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[HanCinema's Drama Review] "Reply 1994" Episode 1

Ah, the gay nineties. An age where everything had to be done via VHS tape, where editors everywhere had discovered and began overusing slow motion in conjunction with overwrought musical chords. When phone conversations only ever happened at home, and the ringing sound was not an ironic one. When getting to new unseen places required following complicated directions that couldn't be double-checked. When stalking celebrities required excessive effort and intelligence.

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I was not, admittedly, a particularly articulate thinker during most of the nineties, so I can't confirm how accurate "Reply 1994"'s portrayal of the decade really is. What I can note is that it a very accurate portrait of what society might look like without the help of easy omnipresent telecommunications. I know because my hobby is doing complicated things for no reason, and I can appreciate the confusion, improvisation, and basic self-reliance this drama typifies.

Of course, this being a drama set in Korea during the nineties, there's lots of stuff I can't identify with. Like the police being able to apprehend someone just for possibly having political opinions. This much is probably accurate- South Korea was at this point only seven years removed from a dictatorship and old habits die hard. Bear in mind this kind of stuff isn't so shocking to me today, but that's because my years as a young adult were spent in the most definitely not-gay two thousands.

In terms of the actual story and characters, "Reply 1994" is not so strong. Everyone in this drama conforms to a clear easily identifiable archetype, but so far this characterization mainly exists to push forward the drama's peculiar brand of nostalgia-based humor. Not that this is a bad thing- even though I recognize most of the tropes here I'm surprised at how long it's been since I've actually seen a narrative make fun of stuff like how difficult it is to get from point A to point B, just because that's a societal inconvenience that's been removed.

On a more subtle level, sibling dynamics are unavoidable here. These days it's normal for a teenage girl to lock herself in her room and ignore everyone except the friends who live in her phone. But back in the nineties, being antisocial required deliberate effort and force of personality. Normally teen siblings physically fight and harass each other constantly if only out of boredom. Do any of these parts make for an interesting story? Not really- but so far "Reply 1994" is doing such a great job provoking Nostalgia smiles I don't really mind anyway.

Review by William Schwartz

"Reply 1994" is directed by Sin Won-ho and written by Lee Woo-jeong-I and features Go Ara, Sung Dong-il, Lee Il-hwa and Jung Woo.

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