Black Sun (2021)

Intriguing, but a bit too clever for its own good in the end.

There’s a warning about the nature of memory in episode two that is worth bearing in mind. As someone who has dissociative amnesia I found that the way the show played with the individual’s experience of reality very resonant. Memory, and therefore identity, is not such a solid, real thing as we need it to be. The mechanisms of memory are also the mechanisms of imagination and are susceptible to both suggestion and doubt. The only thing we can really be sure of is what is happening right now and sometimes we are even mistaken about that.

To be honest, the first fifteen minutes of this drama did not endear itself to me. I’m not really convinced by baddies that are ridiculously evil—involving children— in the first five minutes, particularly when they look dirty and have really bad teeth just in case you might mistake them for good guys. And especially when the scene is organ trafficking, because let’s face it, if you’re selling organs on, the buyers expect uncontaminated product, not bits of offal left behind by marauding hyenas. Such a big bang beginning can signal an unnecessarily over-the-top approach that kicks you in the guts rather than credits your intelligence. But thankfully, this did not prove the case in this complex drama.

There was a lot of general psychotic nastiness in the first few episodes and some completely off the wall, over the top baddies. Had it continued unabated I would probably have given up as I’m not really a blood, gore and gratuitous violence sort of person and tend not to watch violent dramas unless they are offering significant brain stimulation as well. Which this one did. However, in an effort to alleviate the distressing effect, I took an unusual interest in how successfully the make-up department managed to convince me of the damage. They had a field day and most of the time they got the blood colour near enough, if not the consistency. Plus there were some believable after-effects on faces, even though they faded away too quickly. Something I hate is when violence is portrayed as having no visible effect. It amazes me that realistic kissing is censored on Korean TV, but hacking up bodies is fine… Something’s a bit skewed there.

I liked the way it was written. By keeping the dialogue realistic it didn’t over-explain but, in the main, moved at a pace that you could gather the thread by paying attention. And you do need to pay attention and remember. There are no throw away lines in this 12 episode drama, the shorter length has cut out the fat and each scene pretty well earns its place. Every nugget of information will be utilised. There were a few times, especially in the middle, when I did feel like I was clinging on by my fingertips, desperately scrabbling for a memory of where some tiny flashback happened and who was involved, or what some character had to do with anything. No doubt this will up the rewatch value for those who are interested enough. The cast was very large and new characters with small parts were often introduced, none of them are superfluous. (I simply love the cast list on MDL. Where would I be without it? Lost in a sea of who-the-f**k-is-he, that’s where…)

It was written as though doing a jigsaw rather than printing a picture. Things were not sequentially built over time. The disparate elements of the picture were built up individually before coming together. This may not suit everyone. It requires you to hold things in your head floating freely, not necessarily attached to other things that you have seen. So if you are someone who likes to slot stuff into place as you go this drama probably won’t suit you. You might describe it as haphazard. However, I’m OK about going with the flow and being in a state of suspended ignorance/confusion, so in the main I enjoyed the ride. But it it took off for the stratosphere at the end and I must admit, I stayed earthbound.

There were quite a few REALLY??!! YOU’VE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME??!!! moments that were shoehorned in to serve the plot. You know the sort of thing: keeping someone alive when in fact they would just have been killed straight off; underestimating a known hacker; a psychiatrist spilling the beans on her client to a stranger, impossible information gathering etc. And sometimes the introduction of new threads was strangely convenient and followed no real logic. As a whole it required a fair amount of suspension of disbelief but the complexity rewarded you. I got some of the twists, but there were plenty of other things that I didn’t anticipate. In general I found if I left it too long between watching episodes I couldn’t remember the fine detail, but if I watched them close together there was no working-things-out time, so it kept me intrigued. Basically, if you like a challenge this is a good drama for you and maybe watching it with a mate would help—larger data bank to store all the information…

When the plot is the central focus, there is not really time for character depth and development, so in this genre stand-out performances are rare. This is the third drama I’ve seen Namkoong Min in and I’m beginning to realise that he plays characters pretty much the same way whoever they are. If you like his style it’s sort of comforting to know exactly what you are going to get. He is good at delivering it, but so far I’m yet to see his acting talents really stretched. He’s had a long career, maybe someone can suggest a part when he offers something different to the slow delivery, stern-faced thoughtful look. Even Hot Stove League was short on smiles. I liked what Kim Ji Eun did with Yoo Je Yi, however the script sometimes made her naive beyond belief.

There is an interesting aspect to the title and its translation. The original direct translation is Black Sun, which describes an eclipse, where something completely opaque crosses something bright and blots it out. The title, The Veil, is much more subtle implying semi-transparency. The memory loss of the protagonist is like an eclipse, but his journey of remembering is through a glass darkly — veiled. I noted that the cinematography followed the title and shot scenes of revealing secrets through “veils” such as clear plastic blinds, windows or reflected in mirrors. Often short clips were filmed from angles where the viewer becomes a covert observer.

Although I liked the music, especially the breathiness in the voice of the female singer, I’m not sure it married up well with the content. Nothing really stood out for me.

What my rating means: 7+ A watchable drama, but nothing exceptional. Good enough to qualify for the race, but finished with the pack. The sort of thing that promises more than it delivers.

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