tvN newest drama “Little Women” has finally premiered and wow, oh wow, its amazing, lets talk about it.
I have been excited about the drama for a while now, the partial casting news has been out for quite some time and then it cooled down before we got the full lineup unveiled as well as the special appearances lineup, and its stunning, one of the most star-studded lineups of a 2022 kdrama.
So according to the wikipedia page, the drama is based on the novel “Little Women” which I know that I should have read by now but its been on my to-read list since 3 years ago…. My friends who have seen the drama and read the book say there are a lot of differences, so some suggest it should say ‘loosely based.’ if you guys know more about this, a comment down below to clear this up for us would be highly appreciated.
What I know is, the sister bond portrayed is very similar and is the center of the story.
The premiere episodes were AMAZING. No dull moment. Filled with so much information but it doesn’t feel like its an overload of information. Its very engaging and filled with suspense.
There is so much I want to praise beginning with the script. Exquisite and concise. Very intentional in its delivery. It doesn’t take a very traditional storytelling format, meaning it tries its best not to dump information as much as the regular kdrama does. This is one of my gripes with kdramas.
Screenwriter Jung Seo-Kyoung, who has worked on so many amazing movies including the award-winning “Handmaiden,” writes this one. She’s one of my fav Korean screenwriters.
She doesn’t work on dramas regularly and this is only her second drama EVER. The writing is amazing thus far and it moves at a fast pace. The lines… omg, the way its written and the attention the characters pay to details with respect to the difference between the rich and poor. Its harsh but so so true. You don’t want it to be true but this is the reality.
“Little Women” will only be 12 episodes long which is something I am already very happy about. Over dragging a suspenseful drama almost always ruins it.
The directing also shines here. Director Kim Hee-Won is one of my favorite female directors, she’s worked on “Vincenzo” and I can tell its the same director. Love the style for sure. Love the attention to details and the camera angles too. Not to forget the music.
I wanted to briefly highlight the camera angles and the way the drama is shot. It reminded me in its execution to “Parasite.” There is a lot of play on colors, themes, motifs, and contrasts to show the differences between the rich and poor, some were subtle, others not so much. The wide shots that show the differences in ways the rich and poor carry themselves were amazing. The way the characters are placed either up or down in certain scenes shows the power dynamics and the imbalance. A lot of work has gone into this, Director Kim Hee-Won aces this again.
I didn’t know what to pay attention to, so much happening and everything deserves attention.
Now onto the performances, Go Eun brings out her A-game yet again here. There are many scenes throughout the premier episodes where she steals the spotlight and delivers an amazing award-worthy performance. Her facial expressions when she found out her friend at work died was…. Great acting, so impressed. I felt sad but I was so impressed with her acting, I was saying ‘WOW.’
And Nam Ji Hyun doesn’t disappoint as per usual, she is always amazing and here, I love her performance too.
Park Ji Hu’s acting on the other hand has definitely improved from the last time I’ve seen her on “all of us are dead.” I recall talking about how I felt she needed more work on her acting. She’s still very young and has a lot of room for improvement. I see she’s a lot more comfortable and a lot less awkward on screen. I don’t know just how much of it is her improvement and how much of it is because she’s not the main focus yet. Despite that, I can tell her acting has improved. Glad to see that. I’ll be able to tell just how much if the focus shifts on her in future episodes which I am pretty sure will happen.
Oh Jung se, one of my favs EVER, is yet again, amazing here. Its a special appearance but so so important. Absolutely loved his performance.
Wi Ha Joon walks the fine line between being a sort of villain and a ‘nice’ guy. I don’t think he’s as harmless as he’d have you believe but he also doesn’t try to present himself as one either. Definitely an interesting character.
Choo Ja Hyun was also a fine addition here. Loved her chemistry with Go Eun.
Overall, I have zero complaints except for the fact that I have to wait a week for new episodes. I have high expectations after watching this impressive premiere.
So these are my thoughts on Little Women, so what about you guys? did you like the episodes? let me know what you thought in the comment section below.
I loved the first episodes- very fast pace, lots of adrenaline, secrets, investigation. But yes, not sure why it is based on the Little Women, there is absolutely nothing in common. In the first two episodes the only thing which reminded me of the novel was the existence of the rich Aunt who (as in the novel) singles out the middle sister and takes her under her patronage, and the fact that one of the sisters had a talent for drawing (but not the same sister). Everything else does not match, starting from the fact that there were four sisters in the novel, not three. And the oldest sister was a writer, not an accountant. And the story took place in the 19the century. So it is more than “loosely based”.
Even if this is a story about three sisters, the oldest one, played by Kim Go Eun is obviously the star of the show I thought. She gets the best and the most exciting storyline and the most of the airtime. I noticed that during one of her dialogues with Wi Ha Joon, the camera was showing her face even when he was talking. I found it strange. It is like her facial expressions are more important than his. I will try to observe how it will get in the next episodes. She will also get a physical transformation later, from poor to wearing rich clothes, so yes, she is a star of the show. I wish it stays balanced, they need to develop other storylines, they only have 12 episodes. But to be honest, the eldest sister was also the main protagonist in the novel, so maybe it is deliberate. In any case, I also look forward to the next Saturday, it is an excellent drama so far.
I only watched the movie of 2019(havent read the book) but the story its different, i guess because the drama is focus on the sisters they decide to use that name or maybe marketing? I mean its on netflix and the whole world knows about little woman so that is a way to get people to watch this drama idk…or maybe in future episodes the book is important? Idk…There is also a new drama that will be an adaptation of the anime parasite but the writer(who is the one of seoul station etc) said it would be different so i guess koreans like to make adaptations totally different from the original source