D-Day

What is a doctor’s worst nightmare? To let their patient die or to decide who can and who can’t be saved?

Name: 디데이 | D-Day

Country: South Korea

Year: 2015

Status: Completed

Episodes: 20

Duration: 65 min

Genre: Drama, Medical, Romance

Synopsis

A 6.5 earthquake hits an unprepared Seoul. The roads and buildings are destroyed, preventing ambulances and firefighters from getting to the victims. A group of surgeons and nurses can’t resist doing anything in their power to help the injured, holding on to hope during the most desperating situations and taking all kinds of risks in order to save lives.

Review

I confess that I am not a big fan of films that are related to natural disasters or the end of the world, so when I started watching this asian drama I had very low expectations. However, I must admit that it was one of the best choices that I made, and the entire plot kept me glued to the screen until the last episode.

The story begins with the introduction of one of the protagonists - Lee Hae Sung, a general surgeon that works in the E.R. of a private hospital in Seoul. Passionate about his job, he does everything in his power to save his patients, something that upsets the hospital’s director, since his reckless behaviour goes against the hospital’s principles.

In this moment the main conflict, that will unleash a series of situations throughout the episodes, is presented: in the end, is the purpose of hospitals to save and heal people or are they institutions created solely to profit from the treatments provided to the patients?

From this point on the story unfolds in a very fluid and captivating way, including the scenes of the earthquake that devastated everything, with several events interlinked with each other, successive casualties and misfortunes throughout the characters’ journey. It has, without a doubt, a very well achieved narrative, that leaves us hanging to see what happens next. The only negative aspect that I can mention is the fact that in the middle of everything that’s going on, we get lost in the plot’s timeline.

Another of the aspects that made me like this work was the character development and growth throughout the episodes, while they struggled with the difficulties that came up. As with the excellent performance from the actors in transmitting the frustration and despair for what the doctors and firefighters were going through during the disaster.

Technically analysing, I cannot leave unmentioned soundtrack and sound edition that fit perfectly, since they make the critical moments even more tense and satisfactory. The special effects could have been a bit better: we can see that some of the images of Seoul’s destruction were “fake”.

In my opinion, the development was not very surprising but at the same time, it was the most correct way to end the entire plot without ruining what had been built until then. Perhaps the negative aspect is the fact that we are left without knowing the fate of some of the secondary characters.

Whisper of the Heart

D-Day, translating to Disaster Day, as the title indicates, is the key day, when you are faced with a crucial moment in your life and you have to deal with this unexpected event, in which the main thing is to survive, not to live.

Throughout the episodes, I came across several ethical questions that are analysed and that make us things: what would I do if I was in that character’s place? Would I be able to leave everything and keep my head cool? Would I let my survival instincts win over my ethical and moral values? Would I persevere or would I let the panic get me?

At the same time that I debated these questions, I got angry with the inhumane side, represented through the character of the hospital’s director and the politicians, that want to turn the disaster into an opportunity to profit and make money or get recognition, claiming that the ends justify the means.

Without a doubt, this is an asian drama that I suggest everyone watch. It’s true that it has romance, but it is not the main focus. The values that the author intends to transmit, essentially to the korean society, apply very easily to the rest of the world.

I would finish my review with the following line, that impacted me very much:

“To believe that someone will save my son, in the same way that I try to give my best to save other people’s children.”

I chose this asian drama to be a part of the Ecletic Heart 30 Post Challenge under the theme “A drama that talks about current issues”. After the current global crisis with the COVID-19 pandemic, I thought that talking about an hypothetical natural disaster would fit in our current situation.

Rating - 🟉🟉🟉🟉🟉🟉🟉🟉 (8)