BLISS RATING: ★★★★
“The deepest feeling always shows itself in silence.” – Marianne Moore, Wisdom Quotes
Honestly, I was mesmerized by this short series. It captivated me from the beginning. Perhaps it was the way it was portrayed. In a real sense, there is a very sad augury about these characters that hangs over them like a shroud. Yet, an opening for a hopeful ending is bestowed if the task can be completed. All that needs to be done is to paint the exact drawing. So, the fantasy begins.
A reflective student named Jun Eun Ho (Jun Hee Park), is a budding artist who has dreams of a picturesque village background. He seems drawn to this rather captivating scene. As circumstance would have, he enters an art gallery only to find the exact painting from his dream. A mysterious woman, played by Yoon Ye Hee, suddenly appears to Eun Ho and says cryptically, she has found the painter’s owner.
Perplexed by this, the woman disappears, and he is somehow transported to Imperial Korea. He comes across the Crown Prince, named Lee Heon, (Yoo Hyun Woo) and his faithful bodyguard, Go Geum (Kim Tae Jung). Since Go Geum is completely devoted to the Crown Prince, he initially is suspicious of Eun Ho. But Heon is taken in my him and knows that he is different and will not harm him.
For reasons that are unclear, the Crown Prince has been banished from the court and is to be poisoned because of his transgressions. We never know what the transgressions of the Crown Prince were for him to be banished and marked for death. But it all seems specious as Heon’s personality is one of empathy, caring and compassion. He is saddened and burdened with feeling isolated, loneliness, and unwanted.
Here comes Eun Ho and changes all of that. His presence gives the Crown Prince hope and a desire to see life through again. Eun Ho was also a bit rudderless in his life and this relationship gives him purpose and someone to care for. The two begin to develop a friendship and eventually begin to fall in love with each other. Heon is also an artist. As the mysterious lady has previously informed Eun Ho, for him to return to his time, he must complete the painting. To save Heon’s life, Eun realizes that the only way to do that is to take him with him to his world. For this to happen they must complete the painting together. But Go Geum is also a part of the painting. His role is to protect the painting so it can remain intact for posterity. In so doing, he also will eventuality be reunited with the Crown Prince in the future.
Who really S.T.O.L.E. the series? While the two main leads did a good job in portraying their characters who showed the greatest depth is Kim Tae Jung as Go Geum. As the bodyguard, his life is already forfeited to the individual he is protecting. Kim Tae Jung’s portrayal of this character shows a deep understanding of his role and an acceptance of his responsibility. He does so with complete commitment and utter devotion to his master with little to know thought about himself. Who was Go Guem? We really never get to see him, but he gave us a portrayal that made his character feel deeper than what he was. He gave us an astuteness and understanding of who the crown prince was. He sensed and eventually knew that Heon and Jun Eun had fallen in love. What intrigues me about his characterization is that he gave us no overt signs of his true feelings about the Crown Prince. Did he do so out of loyalty only? Was he himself in love with him as well? Was there resentment towards their relationship? Sadness? We do not know but his loyalty to both of them never wavered. My own sense was that Kim Tae Jung played the part as if the character had an unrequited love for Heon. But he knew that it would never be reciprocated as the Crown Prince simply never saw him as anything other than his bodyguard. Go Geum too was a sad figure.
The one thing that you must keep in mind while watching this short series is that both main characters are also depressed figures with no real bright outlook on life. Per chance, they meet, and a slow progression of affection begins to take place. I do not agree that it was bad acting. The story simply lent itself to being a bit morose. The characters never really have a chance to develop as their major concern is survival. This I thought was done with a lot of sincerity. In other words, I believed them.
This was indeed a very allegorical series of somber figures finding redemption by simply being true to themselves. They have done nothing noteworthy to gain redemption except to be themselves with the universe essentially saying, these are good people and are deserving of having a full life.
Certainly, this story is a bit convoluted, and you really have to let go of your need to plug the holes in logic that are missing. If you take it simply as a cute fairytale of love, it really does work. What one must keep in mind is that this series is never meant to be in-depth; it is not structured that way. While it is romance, it is tempered and muted with an underlying sadness but yet focuses on an opportunity for redemption in a new world.
But the mysterious lady, whatever she represents, shows compassion and sympathy for three individuals who are deeply true and honest to themselves and should remain together based simply on the idea that they have worth and virtue and integrity.
This is clearly a low budget production. Some of the sound was uneven and at times almost drown out by local noises. The costumes seemed awkward at times for the actors. Yet, its overall sincerity made it all work. I liked its effort and feel. It took me a minute or so to figure out why they named this series Tinted With You. If you define tinted as a derivative of colored, then it works. A better title would have been Colored With You.
That then would have been both literally and figurately accurate.
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