Mini-pizza under the guise of cookies
You're getting ready to bite the cookies. The tongue is ready for sweetness, and the jaw calculates the strength of the bite, guessing the dryness of food. But in the mouth suddenly a familiar salty taste.
That's the dish we served at our sophomore graduation party. Personally, I don’t like sweets, but I have a weakness for pizza. Also with historical dramas, I rarely dare to watch them, because they are often filled with sadness and pain. So when I come across a strange comedy with satire, I’m very happy – ‘My heart won’t break today? What happiness!'
So, why should you watch the drama “Queen Chorin”?
• Lightness.
This story is about the Korean love for the "fallen" in the past, or rather satire on many TV series about it. Even I, with my desire to avoid historical dramas, have seen at least six. It is because of the theme of the story that the series is made in a relaxing funny way. It is easy to watch, and the typical predictable moves of antagonists are bypassed to present new solutions.
Actors.
The drama has a bit of silly humor, twists and stuff. I'm not used to it, I prefer verbal humor, so I usually cut my eyes so much that I can't look. Here the behavior of the characters fits into the general theme and idea, and the actors are able to perform such behavior quite comfortably.
• Plot.
Very strange story, but in a good way. 90% of the time the story is dynamic. And the relationships of the heroes will make the viewer inflame. I love it when you don’t hesitate to write passion in a script. Oh yes, the authors are generally very frank. It's just that the soul rejoices when menstruation is suddenly mentioned in pop culture. This is a normal part of women’s life, but even in the advertising of pads, nobody talked about it until recently.
On the flaws:
•The middle.
I took 10% of the dynamic story for a reason. There were about 1-2 episodes in the middle when I was thinking about quitting. The denouement has not yet begun, but you already understand a lot, and there is little action. It was boring, it was good that I didn’t quit then.
•Triviality.
Sometimes the authors really found interesting and unexpected solutions, but sometimes the events followed the most boring, seen and predictable plot. It’s a shame, because you know what you can, you expect interesting, and in the end, the classic of the beginning of my career as a playwright.
• Comedy overreach?
This point is complicated. The fact is that in the beginning it was really difficult to get used to the behavior of the main actress. This is her role, I understand everything, but still the movements do not coincide with her gestures and facial expressions in male form. It was worth fitting one of the actors. Or did you want the main actress to be funny and Choi Jin Hyuk not to overpay? Strange dissonance. I remember that was the case in the boy-in-girl movies. Actors in the performance of their role played normally, but in the role of the opposite sex began to overplay. Here the goal of comic is obvious, yet it was possible to bring the characters closer to each other. The male character is still small on the screen, but you immediately notice the difference.
So I went to see a historical drama that would break my heart but make me laugh a little bit. And in the end got to satire and lawlessness.
I'm just happy, I love anything unusual. It was easy to see. Thank you all. I can’t say that it is necessary to watch, but it is very suitable for entertainment.
Verdict: 'Yes' from 'Yes/Maybe/No'
The young energetic chef of the restaurant "Blue Blood" Jang Bong Hwan was attacked by police. All because of an unpleasant incident that occurred with a politician who sued the restaurateur. Fleeing from the police, Jang Bong Hwang fell off the top floor of the hotel... lucky there was a pool downstairs! Once upon a time, Korean Princess Soyong almost drowned in a lake. The princess was miraculously saved, but it so happened that the consciousness of Jang Bong Hwang moved into a young royal of “blue blood”. This is the mystical background of the series: what is the arrogant, enterprising young man from our time will do in a completely unfamiliar Korean society of the middle of the XIX century?
Soon there will be a coronation, Soyeon and before was not a gift, and the deviant behavior of an alien from the future puzzled the whole court. She is the future queen of the ruling family, which means she can do anything. The plot tells about the dynasty of corrupt officials of that time, who mercilessly rob the people, and themselves live like celestials, without denying themselves anything. This is the social background of the series, because the fight against corruption is the key idea, which, albeit in a joking form, they try to convey to the viewer. The fight against corruption for Koreans is a close and understandable topic.
“Queen Chorin” looks easy, the series are swallowed one after another (although it lasts more than an hour), the actors sometimes overplay, in an attempt to give comedy to what is happening, otherwise the plot of the constant struggle for power would be more like a drama. The music in the series is wonderful, melodic and pleasant, and sometimes mischievous and cheerful, with an Asian flavor. The romance of the series is not overloaded (like, for example, “The Magnificent Century”), and this is the most important thing. If you try to find the right word to describe how you sometimes perceive the relationship between the main characters, the word “fun” or “fun” will fit. Towards the end of the series, they tried to show true, pure love.
Available locations - the palace and areas of a small town, the scope is not felt (as, for example, in the TV series "House of the Dragon" or "Game of Thrones"), in the realism of all that is happening, you also do not believe. Of course, making the series comedy, sacrificed realism. The viewer will laugh, but a smile on his face is provided. The actors are trying very hard. It is obvious that some people are really “driving” from their roles.
Kim Soyong is a princess from the ruling family, later Queen Joseon, in whose body the Korean Jang Bong Hwan possessed. Actress Shin Hye-sung with lively facial expressions, who managed to simultaneously play both “boy” and “nyash”.
Dowager Queen Song Won from the Kim family, the domineering and cynical grandmother Soyong. Actress Bae John Ok brilliantly played the ever-dissatisfied suspicious old hag.
The Dowager Queen Cho, a devious and cunning fox. Actress Cho Yong-hee, in my opinion, played just super. Lively emotions.
Hong Young, Queen Soyong's maid, who's just a slack. Actress Chae Seo-un loved everything she did.
Mrs. Choi, another maid of Queen Soyong, the character is practically a local Sumbuhl-aha (from The Magnificent Century).
Well, King Won Bom himself, a ninja and a special agent, wise and seasoned. Actor Kim John Hyun for the role of the king was selected successfully.
Closer to the middle of the series becomes not to jokes, passions heat up, and the struggle for the throne is fierce. The battle for power between the army general, his detective agency and the puppet King Joseon is reminiscent of how the shadow government, together with the security forces, controls the US president. The fights in the series are cool, but more like a dance of sword and steel than something bloody and cruel. There are no large-scale battles like in the Vikings series here. But all the costumes are very beautiful, bright, clean.
Political struggle is portrayed as a chess game in which pieces attack and defend, developing and applying various combinations and strategies, where sometimes a pawn can become a queen. As we move towards the plot denouement, the positive and light comedy are replaced by romance and drama. Since this is still a drama, a marathon of deaths should not be expected. But heroes are not shown to be immortal, and rightly so. The ending is logical and at the same time funny. This is a unique series, special.
The story of how the king taught social distancing. But I changed my mind.
Historical dramas are an amateur genre. This is like classical literature – on the one hand, it is interesting to learn how people lived 200-300 years ago, on the other hand, all these class restrictions and ridiculous norms of etiquette for the modern viewer often seem far-fetched and absurd.
Is it a matter of plots with the participation of “fallacies”? The viewer can satisfy curiosity and take the soul away when the hero directly expresses to others everything he thinks about the complicated rules of life. In general, the reception is well-known and almost win-win. And, I must say, the authors of the drama tried to squeeze the maximum out of it.
The recipe for success was simple:
- The wonderfully invented character of Jang Bong Hwan is smart, bright, narcissistic and ironic.
- Actress Shin Hye-sung, who surprisingly accurately showed the soul of a man trapped in a female body and those metamorphoses that occur with the character, when the memories of Kim So-yeon begin to return and confuse the self-consciousness of poor Jang Bong-hwan.
- Humor – the comedy component of the drama is dragged on by the same Shin Hye-sung paired with Kim John Hyun (King Cheoljong), but, in fairness, without the support of experienced actors of the humorous workshop, everything would turn out much more modest. Kim In Kwon (Chief Man Bok), Cha Chung Hwa (Dame Choi), Lee Jae Won (Friend of King Hong) – that seasoning, without which the dish would remain unleavened.
Actor Kim Jong Hyun (King Cheoljong), whose great merit lies in the fact that looking at his character, you really want to know “what happened to the real prototype, which is so neglected by the Koreans themselves?” The drama version of the king turned out to be worthy in all respects, and it’s great that at least in the fairy tale. Cheoljon managed to escape the role of puppet king.
- The script is a complete and complete story in which all the key characters come to an organic ending for them – for someone happy, for someone not at all. There has been much debate as to who really won Cheoljong’s heart, and whether his bitter disappointment will come after the storyline ends. I don't think so. The inherently impossible meeting between Jang Bong Hwang and Cheoljong happened to help both change seemingly predetermined fates and established views of life. And they were able to give it to each other. Together they went through a difficult life stage to get the right to a new one. But the assumption of what new fate they were able to find the creators of the drama leave to the imagination of the audience.
I've watched this drama 3 times already. I love Shin Hae-sung. So much to get used to being a man while still being a woman. The whole show, you look at her and you think, "Hey, Jang Bong Hwang, come on." I clap the actress standing up. There’s nothing to say, many actors should applaud standing up, because they played their roles so chic. Court lady Choi with her love of the palace cook and her love of kaleidoscopes from the Qing Empire. The same narcissistic cook trying to compete with the Queen. Cheoljon's misunderstanding of words, as well as the cunning Dowager Queen and Queen Mother. Well, where without her brother Chhorin, who was unrequitedly in love with her. Plus, I can mention Kim Hwang and Hong (the moment in prison touched) with them you can have a good laugh. And Kim Jwa Geun is just a super, cunning and cruel official with hellish calm.
Plot. The plot is good until the last moment. I do not agree with the final, I will not spoil, but I expected a different outcome.
The love line between the main characters brought me to tears at one point (when Chhorin reads the Queen's Dictionary). I don’t think Cheoljong fell in love with a man, he fell in love with a stupid woman, so I wasn’t embarrassed. As for Bong Hwang... well, he's a modern man. It is also influenced by the Queen in love.
Humor is high, too. So many moments that literally brought tears, but only from laughter.
There were a few characters that I didn’t like. Some were not even negative heroes, but for some reason they were very annoying. Prince Yong-pyung, for example. And "perfect." Cho Hwa Jin.
"Queen Chorin": a historical drama that will make you experience all the emotions along with the characters
The other day I finished watching ‘Cheorin Wanghu’ and I’m absolutely thrilled! This is a historical drama that will make you laugh, cry and experience all the emotions along with the characters.
The series tells the story of a young cook who is transported through time and finds himself in the body of Queen Chorin. He faces court intrigues and secret detractors, but does not give up and fights for his love and justice.
I just fell in love with the main characters and their relationships. Their love and devotion to each other was so beautiful that I couldn’t take my eyes off the screen.
The series is also about Korea’s achievements and how everyone can change the world for the better. This is a real inspiration for all of us.
The second series Queen Chorin: Bamboo Forest is a spin-off that will tell additional stories from the 2nd series about life in the palace.
If you haven’t seen Queen Chorin yet, add this series to your list! It definitely deserves your attention and will be a great choice for evening viewing.
P.S. Don’t forget to make ramen and pear wine to fully immerse yourself in the atmosphere of Queen Chorin!
“I have a motor in my heart, but in reality I have pedals.”
Queen Chorin is my new favorite. The show is amazing! And laugh, and think, and worry about touching moments. But still more laughing.
I really wanted to find a series where you can not only cry. I just laughed and smiled a lot. Because it's impossible not to laugh. A modern man, a top-notch but cheeky cook, accidentally moves back 200 years. He wakes up in the body of a woman who is about to become queen.
What I really liked and liked:
- Plot twists
Unpredictable, interesting, alive. I watched with great pleasure and could not drag myself away from the screen. For the first time in a long time, she didn't sleep until 5am, absorbing series after series. You have to work hard to find a show that you'll sacrifice your sleep for. For Queen Chorin, it was not a pity.
- Acting game
The actress who played the queen is amazing. That's how you play! There is no doubt that there is a man inside. Manners, gait, words, reactions - everything is so vivid, natural that one can only admire acting. Top class!
- Friendship and loyalty
The palace is full of intrigue, betrayal and despicable deeds. This makes it even more pleasant to look at those who are faithful and appreciate the warmth of human relationships and emotional intimacy.
- Love.
And different love. Self-love, the love of brother and sister, father and daughter, the love of the king for the people, the love of wife and husband. The latter is especially interesting to observe, since the relationship is full of contradictions and prejudices. However, an unknown force allows you to overcome these powerful walls and come to understanding and reconciliation.
- Humor. An abundance of funny situations, dialogues, moments in each series!
- Battle scenes and fights are another delight for the eyes.
- Nice aftertaste. When it's nice to remember, smile or revisit a couple of favorite moments.
10 out of 10
We wanted to do yaoi, but we had to shoot the drama.
Many wildly talk about how great Queen Chorin (or Chorin) performed by the amazing Shin Hye Son stirred up the palace viper, helped open up from the best side to the king and enriched Korean cuisine.
And it would be really cool if it wasn't for the three fat "buts." In the Joseon era, a male womanizer enters the queen’s body. And that changes everything. It's the king who falls in love with the woman-man and even - a spoiler not for the faint of heart - kisses and sleeps with the king. This is a man-cook from modern Korea doing wonders in the kitchen. This is a modern man who knows how the reign of the king will end, participates in intrigues.
And if the last two circumstances are, we can say, the classics of fallacious culture (for books, for movies), then the gay line is something non-standard (for which, most likely, the actress came, who for some reason was accused of distorting history). In general, the severity of the Korean perception of homosexuality often makes filmmakers raise this topic in hints and veiled form (remember your favorite Korean bromance, and what is closer to the topic - Love in the moonlight, where the king falls in love with a eunuch successfully turned out to be a pretty girl). The problem of Queen Chorin is that there is a pure substitution - we are directly told that before the transfer of souls, the king hated the queen, and fell in love with her actions that she did not do, in her words that she did not say, etc. So the end becomes not so happy, because the truly loving hearts never joined.
Some might say, “It’s not that simple!” But we don't see a clear change of identity. And who is the queen we hardly show (all we can understand about her is that she loves the king). Woman is the body, man is the brain. This thesis is shown to us throughout the series, but for some reason they shamefully try to cover it with fig sheets of small memory loss of the fake queen.
What do we love about Korean costume dramas? Sweet templates, mischievous comedy of positions, minor historical assumptions, mysterious and passionate relationships between the main characters.
What pisses us off about Korean dramas? Tampered stereotyped situations, stupid comedic positions, the inability to distinguish Joseon of the 14th century from Joseon of the 19th century, around the clock abusive relationships of the main characters.
Well, you get it. The score depends heavily on the Korean-film background and mood.
The action takes place at the beginning of the XIX century in Chosun, where traditionally the kings are puppets in the hands of the powerful clan of Kims, occupying senior positions at the court and actually managing the state.
Unexpectedly, the mad young Queen Chorin appears in the palace, whose unpredictable actions confuse the plans of influential palace figures. Is she a spoiled girl, a calculating intriguer or a crazy one? It seems that even the most astute intriguers can not understand it.
The series exceeded all my expectations – excellent humor, well-built narrative. The facial expressions of the characters, especially Shin He-sung, who played Queen Chorin, are delightful.
***
I will note that I am not a fan of Korean TV series and I came to Queen Chorin completely by accident. The setup, as a result of which the hero is in the past, in the first minutes seemed to me quite banal. Curiosity – how the hero will get out – a narcissistic chef from the modern world, who got into the body of a woman, and not just a woman, but a young royal, and even on the eve of the wedding.
At first, the hero does not care about the intrigues taking place in the palace. His main goal is to return to the modern world. However, he soon realizes that he will have to “hold on.” And so I have to start building my own strategy of existence in this cruel world, where danger lies in wait at every step.
10 out of 10
I'm a fan of historical dramas. Especially when they have more artistic and slightly fictional history than based on facts.
“Queen Chorin” is a fantastic story, but so believable that you unwittingly begin to believe in the transmigration of souls and parallel worlds.
This film has everything that can please the sophisticated viewer.
Palace intrigues, exciting battles, chic costumes, large-scale and magnificent landscape shootings, wonderful frame construction, hatred, jealousy, betrayal and a lot of humor, which is sometimes so lacking in historical dramas.
The mind-blowing play of the actors, makes the viewer not take his eyes off the screen, keeps him in constant tension. Because I don’t want to miss a single phrase, not a single look or actions of the characters.
Some characters are touching, others are annoying, you feel pity for the third, one thing is for sure - they help endorphins overflow your heart.
And all this is accompanied by an excellent musical accompaniment, flavored with wonderful sound effects.
Shin Hye-sung (Queen Chorin) and Kim Jong-hyun (King Chul Jong) in this drama revealed their full acting potential. Thanks to their play, the series remains the most beloved.
If you are the lucky one who has not seen any South Korean TV series or movie, then you should definitely start with this drama.
You will enjoy watching it.
I love historical dramas, but I don’t like series. In my experience of watching the plot in Korean series, in which more than 16 episodes, inevitably sags somewhere in the middle. So I feared that the action would stall in Queen Chorin, where the timing was even greater. But that didn't happen!
The story held attention from beginning to end. Each episode evoked pleasant emotions: it was either wonderfully funny or creepy as tense. It even smelled like a vibe of "Game of Thrones" - so wanted to know what next and how to unravel the tangle of intrigue.
The fight for the throne, for your life and for the well-being of the country is really serious and your heart will echo more than once. Many characters will be incredibly infuriating, about others you will diametrically change your mind by the end. But they will all grow up: everyone will go their way (and you will go along with them), and no one will remain the same.
By the way, this is also one of the few dramas in my memory, in which there are practically no logical holes and inconsistencies, and the denouement really gives answers to questions and a sense of satisfaction.
Therefore, I highly recommend to anyone who is looking for something unexpected, not dull and looking like a volley.
“We must be the change we want to see in the world.”
The drama is shot in the genre of fusion-sagyk, that is, the logic of the plot is not tied to historical truth. The talented cast turns the absurd (the soul of a man + the body of a queen) into a fascinating story that can evoke a sea of emotions.
Shin Hye Son has long proved herself as an actress who can transform into a variety of images. Gentle and meek, she appeared in the role of opera singer Yoon Shim Dok (Anthem of Death, 2018), a cruel and wayward shone in the role of prima ballerina Lee Yong So (Dan, the Only Love, 2019). But the real popularity she only now brought the comedy role of Kim So Yeon / Queen Chorin.
Kim John Hyun, in turn, perfectly got used to the image of a two-faced king. It makes you feel the difficult fate of Cheolchon.
In the opening episodes, watching His Majesty and Kim Seo-yeon’s cold interaction, it’s hard to imagine the coming warming between them. Especially against the background of the soul throwing chef Chang Bong Hwang, desperately demanding that the lake be refilled (the scene when Queen Sungwon still gives her permission, one of the best).
However, as events unfold, the king begins to draw closer to the queen. The big question is, which of the two souls does it actually open? Screenwriters will try to carefully confuse the tracks. But for us it is still obvious that it is rude and sarcastic Bon Hwang stole the scarlet heart of Cheolchon?
All served in combination with a great sense of humor. I especially like the scenes in the bamboo grove, where the court lady Choi and the royal chef Man Bok ... lit up, in general!
During the narration, all the characters, including secondary ones, become close to us. If in numbers, the peak indicator of the last series was 19.3%. This result made “Queen Chorin”: 1) the fifth in the list of the most rated dramas of the channel tvN; 2) the seventh in the list of the most rated dramas on cable channels.
We were also given a seemingly happy ending, which is great morally, but nothing in terms of a love story. Well, thank you for that.
Good day. As is clear from the title of ETA, the drama is different from the others.
The first thing you need to know about the plot, the guy goes into the past, into the female body. Maybe this drama made as much noise as its Chinese predecessor with a similar plot.
First of all, it's rust (funny). Honestly.
There is a lot of politics in the series. A power struggle between members of the royal family. Not ' scarlet hearts' of course, but somewhere nearby.
Thirdly, it is interesting to watch the throwing of the main character. Who she is now, her attempts to get things back to normal. And trying to adapt.
Acting is very good. Especially the main character Shin Hye-Sung, just opening this year for me.
Musical accompaniment in the theme, well complements funny moments and escalates the situation in dramatic situations.
Plot. If I am not mistaken, then after the tenth series, the screenwriter was changed and many viewers were afraid that the plot would slide into a sewage pit. But fortunately, that didn't happen. Ratings remained consistently high. The only thing in Korea, many viewers had questions about the ending of the series. Someone disagrees with the ending, someone does not understand it.
In any case, I recommend watching this not typical drama.
As any amateur American TV series sees the template from the first minute, and any dramatist (a lover of Korean TV series here) can immediately tell who and what will do, as well as how everything should end.
So, my dear reader, this drama will not work.
Nowadays, Chan Bong Hwang works as a chef at the Blue House.
Suddenly he finds himself in the Joseon era. But that's not the biggest problem. Worst of all, his soul is now locked in the body of Queen Chorin. The soul has gone to Paradise!
A huge amount of humor and, just want to reassure you, it is with each series majestic and more refined. Complemented with chic soundtracks, the series mocks the standards of historical series with their intrigue and betrayal, creating its own whirlpool of events. And if first the series is worth watching because of the comedy and quirkiness of the writers, then later the drama takes its course and now you can not help but worry about the fate of all the characters.
Shin Hye-sung’s brilliant play does not make you doubt for a minute that she is a man! It doesn’t matter what dress she’s wearing or where she is. It is worth highlighting this actress not only for her acting abilities, but also for her beautiful appearance, so brightly shining in royal robes.
The series proudly tells about the heritage of Korea and with the same courage admits that the world is not perfect, and each person can change himself and change the world for the better.
You will definitely want ramen and pear wine, so make preparations in advance and enjoy the story of courage, loyalty and love!
Good viewing!