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Siwan's Jang GeuRae and OST Be Alright for Misaeng

Siwan's the most iconic character is Jang GeuRae from Miseang, Incomplete Life. Released in 2014, this role placed Siwan in the big leagues of actors in South Korea - a very well-deserved acclamation.



Jang GueRae is very close to Siwan's heart. He played this character twice - in Misaeng Prequel, the short film and then in the full series. Siwan has confessed that he took inspiration from his personal struggles and portrayed the same through GueRae.


GeuRae is an intelligent, hard-working young man who is craving to make his mark. While he has a unique approach to everything, but he wants to be accepted by his peers.


Ironically, the normalcy of this character is what makes it exceptional.


"Struggles" is just a word. Through GueRae, Siwan has shown different aspects of struggles. The confusions, the self doubt, the guilt after making a mistake, the frustrations of not being understood, the empathy with the struggles of others, the tolerance of injustice, etc... Siwan has managed to bring a different shade for each aspect. Yes, the script and the direction is genius - but these are guidelines. It is like a colouring book - you have a suggestion of the shape and the recommendation of the colour that needs to fill the shape - but it is purely the artist's talent to fill up those shapes with different shades of that colour, and add details and different textures within each shape. That's what Siwan managed to do with Jang GeuRae.



Jang GeuRae's transformation is an interesting one - for there is no inherent change in his character. He was always intelligent, sensible, confident. He just lacked experience. It took me some time and research to fully understand this - I had to understand the significance of baduk in the story to really get it. Baduk is a strategy game where you need to build your territory - each piece helps add to your space on the board. If a piece is surrounded by the opponent's pieces - it is dead - it has nowhere to extend its territory. But there could be a piece which is surrounded but still has some scope to stay alive. Very carefully the player can get this piece out of that situation. This piece is not yet dead - but is still not fully developed - it is Misaeng - incomplete. It is fighting for its place, for its life. That's the transformation that GeuRae faces in the story - he builds his foothold (territory) in his world.


Siwan's performance brought him critical and popular recognition. He was awarded best newcomer for this role. While receiving one such award he said that he didn't realize that there were many Jang Geu-rae in the world when he started working on the role, but as he realized this, he felt obligated to perform well for their sake. This is the honesty with which Siwan approaches his work - and life. This is the reason his fans can follow him to the moon and back.




"Im Si Wan manages to imbue all of those muted expressions with impressive nuance, so much so that every flick of his gaze, every slow blink of his eyes, and every tiny twitch of his lips, tells us exactly how Geu Rae is feeling, in the moment.
Just, brilliant."


Soompi lists Misaeng as the second-best K-drama of the decade.

"Im Siwan plays Jang Geu Rae, a Go board game player who fails to become a professional, and as a result, he has to find a job...Based on the popular webtoon, “Incomplete Life” struck quite the emotional chord with South Koreans as they could find themselves relating with the ordinariness of a full-time office worker. This was also Im Si Wan’s first lead K-drama role, which people were very impressed with. He was able to showcase his natural talent, making him a household name."


Here's a fun video of BTS of the poster shoot for the series.


Siwan, being his multi-talented self, wrote, composed, and sang a beautiful song for the series. For the 'misaeng' piece, everything around that piece is telling it that there is nowhere to go... this is the essence of the first line of the song Be Alright (그래도-그래서) that Siwan composed for this series. The song represents the Jang GeuRae's thoughts about how the world around him is full of opposition and how he is struggling to have hope.


그래도 (GeuRaeDo) means "though", 그래서 (GeuRaeSeo) means "so". The song ends with him saying that (in spite of all the struggles), I want to live though, so I live.


Isn't this the main driving force for anyone struggling - the "want" to survive?


The layers and depth in the lyrics of this song are incredible. Siwan was only 24 years old when he composed this.


GeuRae (그래) in Korean is equivalent to "ok" - implying Yes or Alright. "Be Alright" could also be interpreted as "Be (like) GeuRae". But I prefer the original Korean name for this song - 그래도..그래서..



Below are its lyrics in romanized Korean followed by the English translation.

Lyrics (Romanized Korean from Link)


da modu naege malhaeyo

naebal hana naedideul got eoptdago

tto hime gyeowossdeon sigani chajawa

jageun nal jakge mandeureo

huimangi naegedo dagawa

useum jieo bogopeun baramppuninde


sigani jinagamyeon gwaenchanheulkka

iksukhaejilkka aesseo wirohaedo

tto haru jinagamyeon kkaedatge doejyo

dasi honjaingeol

geuraedo salgo sipeoyo


sigani jinagamyeon gwaenchanheulkka

iksukhaejilkka aesseo wirohaedo

tto haru jinagamyeon kkaedatge doejyo

dasi honjaingeol

geuraedo salgo sipeoyo

geuraeseo salgo isseoyo


Lyrics (English Translation from Link)


Everyone tells me There is no place to take my foot Also, the time I was in power came Make small days small

Hope comes to me I just want to laugh Is it okay if time passes? Even if I try to comfort myself

I realize it again after a day I’m alone again I still want to live Is it okay if time passes?

Even if I try to comfort myself I realize it again after a day I’m alone again I still want to live

So I live

_______


The full credits of the song are here.



He performed this song often in his older fan meetings. Here is a performance from 2015, Hello in Seoul.



Here is another spontaneous performance (without any music).




Here is an interview where Siwan talks about his songs for A Melody to Remember and Miseang. Unfortunately, there are no subtitles so it's difficult to understand. I think he is saying that when filming Misaeng 2 he felt a lot of feelings and he wanted to put them in a song.




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