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Pachinko Review: Lee Minho, Youn Yuh Jung, Minha Kim, Jin Ha starrer is masterful tapestry of cross-generational tale of resilience, suffering, and fight for one’s place in the world

en Bollywood News Pachinko Review: Lee Minho, Youn Yuh Jung, Minha Kim, Jin Ha starrer is masterful tapestry of cross-generational tale of resilience, suffering, and fight for one’s place in the world

The trilingual Apple TV+ drama, Pachinko, is undoubtedly one of the most highly anticipated shows of 2022. The Asian culture is slowly inching towards getting much-deserved inclusivity in the Western media. Seen as something exotic or rare, the Asian media was often ignored or given the bare minimum. The release of series is a step further in the direction of getting back the recognition that the Asian media and its artists deserve.

Pachinko Review: Lee Minho, Youn Yuh Jung, Minha Kim, Jin Ha starrer is masterful tapestry of cross-generational tale of resilience, suffering, and fight for one’s place in the world

Pachinko is an eight-episode saga that is at once epic and intimate, chronicling the hopes and dreams of four generations of a Korean immigrant family in a sweeping historical drama that journeys between Korea, Japan, and America, and unfolds over more than 70 years. It is adapted from the novel of the same name written by Lee Min Jee. The author has penned a historical fictional tale about a Korean family that migrates to Japan. After the Japanese colonization of South Korea, Koreans suffered great discrimination and injustice at the hands of the Japanese. They were seen as low-life creatures or savages who must be ‘civilised’. Be it the West or the East, it certainly seems that the idea behind colonizing any place is the same.

“History has failed us, but no matter”- in the opening episode sets the tone of the series. The story of Pachinko begins in 1915 with the birth of our protagonist, Sunja. She is loved dearly by her parents, her father more than her mother dotes on her. He has given Sunja freedom which was unusual in those times. Despite being illiterate, he imparted valuable knowledge to his daughter. The story moves back and forth between the present and the past. The next part cuts to 1989 in modern Osaka. Sunja and her family are living in Japan, and her grandson Solomon Park comes back home from America to get the promotion he has been coveting. Korea was free from Japanese rule in 1947, but the resentment still stayed. Koreans who had migrated to Japan were seen as inferiors and racism was rampant despite being kept under wraps.

Despite airing on a Western media distribution platform, the show’s makers have kept the story true to its roots. The majority of the dialogues are in Korean, right down to capturing the accents. There are also Japanese dialogues, in addition to some in English ones. Subtitles for Korean are in yellow, and the ones for Japanese are in Hindi. What is interesting to see is the trilingual influence on him. Coming from a Korean family, having spent his childhood in Japan and then moving to the United States of America, Solomon Park’s speech reflects the mix of cultures and languages. There’s a scene where he is talking to his grandmother Sunja and he mixes Japanese words in the Korean sentence. Sunja, even after all these years has not lost her accent. This shows how a language and culture tell the tale of their suffering and struggle which often goes untold.

Sunja meets Koh Han Su and falls in love with him. She soon gets pregnant but is buffed by him. He rejects her marriage offer and tells her that he already has a family back in Japan. She comes from a poor background, and a child out of wedlock would be a shameful mark on her person. This is also symbolic of how a woman is marginalized in society, and doubly so during a colonization era.

The lack of awareness in the western cultures about different ethnicities in Asia is a topic that is also briefly touched upon in the first few episodes. The 80s and the 90s were a time when the East was rising into prominence on several fronts. The West was looking into setting its foot into the budding industry. Western ex-pats settled in the cities learned the language and started asserting their position in the ever-growing industry.

Pachinko is a tale rooted in culture and suffering. Despite being a historical fiction tale, it shows the truth. The 20th-century saw quite a shift in the lives of millions of Koreans and Japanese. The searching and fighting for one’s identity, remembering the struggle, becoming resilient, and finding one’s place in the world. The opening title sequence where you witness all the characters dancing in Mozasu’s pachinko parlors to The Grass Roots’ ‘Let’s Live For Today’ foreshadows that every episode will leave you with empathy and hope.

The cast of Pachinko consists of Academy award-winning veteran actress Youn Yoh Jung as the older Sunja, Kim Min Ha as the teenage Sunja, Jeon Yu Na as child Sunja who bring a lot of heart-wrenching emotions to the character in three different eras in the series. Lee Min Ho as Koh Han Su, a Zainichi Korean man, makes a solid impact and moves away from his regular larger-than-life roles for which he is extremely famous. This character is menacing and yet has a story that unfolds in future episodes. One of the breakout stars from this series is Jin Ha as Baek Solomon, who goes back and forth between three languages in the series showing his strong screen impact as his character tries to find his identity. Anna Sawai as Naomi, among others star in the ensemble.

Pachinko will be released on Apple TV+ from March 25, 2022.

Also Read: Pachinko Trailer: Yuh Jung Youn, Lee Minho, Jin Ha, Minha Kim starrer depicts the story of Korean immigrant family across four generations


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