In this mellow, poetic, sometimes hilarious family-themed Korean drama, Our Blues (2022), we follow an inter-generational tale of multiple families living on Jeju Island, Korea's Hawaii. It has an all star cast, which is its greatest asset, especially for the long time K-Drama fans out there who know all these actors and actresses and like them from other dramas and films that they've seen them in.

It is directed by Kim Kyu Tae who has directed some of the greatest masterpieces in the genre, including IRIS, That Winter The Wind Blows, It's Okay That's Love, Padam Padam, World's Within, Moon Lovers Scarlet Heart Ryeo, and Live. The screenplay writer was the renowned No Hee Kyung who has worked with the director several times in some of the most famous dramas listed above as well as independently writing the outstanding classics Beautiful Days and Dear My Friends.

The Story And Characters:

Lee Dong Seok (Lee Byung Hun) is a salesman on the beach-side of his small village on Jeju Island. There he meets an attractive but mysterious woman named Min Seon Ah (Shin Min Ah) who has come to the island village to escape her tumultuous life in Seoul. They are attracted to one another fairly quickly but each of them are slow to trust the other person. He has a fractious relationship with his elderly Mom named Kang Ok Dong (Kim Hye Ja) who is very judgemental of his laid-back lifestyle. She works at a local market and tries to be happy but struggles with depression due to increasingly poor health.

Park Jeong Jun (Kim Woo Bin) is a soft-hearted ship captain who falls in love with pretty Lee Yeong Ok (Han Ji Min) who has become a Haenyeo (female diver) after moving to the island. She is a brilliant and upbeat woman, but often becomes the victim of many rumors because of her flamboyant, cheery nature.

Choi Han Su (Cha Seung Won) is also from Jeju. After living on the mainland for several years, he returns to his hometown but as a perfect city dweller finds it hard to re-adjust to island life. Then to make things harder he comes across his first love, Jeong Eun Hee (Lee Jung Eun), who runs a successful fish shop and has a buoyant personality. She is good friends with Go Mi Ran (Uhm Jung Hwa), who also returned to their village from the mainland, as she too was tired of city life. She finds herself attracted to Han Su and is leery that that might make her friend upset. However Jeong Eun Hee is the highlight of the village, in essence the town clown. It seems nothing and no one can get her down! She rolls with the tides of life. (For me this actress, who was so unforgettable in Parasite, was the highlight of the drama).

There are many interesting side stories and characters too but I don't want to give too much away. You can watch this excellent Korean drama on Netflix. It did very well when it came out in Korea and proved very popular in the West and the Philippines too. Highly recommended. It has just the right amount of realism and romanticism to please most viewers. The characters are never boring. Enjoy it by yourself or with your significant other.