Temptation of Wife: The Best Vengeance K-Drama

If in the 90s of the last century, family members watched Hong Kong movies when the trend of this film series reached its peak until it receded at the beginning of the 21st century, then Korean films have begun to creep in. Asian film market and thriving to this point. A series of Korean films are mass-produced to serve the audience. The development of Korean cinema has been noticed by streaming company Netflix which has produced a series of hit Korean dramas such as Squid Game, Juvenile Justice, Extraordinary Attorney Woo, Law School, or All Of Us Are Dead. It proves that the attraction of Korean movies will never be extinguished because it is also possible that K-Pop culture has spread to the whole world. Big companies like SBS, KBS, and MBC continuously release quality dramas with high ratings.

However, there is a K-drama that I was obsessed with when I was a child back in Vietnam. It is Temptation of Wife.

Source: Internet

The film was released in 2008 in Korea and was shown in Vietnam in 2010 on VTV3, an entertainment TV channel in Vietnam, at 10 pm. The film was warmly received with high ratings at its release in Korea. When it came to Vietnam, Temptation of Wife became a big hit because almost everyone around me watched this drama. I remember when I went to school (at that time, in 5th grade), everyone talked about this TV show. We argued fiercely about the details of the movie and predicted the next episode. When I got home, my whole family and relatives watched it too. Remember that time I tried to do all my homework quickly so that I could watch 10 o'clock in time to watch Temptation of Wife. OMG, now I can't even start plowing from the beginning.

Like its name, the show has a solid appeal to the audience. The script was written by Kim Soon-ok, who later created the Penthouse: War in Life universe that was a massive hit in South Korea and some Asian countries in 2021, the film revolves around the main character Goo Eun-Jae, a good wife and a lovely daughter-in-law of a wealthy family. She studied makeup and intends to study abroad in France. But unfortunately, she became pregnant with her boyfriend, Jung Gyo-bin after he took advantage of her while drunk. She has to give up her dream and marry Gyo-bin. She thought she was happy, but her mother-in-law despised her because her family was too poor. One day, because her mother-in-law was addicted to gambling and was asked by creditors, she tried to stop them but was pushed down and lost the pregnancy in her belly. Since then, not only has she been hated by her mother-in-law, but her husband has also become increasingly cold toward her. Shin Ae-ri, Eun-Jae's close friend, returned from France, and she is already a famous makeup artist. She returned to start her own cosmetics company. But the primary purpose is to steal Gyo-bin from Eun-Jae because she fell in love with Gyo-bin before he married Eun-Jae. Then, Ae-ri also took Gyo-bin from Eun-Jae. Gyo-bin sees Eun-Jae as a thorn in his eye and ruthlessly drowns her in the sea. But Eun-Jae is the main character, it's so easy to die. So screenwriter Kim Soon-ok brought Eun-Jae back to life. It can be seen that the talent of resurrecting the dead has been in her blood for a long time. After coming back from the dead, Eun-Jae begins her revenge journey.

The theme of revenge frequently is taken by Korean cinema as a plot. Director Park Chan-wook's films such as Oldboy, Lady Vengeance, and Sympathy For Mr. Vengeance fully exploit the hatred of a person when they are full of mental and physical pain, pushed to the end, and then that pain has turned into a weapon for a person to take revenge on those who have hurt him before. Like the recent, the series Glory on Netflix has also made a big splash when using the theme of revenge.

Like many characters in Korean revenge films, Eun-Jae's revenge journey only really begins when "time, place, and harmony" occurs. That is when hatred is ripe enough, then revenge has meaning. When the people who caused Eun-Jae so much suffering live happily, she will appear and destroy their happiness. As her family suffered so much grief and despair, she knew it was time for revenge. Eun-Jae returned from the dead like she was reborn as a completely new person under a new identity, and the features of the old Eun-Jae were quiet at the bottom of the sea, where Kyo-bin used to drown her. This detail reminds me of the character Edmond Dantès in the novel "The Count of Monte Cristo" by the great writer Alexandre Dumas that I have read before. After more than 14 years, Edmond was held captive at the fortress of Château d'lf for being harmed by another hater, Edmond escaped by swapping the body of Father Abbé Faria, who had helped and taught Edmond in prison after when he died by himself in a body bag. The warden tied weights to Edmond's leg and threw the body bag into the sea. Edmond slashed the sack and chains with a knife and swam to shore until he was rescued by a passing ship. Eun-Jae was also saved by a benefactor who later became her love and helped her on her way to revenge.

Confucius once said. “Seek revenge and you should dig two graves, one for yourself.” Eun-Jae had already buried the old Eun-Jae in that grave. A weak, broken, pitiful Eun-Jae rests with “the old Taylor and her reputation.” A new Eun-Jae full of strength, hatred, intrigue, tricks, and resentment is ready to drag her killers to the depths. Her former persecutors begin to pay an extremely high price because of how much they have caused Eun-Jae in the past. They have suffered her punishment which is greater than the punishment of the law. After all, it is the law of karma.

Then, if, according to the law of karma in life, it is true that what you sow, you will reap. It's possible that Eun-Jae knew about it and that she could also let the law of karma befall her killers. But unfortunately, she did not know when it would happen, so she had to personally "replace heaven to punish" to speed up the karma to them.

But the question is, when Eun-Jae begins her revenge journey and begins to sink deep into it, what is the price she must pay? Screenwriter Kim Soon-ok made a bold move when she knew how to balance everything in the film to show the audience that she is a victim and her hands are indignant, she still has to bear the same heavy price on her revenge path. Eun-Jae has to accept that she has lost her love, lost her family, lost a part of her body, and lost her innocence to achieve her goals. But she didn't flinch or show that she had gone too far. That's the beauty of Temptation of Wife.

If you only hear the show’s name, the audience will think this is a romantic show, not a “heavy” drama. Temptation of Wife refers to two women who changed Jung Kyo-bin's life. Shin Ae-ri and Goo Eun-Jae and these women made Kyo-bin fall into the whirlpool of sexual passion. Kyo-bin used to love and fall in love with Eun-Jae, but Ae-ri is the one he loves. When Ae-ri returns from France, Kyo-bin realizes that he still loves Ae-ri and that she still loves him. Their love for each other is genuine. I used to hate these two characters, but there was a time when I was moved to tears because their love for each other was beyond my imagination. That charm is also the death trap of a family when those people have caused Eun-Jae's suffering.

It can be seen that Temptation of Wife has a fairly tight plot and is fixed together, and balanced. The storyline goes on smoothly, even adding details about a particular character's past so that the audience understands more than why they act like that in the present. The unique thing about Temptation of Wife is the film’s length. Currently, a Korean episode can be as long as a movie. Sometimes when I watch it, I have to rewind unnecessary scenes. But I never rewinded in Temptation of Wife because it couldn't have been on TV back then. In one episode, they did enough to satisfy the audience that day without having to rush into too many details in an episode. Plus, there's never a superfluous detail in the movie.

If everyone listens, the soundtrack of the film will find it very familiar. The song "Can't Forgive" through the performance of Cha Soo Kyung has increased the audience's interest and curiosity when watching the movie. The lyrics are full of resentment that speaks to someone's feelings being trampled and filled with hatred and no room for forgiveness.

Temptation of Wife is one of the best Korean dramas ever. Gosh, I have to re-work this movie. Highly recommend.