You can commonly see the statement "why am I crying in the club right now" on many social media profiles but I would like to replace "in club" with "at work" because that's basically what happened to me as I watched Navillera. The insinuation that I'm slacking off at work aside, this was truly one of the most heartwarming and emotional dramas I've ever seen, with lots of tear-jerking moments throughout. This series will really tug at your heartstrings and give you a lot of food for thought, as we follow male leads Deok-chul and Chae-rok on their ballet journey. Let's dive in.
SERIES RETROSPECT AND REVIEW (SPOILER ALERT)
Before I carry on, I do want to preface this by saying that I haven't read the webtoon that this drama was based on so I can't say how faithful it was to the source material or how any changes benefitted or worsened the final product. Anyway, the premise of the drama is fairly straightforward because it primarily focuses on 70-year-old Deok-chul, who wants to fulfill his lifelong dream of learning ballet. He comes under the tutelage of 23-year-old ballerino Chae-rok, who starts out completely dismissive of the old man's goals. Along the way, both of our male leads bond over their love for ballet and become closer, finding out more about themselves and each other. It would be wrong for me to say that this drama was purely about our leads' journey of self-discovery but in truth, it's a family drama. While not not every character featured in the drama is heavily expanded on, we do see that everyone has their own dreams that they want to fulfill and while now at different stages of their lives, their dream has either taken a backseat to the realities of the world or they're currently still trying to achieve their dream.
One of the best parts of this drama is undoubtedly the chemistry between Deok-chul and Chae-rok. Even though they're not really grandfather and grandson, when Deok-chul gives life advice to Chae-rok or when Chae-rok encourages the older man in his ballet journey, it really does feel like they're family. The interactions between them serve more as a stepping stone for Chae-rok's character development, where he goes from a demoralised ballerino currently in a slump to someone who's finally able to soar again. That's actually a central idea in this drama, being able to soar but I'll touch more on that later. Anyway, Park In-hwan and Song Kang have done excellent jobs as the leads, and their chemistry is palpable.
Moving on to individual characters, I think that Deok-chul might actually be one of the most likeable K-drama male leads I've come across thus far because his intentions are completely pure. There's no double meaning or darker motivation behind his actions, he's just pursuing ballet because he loves the art. In truth, Deok-chul's entire character arc can be summed up in one of his lines, which I'll paraphrase because I don't have it memorised, "I wanted to soar at least once in my life." His dream of learning ballet was shot down when he was a young boy and as an adult, he had to struggle to make ends meet, doing everything he could for his family and putting himself second. Now that his children are living their own lives and motivated by the passing of his close friend, Deok-chul finally has the opportunity to "soar" and he's grabbing that chance. It's beautiful, it really is, and it was super engaging to follow our hero's journey.
A huge development in Deok-chul's character is the revelation that he has, drum roll please, Alzheimer's. This is something that's hinted at in the earlier episodes, with him showing bouts of forgetfulness but is only confirmed in the later half of the drama. Unfortunately, I accidentally spoiled this huge plot point for myself in the process of preliminary research for my initial thoughts post but even if I knew about this, nothing could've prepped me for how much I would get hit in the feels. Deok-chul's keeping his diagnosis a secret from his family, with Chae-rok finding out about it by reading his diary. This illness is actually a big part of what motivates Deok-chul to fulfill his dream of performing on stage because like I said earlier, he wants to soar one time while his memory is still mostly intact and before his body fails him. While he's fine for majority of the drama, the old man's condition does deteriorate and he gets hit with recurring severe episodes of forgetfulness typical of Alzheimer's patients, unable to recognise the people around him or remember anything. Even though I knew these scenes would come eventually, it was still heart wrenching to see the distress of both Deok-chul and the people around him.
While the drama does indeed focus on Deok-chul for the most part, I would say that Chae-rok has more development in his character. The ballerino's life hasn't been going well for some time, with a broken family and his injuries preventing him from performing his best. Chae-rok's mother has long since passed away and his father has only just been released from prison after an assault conviction. With his father choosing to distance himself from his son, Chae-rok is left to struggle all alone and with his physical condition preventing him from doing well, he's now in a slump. He's completely bitter and his stubborn personality isn't helping, which is why the change in his character is so much more visible as the drama progresses. He starts to understand Deok-chul's wishes to learn ballet even with his advanced age and starts to care for him, even going so far as to support the old man's dreams when no one else would. Chae-rok would also go from resenting his father to wanting to make amends with him after all the trials they've been through and by the end of the drama, they're living together once again and have a good relationship. While Deok-chul didn't really change too much after meeting Chae-rok, it's far more obvious that Chae-rok has undergone an immense change after meeting Deok-chul.
I mentioned earlier that our male leads' chemistry is insane and that's made much more apparent in the final episode, when they perform a duet of Swan Lake in front of an audience. By that point in time, Deok-chul's Alzheimer's has advanced to a point where he's forgotten bits of their routine and he freezes on stage, with a worried Chae-rok carrying on alone. Thankfully, Deok-chul's memory returns to him and he finishes the performance. This is the final proper dance scene in the entire drama and it's shot beautifully, with enough slow motion shots for you to fully internalise what's going on. While not the best ballet performance, it's inspiring to watch as it cements our hero's journey in fulfilling his dream, with Deok-chul's arc coming full circle. Chae-rok on the other hand still hasn't had his chance to soar, having given up on a prior competition due to an injury and at the end of the series, he flies off to Russia for another competition, having an emotional goodbye with Deok-chul, the man he's grown to love like a grandfather.
The drama ends with a 3-year time skip and by then, Deok-chul's condition has advanced tremendously, no longer recognising his own wife Hae-nam and even roaming around his neighbourhood giving out "letters" as if he was a mailman again. As he leaves the house one day, he ends up at a level crossing and as a train passes by, blocking his view of the other side, we already know what's going to come next. When the train leaves, we see Chae-rok standing on the other side, having returned to Korea after achieving stardom as a ballerino. It would be easy to assume that Deok-chul doesn't remember his ex-teacher because of his illness but in a huge moment of catharsis, the old man asks him one question, "did you soar?" A simple three words but loaded with meaning, for it shows that even though he's living in a dementia-induced fog, Deok-chul can never forget the time he spent learning ballet and by extension, he never forgot Chae-rok and his goal to soar. It's a beautiful tear-inducing moment and made so much better by the fact that Chae-rok's name is never mentioned at all in that final scene. Although the older man's arc ended earlier, this ending scene brings Chae-rok's story to a close as he's now had his chance to soar as well. I can't stress enough just how happy this ending made me, with Park and Song's performances selling the story even with few words.
Now apart from our two male leads, many other characters in the show are also featured as pursuing their own dreams to varying extents but I'll focus on 3 of them, female leads Choi Hae-nam and Shim Eun-ho as well as supporting character Shim Sung-san. As I mentioned atop, Hae-nam is Deok-chul's wife and while it's never explicitly stated, we can figure out that her dream is to help her husband find his. Although she's initially against his ballet dreams, she switches gears after seeing how depressed he is when he stops the lessons at her request and decides that she'll help him find his happiness because his happiness is her happiness. Eun-ho on the other hand, is Deok-chul's granddaughter and is struggling with finding her place in the working world. Realising that everything she's been working so hard for was to please her father, she decides that it's time for her to do something that makes her happy and so embarks on her own journey of self-discovery. By the end of the drama, she's found that something, becoming a producer on a radio show and helping strangers who send in their messages find their happiness as well.
Despite the fact that they're the female leads, Hae-nam and Eun-ho actually don't appear all that much throughout the drama, serving more as backseat characters to boost our male leads' stories. Don't get me wrong, they still play important roles in the drama but they're very much second fiddle to Deok-chul and Chae-rok. They served their purpose well though because I really felt for the two women and their own struggles, whether it's Hae-nam supporting her husband or Eun-ho finding her own place in life. Na Moon-hee and Hong Seung-hee have done excellent jobs in bringing across their characters' emotions, and I thoroughly enjoyed watching their interactions with the other characters.
That brings me to Sung-san, who is Deok-chul's oldest son and Eun-ho's father. Throughout the drama, he was the one most against his father learning ballet, thinking it to be humiliating and pointless. When everyone else in the family ultimately supported him, Sung-san was the last one to change his mind. It's easy to dismiss his disapproval as just being a typical drama "obstacle" of sorts but Sung-san's actually a very deep character. He was once an avid baseball player in middle school and wanted to carry on playing but because of his family's financial situation, he decided to give up the sport. He's spent his entire life working hard and even now, he's stuck in a banking job that stresses him out all because he wants to give his family the life he never had. A part of Sung-san resents his father for never giving him the comfortable life he wanted as a child and so when he sees Deok-chul trying to learn ballet, he tries to dissuade him because he doesn't want to be embarrassed by his father.
The huge turning point for Sung-san comes when he finds out his father has Alzheimer's, which by the way is easily one of the saddest scenes in the drama. Apart from that, he's also made the scapegoat of a financial disaster in his company and he's at a low point in his life. It's only after a visit from Deok-chul, who tells him that no matter what he'll always be on his side (or his fielder, just like what he said in the past to his young son), that Sung-san decides to take his life into his own hands and quit his job. He's made a complete turnaround and watching his father's ballet performance on stage cemented that change. At the end of the drama, we see that Sung-san has become the manager of a baseball team, reigniting his passion for the sport and pursuing his own dream as well. Sung-san is a perfect example of the central idea the drama is pushing, of people pursuing their dreams regardless of age, gender or social status and because of that, I believe he's actually important enough to be considered a main role despite only being a supporting character. Huge props to Jung Hae-kyun for the wonderful portrayal.
There're a bunch of other characters in the drama that are also in the process of pursuing their own goals and dreams, with the drama having a happy ending as most of them achieve it or are at least somewhere there. In what is basically an epilogue, we see a video recording of Deok-chul at one of his ballet practices with Chae-rok and we get this final caption from the screenwriters. "It's not too late. Just like the 70-year-old Deok-chul, you can also do it." It's a really heartwarming sentiment and reminds us that if this elderly gentleman can pursue his dream, so can we. It's all about taking that first step forward and not looking back. If you can do that, you can be just like Deok-chul and Navillera, or fly beautifully like a butterfly. Thanks for reading.
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