The Light in Your Eyes: A Review

Time has always been the most valuable commodity one could never buy or get refund with. The clock ticks irreversibly which nobody could go against. Thus, movies and dramas about time manipulation serve as a dreamed utopia to temporarily deviate from reality, one of which is The Light in Your Eyes (2019). It’s not an underrated show by any means, but still a drama you shouldn’t miss out.

Never mind, it’s just another Nam Joo Hyuk fest, y’all. Before his recently two hit dramas that had successfully shaken the OTP shippers like no other, Nam Joo Hyuk already made a name for himself as a quite versatile actor through this drama. This was where his melodramatic eyes first shattered my heart to pieces before Baek Yi Jin from Twenty Five Twenty One (2022) won the battle.

THE LIGHT IN YOUR EYES / 눈이 부시게 (2019)

The story begins with Kim Hye Ja (Han Ji Min)’s narration about a magical watch she stumbled upon in a beach when she was five, thanks to which she kind of acquired a special power to turn back time. Such a golden opportunity to fetch another chance that, consequently, cost her own time in life. In the present time, she and her older brother, Kim Yeong Soo (Son Ho Jun), have been leeching off their parents as two unemployed adults. Hye Ja aspires to become a news anchor but she keeps facing rejection until one day she turned into a 70-year-old grandma overnight and her life turned upside down afterwards. Lee Joon Ha (Nam Joo Hyuk) hopes to become a reporter but life brings him nothing but devastating disappointment. He came across Hye Ja one day and their fate became intertwined.

INITIAL IMPRESSION

I originally thought it was a light fantasy and rom-com drama, turned out the genre was somehow melancholic and even devastating. All the messages made you reflect on your life seriously and contemplate about what life is supposed to be.

Kim Hye Ja (Han Ji Min) supposedly turned 25 that year but she lost her precious times and became 70 years old overnight after she used up all her remaining chances in the magical watch as a desperate attempt to save her father from a fatal car accident. She used to have positive thoughts about life until it brushed her off several times and shattered her remaining confidence.

Han Ji Min is undoubtedly a great actress who knows how to perfectly articulate her feelings and thoughts of her character in a subtly vivid manner. I laughed and ugly cried with Hye Ja as ushered by Han Ji Min’s way of acting.

After turning 70 overnight, Hye Ja (Kim Hye Ja) was played by a senior actress that depicted her 25-year-old soul meticulously. About her being physically restrained from a lot of regular activities but still wanting to do many fun things as girls in 20s should was portrayed adequately by grandma Kim Hye Ja.

Lee Joon Ha (Nam Joo Hyuk) recently moved to Hye Ja’s neighborhood and bumped into her quite often afterwards. He lived an unprivileged life with his grandma because his parents were never present and his father had been an asshole. Joon Ha put a smile when he saw Hye Ja, but after the circumstances changed, I saw nothing but sorrowful-looking vibes radiating from his eyes.

So basically before all the heartbreaking mess in Twenty Five Twenty One (2022), Nam Joo Hyuk was once also an aspiring reporter here. Re-watching this drama feels like watching him foreshadowing his future career, which is soo much fun. It didn’t help that I was continuously enchanted by his gorgeous face. Nam Joo Hyuk seriously suits this kind of sad boy role that speaks one liter of tears with his constantly depressing gaze.

Kim Yeong Soo (Son Ho Jun) is an unemployed crybaby that leeches off his own family as the oldest son. As Hye Ja’s older brother, he does nothing but picking a fight with her as how siblings are normally. Nonetheless, Yeong Soo acts like an older brother sometimes when Hye Ja is in a tight spot.

It’s quite dumbfounding (but still fascinating) to see Son Ho Jun’s complete transformation from an affectionate husband with wholesome love in Go Back Couple (2017) to a good-for-nothing loser here. I love seeing him acting so shamelessly pathetic without limit.

STUFFS THAT I LIKED

Quarter-life dilemma

It isn’t specifically about the dilemmas encountered by young adults, but also for anyone who is facing the intersections of life. [SPOILER ALERT] Hye Ja, who had failed her attempts several times, didn’t dare to abandon her dream to become a news anchor just yet because she lacked courage to do so. Giving up on it means that she has to find a different goal, but she’s scared that she might never achieve that goal. [END OF SPOILERS] Knowing how and when to give is also a strength, for giving up also requires courage.

When you grow up and enter adulthood, it’s getting more difficult to watch your parents work hard to pay your bills. It especially tortures Hye Ja deeply since she is still unable to make a living for herself. She was idling around the house day and night along with Yeong Soo because both of them were unemployed. Things got worse as she was becoming more physically weak and required greater financial expenses.

About getting old

Speaking of Hye Ja’s experience, being an old grandma feels like going backwards to when you were a child. You can’t go on without the help of other people, your mind keeps running but your body can’t keep up with it. For women with menopause, their body feels heavy almost all the time, their mind gets forgetful and they lose their temper pretty often. It isn’t easy to get through, thus, it also serves a great reminder to treat old people accordingly instead of getting irritated at them.

During Yeong Soo’s live broadcast with old Hye Ja, she was asked if there was any benefit of getting old. “You guys are concerned about finding jobs, right? Why don’t you just get old like me? When you’re old, you don’t have to do anything. Even if you just sit around, no one tells you to find a job. No one wants to employ you anyway.“ It speaks as a wholesome life lecture about being grateful for all the nuisance your workloads are causing and all the following hardships in your 20s. Whenever life gets too overwhelming, I often tell myself that this too shall pass. That way, I manage to send my gratitude despite all the headaches.

Slapstick comedy

I have to say, Kim Yeong Soo is the origin of almost every slapstick comedy that ever happened in the drama. His dramatic ass was the only source of humor amidst all the disheartening moments in the drama. Together with her two close friends, Lee Hyun Joo (Kim Ga Eun) and Yoon Sang Eun (Song Sang Eun), Hye Ja laughed at Yeong Soo’s relatable stupidity as he silently tore an instant noodle’s package to hide from his mother. Let’s also not forget about him ugly crying after tasting dog’s food because it was delicious.

[SPOILER ALERT] Also since Hyun Joo used to have a silly crush on Yeong Soo in the past and they indeed dated briefly before she came into her senses, Yeong Soo kept living in his own groundless delusion that Hyun Joo was still head over heels with him. His dramatic ass asked Hyun Joo if she wanted to get back together with him and that thought triggered her to give him a good beating. [END OF SPOILERS]

STUFFS THAT IRKED ME

Nam Joo Hyuk’s ethereal beauty because his face distracts me from focusing on the plot

Him as Lee Joon Ha had the best hairstyle before Baek Yi Jin struck my heart completely three years later. His face itself is a work of art, but his eyes were always so close to tears given all the horrendous circumstances he was experiencing. Lee Joon Ha’s overall life had been nothing but in a depressing state.

What I loathe about his character is the somber life he has been forced to live in. Joon Ha has always been by himself and demotivated to carry on. [SPOILER ALERT] The only little happiness that ever came to his life was Hye Ja’s dazzling eyes that brightened his lonely nights. When Hye Ja told him about a magical watch that could turn back time, Joon Ha was smitten, not necessarily because he believed her, but because Hye Ja gave her the opportunity to be hopeful in life. [END OF SPOILERS] The overall situation was just to depressing to bear.

Pathetic Yeong Soo

All the jokes aside, I think people like Yeong Soo are the most pathetic beings on Earth. The ones who idle away without further plans ahead but still leech off their old parents and become their financial burdens. In Hye Ja’s family, her parents are already past their productive age and are supposed to be retiring from heavy workloads. Instead, her mom is still overwhelmed doing the hair of her customers until her skin cracks and her dad is still working 9 to 5 with his limping leg. Looking at old parents who live exhaustingly. To his pathetic state, Hye Ja gave him a good scolding.

“When will you grow up? (the literal translation would be when will you become a person?) Until when are you going to live like this? Knowing the situation I’m in, you should come to your senses and try to be good to Mom and Dad. You can’t even earn a dollar a day without your aged sister’s help. Do you know what I thought because of you? I seriously considered getting life insurance. That way, I may be able to prepare our parents’ retirement on behalf of you, the eldest child. Stop staring at your computer, stuck in your room all day. Can you please pay attention to our family’s situation?”

Nonetheless, some pathetic people manage to undo themselves after coming to their senses. After realizing his feelings for Hyun Joo, Yeong Soo gradually grew himself a little better than yesterday. It must be true that right people will subconsciously lead you to a right direction.

LOVELINES ALERT

Kim Hye Ja & Lee Joon Ha

Their encounter feels natural, their feelings are mutual and their relationship seems so personal. It’s a bit unfair that both Han Ji Min and Nam Joo Hyuk themselves are too jaw-droppingly gorgeous to begin with, that they still look fine albeit dressed like county bumpkins. From strangers who bumped into each other unexpectedly, both grew affection on each other after deep talks and genuine conversations.

EP2. [SPOILER ALERT] When Hye Ja was somehow invited for dinner at Joon Ha’s place, he recommended his grandma’s green onion kimchi to try. She put it in her mouth and wanted to chew it as quiet as possible in case it would be heard, so Joon Ha opened a conversation to break the silence and let Hye Ja chew her food at ease. It’s a sweet courtesy of him that showcased his thoughtful consideration. [END OF SPOILERS]

[MAJOR SPOILER ALERT] As a viewer from the pilot episode, my jaw dropped abruptly as the major plot twist was revealed towards the end of the series. Never had it crossed my mind that it had always been the old Hye Ja that lived in her clouded memory due to her Alzheimer’s disease. Nothing inflicts pain as abundant as watching people so dear to you wither away and get overtaken by an irreversible disease they have no control over. It feels suffocating as if you’re going to die, but this brain disorder also abandons the only opportunity to reminisce good old days that might put a smile on your face.

As for Joon Ha and Hye Ja, they lived a genuinely happy life even just for a brief period of time. All the police investigations to arrest spies and communists in the 1970s remind me of the heartbreak in Youth of May (2021), just as atrocious because Joon Ha, who had spent his life being abandoned and alone, had to finally relinquish and went to the afterlife just by himself. [END OF SPOILERS]

FINAL THOUGHTS

Encountering the drama when I was still struggling in my first year of work back in 2019 helped me reflect a lot on my life, too. Albeit not as desperate as Hye Ja given my already stable job, I also had a hard time figuring out what I was supposed to do and, sometimes, got drowned between the competitive and fast-paced world. Giving up and whining about unfavorable circumstances feel too convenient, but it’s not going to reduce the amount of burdens to bear.

“This world is full of people who are a lot more competent than you. Will you cry every single time you encounter them? It won’t solve any of your problems. Do you know the difference between competence and living a good life? Even if you’re incompetent, just get in there and tell the world, ”I’m here. I want to give hope to the likes of me.” This is how you live a truly good life. As for competence, you must be born with it, but you can lie a good life if you work at it.”

Growing old is an absolute phase in life. Some go through it with hopeful thoughts for a better tomorrow, some others go on while bottling up excruciating pain because they fail to embrace themselves. If only more people are learning to hold themselves tightly given any circumstances, it’s still possible to look forward to what tomorrow holds. To Joon Ha who was on the verge of giving up, Hye Ja tried her best to bring him some words of encouragement.

“You see, I mean so much to myself. To other people I might be just an old person that there isn’t anything to look forward to anymore. It’d be pointless to even regret anything. People would wonder why I even care, but I still feel so sorry to myself. I hope you and your life mean a lot to you.”

“Whether you live your life to the fullest or just waste it away like you’re doing right now, every person gets to be young once. You might not think much about it, but look at me, and realize what a precious thing you have. Realize the value of the most mundane things.”

“My life was blighted by misfortune at times, but there were also happy moments. They say that life is nothing but a mere dream, but I was still grateful for my life. The cold, brisk air at dawn, the sweet breeze right before flowers start to bloom and the scent of sunset that fills the air at sundown. Every single day was dazzlingly beautiful. Even if you’re struggling right now, everyone alive has the right to enjoy all this everyday. Even if one ordinary day is followed by another ordinary day, life is still worth living. Don’t waste the present regretting he past and worrying the future. Live this day, beautifully. You deserve it.”

GRADE

9/10

Ps. I didn’t put out the link to the drama OSTs as I usually do since none of them were memorable enough for me. Still a pleasing music fest, regardless.