On 26 Jun 2016, when I first read about the suicide of Kim Sung Min, I had no idea who he was. So I did a search on him and was very shocked to discover that I had watched one of his dramas before--Fantasy Couple.
According to Chinese media, he was arrested for drugs a second time in 2015 and was sentenced to prison for 10 months. After being released in Jan 2016, he went to help out at his wife's dental clinic as he could no longer go back to showbiz. His wife said he was well-liked by the patients but he would sometimes stare out of the window sadly. This brought tears to my eyes.
I looked up his other shows on China's 豆瓣 ( douban.com) and was surprised to find that some of his dramas were quite highly rated. One was Miss Mermaid (人鱼小姐) and the other was Family Honour (家门之光). Both roles were vastly different and some commented that his acting was so good that it was like watching 2 different actors. I managed to grab hold of these 2 sets of DVD from Carousel (Singapore's mobile site for used stuff) and decided to pen down some thoughts about his roles in my first post.
A. Miss Mermaid (人鱼小姐 / 背叛爱情）
Leads: Jang Seo-hee (as Eun Ariyoung), Kim Sung-min (Joo-wang)
Synopsis: A highly-rated drama with a highly convoluted plot that garnered many awards for Jang Seo-hee and Best New Actor for Kim Sung-min.
About how Eun Ariyoung, whose father left her and her mother when she was young, takes revenge on him by writing script about his affair. Still thirsty for revenge, she aims for her half-sister's fiance, Joo-wang, who finally succumbs to her charms. The half-sister goes mad when she discovers this.....
This is a serious and intense drama with 124 episodes and I had time to skim through only. But I could tell that Kim did a good job portraying a character who struggles between 2 women and finally turns his back on his fiancee, despite objections.
The following images are from the last episode after Ariyoung gets knocked down by a bus.
B. Fantasy Couple （梦幻情侣）
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| Jang Chol-soo (Oh Ji Ho), Anna (Han Ye-seul), Billy (Kim Sung-min) |
Synopsis: About a very rich and spoilt woman, heartily disliked by all, who loses her memory when she falls into the sea. Thinking she's dead, her long-suffering husband happily settles down to life without her. But his joy is short-lived as he discovers she's still very much alive, staying in her enemy's house and taking care of his nephews.....
As this romantic comedy is one of my favourites, I had watched it many times and was quite familiar with Kim's role as Anna's husband. Although this is a supporting role, it's a heavy role and is not the typical one-dimensional character who seems to exist just to compete with and make the leading man jealous. In fact, this is a pretty rich role who goes on an emotional roller-coaster once his wife has gone missing.
Unlike Joo-wang in Miss Mermaid, Billy is a comic character who is mild-mannered and well-liked by his wife's employees. Despite being hen-pecked by his wife, he loves her and tries hard to please her, which is an impossible task.
Kim handles the role with good comic timing and his mannerisms here are completely different from Joo-wang's. As the character's world turns topsy-turvy again and again, his mobile face take on different expressions according to the character's emotions.
In the beginning, he acts very repressed as Billy forces himself to put up with a difficult wife. When his wife goes missing, he rejoices privately but publicly, he displays great sadness. However, he is filled with guilt and keeps seeing a ghoulish Anna in his nightmares.
Then his world turns upside down again as he sees somebody who resembles his wife. Fearful that this might indeed turn out to be his wife, he follows her secretly. Kim's exaggerated expressions here are wonderful as they morph from initial uncertainty to fear to horror when his wife approaches him and finally, to relief when she does not recognize him.
Worried that she'll regain her memory, he follows her about over the next few weeks.
Again, he experiences emotional upheaval when he feels sorry that she is so badly treated by Jang Chul-soo. Then he realises that she has become very likeable due to her amnesia. He's in love with her again!
I recall one difficult scene where, hiding underneath a bucket to avoid detection, he has to act funny with the heavy bucket over his head.
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| Like a tortoise stretching out its limbs and flipping over |
Finally, she regains her memory and remembers that he never bothered to look for her when she was missing. Oh, what's he going to do now? He can only look at her shame-faced as he tries in vain to convince her of his love for her.
C. Family's Honour （家门的荣光）
Main Cast: Yoon Jung-hee, Park Si-hoo, Jeon No-min, Kim Sung-min.
Kim acts as Ha Tae-young, the second grandson who has come back to his grandfather's house with his young son after his wife divorces him.
Synopsis: a funny drama about a traditional family and the various members who clash with one another over family values.
Kim's character has got to be one of my favourite comic roles in recent years as I laughed till I cried at his wild antics. The guy is is the black sheep and trouble-maker of the family--one of those characters you look forward to as they spell trouble once they appear.
Though he may not be the main lead, Kim carries the role superbly and the character becomes the live wire of the entire drama.
Here, his character is not only different from Joo-wang in Miss Mermaid but also Billy in Fantasy Couple. Billy is polite, indecisive and cowardly; but Tae-young is unrefined, blunt, critical and confrontational, always ready to pick a fight. He is forever getting into money and women trouble.
Quite early in Episode 1, we see him in a a pair of cheerful red shorts paying off a sleeping partner at the hotel but he's interrupted when a few policemen barge in with his wife. He's arrested and along the corridor, he sees his sister-in-law with a young man. He starts lecturing her self-righteously and then beats up the young man. This part is really funny.
Enters a tomboy policewoman, Mal-soon, who will soon become his nemesis (above photo, bottom right).
Maya plays the role of an unsmiling policewoman with fine balance. Though she's a tomboy with rough manners, she can be gentle at times. She's mannish but not so mannish as to frighten all the men out there. At least she doesn't scare the wits out of Tae-young!
Whenever he violates traffic laws, she's always around to book him. Things get really bad so he stops attending parties in case she books him for drunk driving.
The funny thing is that he gets booked by her so often that they become friends.
When she's warded after a traffic accident, he kindly visits her but instead of thanking him, she starts complaining like he owes her--the food is too cold, the soup is too hot...
The scene's climax when she accidentally hits the bowl of hot soup is so hilarious that I roared loudly with laughter. I was really worried that my neighbour could hear me as it was late at night. Kim's comical expressions here are priceless.
His wedding day turns out to be the most embarrassing day of his life-- his tomboy bride loses her balance and tumbles down in a most unseemly manner!
They start arguing right after they change out of their wedding clothes.
Their 情侣装 (couple outfits) sure look cute!
CONCLUSION:
Mr Kim, thanks so much for the joy you've brought me with your fine performances.
May your organs prolong others' lives, even as you shortened yours so tragically. Rest In Peace!
