Kim Tae Hee successfully shows new image never seen before through “Lies Hidden in My Garden”
As “Lies Hidden in My Garden” recently ended, viewers poured compliments on Kim Tae Hee’s perfect portrayal of a complicated character.
Kim Tae Hee impressed viewers with her performance as Joo Ran in “Lies Hidden in My Garden”, who was overshadowed by darkness. While maintaining her beauty and dignity, Joo Ran always looks anxious because she lacks self-assurance due to trauma. The emotions that Kim Tae Hee delivers through her character also dominate the atmosphere of the drama.
Genie TV’s original series “Lies Hidden in My Garden” (written by Gianni/ directed by Jung Ji Hyun) ended after airing the last broadcast on July 11th. In this episode, Joo Ran managed to overpower her husband Baek Jae Ho (Kim Sung Oh) together with Chu Sang Eun (Lim Ji Yeon) and led him to death. Standing up against her violent husband using violence, Joo Ran finally regained herself.
Joo Ran showed a complex and subtle expression as she witnessed Jae Ho’s death. It was a mixture of the sense of liberation from the suffocating days and the guilt of having killed her own husband. Kim Tae Hee’s face when portraying these emotions was full of ironic sadness stemming from both relief and emptiness.
“Lies Hidden in My Garden” presents a mystery that lingers in a limited space. The giant mansion of Joo Ran and Jae Ho, which serves as the main backdrop, exudes the splendor and grandeur of the upper class, but at the same time hides mysterious secrets. Joo Ran is always uncomfortable with the feelings that the mansion brings. Joo Ran is always worried and nervous because she doesn’t know where her anxiety comes from. Above all, she knows well that her husband feels uncomfortable whenever she shows symptoms of anxiety.
In the drama, the backyard is a symbolic space representing the relationship between Joo Ran and her husband. The yard has various things, such as a swimming pool, pine trees, and green grass, that everyone would envy, but somehow it gives an unpleasant and suspicious smell. Entering the mansion, you can see the yard right away. The moment one sets foot in the yard, the feeling of unease intensifies.
The yard is placed in the middle, between the mansion and the outside world. It serves as a space that gives Joo Ran the task of finding and unraveling the source of her suspicions in order to go out of the world. Jae Ho is well aware of this so he uses the yard to control and monitor Joo Ran.
Joo Ran is suppressed harder than any other character in “Lies Hidden in My Garden”. Looking at the expression on her face when she realized that the body of the girl buried in the yard is not the vinyl gloves her husband mentioned, the sense of relief that her doubts were correct appeared first. It was the scene where the acting of Kim Tae Hee, who understands her character Joo Ran accurately, stood out.
After killing her husband, Joo Ran faced the judgment of the law and got arrested. This also shows the process of Joo Ran fully taking responsibility for her own weakness of keeping herself in the mansion. After getting released from prison, Joo Ran looked at the empty space and asked, “Sang Eun, are you still alive?”. She then departed somewhere and replied to herself, “Me too. As myself.”
Kim Tae Hee successfully transformed her image into a woman who has fallen into darkness, making a breakthrough from her old image of being beautiful, bright, and healthy. She presented a new side that viewers had never seen before. Just as Joo Ran overcame pain and found freedom, Kim Tae Hee also showcased her remarkable growth in acting through her portrayal of Joo Ran.
Source: Daum
