Iljimae, 一枝梅 (일지매), is a
Korean
drama broadcast from May to July 2008 on SBS
. It is loosely based on a comic by
Ko Woo Yung. It was produced by
Lee Yong Suk. The plot is different from the
original comic because the production company could not get the
rights to the story. The rights went to
MBC who will broadcast its
version of Iljimae in early 2009.Although produced as a television
series it has been produced previously as a movie.
Jang Dong Gun played Iljimae in TV series on
MBC in 1993, and
Choi Su
Jong played him in a modernized version in 1990.
Synopsis
Iljimae is a mysterious, black-swathed thief who robs from corrupt
government officials and gives to the poor. He steals not only
material treasures but also people, be they wrongfully held
prisoners or criminals hiding from judgment. At the scene of each
robbery, he leaves a small painting of a
branch of red
plum blossoms called a "mae hwa".
The citizens support Iljimae while the king and the nobility try to
catch him and find his identity.
Geom is the son of a virtuous nobleman, Lee Won Ho, who is a
trustworthy supporter and brother to the king and a central member
of the secret organization,
Cheonwoohoe,
comprised of important nobles and with the king as their leader. He
lives peacefully in a house with many plum trees with his wife,
daughter, and son. However, a mysterious rumor is spread that he is
plotting to overthrow the king.
Knowing about this, the king kills Lee Won Ho as he believes that
'two suns cannot exist on the same sky'. Geom witnesses the
incident from the inside of a safe where his father hid him. Later,
he is saved and adopted by a retired thief, Seo Dol, after he
becomes stricken with amnesia due to the shock of losing his father
and being forced to throw a rock at his mother's head to prove that
he was not the son. 13 years later, Geom, who was renamed Yong by
Soe Dol, starts to regain his memories and begins to search for his
older sister, Yeon, only to see her being sentenced and hung to
death.
The murder of his older sister leaves Geom seeking revenge. With
the emblem on the killer's sword he remembers from 13 years ago his
only clue, he swears that he will find the one who killed his
father and murdered his older sister. To find the sword and its
owner, he disguises himself as Iljimae and breaks into the nobles'
estates. During the course of his actions, he winds up fighting not
only for himself, but also for the people. And so he becomes a
fighter for the common people, jumping into action whenever the
people are oppressed and wrongly exploited for the sake of the
nobles, although at the core of his motives his desire to bring the
person who ruined his life and his family to justice burns
bright.
Characters
- Lee Jun Ki -
Geom/Ryung/Iljimae - A no-good, lazy gangster by
day but a mysterious thief who protects the citizens when the night
comes.
- Han Hyo Joo - Eun
Chae - A lovely and kind girl of noble birth who seems to
be fated both for and against Gyeom.
- Lee Young Ah - Bong
Soon - A funny, silly swindler who was orphaned as a girl
and also is connected to Gyeom's past.
- Park Shi Hoo - Cha Dol/Shi
Hoo - Once a poor boy, he was told at the age of nine that
his father was actually his adopted father. He is sent to his "real
father", Byun Shik Magistrate, and becomes Eun Chae's half-brother
and an Imperial Guard. However, Byun Shik Magistrate is not his
real father. He and Iljimae have the same real birth father, Lee
Won Ho. His dream is to catch Iljimae so that he can finally become
a nobleman.
Cast
Extended Cast
Awards
- 2008 SBS Drama Awards: Male Top Excellence
Award (Lee Joon Ki)
- 2008 SBS Drama Awards: Netizen Highest
Popularity Award (Lee Joon Ki)
- 2008 SBS Drama Awards: Male Supporting Award -
Special Drama (Lee Moon Shik)
- 2008 SBS Drama Awards: Male Young Star Award
(Yeo Jin Goo)
- 2008 SBS Drama Awards: Female Young Star Award
(Kim Yoo Jung)
Episode Ratings
| Date |
Episode |
Nationwide |
Seoul |
| 2008-05-21 |
1 |
14.8 (4th) |
15.4 (2nd) |
| 2008-05-22 |
2 |
17.6 (2nd) |
17.8 (2nd) |
| 2008-05-28 |
3 |
19.0 (2nd) |
19.1 (2nd) |
| 2008-05-29 |
4 |
18.9 (2nd) |
18.9 (2nd) |
| 2008-06-04 |
5 |
19.3 (2nd) |
20.5 (2nd) |
| 2008-06-05 |
6 |
18.6 (2nd) |
18.4 (2nd) |
| 2008-06-11 |
7 |
20.5 (2nd) |
20.7 (2nd) |
| 2008-06-12 |
8 |
23.0 (1st) |
23.3 (1st) |
| 2008-06-18 |
9 |
24.6 (2nd) |
25.0 (1st) |
| 2008-06-19 |
10 |
23.1 (1st) |
22.4 (1st) |
| 2008-06-25 |
11 |
22.6 (2nd) |
22.6 (1st) |
| 2008-06-26 |
12 |
24.6 (1st) |
24.0 (1st) |
| 2008-07-02 |
13 |
25.3 (2nd) |
25.0 (1st) |
| 2008-07-03 |
14 |
25.4 (1st) |
24.6 (1st) |
| 2008-07-09 |
15 |
26.0 (1st) |
26.1 (1st) |
| 2008-07-10 |
16 |
27.6 (1st) |
28.2 (1st) |
| 2008-07-16 |
17 |
28.0 (1st) |
29.3 (1st) |
| 2008-07-17 |
18 |
27.8 (1st) |
28.1 (1st) |
| 2008-07-23 |
19 |
27.1 (1st) |
26.8 (1st) |
| 2008-07-24 |
20 |
31.0 (1st) |
31.4 (1st) |
| Average |
23.2% |
23.4% |
Source:
TNS Media
Korea
International Broadcast
Philippines
Broadcast:
ABS-CBN
Premiered: 2010
Singapore
Broadcast:
MediaCorp TV Channel
U
Premiered: December 15, 2008
Malaysia
Broadcast:
8TV
Premiered: April 10, 2009
External links
References
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