Through the story of a three-generation extended family, 'Once Again' gives audiences a new perspective on modern divorce.
Once Again is a family love drama that is very popular in Korea. Since the first episode aired, the drama has continuously achieved extremely high viewership ratings, topping the Korean TV charts in 2020. During 50 episodes, Once Again's average rating reached 28.4%, the last episode alone attracted a viewership rating of 34.9%.
This film is also the latest success of female screenwriter Yang Hee Seung - the "golden hand" who has molded two-hit works, Weightlifting Fairy Kim Bok Joo (2017) and Oh My Ghost (2015) before. Despite not being heavily invested in advertising, it still attracts the audience thanks to the 3 reasons below.
Divorce and family troubles for generations
The content of Once Again is close, familiar, but equally attractive. The story revolves around the daily life and typical troubles of Mr. Song Young Dal (Cheon Ho Jin) and his wife - Mrs. Jang Ok Boon (Cha Hwa Yeon). They have four children Joon Sun, Ga Hee, Na Hee, and Da Hee. Despite their different personalities, they all have one thing in common: their love and marriage are complicated.
The second brother Joon Sun (Oh Dae Hwan), and third sister Ga Hee (Oh Yoon Ah), are divorced. The married life of private girl Na Hee (Lee Min Jung) is not better than her siblings when she is on the verge of a breakdown. These things make the rest of life that should have been very peaceful for Mr. and Mrs. Song suddenly become troublesome without ending. Mr. and Mrs. Song had to take care of their children, and they also had to bear the burden of being busy when both Joon Sun and Ga Hee brought their grandchildren home.
Fresh colors with funny situations
Once Again contains many broken relationships, but there is no shortage of funny scenes. Interspersed with psychological scenes, screenwriter Yang Hee Seung constantly inserts into awkward situations, half crying and laughing, making the film's color not sad and gloomy but become fresh, funny, and gentle.
From when they were young love in the lecture hall to when they entered marriage and ended, Na Hee and Kyu Jin lead viewers through many happy, sad, and romantic emotions. Even after signing the divorce papers, they still decided to continue living together because they did not sell it for a reasonable price. Na Hee has to constantly deal with conflicts with her ex-husband and put on a show of a happy family to hide the divorce from everyone.
Not only attractive because of the storyline, but the other characters from the main to the supporting characters in the film are also impressive and memorable. Mrs. Ok Boon has a hobby of bragging to her neighbors about her precious son-in-law, or Ga Hee is like a "youthful version" of her mother, full of confidence in her beauty and always finds herself not inferior to a beauty queen...
Hidden lessons about family and marriage
The children after stumbling blocks in their personal lives, return to their parents. Being with their loved one, the four siblings realize that only the family is ready to welcome them with open arms no matter what. With stories of young people, Once Again also highlights the difference in ideology about marriage.
There is no marriage without ups and downs. Mr. and Mrs. Song can make their arrangements by forgiving or being patient to continue living together until their hair turns gray. Their four children may decide to leave their partner because of life problems, as in Na Hee's family, which broke up partly because she was not good at housework and had a miscarriage.
However, how do they overcome the stumbling blocks in their marriage to build a sustainable and happy family? That is the answer that the audience can find in Once Again.
Natural acting, close script, rich in meaning are the factors that help Once again conquer the hearts of the audience when broadcasting in their home country of Korea. The film by director Lee Jae Sang won 15 big and small awards at the 2020 KBS Drama Awards, including the highest prize, the Daesang for actor Cheon Ho-Jin.
The movie Once Again was broadcast in the Feature Film section and the Foxy application of FPT Television with voiceovers and subtitles.
