| Poster for tvN drama 'Circle' / Courtesy of CJ E&M |
By Park Jin-hai
Cable channel tvN's ongoing drama "Circle" has brought the story combination of aliens and sci-fi to the small screen.
The 12-part drama, starring actors Kim Kang-woo and Yeo Jin-gu, is about a series of mysterious suicides in 2017 and an Orwellian surveillance society of 2037 where people's memories and emotions are controlled by the government.
"This drama started out trying a fresh plot, new format and twist-after-twist story telling. These elements I think contribute to make it more like an American sci-fi drama and to greatly appeal to our viewers," said Min Jin-ki, director of "Circle," during a press conference, Thursday.
Taking the unprecedented double track format, where the first half "Part 1: Beta Project" deals with events of 2017 and the rest "Part 2: Brave New World" takes place in 2037, the Monday-Tuesday drama has been thrilling viewers and providing fun in finding the dots that connect the two worlds and unveiling the mystery each week.
"Unlike major broadcasters' dramas, which aim to please mass audiences, I believe cable dramas should take on the materials that have been seldom dealt with to create a small fandom, which can grow further into a new trend," he added.
Actor Kim depicts Kim Joon-hyuk, a detective of violent crimes who tries to find his missing twin brother in a "crimeless" smart city where people's memories and emotions are controlled by the government in 2037.
"In some sense, it is the first full-scale sci-fi drama here. After reading the script, I was as much worried as expectant. But I thought that it is irresponsible if we ask viewers to excuse us for the short amount of time and limited budget we have. I've doubled my effort in acting in order to make up for the shortcomings," said Kang.
Regarding opinions that the computer graphics in the early parts of the show fell below what was expected, the director said it was the best that he and his production crew could have dome under the limited budget. "I agree that it could be better presented. But, after we had contacted many companies _ who said it would take from half a year to a year to do the computer graphic work that we wanted to put in the drama, along with a budget tantamount to making a movie _ we decided to work with those who best understood our production intentions," the director said.
"We heard Circle opened the gate for local sci-fi dramas at a time when the genre has largely remained untouched due to the burdens of computer graphics and that in some sense, it has raised the quality of Korean dramas. I feel satisfied with that. For those viewers who may find its computer graphics lacking in comparison to Hollywood-made computer graphics, I've focused more on story building."
Apart from the external devices, "Circle" handles a deep conundrum of what individual memory means to human beings and if painful and traumatizing memories can be wiped out, should it make life better.
Lee Gi-kwang takes on the role of intelligent government employee Lee Ho-soo, who volunteered to erase that part of his memory, after his girlfriend killed herself suffering from sexual abuse of her adoptive father. Part of his memory returns and Lee gets furious after seeing the adoptive father having happy moments with his own daughter not remembering his adopted daughter and his wrongdoings with her. Lee said memory is not a matter of choice, but duty.
The remaining episodes will carry the message further, according to the director.