Drama Review: 'Navillera' (2021) — chalice.me

Korean Title: 나빌레라
English Title: Navillera
Network: tvN (Korea), Netflix (Global)
Episodes: 12
Broadcast Period: March 22, 2021 - April 27, 2021
Genre: Slice of Life, Family, Drama
Language(s): Korean

Cast: Song Kang (Sweet Home), Park In Hwan (Brilliant Heritage), Na Moon Hee (Taxi Driver), Hong Seung Hee (Kingmaker: The Change of Destiny)
Directed by: Han Dong Hwa (Miss Lee)
Written by: Lee Eun Mi (Tunnel) based on the webtoon, Navillera by Hun and Jimin

Navillera is about a 70-year-old elderly man named Sim Duk Chool (Park In Hwan) whose lifelong dream was to become a ballet dancer. He gave up on chasing his dreams due to his adult responsibilities but after his retirement from being a mail man for 40 years, he decides to learn ballet from a young dancer, Lee Chae Rok (Song Kang).

Six months leading up to production, the leading cast members, Song Kang and Park In Hwan spent some time learning ballet techniques in order to play Lee Chae Rok and Sim Duk Chool respectively. This 12-episode series is based on the 2016 webtoon by Hun & Jimin, produced by Studio Dragon and distributed by Netflix globally, airing from March 22 to April 27, 2021.

Story

Since turning 70, Sim Duk Chool (Park In Hwan) has been spending a lot of time looking back at how he’s lived so far as well as how he can spend the rest of his time as a retiree. On the way home from one of his friends’ funeral, he comes across a dance studio where he finds 23-year-old ballet dancer, Lee Chae Rok (Song Kang) practicing. Duk Chool is completely mesmerized by Chae Rok’s performance and recalls his own childhood dream of becoming a ballet dancer.

When he is not spending time with his wife, Choi Hae Nam (Na Moon Hee), Duk Chool visits his old friend, Lee Gyo Seok (Lee Young Seok) who has been staying at an assisted-living home after his own retirement. Gyo Seok’s family doesn’t visit him much and he is always happy to see Duk Chool swing by. Gyo Seok chats with Duk Chool about his overwhelming sadness growing old and regrets about not being able to build a boat of his own and sailing it to sea. Gyo Seok tells Duk Chool to pursue his dreams while he still has the time, body and mind to do so and not to end up like him.

Meanwhile, Chae Rok has been living on his own since his Mom passed away and Dad going to jail. He splits his time juggling his part-time work as a restaurant server and practicing ballet at Ki Seung Joo’s (Kim Tae Hoon) dance studio. Chae Rok spent a majority of his life playing soccer before quitting before the end of high school to pursue dance. Technically, Chae Rok is too old to have started ballet at the age that he did - but Coach Ki saw his potential and decided to invest in his talent so that he can audition and become part of the Russian National Ballet company. The only problem is that Chae Rok’s tends to lose focus with his priorities constantly shifting between his supposed “adult” responsibilities and ballet - with the latter usually taking a backseat.

Duk Chool and Chae Rok’s lives become intertwined after Gyo Seok dies. Recalling the conversations he shared with Gyo Seok, Duk Chool decides to go back to the dance studio to ask them to take him in a student. Given all the challenges he’s facing with keeping Chae Rok on track with his goals, Coach Ki comes up with the idea of appointing Deok Chool as Chae Rok’s manager. In return, Chae Rok is to teach Deok Chool ballet. Chae Rok is horrified at the idea of teaching an old man ballet while Deok Chool is absolutely excited to learn from him. Through the course of the show, Deok Chool learns ballet from the young Chae Rok to make up for his lost time while Chae Rok learns from Deok Chool to fearlessly chase his dreams, make the most of his youth and live his life to the fullest with no regrets.

The Verdict

Overall Rating: 9/10

I want to soar at least once in my lifetime.
Duk Chool

The show is built on the rather typical premise of one’s desire to ‘soar’ in life and chase their dreams. However, most of the shows we’ve seen before following this plot focus on young people chasing their dreams. It’s rare to see a show set on the premise of a retired individual finally deciding to pursue their dreams at the elderly age of 70.

In this fast-paced world we live in, depending on what you want to do, we usually give ourselves a certain age threshold to achieve our goals and decide to give up when we fail to meet the timeline. You have to grow up and “adult” at some point, right?

But the problem with normalizing (all the more, encouraging) shifting one’s goals and dreams according to age groups results in raising people with regrets near the end of their lives and Navillera depicts those pitfalls across all age groups very well. After all, you don’t have to be 70+ to be regretful of the choices your younger self made. But even if that reality sounds sour, Navillera offers another perspective: as long as you’re alive and no matter your age, it’s never too late to pursue what you want to do.

I’ll be honest, when I first read about Navillera, I thought that the premise sounded mad cliche and motivational, but since I wasn’t watching anything else at the time it came out besides Vincenzo, I picked it up anyway. To my pleasant surprise, it’s quite well-written and I think depending on where you are in your life - whether you’re looking back on the compromises you made in the past, or looking into how you want your future self to evaluate your younger years, Navillera is relatable in many ways while having lots of great wholesome content, too!