by Mike Hilty, Contributing Writer
When I was in college, I was an English major. I wrote a lot of papers and read a lot of books, stories, and poems. Oftentimes, if I review something, I readily admit I haven’t read the source material. In a lot of cases, I don’t feel it’s necessary to appreciate what’s being put in front of me on screen. Things will be different from the book, gaps need to be filled in, and characters need to be retooled in order for certain stories to work on screen versus on the page. I’ve done a lot of reviews recently and I haven’t felt a strong desire to read the source material.
Pachinko changed that for me.
Pachinko, based on the novel of the same name by Min Jin Lee, is the story of four generations of a Korean family as they struggle with for a better life, while their country is being occupied by the Japanese pre-World War II. We follow Sunja (Youn Yuh-jung as an adult, Kim Min-ha as a teenager, and Yu-na as a child) from her early years as a child growing up in Yeongdo, Korea all the way to her late stages of life as a grandmother to Solomon (Jin Ha), her second son’s son who is living and working in America. We see how much he struggles to be accepted and how his family views him as their chance to realize their dreams.
This show has a lot of great things going for it. The performances across the board are great. There are some I especially want to highlight. All three of the actors that played Sunja were fantastic; however, the standout is Min-ha as the teenage version. She has to carry a lot of the emotional weight of the show by subjecting herself to some of the more gut-wrenching moments. I really felt for her as she learns the way of the world from a variety of different people. She has to make some tough decisions about her life, but Sunja carries herself with grace. I really liked Solomon’s story, and credit goes to Ha’s performance. Although Sunja has to carry a lot of the show’s emotional weight, particularly in the past, Solomon carries a large amount of the emotional weight in the present day of the show. He goes through a lot of growth and struggle. Watching him particularly struggle with his arc of closing a deal for his business was amazing. Ha showed a lot of great depth, particularly with him shifting his conscience about his next moves. Once his decision is made, the weight that leaves him manifests itself in such joy that I couldn’t help but smile. Another storyline of his involves an estranged friend named Hana (Mari Yamamoto). Their story together takes some unexpected turns but this is one of the subplots that I really liked.
Other performances are great, but many of them get considerably less time. We learn almost nothing about Sunja’s son Mozasu (Soji Arai). From the limited interaction we get between him and Solomon, we have to make assumptions and piece everything together for ourselves. The other performance that gets less time is Isak (Steve Sanghun Noh). Isak is Sunja’s husband, and he helps her out when she is in a dire situation. It’s a moment that was quite lovely to see, but then we don’t get to see as much of his story moving forward. One of the more heartbreaking scenes involves Isak getting into a car that gutted me, but I would have wanted to see more of Isak’s story in order for that moment to have more gravity.
In addition to the performances and characters, the story is beautiful in the sense that it’s about a family and the price they pay to follow their dreams. Sacrifices are made across the board, particularly Sunja. Solomon pays the biggest price to follow his “dreams” because he also feels like he has to carry the burden of his family’s lost dreams as well.
One other part of the story that was interesting to watch was that of Hansu (Lee Min-ho). He helps teach Sunja about the world and becomes entangled in her life in unexpected ways. There’s an episode dedicated to him about a devastating earthquake that showcases how that helps shape his worldview. At first, the episode felt a little out of place and felt like one of those shows in the 1980s or 1990s where they have to preface an episode by saying, “on this very special episode of…” After watching the finale, I understand the need to include the episode and how it connects overall to the story. One recurring theme of the show that also keeps coming up is the struggle with the Japanese occupation of Korea. This is something that recurs throughout the series and something that the show struggles to come to terms with. There are scenes that show how the Japanese treated Koreans and how it ultimately drives a lot of conflict. There’s a scene from the final episode, somewhat of an epilogue, that shows some of the aftermath of that treatment and the fallout. I really liked learning the stories and how the occupation had a lot of consequences.
On the technical side, the shots of Korea were wonderfully done. The cinematography is off the charts and there were some transitions that were stunning from scene to scene. Those transitions were especially effective when they moved between different time periods. There’s a moment in one of the later episodes where someone from the past looks up at the sky, the camera focuses on a bird, then pans back down to show the present day. Pachinko is full of moments like that, which I greatly appreciated. I also have to give kudos to the opening credits. There’s a lot of dancing and great music. I liked the change they made with the final episode and the music too.
Pachinko is a pretty amazing achievement for Apple TV+ — a foreign language show that is technically proficient, emotionally gratifying, and about a topic that is historically relevant. Apple TV+ continues to crush it this year, and Pachinko will be in the running for the best series of the year. Subtitles are a must, and kudos for the show to make Japanese and Korean subtitles different colors to help distinguish what language people were speaking. This is the first time I’ve seen anything like that and I greatly appreciated it. At its core, Pachinko is about family and the love we have for them, which is a story no matter how many times it’s told will never get old. This is a recommend for sure, and one where I will be waiting for more. Until then, I will read the book and hopefully learn more about what’s to come in the future.
Score: 10/10
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