Chocolate

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Analysis

Synopsis

​Moon Cha Young is a cook, struggling because of her family. Her mother abandoned her when she was a child and her brother constantly implicates her in his financial troubles. Moreover, she suffers from a trauma due to an incident in her childhood. After a series of misfortunes, she was separated from the man she fell in love with as a kid: Lee Kang. Lee Kang is a doctor, who used to live with his mother on an island, before discovering his birth secret. Cha Young and Kang meet again 20 years later, at the hospice they both work at. 

​My Opinion (No Spoilers)

A beautiful drama written by the famous Lee Kyung Hee (Will It Snow for Christmas?; A Love to Kill, Uncontrollably Fond; The Innocent Man) and directed by the talented Lee Hyeong Min (Winter Sonata; Strong Woman Do Bong Soon). Chocolate is the kind of drama that combines melodrama and romance in a heartwarming way; making you slowly more attached to the characters. 

Yes, there are tears but there are also a lot of smiles as the drama advances and the relationships between characters blossom. 

Don’t miss this poetic drama. Plus, the main cast is amazing: Ha Ji Won, coming back after Hospital Ship 3 years ago and of course Yoon Kye Sang is returning to screen after a 4-year hiatus. A beautiful duo if you want my opinion. 

​Analysis (Spoiler Alert)

​Star-crossed lovers: The love story starts when Lee Kang (Yoon Kye Sang) and Moon Cha Young (Ha Ji Won) were kids. Kang’s mother had a seafood restaurant located in Waldo Island. One day, he encounters Cha Young, spying on his restaurant. She is prettily dressed but is also very hungry. Out of generosity, Lee Kang and his mother serve her food. He even promises her to make her try his chocolate balls. What seems to start as a sweet and innocent romance between the two kid characters, turns into a real melodramatic twist of destiny. Indeed, Cha Young and Kang promise to meet a few days later to try these chocolate balls. However, family problems on both sides prevent them from doing so. Lee Kang discovers he is the son of a rich family, whose father eloped with his mother, dying thereafter. Cha Young is forced by her mother to stay at home and not go back to the restaurant.

​Twenty years later, Cha Young has finally found Lee Kang, who now works as a doctor. He has renounced his dream of becoming a chef because of his familial obligations. Cha Young, thanks to Lee Kang, has become a chef. She coincidentally meets Lee Kang, who doesn’t seem to remember her. Just when she is about to confess her love to him, Cha Young learns that her lover has been sent to a war zone and has died. She is devastated and meet at the hospital another man, devastated as well by the death of his friend. After a time, they start a relationship. A few years later, Cha Young’s boyfriend wants her to meet his best friend. Unfortunately, that same best friend is in fact Lee Kang, who survived war. Cha Young is overwhelmed and has to hide her feelings for him, while distancing herself from her actual boyfriend. Lee Kang is overprotective of his friend and has the impression that Cha Young is not faithful to him. She lies and says that she cheats on him with someone else, because of her feelings for Lee Kang. Sometime later, we find out that Lee Kang’s best friend has an incurable brain tumor. On his dying bed, he remembers Cha Young’s food and asks Kang to find her for him. Meanwhile, Cha Young has left for Greece, where she has fulfilled her dream. Lee Kang comes to fetch her and brings her back to his best friend, so that she can cook him a last meal. She does so and the best friend dies. After the funeral, Lee Kang and Cha Young get in a car accident and almost die. Trying to save Cha Young’s life, Lee Kang hurts himself. 

They separate and meet again at a hospice in the countryside, where Cha Young cooks and Lee Kang treats patients. The romance can finally start. 

As you can see from the plot of the first episodes, it seems like Cha Young and Kang are cursed. I felt at the very beginning that fate was picking up on these two, throwing misfortunes at their faces every time they meet. Their relationship starts on a rather melodramatic tone. Moreover, they misunderstand each other a lot, considering the fact that they never told the truth about their identity or communicated properly without external interference. That’s why, their bond took so long to create and develop. 

Even though there appears to be an underlying tragic vibe to their story, Cha Young and Kang have in fact a lot in common. They both carry a lot of pain and are quite disillusioned about their own future. Indeed, Cha Young’s mother abandoned her in a mall, when she was a kid. Unfortunately, that mall happened to be Sampoong department Store that collapsed in 1995. Cha Young survived the tragedy but carries some deep mental scars. Her mother had fled with her brother, leaving her behind. Shortly after, his brother came to her, involving her in financial struggles. I personally hated the brother. I couldn’t stand how ungrateful and inconsiderate he was towards his sister. I also associated him a lot with a parasite, leeching off of her. Lee Kang also suffers from past wounds regarding his mother. A twist of fate reunited Moon Cha Young and her mother in the department store, when it collapsed. Cha Young was in fact the last person who saw Lee Kang’s mother alive, before she disappeared under the gravel. This plot twist added of course tragedy in the main characters’ romance, but also a touch of destiny. 

It seems like no matter what they do, where they are in their lives, both constantly end up finding in each other. The opening of the drama is the perfect epitome of that fated relationship. Lee Kang is chasing after Moon Cha Young through the Greek streets. In the end, he finally finds her. The last meeting puts an end to that tragic cycle they have been involved in. It leads to a new start, as we have both characters finally free of their guilt, burden and sadness. 

The romance takes some time to develop. Yet, it was normal, in my opinion, as both characters had to learn how to take care of themselves, while clearing up their misunderstandings. Even though, there is a distinct sadness and melancholy in the drama, positive feelings of love, caring, friendship, helpfulness prevail throughout each episode. Their affection towards each other was revealed through gestures and silences more than words. Little by little, they got closer to each other and found comfort and solace in the other. This was very heartwarming to see, especially when we know everything they have been through. 

The comfort of food: Food is central in this drama. First, the title introduces food as an essential element in the relationships and bonds formed between characters. Lee Kang and Cha Young meet over a meal; they meet again in Greece during a food competition and end up working at the same place; where Cha Young is the cook. Even Lee Kang’s best friend’s craving for Cha Young’s meal reunites them somehow. Moreover, Lee Kang has always dreamed of becoming a chef and Cha Young became one thanks to Lee Kang. So food is a definite trigger in the main characters’ romance. 

However, the power of food extends to the rest of the human relationships. Each person at the hospice is brought together through Cha Young’s cooking. The Alzheimer woman, working with Cha Young, held a restaurant. She was married to the hospice’s director, but they divorced. Somehow, food unites them again. Same for the old man craving Jjajjangmyeon (black bean noodles), the adopted kid dreaming of his biological mother’s soup, the cancer kid… Each story will tear your heart apart, I personally cried a lot during the drama. Still, food emphasizes the feelings of nostalgia and melancholy, regret and guilt; describing unfinished business patients had. More than that, food above all leads to comfort and social gathering. 

The meaning behind chocolate: Continuing on the topic of food, one sweet is emphasized more than the others. Just like the title indicates, chocolate is an important element of the drama. Indeed, chocolate balls are a promise made by the main characters, when they first met. It is also a constant connection between them: Lee Kang’s mother giving Moon Cha Young a chocolate before dying. Chocolate is even present during Valentine’s Day, when Cha Young meets her boyfriend’s best friend, Lee Kang, she thought dead. If you look further into details, you will definitely notice that small piece of food, that punctuates the drama, giving it a profound and fateful meaning. 

Dreams shattered by society: Lee Kang was very happy as a child, while he still lived with his mother. His dream was to become a chef. Unfortunately, the arrival of his strict and cold grandmother shattered his life. In the blink of an eye, he had to give up on his dream, compete with his cousin Lee Jun (Jang Seung Jo), distance himself from his mother and renounce his past and future life. He kind of lost his innocent at a very young age, just like Cha Young, because of this new family. He was thrown in the real world quickly and forced to obey his grandmother and abide by her rules. There is a clear distinction here between high society, Lee Kang’s adult life among the chaebol family, and the poorer society, Lee Kang living with his mother on the island. There is a clear contradiction between rich and sad and poor and happy. Same scenario for Cha Young, who was a rich unhappy kid, who turned out happier by the end of the drama, living a simple life. 

Lee Jun’s character, who evolved in that tough wealthy environment, is a very pathetic and pitiful character. He never wished to compete but was forced to because of his parents. They are greedy and inattentive of his desires, which puts him in a difficult dilemma every time: listening to his own feelings or obeying his parents. I was very glad to see that at the end, he finally stopped listening to his parents and started living for himself. Thus, getting rid of the heavy burden on his shoulder. We can even see a potential friendship between Lee Jun and Lee Kang. Lee Jun’s character was very complex and well-written. I loved the fact that it was not a dichotomous representation of family strife between the bad cousin and the good one. Instead, the screenwriter chose to put them on the same side, destroying the stereotyped vision of chaebol familial dynamic. Moreover, it gave some hope regarding the future of the next generation among conglomerates. Well done on that one!

Taking back your life: The resolution of the story is really satisfying. After some rough times lived by all characters, they can finally enjoy a peaceful future. Cha Young and Kang find each other again in Greece, reconnecting and putting an end to their tragic love story. They have created a bond and are free of worries, allowing them to enjoy life without guilt or regrets. Same for Lee Jun, who decided to follow his heart instead of his parents. Greece by the way is a land of hope and dreams, in which both main characters can fulfill their ambitions and be together. Hence, the re-encounter that occurs there. 

Mix of genres: This drama allies different genres: melodrama, tragedy, romance, nostalgia and melancholy. They all perfectly fit together in that whole assemble, that will make you go through many emotional ups and downs. 

In a nutshell, an awesome, sweet, melodramatic drama!

P.S.: I advise you to listen to the playlist, it perfectly fits the ambiance of the drama. Plus, I fell in love with Seventeen’s “Sweetest Thing”!