Spring Waltz

Spring Waltz

Promotional poster
Also known as Endless Love: Spring Waltz
Genre Romance, Melodrama
Written by Kim Ji-eun
Hwang Da-eun
Ha Mi-seon
Directed by Yoon Seok-ho
Starring Seo Do-young
Han Hyo-joo
Daniel Henney
Lee So-yeon
Country of origin South Korea
Original language(s) Korean
German and English (in addition to Korean itself)
No. of episodes 20
Production
Executive producer(s) Kim Jong-shik
Park In-taek
Moon Bo-hyun
Producer(s) Lee Jae-sang
Location(s) Austria
Seoul
Camera setup Multi-camera
Running time Mondays and Tuesdays at 21:55
Production company(s) Yoon's Color
Release
Original network KBS2
Original release March 6, 2006 (2006-03-06) – May 16, 2006 (2006-05-16)
Chronology
Preceded by Hello, God
Followed by Mr. Goodbye
Related shows Autumn in My Heart (2000)
Winter Sonata (2002)
Summer Scent (2003)
External links
Website
Spring Waltz
Hangul 봄의 왈츠
Revised Romanization Bom-ui Wal-cheu
McCune–Reischauer Pom-ŭi Wal-ch'ŭ

Spring Waltz (Hangul: 봄의 왈츠; RR: Bom-ui Wal-cheu) is a 2006 South Korean television series starring Seo Do-young, Han Hyo-joo, Daniel Henney, and Lee So-yeon. It aired on KBS2 from March 6 to May 16, 2006 on Mondays and Tuesdays at 21:55 for 20 episodes.

It is the fourth and final installment of director Yoon Seok-ho's season-themed Endless Love series, following Autumn in My Heart, Winter Sonata and Summer Scent.[1][2]

Synopsis

Seo Eun-young lives a happy life with her single mother on a beautiful island outside of Seoul. One day, the family receives a visit from Lee Jung-tae and his son Soo-ho, who plan to settle down on the island. When Jung-tae learns from his son about the money Eun-young's mother is saving for a special surgery, as Eun-young is sick, he steals it and runs away. In disbelief and despair, Eun-young's mother leaves for Seoul in hopes of tracking down Jung-tae, but she is hit by a car and killed. Eun-young is hospitalized; at the hospital, Soo-ho meets a woman, Hyun Ji-sook, who mistakes him for her late son. The woman's husband asks Soo-ho if he would consider pretending to be his son Jae-ha until his wife recovers in exchange for the money to save Eun-young's life. Soo-ho agrees and, while he leaves South Korea with the couple as Yoon Jae-ha, Eun-young is operated and adopted by her aunt, changing her name to Park Eun-young.

Fifteen years later, Eun-young travels to Austria, where she meets Song Yi-na, accomplished pianist Jae-ha and his manager Phillip. Though Jae-ha displays a cold demeanor towards Eun-young, the two are immediately attracted to each other – especially Jae-ha, because of the way she reminds him of his long-lost childhood love, Seo Eun-young. Later Jae-ha agrees to produce an album for Yi-na's music company and returns to Korea, while Phillip, interested in Eun-young, arranges a job for her as a chauffeur for Jae-ha. As time passes Eun-young and Jae-ha begin to develop feelings for each other and start dating. Despite his adoptive parents had previously told Jae-ha that Seo Eun-young was dead, he decides to investigate, finally realizing that Park Eun-young and Seo Eun-young are one and the same person. Soon, Eun-young too realizes Jae-ha is Soo-ho, her childhood love. Later, Jae-ha's piano career comes to an end when he accidentally hurts his hand and his nerves become paralyzed; he decides to return to Austria, not letting Eun-young know about his injury. Nonetheless, Eun-young learns everything from Yi-na, flies to Austria and meets Jae-ha again. The couple gets married and buys a house on the island where Soo-ho and Eun-young grew together.

Cast

Main characters

Jae-ha is a talented classical pianist of the next generation who has been closely watched with interest by Koreans since he won a prize at a famous concert. Even though he was brought up in a rich and enviable family under his father who is a foreign diplomat, Jae-ha is a lonely person with only one friend because of his eccentric and particular personality. He is a well-mannered and dutiful son to his parents and never harms others, but his piano melody always sounds sad. He shows his true feelings only to his best friend and manager, Phillip. He is a sad person who keeps secrets of the past that nobody knows, although he has a charismatic personality amidst a wonderful environment. At first, Jae-ha is interested in Eun-young in Austria because she is similar to his childhood sweetheart. As he sees her with playboy Phillip, he thinks Eun-young is not a decent girl. But he gradually falls in love with her.
Eun-young is a cheerful, pretty little woman who works at her adoptive mother's kimbap (Korean rolled rice) restaurant in the daytime and sells homemade accessories and clothes at her street stand at night. Even though she could not finish her studies, she is a talented person who is good with her hands and is to be able to win the grand prize in a handicraft contest open to the public. She never loses her smile nor her dashing spirit although she lives in poverty; a hardworking girl who always gives her all and is never unselfish. As her prize for the handicraft contest, she gets the opportunity to visit Austria, and there meets Phillip and Jae-ha by fate. Eun-young, who does not know of this ironic fate, deeply misses Soo-ho from her childhood.
He is the only friend as well as the global manager of Yoon Jae-ha. He was born to an Austrian father and a Korean mother and was expected to become a promising musician during his childhood. He plays the piano, the cello, the guitar, etc. Even though there are no musical instruments that he cannot play, he gave up playing music. Instead, he decides to pursue his dream by becoming the manager of Jae-ha who Phillip acknowledges as being a true musical genius. He has playboy tendencies, which makes Jae-ha accuse Eun-young of being easy since she dances with Phillip at an Austrian ball.
She is a capable career woman who started her career from the bottom and became the director of the planning department in a leading classical record and concert company due to her own ability even though the company is owned by her parents. Yi-na is a perfect woman with remarkable beauty, wonderful background, and outstanding ability, but there is only one thing that she earnestly desires... It is Jae-ha who played the piano with her when they were young. Having liked Jae-ha since childhood, she recklessly gave up playing the piano and left for Canada to find Jae-ha after he left Korea. However, she could not find Jae-ha but completed her study in Art Business in Canada. She volunteers to promote Jae-ha's debut in Korea after she happened to see an article of Jae-ha's activity in Austria. Her parents also own the hotel where Jae-ha and Phillip stay when they are in Korea.

Supporting characters

Soundtrack

Further information: Spring Waltz OST

Ratings

Date Episode Nationwide Seoul
2006-03-06 1 10.9 (12th) 10.9 (13th)
2006-03-07 2 11.5 (13th) 10.8 (15th)
2006-03-13 3 12.1 (14th) 13.6 (14th)
2006-03-14 4 14.7 (7th) 14.9 (5th)
2006-03-20 5 15.3 (4th) 16.8 (3rd)
2006-03-21 6 13.4 (3rd) 13.6 (2nd)
2006-03-27 7 15.8 (4th) 16.4 (3rd)
2006-03-28 8 14.6 (6th) 15.3 (5th)
2006-04-03 9 16.2 (5th) 16.8 (2nd)
2006-04-04 10 17.5 (3rd) 17.9 (3rd)
2006-04-10 11 18.9 (2nd) 19.6 (2nd)
2006-04-11 12 18.5 (2nd) 19.1 (2nd)
2006-04-24 13 19.7 (2nd) 20.4 (1st)
2006-04-25 14 20.8 (1st) 23.4 (1st)
2006-05-01 15 22.4 (1st) 25.6 (1st)
2006-05-02 16 20.6 (1st) 22.4 (1st)
2006-05-08 17 21.6 (1st) 22.3 (1st)
2006-05-09 18 22.2 (1st) 23.6 (1st)
2006-05-15 19 23.5 (1st) 24.6 (1st)
2006-05-16 20 25.8 (1st) 27.2 (1st)
Average 17.8% 18.7%

Awards and nominations

Year Award Category Recipient Result
2006 KBS Drama Awards Top Excellence Award, Actress Kim Hae-sook Nominated
Best Supporting Actor Lee Han-wi Won
Best New Actress Han Hyo-joo Nominated
Best Young Actor Eun Won-jae Nominated
Popularity Award, Actor Daniel Henney Nominated

Series development

Spring Waltz was the final feature of the season-themed drama series directed by Yoon Seok-ho. Although the story shares the similar format of genuine love and childhood memories, Yoon adds several fresh twists and turns. In this miniseries, the drama's message is conveyed more actively through the season "spring". Love is compared to the way spring blossoms into lives, bringing a sense of hope. Love is also depicted as gently embracing the protagonists' lonely hearts, which are chillingly numb in the midst of a long and harsh "winter". Another noticeable change is that this series is the only feature out of four season series to include overseas locations, namely Austria, where filming took place around well-known tourist spots such as Hallstatt and Salzburg. Moreover, most of its production money came from external sources and investments made by domestic and foreign interests. With news that the drama was sold to nine countries including Japan,[3] Taiwan, Thailand, Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, Macau, Brunei and the Philippines, the series garnered widespread attention from the media industry even before the series aired in March 2006.[4][5]

One of the most striking differences from previous installments, is the casting. All four main characters are relative newcomers, who were cast in the leading role for the first time. The casting of the two lead actors – Seo Do-young (a model-turned actor who previously appeared in small supporting roles in a few TV shows)[6][7] and Han Hyo-joo (a newbie actress best known for the teenage sitcom Nonstop 5) - brought a controversial yet refreshing spin into the drama's production. Sung Yu-ri was originally cast as Eun-young but when she backed out of the drama, Yoon unexpectedly chose Han, who had auditioned for a smaller role.[8] Model-turned-actor Daniel Henney was perhaps the most high-profile actor of the four, after his role in 2005 hit My Lovely Sam Soon.[9][10] Initially the character Philip character did not exist. However, after seeing Henney audition, Yoon was attracted to the actor's unique facial expressions and gestures, so the director decided to create a new role just for him.[11] Lee So-yeon, on the other hand, had more experience in TV and film, notably Untold Scandal in 2003.[12] In interviews, Yoon told the press that he deliberately chose to work with new actors rather than already-established actors, who tend to have chiseled images that do not have enough flexibility. Working with new faces, Yoon said, is "like working on a new painting on a new white canvas."

Renowned for his captivating ability to bring picturesque scenery and memorable music onto the screen, Yoon takes maximum advantage of the spectacular view of Hallstatt lake to convey Jae-ha's sorrow and his yearning for his lost identity and lost love.

One of Yoon's main motifs for this series is the "island" - Cheongsando - a place that is seemingly isolated from the rest of the world. He and his production crew reportedly hunted for the perfect island setting for months. They eventually decided on a few islands located in South Jeolla Province. Cheongsando was the site where the young Soo-ho and Eun-young meet and reunite again as adults, while heart-shaped Hanuneom Beach in Bigeumdo is the place where the children share their innocent feelings of affection and love towards each other.

An island as a place, Yoon says, tends to be a fantasy in everyone's mind. It brings out a sense of nostalgia which is quite distant from the reality of everyday life. Childhood love also is a fantasy in many a memory. Spring Waltz explores such fantasy of our first love – how the pure and genuine love for someone can face the reality of living with mental bruises and an identity crisis, and eventually heal the painful process of forgiveness and reconciliation, just like the way spring brings us a hope.

DVD release

Director Yoon Seok-ho was reportedly unhappy with the low ratings the series received in South Korea, which prompted him to re-edit the drama. Thus, the director's cut DVD is shorter than the original broadcast version, with the scenes removed totaling close to 3 hours long. As of June 2010, there is no information as to whether the "uncut" original broadcast version will ever be authorized for release.

Noticeable edits (North American version)

Dubbed

A Tagalog-dubbed DVD was released in the Philippines through Star Records.

Soundtracks

Main article: Spring Waltz OST

International broadcast

It aired in the Philippines on ABS-CBN (without the title Endless Love IV: Spring Waltz) because the series was suffered from low ratings but the three other series installments remained such as Endless Love: Autumn in My Heart, Endless Love II: Winter Sonata and Endless Love III: Summer Scent, which aired by its rival network GMA.

In Thailand first aired on iTV, with reruns on Channel 7.

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Winter Sonata Producer Readies New Drama". The Korea Times via Hancinema. 18 April 2005. Retrieved 2013-03-19.
  2. ↑ "Yun Seok-ho Completes His Four Seasons of Love". The Chosun Ilbo. 28 February 2006. Retrieved 2013-03-19.
  3. ↑ "Spring Waltz to be Aired in Japan". KBS Global. 6 July 2006. Retrieved 2013-03-19.
  4. ↑ "TV Drama Spring Waltz Sold in 8 Countries". KBS Global. 21 February 2006. Retrieved 2013-03-19.
  5. ↑ Shin, Hae-in (22 February 2006). "Spring Waltz sold to nine countries". The Korea Herald via Hancinema. Retrieved 2013-03-19.
  6. ↑ "Production of TV Drama Spring Waltz Hits Snag". KBS Global. 12 April 2006. Retrieved 2013-03-19.
  7. ↑ Lee, Min-a (17 April 2007). "Japanese Hallyu Fans Flock to See Seo Do-young". Korea JoongAng Daily. Retrieved 2013-03-19.
  8. ↑ Shin, Hae-in (30 January 2006). "Han reserves seat as next 'Jiwoohime'". The Korea Herald via Hancinema. Retrieved 2013-03-19.
  9. ↑ "Actor Learning Korean On-the-Fly". The Dong-a Ilbo. 23 February 2006. Retrieved 2013-03-19.
  10. ↑ "Daniel Henney and the Women". The Chosun Ilbo. 29 March 2006. Retrieved 2013-03-19.
  11. ↑ Park, Chung-a (1 March 2006). "Will Spring Waltz Deliver for Henney and Its Producer?". The Korea Times via Hancinema. Retrieved 2013-03-19.
  12. ↑ "Spring Waltz, the conclusion of the Four Seasons series, comes to life". KoreaContent.org via Hancinema. 23 February 2006. Retrieved 2013-03-19.

External links

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