lesbiassparrow | Entries tagged with spring waltz

dangermousie is watching Spring Waltz which makes me want to rewatch it. That Kdrama has everything: evil parents, children being sold into slavery, classical piano recitals, evil and crazy other girl, evil dads, and cute heroine. And Daniel Henney. I should dig out my discs with the crazy subtitles and enjoy the pretty, pretty people suffering beautifully.

There has been an update on the bunny translation front thanks to

outeeyore: it all might have to do with a confusion over a word for 'of course.'* I will have to ponder deeply on this one and think about what it truly means to all of us to say 'that is bunnies.' Is it deep wisdom of the sort we should not just discard in mockery? Does it hold the key to the universe? I don't know: all I know is 'that is bunnies' will be a phrase I try to use at least once a day. It has a certain calming quality.

There were many things which were left unexplained in Spring Waltz, not the least being the hero's unfortunate haircut. But at the moment I am also wondering why he slept in jumpers/sweaters. No, really, he did: this man wore knitwear to bed. Do they not heat Korean hotels? Or maybe he just wanted to be ready to spring out of bed and play piano without having to look around for clothes? Or was it fear of abandonment? These are deep waters indeed.

In other thrilling news, I went to a nice get together for 4th of July but was almost hit by at least 2 drunk drivers on the way home. NOOOOOO! Not the car! I've just spent $1,800 getting that wretched flashing light and beeping noise of DOOM fixed.

*And this brings up one of the things I love about LJ. I post my despair over subtitles and this strange phrase and I get several people hunting about for an answer. It's quite smashing and I've learned all sorts of other interesting things about Korean and Chinese in the process. Thank you to everyone for your suggestions and help! It is more than bunnies, it is surely (at least) an Irish Hare. :)

ETA: Er, what's a good beginning learn Korean book? I've watched so many of these dramas now that I understand some things but if I theoretically wanted to go further what would be something good to read?

ETA 2: And in strange language things, I was remembering when my sister lived in Holland for several years and learned Dutch - except she spoke it with this heavy German accent. According to her teacher this often happened with Irish people who learned the language. Very strange and not really the accent you want with Dutch.

By dint of going through various subtitle files for Spring Waltz on jdramas and then watching the episode again (episode 8 about 42.50 in, for anyone who cares) I have discovered what the subtitler meant by 'that is bunnies.' And it is (at least according to the amateur subtitles) 'they should become a couple now.' Of course, I have no idea how you go from one to the other except beyond thinking that the subtitler thought of 'love-bunnies' or something of that ilk.

This is, I should point out, the person who translated concealer as 'cake'. That's concealer as in make-up concealer. And told me that Philip apparently searched high and low for his mother's grave so he could confess he missed his dog (another mystery I sorted out with the help of less confused subtitles).

Despite the subtitler's best attempts, however, I finished the series. There was a certain amount of ffing through scenes by the end because of the introduction of young child who was being dragged around by hero's real evil father. I did not approve of this development, though I guess some might find it winsome. Then there was some more angst, Philip looked like he might have a chance with girl only to get his heart kicked around some more, heroine ran off with hero, hero got engaged (again!) to fake first love, mad parents did things, Philip angsted in an incredibly attractive way, then happy ending. Not for Philip, though. And there was very little angsty driving. But crying and saying 'oppa' made an appearance instead.

That, my friends, is bunnies. And, no, I still am not tired of saying that.

I guess now it's either 'My Girl' (which I already own) or 'My Lovely Sam Soon' which I would need to obtain by some means. Admittedly, the latter has Daniel Henney in it and he gets a girl, but I fear the subtitles I might end up with.

I've been watching pivotal scenes ~~the ones with Philip in them~~ with decent subtitles and it is an entirely different experience. I finally know that hero's evil father did for sure sell heroine into slavery. Really. Because that's the sort of show this is.

You know, I really like the heroine. Apart from her unaccountable poor taste in preferring the hero over ~~Daniel Henney~~ Philip she is really quite lovely. Pity she has to go from bouncy and cheery in the first episodes to being downtrodden and angst-ridden in the final ones. Plus she is also super cute and she has a great best friend who lives with her and her adopted family and also when I watch with the good subtitles might have a sort of slashtastic relationship with her. Especially when she asks her not to give her heart to Philip because she a) wants his super goodlookingness for herself (though she'll give him up for heroine) and b) because it always belongs to the best friend. And they share a bed. I like the Best Friend and Adoptive Brother relationship too.

Pity heroine has a useless adoptive father who owes money to the mob. What is it about this show and useless or controlling fathers? There's three of them, which seems a tad excessive even by the standards of Kdramas. And Philip's dad doesn't seem that great either.

I haven't seen the last two episodes yet because I am debating whether I should watch them with the now almost entirely insane subtitles or obtain decent ones. I've gotten sort of used to not really knowing what anyone is saying and enjoying the sometimes interesting language that whoever did these uses. Maybe the bunny secret will finally be revealed? Or this will turn out to be some experimental drama in which very little of the dialogue makes any sense?

So THERE HAVE BEEN REVELATIONS. At the end of the last episode heroine was told hero was marrying mad fake first love, b) was forced to have lunch with hero's evil real father who stole her operation money and (maybe) sold her into slavery, and c) discovered that hero was really her first love. That's a lot of action. And angst. If I were her I'd run off with Philip and just assuage my misery by thinking about how very good looking he is.

There was naturally a lot of Philip angst, some of which didn't revolve around his love for heroine but involved his father. I wish there was someone the show could pair him up with as he about the nicest secondary male/losing person in a love triangle I've ever seen. Poor Philip!

Hero struggles manfully against a haircut which (I am sorry to say) becomes more mullet like with each episode. Well done, hero, but please go to a hair dresser.

There were no bunnies. But the subtitles get worse and worse. I don't actually think sometimes they're even subtitles for this series. I think they've got a pool and just randomly pick sentences when they need them.

ETA: And for some reason the hero has referred to a song as being created from a sait hall. Funniest subtitle since I thought they were talking about eating the heroine's aunt but it turned out they only wanted her to make dinner.

ETA 2: Way to go subtitler and ruin an absolutely affecting moment by assuring me that Philip's big confession to his mother's grave (that took him for ever to find and involved his grandfather shouting and abusing him and a huge breakdown over only being half-Korean) was that he missed his dog. Really? Really? I PREFERRED THE BUNNIES.

You know, no one really takes any pride in their work any more. They've suddenly decided that Austria and Australia are one country and should be used interchangeably. And that no one subtitler should spell the hero's name the same way. This makes for variety but does not breed confidence in the work.

ETA: Oooh evil dad who sold heroine in slavery has reappeared thus upping the angst ante. However, I can't be sure about the selling into slavery thing as a) it was only briefly touched on and b) I don't really trust the subtitles for obvious reasons. I do, however, trust the music of doom that played when heroine saw him and her freaked out expression.

I am ashamed to say what time I was up to last night watching this thing. At some point the subtitler just stopped trying and clearly just made stuff up. Someone would say one word and you'd get this really long subtitle. And then long conversations would get three words. And they started reusing random subtitles that didn't make any sense at the time and made still less sense when they were repeated.

Mostly I am traumatized by watching Philip's heart get stomped on good. Though I don't really blame heroine as she did tell him right out that she didn't love him and that he shouldn't keep seeing her because she couldn't match his feelings. I do think the piano playing hero should feel worse as Philip has worked for his career for so long and they are bestest friends.

The secondary female still annoys and is batty and has uncovered the fact that hero and heroine were each other's first loves, which should lead to even more angst because the heroine does not know this very important fact yet. And

caerbannog you will be delighted to know that even if she cannot match the evil eye acting of the stepsister in Stairway to Heaven there are moments when I am very optimistic that we will get some good evil eye action. She has definite tendencies in that direction.

Parents of hero also confirmed as bona fide nutters. Mother does a good collapse and having to go to hospital thing when hero develops spine and refuses to marry horrid secondary female. And guess what? Springing announcements of engagements on people at giant parties when they have said they would rather die than marry anyone but their OTP is never a good idea. You have only yourself to blame. And what happened to posting these announcements in newspapers? That's much more effective and hard to have a public row about.

I APOLOGIZE DEEPLY TO ANYONE WHO FRIENDED THIS JOURNAL BECAUSE OF ANY OF MY OTHER FANNISH INTERESTS. PLEASE SEND HELP AS I CANNOT STOP MYSELF WATCHING THIS STUFF.

In conclusion: that is bunnies.

Okay, so let's compare up the two men in the heroine's life and see how they square up. So far in my opinion Philip is ahead. But that may be because he is played by Daniel Henney. I am indeed that shallow.

Philip
1. Is superhumanly goodlooking. So much so that even people who don't like him must comment on it when they meet him
2. Has little angst
3. Has no horrid dorama parents. Okay, so maybe there's a loopy dad or mum tucked away somewhere, but so far being parentless is a big plus
4. Has leapt under a falling stained glass window to save heroine, so willing to sacrifice life for her, which is always useful
5. Buys shoes and dresses for the heroine. Always nice to have a man who will buy things.
6. Doesn't speak Korean very well so a bit of an issue with communication with the heroine. However, she can just gaze on his amazing features and think about how very goodlooking he is while she wonders what on earth he is saying

Hero
1. Is super famous piano player and must have tons of money
2. Is childhood love, though she doesn't know it yet. In Korean drama that means he is the only man for heroine
3. Is sort of attractive, though his hair teeters perilously close to a mullet at times
4. Has lots of angst and will probably be the sort to stand in the snow moping, which is apparently the Korean way of saying that you have much love. I rather approve of this.
5. Is burdened with loopy parents. His mum is a little too attached to him to be quite normal and anyway pretending that random boy is your dead son and substituting him is not exactly the greatest sign of mental health
6. Has a mad fake first love who is making heroine's life miserable through petty insults
7. Is not (and this is the most important thing) acted by Daniel Henney
8. Er, I think from various flashbacks that his dad - besides stealing the heroine's money which she needed for a life-saving operation - may also have sold her into slavery. That would give me pause if I were heroine.

ETA: And it goes way off into slashtastic territory with hero and Philip having a tear-filled scene, where hero tells Philip that he is everything to him and he loves him.

ETA 2: And even more slashtastic because of subtitles which have Philip saying to hero in broken-hearted and angry way 'recently I don't satisfy you.'

And I like the fact that they use 'please fall apart' for 'please break up.'

The subtitles continue to entertain. It's a bit bad when I work out that someone is saying that you should be careful and sensitive in dealing with people in love but the subtitles insist otherwise. How I suffer for Daniel Henney. And the astonishingly cute heroine who he won't end up with. But the hero is sort of growing on me too and he does have to deal with mad mum and bonkers fake first love who clearly does not know the meaning of no, so I guess that he deserves someone.

I still can't work out what the subtitles are translating when they have the characters say 'suffer a lot.' They're clearly translating some sort of greeting but I have no idea what. Surely Koreans don't go around telling each other to suffer as a form of hello?

Also if this was on the American telly the slashers would go mad with hero and Philip. There's some very suggestive piano playing scenes... And now a mountain climbing and bandaging hand one.

And since this phrase was used on a subtitle I now really want to use 'that is bunnies' in conversation.

And some other people, too, but they're not as interesting.

So far, piano playing hero has not worked out that heroine was his first love and whose life his father destroyed (some of it inadvertently). But it's a'coming, I tell you. Which will be difficult as Philip, his best friend, is also madly in love with heroine (can't blame him as she is super cute and much bouncier than I'd be with her difficult life). I can feel the angst on the horizon and it involves a love triangle.

So far Philip is miles ahead of hero on the charming stakes. But as the less tortured person he will lose the girl. It's all about the ability and background for proper angst, sadly. He has, however, bought the heroine a second pair of shoes, spent the night in a hotel with her, gone to see her mother's grave, and managed to get in a head resting on her shoulder thing while pretending to sleep. Sadly she wouldn't kiss him, foolish female! I am amused that every one's reaction to seeing Philip is to be astounded by how good-looking he is. This is entirely deserved, of course: Daniel Henney (see below) is almost inhumanly attractive.

Annoying secondary female is really irritating. Yes, I know that you think hero is your first love (he isn't - he's another kid whom the grieving parents of first love substituted because they couldn't admit their son was dead) but still. It's clear he's not interested in you one bit and you blithering on about your 16 years ago liking is not really changing that. He's playing that piano for his true first love and clearly is not keen on marrying you no matter what you do.

In conclusion: there are pretty people, very pretty people. there is moping, piano playing, and shoes. Also angst, but only the minor sort that signals that the good stuff is on the horizon. I can tell because no on has done angsty driving or had to stand in the rain crying yet.

ETA: The subtitles continue to be interesting... They've only become unintelligible a few times, though sometimes it takes a minute or two to work out what people are saying. A few times I have managed to feel superior because even with my 20 words of Korean I'm pretty sure that's not the character just said.

ETA: Sample subtitle: 'Bili got Enying the job for to meet everyday. That is bunnies.' [what? how? bunnies????!!!!]

And secondary female how are you not aware that the hero is not interested in you? Are you that monstrously vain?

ETA: Have just realised that hero's mum is probably a nutter and will cause problems for heroine. In excellent dorama tradition. She should really run off with Philip whose parents are conveniently absent.

So, um, since seeing a picspam for a Korean romantic comedy Seducing Mr. Perfect I have become rather, shall we say, fascinated by Daniel Henney, model, actor, and (apparently) singer.

Of course, fascination leads to picspams.

Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket

This is the man himself striding towards the camera in a purposeful way. I am not sure what he is selling, but I'd buy it.

( More pictures behind the cut. )

Spring Waltz has some very odd subtitles. I'm a bit annoyed as I bought it as a legitimate copy. And on disc three they're out of whack with the sound, so you get the subtitle before they actually say the line.

Okay, I strongly suspect that Philip did not just say to the empty room of the hero:

"While you were gone I enjoyed for you." Enjoyed what? Surely you and piano playing, emotionally distant hero are not having that sort of relationship? But come to think of it there was that time in the Austrian ski resort where you were lolling on the same bed and looking very happy about it. (There's a picture of that scene behind the cut)

It's always a bad sign when the subtitled English is different from the English characters are saying.

But the show does have some lovely scenery and the music is quite gorgeous. Lots of classical music and soulful piano playing. And staring. And Daniel Henney

So very hungover. Which seems to be getting worse and not better. But on the plus side the Midori is also gone as is the creme de cassis. And some of the tequila and an immense amount of vodka. But the Drambuie is still stubbornly sitting there. I guess my description of it as a rather horrid mistake made by the usually clever at such things Scottish wasn't terribly attractive.

Trying to counteract thumping headache by watching Spring Waltz. But the subtitles don't work on the first disk (and the soundtrack couldn't be shifted from Chinese so I couldn't even try out my 20 words of Korean) and for some reason the second one only has the hero and heroine as children (the unluckiest children in the world I must say - hero's dad ran off with the money for the heroine's operation and her mum got run over as she went to look for it. Then they get lost at sea and then in the big city. And now she's dying. For 10 year olds that's a *lot* of bad luck).

But what traumatizes me the most is that there as yet has been no Daniel Henney. Look I know he's the secondary hero but the show keeps taunting me by showing him in previews. Whhyyyyyyy must you taunt me like this?

ETA: Daniel Henney has just appeared and for some reason given the heroine a ballgown. I am not sure why. Possibly he is just really generous? Or a mad person who keeps dresses in the back of his car for the purpose of giving them to heroines?

ETA 2: OMG. Daniel Henney character (Philip) did not just give the heroine a ballgown but taught her how to waltz and then when she left party because hero accused her of trying to seduce Philip (who is his best friend) and was wandering around the streets of Salzburg and tripped because her shoes were too big he picked her up. And then used his bow tie to tie the shoe on. I might have gone eep during that scene. I will admit nothing however.

Er, this might become a zone of Daniel Henney admiration for a bit. Sorry about that.

ETA 3: Yes, there is definitely a picspam of Daniel Henney in the near future.