi Dong Hoon, who was a compassionate and loving man, but was not the best communicator and bottled up his emotions, thinking that he could 'sacrifice' himself as long as everyone else was happy, but later realised that this was killing him inside and also killing his marriage. I was surprised Lee Sun Kyun was casted cos he just acted in a drama with a very similar premise (This Week My Wife Will Have An Affair), but I realised why when it was shown that JiAn has to listen to his voice haha. He gives a reliably awesome performance, nothing less than I would expect. I did wonder whether the writers would develop a romantic relationship between JiAn and DongHoon (and would have been totally ok with it, age gap and all, since I love Secret Love Affair with that 20 year age gap), but that really wasn't the point of the story. Their connection was simply that of unconditional love and care from one human being to another, and that was enough for me.
I actually really liked the character of YoonHee, DongHoon's wife. While there's nothing to excuse cheating, I understand why she did it. For 15 years, she tried to be part of DongHoon's family but it's clear she was never treated as one, and DongHoon himself didn't try to include her either. Being so emotionally starved for 15 years and with a son overseas, I can see why she chose to start something with JoonYoung, just to have that sense that she was loved by someone. Not excusable, but very human. I liked that she continually took the blame for the subsequent events. Some may say that's her being self-centered, but I thought it was just a way of her trying to atone for her wrongdoing. And I loved the fact that she actually used her position as a lawyer to help JiAn. At that point, I realised why the writer made the character a lawyer lol.
I also appreciated Do Joon Young's character, who was definitely not a nice guy, but he wasn't an evil mastermind like most other villains. To me, he was rather just a weak and greedy man who tries to use easy ways out. I loved the portrayal by Kim YoungMin, who was so tense at all times from his facial expression to his gait, trying so hard to be powerful but underneath it all, just a weakling.
I was much less invested in the story of the brothers, who just seemed to drink their lives away and whine alot and not do anything to change things other than curse and use their fists to solve everything. I guess there are a lot of people like that in real life, but it got so frustrating watching them after awhile. But I did love that little community of theirs, especially JungHee. One of my favourite scenes in the whole show was when JiAn said she's 30000 years old and JungHee quips right back that she's 40000 years old and then SangHoon says he's 50000 years old. LOL.
This was a masterpiece in all aspects of writing, acting and directing. But it's truly the writing that stood out. I always think writing is the basis of a good show, as without a good script, no matter how good the acting or directing are, it would just be style without substance. So many shows start out strong and falter at the end, but this show was clear in the message it wanted to send and never wavered.
I love practically every scene between JiAn and DongHoon, but I have a few favourites.
2. The phone call after she ran away. How they obviously relished that.
3. When he found her - her initial shock and fear, followed by the defense mechanism of her disparaging remarks towards herself, followed by the myriad of emotions when he THANKS her for listening to his pathetic life and still taking his side, and when he said everything's ok.
At first I felt like he meant more to her, since he was literally the only kind adult (with resources to help her) in her life at that point. But when I saw his despondency at her leaving and his desperation to find her and his relief at finding her, I realised she meant as much to him.
And any other time when she is so brutally honest while he tries so hard to hide everything. That put-on-a-show-for-camera-but-still-very-real confession, or when she stays back to help him then tells him honestly it's cos she missed him.
And some of my favourite lines:
1. "Reality is hell. Do you think this is heaven? I'm sure there was a reason I was sent to hell. I can go after i've been sufficiently punished."
This is what DongHoon says as he's suffering, but ironically what I sometimes think to myself also. Isn't it sad, that we think of our lives as hell.
2. "He's tormented by the memories of when he liked me, and I'm tormented by the memories of when he was kind to me." Sums up the complex relationship between JiAn and KwangIl, who was acted outstandingly by Jang Ki Yong. These young actors and actresses with so much potential makes me excited for the future of kdramas.
The directing was assured, as expected from the director of Misaeng and Signal, which are undoubtedly some of the best dramas in recent years, and My Ahjussi is definitely on that list as well. Also props to the quietly haunting OST. My favourite would have to be There Is a Rainbow by Vincent Blue, especially when it plays as Ahjussi or JiAn run towards each other.
Shows like these make me angry at people who often write off korean dramas as childish and cliche. K-dramas have come a long way from the poor candy and rich man cliche, esp with the advent of cable tv, and this show is just one of the many shining examples of the masterpieces that are being produced nowadays. I can't recommend this show enough, and I would encourage people to go in with an open mind. Put aside the bias of an idol acting and the age gap as that is not the point of the story. It will definitely make you reflect on how you lead your own life and how you treat others, and a little kind act or word can truly go a long way.
