The first report about this remake had me excited to the seven heavens; I was overjoyed not only to have a Korean version of one of my favorite classic novels plus movie adaptations but also to see how exactly they blend it into a sageuk (historical). Was a little upset upon learning that it’ll be based in modern urban times but it didn’t take long me to make terms with it. However, starting the drama and finishing two episodes left me very confused and had me pondering about the intentions of the makers. Not long after, I had to realize that only a few elements of the original have been picked up for the so-called remake and hence this one deserves no comparison. So, what are the similarities?

◆ Sisters (4 there, 3 here) living with their mother; father long gone to places.
◆ An artist among the sisters (2nd one there, 3rd one here).
◆ Poverty-stricken lifestyle, hard ways of earning food and necessities.
◆ The great grand-aunt who favors the middle sister for her intelligence and tenacity.
◆ The prince charming with not-so-significant role, two distinct male leads here.

Let me know if I missed out any ;)

Developed and produced by ‘Studio Dragon’,” Little Women (작은 아씨들)” is supposedly a loose adaptation of the 1868 classic novel of the same title by Louisa May Alcott. Screenwriter Chung Seo Kyung creates the story in a modern Seoul-styled Korean backdrop with essence of thriller, melodrama and makjang while Kim Hee Won takes charge of direction. The 12-episode drama was originally broadcasted on tvN and internationally distributed by Netflix. Several parts of the major happenings of the drama were also filmed in Singapore.

The original plot is about struggles, love, compassion and dreams, whereas this adaption is about greed, goals, urges, fear, somewhere love and of course, dreams. The story follows a poor Oh family of three sisters with separate professional goals who, without their consciousness, get involved with the richest family of Korea and a supposed cult that is connected trough a mysterious orchid, which starts with a missing sum of 70 billion won.

Oh In Joo (Kim Go Eun), the eldest sister, works for a salaried office job and having lived in extreme poverty, she dreams about money and wishes to live an ordinary life. Oh In Kyung (Nam Ji Hyun), the middle sister, is a righteous reporter who doesn’t value money and starts working on a case that was long-forgotten in order to unveil the truth. Oh In Hye (Park Ji Hu), the youngest sister, is an aspiring artist who gets acknowledged for her natural skills though she is a realist and considers her sisters’ love for her as a burden.

Choi Do Il (Wi Ha Joon) is a part of Wonryong Group whereas Oh Hye Suk (Kim Mi Sook) is the Great Grand Aunt and Ha Jong Ho (Kang Hoon) is her neighbor and childhood friend of In-kyung. Park Jae Sang (Um Ki Joon) is a politician aspiring to become Seoul’s Mayor while his wife Won Sang A (Uhm Ji Won) is the daughter of Wonryong Group, created by her father Commander General Won Ki Sun (Lee Do Yeop); Park Hyo Rin (Jeon Chae Yeon) is their daughter, also an artist who is In-hye’s best friend.

Other familiar faces in the drama are Jo Seung Yun, Gong Min Jung, Park Bo Kyung, Park Ji Young, Lee Min Woo, Kim Myung Soo, etc. Several big faces have made special appearances: Song Joong Ki, Oh Jung Se, Choo Ja Hyun and Jang Gwang.

Its initially mystifying and allows one to think what might be the intentions of the writer though the follow-up picks up very entertaining and baffling elements creating arousing intrigues within the mind. The furtherance was as amazing with gradual disclosure of more engaging facts about several plotlines, major or minor, and what perplexed me the most was the storytelling and its naturalness despite a mixture of idealistic, realistic and real factors. There was this episode around the interval, that I clearly don’t recall, did felt a little off; the period where things were static and nothing huge seemed to be on its way, not like it became boring or something though. The later half was definitely much more marvelous with each episode bearing several peaks and each of them competing to excel. I was personally taken aback at episode 8 and how the presentations got the best of me, so this is my most favorite, though the show kept surprising even more in the rest 4 episodes. The ending

Writer virtuoso Jung Seo Kyung, known for her prodigious portrayals in staggering women-centric scripts, has once again proved how efficient her skills are to bewitch the audience and finest her creations to stagger the viewers. Admittedly and provenly, a copy-paste remake ain’t her style as reflected in “The Handmaiden”, so the decision to convert a classic English melodrama into a contemporary thriller with justifying dynamics and stupefying elements which turns out to be an appealing and positively appalling masterpiece.
Fascinating character arcs are a specialization of jakka-nim which undoubtfully is finely incorporated with satisfying development. The script is a bag full of whiplash twists, evenly distributed throughout and the picturesque convulsions that serve as delicious dishes of a sumptuous brunch. The theme creation is as bemusing as we see the ghost orchid, its backstory, the people it connects to and how it is at the center of everything.

Acquiring great skills despite less experience within a short period of time, is what Kim Hee Won known for. However, her previous work was a blunder that was finally recognised as a trumpery; though the script was hugely to blame. To see her work of creativity has always been a pleasure and without a second thought she strives to better. On that note, the cinematography of the drama is mesmerizing, from aesthetic shots to extravagant frames and swift yet detailed movement/shift, everything did their job in minds. The screenplay was visibly well-planned as the progression is periodic rather than episodic, seizing the viewer into one plotline but confusingly forcing them to other, albeit the manner was very comfortable thereby maintaining the quality.
What I also loved about the visuals are the reasoned and well-defined backdrops and setups. The Seoul-ic vistas of light and dark hue with polychromatic shades were very eye-savoring outside while rather plain and simplistic colors inside the mansions and buildings also did exhibit the contrast in between. The attempts to draw frame-wise parallels within the same show between the two halves were very ecstatic; admittedly, I wouldn’t have noticed if not for one of the users’ feed posts here.

Composed by Park Se Joon, there are two OSTs in the drama:
# “Enough” by Zior Park
# “La vie” by SOLE

(70 billion won-Truth-Art: Money-Justice-Dreams) … This is how I will draw the outline of the way the three sisters were connected to the show; one who thought money could solve all the problems, one who believed justice will bring everything to peace and one who desired art will help her escape. The combination could result in only one thing, money laundering through art pieces, haha. But the drama is much more than just power trip, greed for wealth and artistic perspective. Indeed, with her cinematic excellence, the writer uses the tool of social sin and the feelings of superior connivance in order to establish a story that reminds us how human mind is a complex matter that could cause catastrophes in the world while only truth and remain constants of time.

Oh In Joo was the most natural of a character in my opinion and apparently Kim Go Eun was the most suitable person for the role, provided her ongoing saga in “Yumi’s Cells” is also one hell of a realistic thing. From her desire for money to her being clueless and from acting cautiously to strangers to being overtly sensitive to everything, just average human being. Clearly, the best character development given to the one at the exact center, performed and excelled.

Nam Ji Hyun could have been used better, not like she was underwhelming or something, but in a way, I believed, both the character Oh In Kyung and the actress herself held lot more potential than what we saw. There were instances Inkyung was just pure dumb, as in dumb for someone who was a journalist plus it was visible the way she struggled a bit at first, which was a given since I don’t recall her playing such a fierce character(?). Anyways, it was satisfying to see her in action at times and how she changed from the beginning to end.

Oh In Hye had a magnificent arc to begin with and the actress did perform very well with her expressions and delivery. However, I was a little upset the way she was limited in the latter half; as in they forgot about her existence for some time and brought her back absurdly like oh she is a part too? All I mean her share of screentime did not suffice as someone who is tagged as a main character everywhere. Otherwise, her dynamics were naturally that of a rebelling teenager. Also loved how the makers decided to end the show with her prologue story and monologue note. The actress playing Hyorin did not have anything significant about her but she was good nevertheless.

Choi Do Il as a character is probably one of the most mysterious you will ever see and Wi Ha Joon should be commended for carrying it very well. His on and off dimension will apparently become the reason half of the audience will develop trust issues in real life. The introduction wasn’t really grand, rather felt he’d be only playing on the surface (to me at least), but the maker’s way of playing with their audiences’ mind worked like some sort of crazy drugs wow. I am not sure whether I should be saying that I was impressed but there was a point I just decided to sit at a corner with popcorn in m hand and see what he is upto. Nonetheless, I was happy at them screaming how he loves only one thing at the end of the day.

The drama is a heavy thriller; although it offered few bright and comforting elements, it mostly exhibited dystopia. Some events could be very frustrating like you are gonna drag a character out and beat the organs outta them. The plot devices like the orchid, the red heel and the architecture did serve as amazing scopes in order to create an artful story filled with thrills and excitement. And the progression is very unpredictable and mysterious for the current trend in K-thrillers, no doubt the screenwriter is a cinema maker; loved the suspense at the end of each episode as well. A galore of twists might even feel like burden in some episodes but their outcomes are relieving in some way. Again, the symbolisms, backed by their ingenious metaphors make the drama more entertaining.

The group of antagonists were not really one of a kind but the performance of the cast was what made them lively. Both Uhm and Um for the seasoned actors they are, did put forward an enthralling and captivating show, and the bad times we had clenching our teeth stands witness to it.

I believe March sisters’ struggle to keep up their dining table occupied helped Oh sisters to not just protest but fight against capitalism as they indulged themselves with the evil, for the sake of prosperity and justice though separately. Their dispute with reality urges them to opt paths they thought would be treacherous and relying on a single straw they not only strive to remain true to themselves but also thrive like a single blade of grass in the dessert. Through thick and thins, this remake remains grounded to the original in portraying how the littleness of everyone leads to a grand world of big beauties

The finale was as satisfying in the sense, it was not rushed, or even dragged unnecessarily, rather every bit of it felt good. It is not an open ending either as some people might think though in my opinion they left one plothole regarding the burried pendrive. But again, in a way, the evidence was not really useful. The ending sequence was smooth and also made mr realize that Choi Do Il's efforts were equalized with his manupulative and intelligent skills.

A personal and silly observation about the show that I made towards the ending, was that the in-situ viewership was very accurately concurrent with the qualitative graph that I have made in my mind, i. e. my episode-wise rating. Idk why I thought it was necessary to mention it here but here you go TT.

Final Remarks… A show made by women, led by women and prospered by women was quite a piece of thrilling experience as Little Women hits the floor this time around. The time will cite the show as something that is not a good remake but nevertheless a great show, which is a perfect balance between the original and the adaptation. From high production values to outstanding presentation and from enchanting performance to entertaining outcomes, this was a unique approach and definitely a must watch and easily one of the best thrillers of 2022.