Details
Title: Eight Days – The Mystery of Jeongjo’s Assassination 8일 – 정조암살미스터리
Genre: Sageuk, Political, Thriller
Episodes: 10
Broadcast network: Channel CGV (Cable)
Broadcast period: 2007-Nov-17 to 2007-Dec-16
Air time: Saturday & Sunday Night, 11 pm
Producer: 박종원 (Park Jong-Won)
Writer: 김원석 (Kim Won-Seok)
Music: 전창엽 (Jeon Chang-Yeop)
Synopsis
Adapted from Oh Se-Young’s 원행 (Journey), Channel CGV’s first ever drama 8일 (Eight Days) was a success on all fronts, surprising many sageuk fans who were expecting total collapse of the genre around 2007, and were blessed with this badass, hard-hitting political thriller instead. Costing 4 billion won for a mere 10 episodes, this was on average one of the most expensive sageuk of all time, bringing in acclaimed film director Park Jong-Won — who, interestingly, directed what’s still the best big screen Korean sageuk of the last 20 years, that 영원한 제국 (The Eternal Empire) which… sure enough, dealt with more or less the same period as this show — and TV sageuk veteran Kim Won-Seok, who wrote the fantastic 임꺽정 (Im Kkeok-Jeong) over a decade ago. It cast sageuk mainstays like Kim Sang-Joong, Jung Ae-Ri and Kim Gi-Hyeon along with interesting newcomers like Jo Han-Joon. And, last but not least, it interpreted this historical period with the kind of verve and panache only those well versed in the genre and period can do. It might not be as easily accessible as what passes on as sageuk nowadays, but any history buff will find the “theories” exposed here particularly relevant, especially a jaw-to-the-floor moment highlighting the double standards of the famous 한중록 (The Memoirs of Lady Hyegyeong), which many people still consider an historical document worth the paper it was written on, when it’s clearly not the case.
King Jeongjo was known as the “reformist ruler” of Joseon, but he had mostly been portrayed on the losing end of things on the big and small screen, either connected to the tragedy his father (Crown Prince Sado) faced at the hands of King Yeongjo — 홍국영 (Hong Guk-Young), 대왕의 길 (King of the Wind), 하늘아 하늘아 (Oh! Sky!) and so on — or through Ahn Nae-Sang’s unforgettable portrayal in Conspiracy in the Court, once again ending in sorrow. The Jeongjo portrayed here is instead the strong willed and masculine ruler of the middle portion of his reign, when it seemed as if he could really be the man to change things in the rotten Joseon politics of the period, dominated by the Byeokpa party and their vile shenanigans.
To celebrate the 60th birthday of his mother Lady Hyegyeong and late father Crown Prince Sado, King Jeongjo organized an immense retinue headed for the tomb of Prince Sado, in the current Hwaseong Fortress. The “journey” lasted eight days, starting from February 9 of the 19th year of his reign (1795). This is where the annals stop, and the imagination of the brilliant original story begins: what if those who couldn’t tolerate a reformist like Jeongjo on the throne decided to assassinate him, right as this spectacular journey took place? There’s no better way to get rid of a beloved, brilliant ruler than creating the perfect accident. And it only would take eight days…
Cast
* Kim Sang-Joong as King Jeongjo
* Jung Ae-Ri as Lady Hyegyeong
* Park Jung-Chul as Jung Yakyong
* Lee Seon-Ho as Jang In-Hyung
* Hee Won as Sohyangbi
* Kim Seong-Gyeom as King Yeongjo
* Kim Gi-Hyeon as Kim Jeongsu
* Park Chan-Hwan as Shim Hwanji
* Kim Hee-Jeong as Queen Mother Jeongsun
* Lee Dae-Yeon as Moon Inbang
* Jo Han-Joon as Crown Prince Sado
General:
Format.......: AVI
File Size....: 700,38 MiB
Duration.....: 58mn 59s
Bitrate......: 1 660 Kbps
Subtitles....: English .SRT by WithS2
Source.......: TV
Screenshots (Click for full resolution):
Video:
Video Format......: MPEG-4 Visual
Video Codec.......: XviD
Bitrate...........: 1 488 Kbps
Frame Rate........: 29.970 fps
Aspect Ratio......: 16:9
Resolution........: 624x352
Audio #1:
Format..........: MPEG Audio
Bitrate.........: 160 Kbps
Channels........: 2 channels
Sampling Rate...: 48.0 KHz
Language........: Korean
