Thread by @beingjanee_

Tracing Park Hae Young’s filmography is really indicative of how important the PD-writer synergy is for a drama. Both of her dramas before #MyLiberationNotes were hits, but I think for different reasons. 🧵

I wonder if Oh Hae Young Again would have been the same drama w/another director less inclined to pursue the “comedy” of the rom-com angle. I’m not sure if PHY wrote it with the same intentions as the director; the comedy in it is a whiplash from the crucial themes of the show.

Knowing PHY is repeating a lot of the same themes (even the same lines) with MLN, I think the tonal whiplash of OHY is largely attributable to directorial choices — these choices worked in the director’s other drama (Marriage Over Dating) but less so with PHY’s work.

It’s not because the directing was bad, but PHY’s scripts have their own energy. As another example, the same director went on to work on Because This is My First Life, another thoughtful rom-com. Here, his touches reenergize the script and elevates it so the characters stand out

Still, the character of OHY remains heart blistering-ly realistic and a spiritual successor to Kim Sam Soon, and the rom-com aspect made it all bearable. It’s worth nothing also that PHY wrote My Ahjussi before OHY, and only agreed to write OHY in order to get My Ahjussi made

Because of that, OHY’s commercial viability can’t be detached from the way it was produced and written; at this point, I think PHY and the director were not as concerned about holistic artistic quality than they would be with future works.

With OHY’s success, My Ahjussi nabbed the director of Misaeng as its main PD. And again, we see where the director adds his own touches. My Ahjussi is a distinctly more masculine show, concerned about human dignity in the workplace and the plight of the salaryman

Not unfamiliar themes for PHY, but definitely more aligned with the director’s former work. The work is thus a shade darker and less forgiving; their plights often feel truly miserable. It’s a bleak honesty that feels very much the director’s own, as much as it is also PHY’s

But the drama works because it doesn’t lose track of what PHY is trying to say, with the added benefit of Kim Won-suk’s perspective as PD. There’s a reason why this drama was so lauded; it’s as much KWS’s work as PHY’s.

For MLN, the director worked with Park Hae Young before on Old Miss Diary and went on to direct the acclaimed “Light in Your Eyes,” “This Week My Wife is Having an Affair,” and “Awl.” (As well as Law School)

Despite the acclaim of these dramas, it’s hard to say that they had a distinct directorial voice, even as they did have very specific aesthetic choices and visual tones that are distinct to each drama. This is unlike either director PHY worked with before.

This doesn’t mean the director for MLN doesn’t have a clear vision for his work; his directing style is incredibly tailored to the story, such that it’s hard to discern the director’s own individual trademarks from drama to drama.

But within each drama itself, the directing stands out for its strong aesthetic appeal and coherence. Essentially, the writer’s voice stands out even more strongly than it might with another director.

Add this to the fact that this director has worked with PHY before on Old Miss Diary (her first work) and I Live in Cheongdamdong; I imagine they have a better awareness of each other professionally, which might lend itself to the ease we feel between the writing and directing

So to me, MLN feels the most strongly like PHY’s work, w/the added trust that the director is working fully in service of her story. It’s a different example of how the PD-writer relationship can work from her two previous dramas, and I think the result is her most honest work.