Damo: The Undercover Lady Detective (MBC TV Series) (US Version - Limited Edition) DVD Region All

Even though KBS and TBC were already very active in the "Sageuk" (historical drama) field, in the early 70s MBC started paving the way for what would become a two-decade-long domination of the genre. Yet, winds of change started appearing in the genre a few years later. Historical Dramas on TV used to be almost documentary-like historical accounts, following their original text sometimes even to an intimidating degree. But one of the first writer/pd combos of the period, writer Shin Bong Seung and PD Pyo Jae Soon, was able to make the first real Fusion Dramas, over two decades before the term would become popular thanks to films like Once Upon a Time in The Battlefield and Untold Scandal. What they did was really simple: noticing women weren't watching those somber, often stoic historical dramas, hard to follow even for the most navigated history buff, they added melodrama and moved the focus from the issues to the characters and their emotional rollercoasters. Their new style of Sageuk attracted a significant portion of the female viewership, and until the early 80s it became the easiest way to make a Historical Drama popular.

The 80s brought many changes, including color TV, but some of the best writers of the genre started making their first important steps in the arena. Im Cho Ong wrote the second 'version' of the Lady Jang saga in 1981, which made Lee Mi Sook a huge household name. In the following 20 years, Im would become one of the most influential and talented writers in the genre, writing gems like Hong Guk Young, King of The Wind and another Jang Heebin version in the mid 90s. Much more political and allegorical than any other writer at the time, Im was certainly 'interpreting' the historical figures he was talking about through his political perspective, but it always made for great TV. Yet, one of the riskiest decisions MBC ever took completely changed the Sageuk landscape in 1983. It was March that year when 500 Years of Joseon Dynasty started what would become a legendary 8-year-long run, divided into 11 parts, and with over 500 episodes. Enlisting writer Shin Bong Seung and a young promising producer by the name of Lee Byung Hoon, the show followed the history of the Joseon Dynasty through 27 reigns, from the fall of the Goryeo Dynasty and the dawn of Joseon to its fall in 1910. Yet, as much as this series is considered a classic, around the 6-7th part it even risked an early departure, just like some of today's low rated shows.

Because of a huge controversy over some figures represented on one of those shows (shown in a different, less negative way than in the past), viewers started turning away from the show, until 1988's Queen In Hyun brought fame back to the series. With the country preparing for the Olympic Games, the show had two hugely popular older versions of the story people could compare it with, and the legacy of big stars like Yoon Yeo Jung and Lee Mi Sook. But instead of going for established actresses, MBC went for a new face, Jeon In Hwa. Trying not to repeat the same elements which made the previous series a success, except the obvious (history), Jeon's Lady Jang was a little different from the past, more graceful than the cunning, vicious femme fatale the other two versions (along with two films about the same argument). Queen In Hyung, the 8th part of the series, became a hugely popular show even amongst demographics who previously never cared about Historical Dramas, perhaps because they could relate a little more to Jeon In Hwa's Lady Jang, removed from the histrionics of the past heroines. We'd have to wait until the early 90s to see the start of another Golden Age, but MBC was already well on its way to become the 'Drama Kingdom' of Korean TV. A little under 4 years later, a little drama called Eyes of Dawn hit the airwaves, and TV Dramas started seeing the first signs of a revolution.

Although by no means a Historical Drama (the story was fictional), the show took elements of the genre as its background, and wrapped them around strong melodrama, some of the best acting ever seen in Korean TV history, and special effects never seen before in the country. The 'Blockbuster Dramas' were born, thanks to the magic duo of Song Ji Na and Kim Jong Hak, and MBC started a slow but inexorable ascent to the throne of most popular TV station in the country. Something else was happening: audience tastes were changing, with much more variety - especially Trendy Dramas, appearing in 1992 with MBC's Jealousy - and freedom of expression thanks to the country's democratization. TV had mostly been dominated, or targeted towards older viewers and housewives, and young people were rarely the focus on TV Dramas, with the possible exception of the Miniseries. What was the chance a 16-17 year old girl would spend 250 days a year watching a Family Drama about parents not accepting their daughter's latest love interest? But with TNS Media and AGB starting nationwide ratings surveys, the popularity of a show could be measured by everyone, not just industry insiders. And it became much more obvious how much influence younger viewers were starting to have on whether a Drama would become a hit or not. And with Historical Dramas mostly concerned with labyrinthine plots and political intrigue, only those versed in the history of the period could understand. Longer Sageuk would often end with dialogue-based cliffhangers to the tune of 'Your Majesty, the chief of the Noron Party sent a petition against the nomination of the new chancellor!", and younger viewers would mostly go 'Yeah. And?'. To make a long story short, Historical Dramas (all of them) were in serious crisis, enough to make stations reconsider their broadcasting plans. The traditional daily Historical Dramas were relegated to weekends, and although budgets went up thanks to the newfound prosperity of TV Dramas, few were really popular.

Between 1992 (when AGB started recording ratings nationwide) and 1998, only three Historical Dramas were able to really strike a chord with viewers: two were written by old fox Im Cho Ong, 1995's Jang Heebin and 1994's Ambition. But it was the third, KBS' Tears of the Dragon that turned the tables once again. One of the five best Historical Dramas of all time, the show changed the paradigm of the genre, unfolding through 160 Episodes over 2 years, upgrading old production techniques, and making Yoo Dong-Geun a huge star. Again focusing on the dawn of the Joseon Dynasty, from Lee Sung Gye's (a fantastic performance by the late, great Kim Mu-Saeng) coup d'etat against the Royal Goryeo Family to his bloody rule and palace intrigue to succeed his reign, Tears of The Dragon was high octane intensity from start to finish. Historical Dramas started to have an upsurge in viewership, not only because they improved in quality, but also for understanding the changing times, and putting as much effort on making an exciting show instead of the educational and historically relevant elements of the past only.

Yet, nothing changed Historical Dramas like Lee Byung Hoon's Hur Joon in 2000. The large majority of Historical Dramas since the early 70s focused on the palace intrigues of the Joseon Dynasty, or on important figures of earlier periods (generals becoming kings or emperors after overthrowing the former ruler, famous concubines plotting to gain power, politicians scheming against each other etc.). As interesting as they were, and although many of them had a degree of allegory which sort of captured the mood of time, they still felt distant to most people, with the exception of history buffs and older male viewers. Young females and even college-age viewers wouldn't touch Historical Dramas with a ten-foot pole, as they couldn't find anyone they could relate to. It was mostly the evil Yangban plotting against the good one, or vice versa, but it was like staring at two Millionaires fighting each other to make more money. Not exactly something exciting for people raised on Choi Jin Shil Trendy Dramas and Family Dramas with the kind of realism even social protest films of the 80s could rarely reach. So Lee changed everything: he moved out of the palace.

First dramatized in the 1975 show Tenacity, and later in PD Lee Jae Gab's 1991 Miniseries Dongui Bogam (adapted from Lee Eun Sung's original novel), the show told the story of legendary physician Hur Joon (1546-1615). Son of a commoner who became a court physician thanks to his deeds, Hur Joon wrote The Treasures of Eastern Medicine, unifying all previous Ming Dynasty-influenced theories about herbal drugs and Joseon's own interpretation, still considered the 'bible' of Traditional Korean Medicine. The show, written by master Choi Wan Gyu, starred Jeon Gwang Ryeol as Hur Joon, and reached ratings of over 60%, making it one of the most popular of all time. But why so much popularity, setting aside for a moment the figure's historical importance and his achievement? The show focused on his personal struggle and successes more than simply being a realistic account of the period. Also, Hur was a hero of the people above everything else: he tried to stay out of politics, simplified medicine by writing in Hangeul instead of Hanja (Chinese characters), and tried to use herbs just about every commoner could find, instead of the expensive and exotic excesses of other doctors. It was no longer about a group of corrupt court politicians plotting against each other (or at least that wasn't the focus), but someone like us, fighting to the death to fulfill his dreams and aspirations, with a little melodrama thrown in. Hur Joon didn't only change the way MBC intended Historical Dramas, but forced the competition to sit down and learn from them - although they wouldn't do so until last year, despite sometimes producing great works like Wang Gun and The Great Ambition.

What followed was a complete U-turn in subject matter, from palace intrigue to the struggle of single figures, like legendary merchant Im Sang Ok in Sang Do and royal cook Seo Jang Geum in Dae Jang Geum. SBS tried to copy the formula with shows like The King's Woman but failed miserably, whereas KBS moved their territory to the Goryeo Dynasty for a few years, with three consecutive Dramas set in the period. Although by 2003 traditional Sageuk still existed, they were few and far between, substituted by this brand of 'new age' Historical Dramas, or more lucrative fictional stories with a historical background. These new Dramas offered things the old classics never even tried to do. They immersed the viewer in the daily life of its characters in ways that were never explored before, moving the educational elements of the genre to the actual social and technological changes happening in the period. Be it medicine with Hur Joon, commerce with Sang Do or cuisine with Dae Jang Geum, the shows attracted a bigger audience as they offered more points of interest for different demographics. There was the intrigue and political scheming for the older male viewers, the melodrama and love stories (albeit in a much subtler way than the average Trendy Drama) for younger females, some action for the boys, and an overall allegorical, inspirational feeling which appealed to everyone. It was 2003, when a young PD embarked on a project which was started and halted a dozen times over the last decade, something which was going to change TV Dramas forever, in a way nobody expected. His name was Lee Jae Gyu, and his debut as producer was on a show called Damo.

After changing the structural and genre-specific fabric of Historical Drama, MBC was going to try something very risky, innovative and even problematic. Past shows already focused on central characters and their development, in ways similar to role-playing games (from rags to riches, so to speak), a far cry from the dozens of characters featured in traditional Sageuk. But Damo, for the first time, took one of the major staples of Trendy Dramas, the love triangle, and used it prominently. Again a first, the show was completely shot with HD Cameras, although they were previously used for Documentaries and short one-two episode specials. Although many previous shows had differing degrees of action, it was mostly the more realistic Korean-style, with a mix of streetfight-like warfare and some touches of hapkido/taekwondo. Damo used wire-action, inspired by Hong Kong wuxia TV serials and movies. Even more innovative, the show was one of the first to complete a good 80% of its shoot before the first episode aired, as the intensive use of CGI, the time-consuming wire action and many other issues often delayed the shoot. But this also had a positive effect, as the Production Company had more time to cut the rough edges, and offer a product with higher production values, and more polished and good looking than most other competitors. Just for those simple reasons, Damo was already a half revolution. But before talking about the other half, who and what exactly were the Damo of the title?

Up to the end of Goryeo and the beginning of the Joseon Dynasty, women were engaged in business practices to a certain degree, even in commerce (see Madame Jami's intimidating economic clout in the Shilla-based Emperor of the Sea) yet it all disappeared around the middle of the Joseon Dynasty, heavily influenced by Neo-Confucian values. There were only a handful of occupations left for women: female physician, who would serve female patients instead of men, just like in Dae Jang Geum; Court Ladies serving the royal family, female entertainers... doing you know what, and finally the Damo. Alternatively called tea ladies, their 'official' profession wasn't too different from normal servants: they'd serve tea and other beverages at official residences, and do other chores. But in late Joseon Dynasty, they assumed another role: tea ladies by day, secret detectives by night (well, not necessarily in that order, but you get my drift). The first Police Bureaus, back then named 'Right' and 'Left' Bureaus, (in this series' case - left) appeared in 1481, the 12th year of Seongjong's reign, but it wasn't until 400 years later that the first Damo were starting to be used. To fit their needs, Damo had to be no taller than 150 cm, weigh around 40-45 kg, be very agile, flexible, and even withstand large quantities of alcohol without getting drunk. What these Special Forces female inspectors did was go where male officers couldn't: if they found a dead woman the Damo would go in instead, inspecting her body to find possible clues. If they need someone more agile and able to move in small places, they'd use a Damo. Although their role in the force was important, they were discriminated against for essentially being glorified commoners, doing the dirty work instead of the male officers.

Although not much has been written about their special profession, they were mentioned in several historical diaries and annals. But MBC didn't really need that, as they had the perfect source material: Bang Hak Gi's seminal manhwa Damo Nam Soon. Bang is an almost legendary figure in the manhwa world, from deviating from the dichotomies of historical manhwas, and actually doing extensive research about the themes he wanted to cover. This particular work first started appearing in the early 70s, a sort of feminist ode to 'career women' in the Joseon Dynasty, with a very strong central figure (Nam Soon, a Damo), independent and constantly trying to solve things by her own means. This was a special project for Bang, who used Nam Soon's character as a tribute to his older sister (also called Nam Soon), who after raising him alone for 20 years, died of tuberculosis. Showing this independent woman succeeding in life with her own forces was Bang's way of paying tribute to his sister, who grew up in similar conditions, having to raise kids during the Korean War and the immediate post-war. This is why the Nam Soon in Lee Myung Se's Duelist shows such a departure compared to Chae Ok in this series. Although by the early 90s Bang dropped the Nam Soon character and changed it to Chae Ok, we're still dealing with a tough-as-nails, independent woman who doesn't need anyone to advance in life. The project of adapting the manhwa actually started almost a decade ago, and at first it was supposed to be a film. Yet for a variety of reasons, including production values and the growing crisis the genre was facing, the project kept being pushed back, until MBC came to the table, and made a proposition to adapt the work into a Miniseries. When Bang was negotiating with film companies, he had a model in mind: Brigitte Lin and her strong female roles. But of course it wasn't easy to find her Korean counterpart. Someone who could be convincing when displaying a strong masculine side of her personality, and even be able to handle the action in the show.

The casting of the show went back and forth for several months, with Lee Jung Jin initially cast as Hwangbo Yoon, and Ha Ji Won as Chae Ok. Lee and his management raised a fuss over the rest of the cast, and at the last moment Lee Seo Jin and Kim Min Joon joined the cast, while Lee dropped out of the picture (thankfully, you could say). And casting was important here, as the show didn't just focus on the three main characters, but also expanded its scope to include many more. A sort of milieu between the 'one character' focus of Lee Byung Hoon's new age Dramas like Sang Do and Hur Joon and the traditional Historical Dramas with dozens of characters. Super-talented Lee Moon Shik joined the cast, along with sitcom mainstay Kwon Oh Joong, and Sageuk veteran Park Young Gyu. Everything was ready: a solid source at the show's foundation, a good writer in Jung Hyung Soo, who capably translated Bang Hak Gi's visuals into the kind of visual and emotional language fitting the TV format; a talented cast, and top notch technical staff. Last but not least the show acquired action choreography from the same Seoul Action School founded by Jung Doo Hong. With over 2/3 of the shows in the can, and a huge budget (200 Million Won per episode, pretty much trampling every other Miniseries ever shot in Korean TV history) Damo was ready to be unveiled to the public. Little did they know that on a hot night in July, Korean TV Dramas would never be the same again.

One of the first obvious consequences of the 'wired' culture in Korea was the changing attitudes towards Drama viewership and their importance vis-a-vis the role of the Internet. Whereas before producers would only look at the ratings, now legions of netizens would start writing, commenting, discussing about the shows, regardless of their popularity. You didn't just have a bunch of numbers, but a collection of a thousand, ten thousand, sometimes a hundred thousand opinions. Was last night's show good? Did the lead actress' acting stink? Was the story too cliched and obvious? Within minutes of the end of the show, just a look at the official website and you'd get your answers. With the 1999 Noh Hee Kyung Drama Lie, the era of 'Mania Dramas' started in full force. Now even shows with bad ratings could live a second life online, through viewers' appreciation and discussion. 2002's Ruler of Your Own World made the pages of major film and culture magazines. An amazing number of people got together, discussed about the Drama, went back to the spots and locations which left a lasting impression on them after watching the series. Yet, that was nothing compared to Damo. Within hours of the end of the show, the official website went down. No, it wasn't the occasional server failure, it's just that a few hundred thousand people tried to post at the same time, and the site's message board was literally flooded with comments - hundreds per hour, thousands per day. A few weeks after the show started airing, the message board hit the million post mark, something which never, ever happened for anything shown on Korean Tv. Damo had become more than a simple TV Drama. It was a fully-fledged cultural phenomenon.

The show's fans, who called themselves "Crippled by Damo" created countless Cafes and Message Boards, they started unofficial daily online newspapers (The "Crippled By Damo" Ilbo, one of the dozens of examples), edited music videos by themselves, posted thousands of drawings related to the show. They essentially brought Mania Dramas to the mainstream. Whereas older Mania Dramas were simply being resurrected by those fans online, it was something starting and ending there. They liked the show, they talked about it, end of story. But Damo, which recorded average ratings, became mainstream thanks to the huge popularity it enjoyed online, and forced TV Stations to change their approach to ratings. After that, online contents became much more important, stations listened a little more to the opinion of viewers (sometimes a little too much), and the brand image of new TV Dramas was modeled after the kind of audience it tried to go after, instead of simply tossing a big star on TV with a cliched tearjerker of a script, hoping people would fall for it. Damo changed TV Dramas forever, because it was a wake up call for both Historical Drama writers, who focused only on certain elements and certain target demographics, and the station themselves, which often spent big money on huge projects without looking at whom they wanted to target first. By mixing action, melodrama, comedy and mystery to a tremendously solid technical background, the show ushered in a new era, that of the Fusion Dramas. Shows that can appeal to the history buff just as much as the teenagers who watch Dramas for the actors' physical appearance.

But simply being a revolutionary show doesn't necessarily make for good viewing. The show had to deal with an almost impossible task: adapt a work which had very strong ties to past historical dramas and add a strong melodramatic element (the "mello code", as it's called in Korea). They could have gone overboard, but thankfully Damo offers both sides of the coin: its first half explores the various investigating techniques of the period, sets up the Damo's profession and how it was connected to the social fabric, and even found the time to add the compulsory political strife. Featuring our heroine dealing with a ring of counterfeit coins, rebels trying to change Joseon society for the better, corrupt politicians and lots of intrigue, Damo had all the elements which make Historical Dramas great. But it also had a strong cinematic humanism, which later became Lee Jae Gyu's trademark, as he showed in his follow up Fashion Seventies. Because, yes, this show sometimes turns into a glorified tearjerker, but it earns its marks (or tears) by going for sincerity over the hysterical manipulations of certain TV Dramas.

Damo doesn't completely give justice to Bang Hak Gi's work, as it tends to cop out to traditional dichotomies. Chae Ok here is much weaker than the original Nam Soon, and always seems to need a man to solve problems for her, essentially because everything reverts to love - again the mello code at play. Yet, it has an almost voracious power, from start to finish, engulfing the viewer in its strange world. You feel close to the characters more than any other Historical Drama, even better ones. It might be the stunning, HD-enhanced look of the show, the superb sound design, the great soundtrack (a fantastic mix of traditional music and more modern rock/electronica), or just the fact it's a well-written show. But even though I can't say I've been "crippled by Damo", I'll never forget it. Damo might be a landmark for what it meant to the industry as a whole, but it's also a memorable Drama, one of the best of the last few years, for blending so many of the elements which make Korean TV Dramas worth watching into something fresh, consistently engaging and tremendously well produced. And if you see Fusion Dramas like The Four Gods popping out left and right nowadays, always remember. It all started here, on a hot night in July.

Review By X - Twitchfilm.net