Remarriage and Desires (2022)

Ready-made. Still worth seeing. Social satire about status & by all means climbing up social ranking

"Remarriage and Desires" tackles a central theme of South Korean social life: who should I, can I, must I or do I want to marry? Marriage, family and status throughout the centuries have been forming a magical triad in this Confucian shaped country - a triad which can decide how happy or unhappy life will become... Yet, these days within the framework of the short-timed everyday life and performance-oriented professional life in modern South Korea there is simply no time for naturally meeting someone and dating. However, the right choice is crucial. So instead of spending time, you spend money and thus can be matched up professionally. This actually has a good tradition in elite circles, where matchmakers were already in high demand during past Joseon days. Arranged marriages - whether devised by shamans, personal matchmakers, professional matchmaking agencies or parents - are widespread today and have recently become trendy even among the less elite classes of society. ... As a good choice can decide everything...

"Remarriage and Desires" takes this subject into the grotesque - in a satirical guise with a proper breeze of Makjang. A stately squad of spiteful, greedy contemporaries at the highest ranks are brought together to tell a bitter tale of revenge on revenge on revenge. The bad news first: the Netflix production unfortunately does not get beyond a script that has been polished for the international streaming audience and that also seems to be off the shelf. The good news: KDrama is even good at telling such ready-made stories, too. By the way, it's the intensity of the female leads who are allowed to rock the makjang-show: Bad, worse, the worst... and there still is worse (The men rather become victims and ornaments.)

My criticism: Scheme-F. Ready-made.
The heartbeat get´s lost. The depth is missing. It's not really possible to develop an emotional closeness to the protagonists. Overall, "Remarriage and Desires" thus comes across as somewhat distant and stiff in comparison. As a spectator you will feel less sympathy (from the inside) and instead watch more (from the outside).

You might binge through the (only) 8 episodes pretty quickly. But without the nuances, something is missing. For me at least. I didn´t feel an emotional bonding growing of any sort. Too bad.

However! the KDrama is still worth seeing as a satirical social study about the South Korean middle and upper class (or a general would-like-to-marry-into-the-still-higher-class class).

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