‘One Spring Night’...A first-rate portrayal of how modern relationships are (still) intertwined with patriarchy.
Spoilers Ahead…
Marriage is a business, states Kwon Gi Seok’s father (an understated Kim Chang Wan). It’s a deal that is found to be advantageous to both families. Look at the Lee sisters themselves — Lee Seo In (an admirable Lim Seong Eon) the eldest, a famous news announcer is married to dentist Nam Shi Yoon (Lee Moo Saeng). Lee Jeong In (a remarkable Han Ji Min), the middle daughter, is a librarian dating the banker Kwon Gi Seok (a fantastic Kim Joon Han). If their father had his way, their youngest sister too would date and marry someone with a white-collar job. In a society that equates marriage as a stepping stone in the social ladder, the credentials of these suitors matter more than love or compatibility, and when you apply this same definition, divorce would then equate to breaking off that business deal. That’s why when Lee Seo In decides to file for a divorce, her father is furious. Even though he is well aware that she is a victim of domestic abuse, he rebuts her decision. Who would want to marry into a household with a divorced daughter? he says, justifying his insensitivity towards the matter.
Writer Kim Eun and Director An Pan Seok used a Noona romance in their previous outing, Something in the Rain, to explore the various complications that arise when turning a long term friendship into a romantic relationship. One Spring Night flips this narrative, with Jeong In breaking a stable, long term relationship to pursue a new one with single parent Yu Ji Ho (Jung Hae In is perfect in these roles of a sweet, vulnerable gentleman, but hoping that he doesn’t get typecast in them). Essentially, in both these dramas, women struggle to have their decisions taken seriously, as they grapple between their wants and the expectations that society has set upon them, where women must consider their family’s wellbeing above their own. So, when Jeong In decides to end her relationship with Gi Seok, it is beyond anyone’s comprehension.
From the outside, her relationship with Gi Seok seems perfect, perfect to the extent of being boring even. They are often referred to as a middle-aged couple. But this decision to end the relationship isn’t sudden and comes after a lot of hesitation, confusion, and dilly dally. This portion of the drama can seem sluggish, but the beauty of One Spring Night is that it widens the focus from just our leads to the other characters associated with them, and you understand why it isn’t as easy a decision to make. Both Jeong In’s father and Gi Seok’s father (Kim Chang Wan) work together, and if Jeong In and Gi Seok get married, Jeong In’s father would be able to work even after retirement for Gi Seok’s father’s foundation. Then there is Jeong In’s own feelings, who isn’t sure if she likes Ji Ho enough to pursue a relationship or it’s just a fleeting crush, stemming from her current unexciting relationship. She also can’t ignore the fact that Ji Ho has a child, something her father would never agree to, and that she straightaway becomes a mother (along with being a wife) if she chooses to marry Ji Ho.
The show unwinds all this confusion within the first half, and within that time, also exposes us to Gi Seok, piecing together why their relationship is failing. Initially, Gi Seok comes across as a nice guy, someone who just seems clueless about what is going wrong in his relationship, as most guys do. But once Jeong In declares that she wants to break up with him, a stubbornness manifests that we hadn’t been exposed to before. He clings onto Jeong In obsessively, refusing to acknowledge that their relationship has ended. He still speaks of marriage and a wedding and asserts his authority over her by using absurd excuses as reasons for protecting her. This stubbornness is not a derivative of love, but of an injured ego, that cannot accept that his college junior, who is not as rich as him and has a child, is now dating his ex-girlfriend. Kim Joon Han has a tough act of balancing pity, empathy, and hostility for his character — after all his girlfriend did leave him for another man, and as much as you feel bad for him, you can see what made Jeong In leave him, so you just wish for him to keep his dignity and move on. It is easier to despise characters like Shi Hoon, who lash out her shortcomings on their wives, in a form that manifests as a physical wound visible to the eye, but the drama also shows the other end of the spectrum, the one that doesn’t need to raise their hand to cause harm. As Lee Jae In rightly remarks, Gi Seok is just as much a jerk as Si Hoon.
The show presents multiple facets to the evolving scenario of dating, marriage, divorce without just pitting it as the older generation versus the younger. If you have Gi Seok’s and Jeong In’s father who wish to uphold the patriarchal system by following it, adamant to ignore how the women in their lives feel, then to oppose that you have Ji Ho’s father, who takes care of his son’s child without any complaint. For a Gi Seok and Shi Hoon, you have a Ji Ho and a Young Jae (Lee Chang Hoon), who are ready to give their partners space and time in their relationship, respectful of their feelings and decisions.
By increasing the number of female characters from their previous outing, Kim Eun and An Pan Seok, are able to show the multiple ways women are mistreated and shoved around by men (some that can go unnoticed by the women themselves). That’s why when Seo In decides to apply for a divorce, or when Jeong In finally tells her father about her relationship with Ji Ho, it feels like the world is crumbling down for the parents, but for the sisters, it is just the first step forward to living a life on their own terms. In such instances, the writer also doesn’t shy away from revealing some of the parent’s concerns as a selfish motive. When Jeong In finally opens up to her father, on why she decided to end her relationship with Gi Seok, he asks her if she can go on pretending, at least for his sake, so that he can get the promised job after retirement.
The deliberately slow pace (now, a trademark of director An Pan Seok), doesn’t mean the show is any less arresting. The picture-perfect stillness contrasts with the storm that is brewing amongst the characters. The camera lingers on many seemingly unimportant moments, observing characters entering and exiting their houses, restaurants, or offices. It is a stylistic device, but it’s also indicative of the amount of work one has to put in to maintain their various relationships, romantic or otherwise.
I personally enjoy this type of storytelling, (as much I enjoy the merry rom-coms) as they concentrate on the family too, an important part of the Korean culture (and by extension Asian cultures), and the stories just don’t end with finding ‘The One’. There is an umpteen number of social constraints we are expected to abide by, so there is bound to be a lot of fighting, arguing, negotiating, and it is a lot of hard work to be someone you love and these stories show and revere that dedication. Han Ji Min’s Jeong In is a perfect example of that. She could easily have continued dating whoever she wanted, without caring for her family’s opinion, but she sticks around, trying to find an amicable, decent way to explain, and clear misunderstandings without causing a huge blowout.
One Spring Night is fundamentally a slice of life story. We do need dramas that having a conclusive ending — a villain defeated, a problem solved, but here, the characters are so well developed, well layered, it is understandable that the makers would want to keep an open ending in anticipation for all that could happen. Whether it is Jeong In and Gi Seok’s initial dating days, or Jae In in France, or Ji Ho’s relationship with Yu Mi, So In’s meeting with Shi Yoon and subsequent marriage or the childhood of the three sisters, any part of this drama could easily stem into another drama. Of course, the whole domestic violence/divorce plotline did seem abrupt, (similar to the sexual harassment plotline in Something in the Rain) but as this isn’t a legal drama, it makes sense that the makers want to focus on the victim’s point of view before any laws or lawyer comes into the picture. Seo In is well aware that her divorce could cost her, her job and attach a stigma to her for the rest of her life (Lim Seong Eon projects the maturity and the burden of the eldest one, really well), but the journey that brings her to this decision — her various thoughts, fears — are equally as important as the journey that follows. One Spring Night’s writer hence decides to reveal this portion of her story.
