Reflections on "3 Dads/1 Mom"

It's been a year since "3 Dads/1 Mom" was first shown on TV. I've only watched it once, well, maybe twice -- first in real time on KBS2 and then the next day online with Chinese subtitles.

This drama is currently showing on Hong Kong TVB's pay channel. Typically, they changed its title to "A-ya 3 Dads" (whatever that means) and dubbed it in vernacular Cantonese.

I don't know whether it generated as much interest as "Seo Dong Yo". I just want to mention here what stands out in my mind about this drama after one year.

The most striking thing is Jo Hyun-Jae's on-screen presence. I daresay Hyun-Jae in a suit is nonpareil! Nobody looks better; nobody even comes close. JHJ's investment manager role in the drama means he has to be well-dressed and well-groomed. He looks so elegant in a suit with whatever colour shirt and tie that it is no wonder the rich girl falls for him.

Even in casual wear, Hyun-Jae stands head and shoulder above his male co-stars. (He looks delicious even in pyjamas and slippers.) Hyun-Jae has this curious knack of always wearing one layer more than others. If they wear one T-shirt, he'll wear two. If they wear two, he'll wear three. He's the only one who can make a fashion statement out of wearing a short-sleeved T-shirt on top of a long-sleeved one. In 3/1 Shin Sung Rok tries that too -- with disastrous results.

Comparison is cruel, and maybe unfair. The drama is billed as 5 kings and 1 queen (meaning 5 guys chasing after a girl.) The five guys are of course the husband, the 3 best friends, and the 5th man (the rich guy.) I suppose the other four men are not bad-looking in their own right, and they can all hold their own as lead actor or at least second-lead in other dramas. But unfortunately for these actors, when they are in the same scene with Hyun-Jae, their brilliance is dimmed and they are totally eclipsed.

Perhaps it is because of this that Jae Hee (as Kwang-Hee) and Shin Sung Rok (as Kyung-Tae) both over-act. It's not their characters; it's the way they choose to portray their characters. Their acting is exaggeraged and melodramatic: these two guys jump all over the place and shout at the top of their lungs. Is this supposed to be funny? It is at best slapstick comedy. They are like the one-dimensional figures that Kwang-Hee draws in his comics. Soo-Hyun could easily become a caricature if Hyun-Jae had not played him as a human being, complete with faults and foibles. Soo-Hyun's stingy persona hides a heart of gold. He may complain about all the expenses, but he pays for everything every time. He comes across as a credible character, a three-dimensional character.

Actually JHJ's performance is rather restrained in the earlier episodes, even at times a little subdued. But he loosens up gradually. Hyun-Jae mentions in an interview that because the main cast of 3/1 are more or less the same age, they soon became friends and had a great time on set.* We all know Hyun-Jae is shy and reserved and takes time to warm up. He is more spontaneous and smooth as the drama progresses. He shows a surprisingly good grasp of comic timing. The scene of him at the art gallery pretending to be a connoisseur had me laughing so much I almost fell out of my chair. "Wonderful!" is all I can say. The greatest comic actors can make the audience laugh without moving a muscle of their face. Hyun-Jae may not yet be in the same league, but he displays great potential.

This is a comedy, but the most memorable scenes are not funny at all. I'm thinking of:

1. the scene at the supermarket when Soo-Hyun lost and found his "daughter". The spectrum of emotions that crosses Hyun-Jae's face in quick succession ranges from anguish to guilt to relief to glee. His eyes are windows into his soul, of course, but even his forehead can act!

2. the scene of Soo-Hyun standing in silhouette against a file cabinet, trying to call Na-Young who has left after discovering the truth. He's talking into his cell phone and pacing. Apart from that, it's almost like a still scene. And yet it's one of the most moving scenes in the whole drama. Everything is conveyed in the urgency of Hyun-Jae's voice. And have you ever seen a handsomer silhouette? That profile, that slim figure, those long legs......

3. the scene in the hospital of Na-Young washing Soo-Hyun's father's feet. It's not this act but Hyun-Jae's face looking in in the small glass window on the door that leaves a lasting impression on me. The incredulity, the gratitude, the tenderness are all there. I remember a photographer once said there are a thousand expressions in JHJ's eyes. He lets his eyes do the talking.

4. And then there is that heart-warming scene when the three friends sing "You're born out of love" to the baby on her first birthday (even though by this time Ha-Seon is played by an older not-so-cute baby.) Also that scene at the camp site when Hyun-Jae plays the guitar and sings (I knew, even then, that he could sing!)

This is a comedy, so of course there are funny scenes. The funniest scene in the whole drama is Shin Sung Rok and the baby doing the cucumber treatment (with their faces covered in cucumber slices.) The sleaziest part is that about the "golden" patch on the baby's nappy -- it's overdone, over-long, in poor taste, and, most important, not funny!

Jo Hyun-Jae successfully changes gear in 3/1 and demonstrates he can play comic roles. But I would not rate this as one of his best dramas. For one thing, the plot of 3/1 is based on a faulty premise. When I first heard about the broad outlines of 3/1, I thought it's a re-make of that Hollywood comedy "Three Men and a Baby" which in turn is a take-off of the original French movie of the same name. But whereas the plot of 3/1 hinges on "Who's the daddy?" the scriptwriter seems to be living in the 19th century. Any 21st century person knows the answer lies in a DNA test. This means the whole drama is a deliberate drag when the truth is there for the asking. I do not like dramas that underrate the intelligence of the viewers.

For another thing, the female lead Eugene is miscast as the woman at the heart of this hexagon (5 men and a woman). She is totally unconvincing as the woman with whom all five men are in love. It's not just that she's not pretty enough; she does not exude any "inner beauty" either. Soo-Hyun's initial assessment of Na-Young is correct. 3/1 has not dramatized successfully his change of heart. But I must say that scene of them looking at the stars under that tent is pretty romantic. I wish there were more of such scenes between these two characters instead of the script being so equally divided into three or four or even five. Several times in the course of the drama I wonder whether the three friends are in love with Na-Young or the baby who is really cute, especially the first one.

There is a Chinese saying: "Thou shalt not covet thy friend's wife." This is a Korean drama, but my experience of watching Korean drama informs me Korean values are very similar to traditional Chinese values. A gentleman would not dream of marrying his dead friend's widow but would do all his can to help her and her child. But maybe in this respect I belong to the 19th century.


* As testament of their friendship, Shin Sung Rok went to see Jo Hyun-Jae off to join the army on August 5, 2008. You all know this. What you might not know is this -- Shin was in the same van as JHJ. In the "Last Story" DVD, you can see them alighting together.