Stairway to Heaven (TV series)
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| Stairway to Heaven | |
|---|---|
| Also known as | 천국의 계단 |
| Format | Romance Drama |
| Written by | Park Hye Kyung |
| Directed by | Lee Jang Soo |
| Starring | Choi Ji-woo Kwon Sang-woo Kim Tae-hee Shin Hyun Joon |
| Country of origin | South Korea |
| No. of episodes | 20 |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) | Lee Jang Soo |
| Camera setup | Multi-camera |
| Running time | Wednesday & Thursday nights at 9:55 pm |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | SBS |
| Picture format | 1080i HDTV |
| Original run | December 3, 2003 – February 5, 2004 |
| External links | |
| Website | |
| Stairway to Heaven | |
|---|---|
| Hangul | 천국의 계단 |
| Hanja | 天國的階梯 |
| Revised Romanization | Cheon-guk eui Gyedan |
| McCune–Reischauer | Ch'ŏn-guk ŭi Kyedan |
Stairway to Heaven (천국의 계단) is a South Korean television drama series broadcast by SBS between late 2003 and early 2004. It stars Choi Ji-woo, Kwon Sang-woo, Kim Tae-hee, and Shin Hyun Joon.
Contents |
[edit] Plot
Han Jung-suh (Choi Ji-woo) and her best friend, Cha Song-joo (Kwon Sang-woo) are childhood friends and have a special bond that blossoms into love. They both share the pain of losing a loved one: Song-joo's father died in a traffic accident and Jung-suh's mother dies of cancer. Jung-suh's father marries an actress and brings her real daughter, Han Yoori, and her son, Han Tae-hwa. Yoori is jealous of Jung-Suh and would make her look terrible in front of her mother who begins to turn on Jung-suh. When Jung-suh's father left for work, her stepmother assaulted Jung-Suh. She thwarted Jung-suh's attempts to study abroad with Song Joo, who then left to America to study abroad alone. Her stepmother plotted for Yoori, to win the affections of Song Joo. All the while, Jung-suh tried to be nice to her step brother, Tae-Hwa, who mistook this friendship for affection and falls in love with her.
Three years later, Song-joo comes back from America and Jung-suh rushes to greet him. A jealous Yoori (Kim Tae-hee) tries to stop them from reuniting. As they race to the airport, Yoori intentionally runs her over with her car. Jung-suh is taken to the hospital where a group of people had just died in fire. Yoori swaps Jung-suh's ID with one of the people to fake her death. She took the real Jung-suh to her biological father's home. Tae-Hwa, still in love with Jung-suh, finds out what Yoori had done, but saw the accident as a chance to run away with Jung-suh. Jung-suh loses her memory, and Tae-Hwa moves them away and changes their names.
Five years later, Yoori is soon to be engaged to Song Joo. Song Joo decides that he needs to let go of Jung-suh. He goes to the carousel they used to ride as children and whispers a wish to see Jung-suh just once more. He looks up and sees her on the carousel. Jung-suh, now named Kim Ji-soo works at a small clothing shop while living with Tae-Hwa, now named Chun-soo. Song Joo rushes to Ji-soo and tells her that she is Jung-suh, but she doesn't believe him. Song Joo is determined to make her remember her past and through a series of events, he and Jung-suh become close.
One day, Jung-suh regains her memory when Yoori nearly hits her with her car again. She rushes to tell Song Joo. She forgives Tae-Hwa as she knew he did it out of love. Jung-suh and Song Joo are happy together, until she discovers she has eye cancer. She asks Tae-Hwa to take her away from Song Joo, since she can't bear to see him in pain. Gradually, Jung-suh's vision deteriorates into blindness. Tae-Hwa tells Song Joo and his family the truth. Yoori is arrested and her mother becomes crazy, going to a mental hospital.
Song Joo marries Jung-suh, who is now blind, with the blessing of his and her parents. Jung-suh tells Tae-Hwa that her one wish is to see Song Joo's face one last time. Both Song Joo and Tae-Hwa ask a doctor to let them give Jung-suh one of their corneas, but the doctor tells them that they can't take corneas from live donors. Tae-Hwa wants to grant her wish at all costs and commits suicide in order to donate his cornea to her. He creates a car accident to cause his death. After his death, Jung-suh had the operation and is able to see again. However, Song Joo finds out about Tae-Hwa's death and later on tells Jung-suh. The doctor stated that the tumor has spread to her brain and she has no chance of living. Jung-suh realizing this forgives Tae-Miri (her evil stepmother) and Yoori because of Tae-Hwa. Both Yoori and Tae-Miri feel remorse and apolegetic for Jung-suh. Jung-suh dies a few days later from the same uncurable illness as her mother, at the seaside near her childhood house, in the arms of Song-Joo. The ending scene reverts back to the beginning scene where Song-Joo plays his piano by the ocean of the memorable beach house. He says something like, "that person (Tae-Hwa) might have loved that girl (Jung-suh) more, but i still love her."
[edit] Cast
| Character | Actor/Actress |
|---|---|
| Cha Song Joo | Kwon Sang-woo |
| Han Jung-Suh/ Kim Ji-soo | Choi Ji-woo |
| Han Yoo-Ri | Kim Tae Hee |
| Han Tae-Hwa / Han Chul-soo | Shin Hyun Joon |
| Han Soo Ha - Jung-Suh's father |
Ha Jae Young |
| Tae Mi-ra - Tae-Hwa & Yoo-Ri's mother |
Lee Hui Hyang |
| Han Pil-su - Tae-Hwa & Yoo-Ri's father |
Jung Han Yong |
| Director Jang | Lee Cham |
| Young Song Joo |
Baek Sung Hyun |
| Young Jung-Suh |
Park Shin-hye |
| Young Tae-Hwa |
Lee Wan |
| Young Yoo-Ri |
Park Ji Mi |
[edit] Popularity
Directed by Lee Jung-soo, "Stairway to Heaven" quickly increased the fame of the four lead characters, and won the hearts of millions of Korean drama fans worldwide, as evidenced by the thousands of viewers, who flocked to chat rooms and discussion forums to share their views and commentary on the drama.
In Korea, "Stairway to Heaven" was the second most popular drama in 2004, and one of the most popular Korean dramas in Asian countries. This drama also became quite popular in some Latin-American countries, including Ecuador, Chile and Peru, where it was also broadcast.
[edit] Soundtrack
- Chopin, Piano Concerto No. 1 Op.11 E Minor 2nd Mvt : Romanza
- Cheongugui Gi-eok (KO: 천국의 기억, EN: Memory of the Heaven) - Jang Jung Woo
- Lette - Kang Woo Jin
- Ave Maria - Rebecca Luker
- Geugeotmaneun (KO: 그것만은, EN: Nothing But That) - Jang Jung Woo
- Eonjekkajina (KO: 언제까지나, EN: Forever)
- Na Man Eh Nuh (KO: 나만의 너)- Kim Hyun Ah
- Remember
- Seulpeun Sarang (KO: 슬픈 사랑, EN: Sad Love)
- Areumda-un Neo-ege (KO: 아름다운 너에게, EN: To You the Beautiful) - Moon Ji Hwan
- Neoreul Jikilkke (KO: 너를 지킬께, EN: I Will Protect You)
- Bogoshipda (KO: 보고싶다, EN: I Miss You) - Kim Bum Soo
- Kkeuchi Animeul (KO: 끝이 아님을, EN: That It Is Not the End)
- Cheongugui Gi-eok (KO: 천국의 기억, EN: Memory of the Heaven) - Park Mook Hwan
- Sesang Kkeute Seo Isseodo (KO: 세상 끝에 서 있어도, EN: Though I Am At the End of the World)
- Yaksok (KO: 약속, EN: Promise)
- Geugeotmaneun (KO: 그것만은, EN: Nothing But That) - Park Mook Hwan
- Stairway to Heaven (taken from Led Zeppelin)
[edit] Remake
In the Philippines, GMA Network made a Philippine version of the series also titled Stairway to Heaven, the lead characters are named Cholo, Jodi, Tristan, and Eunice. Spanish-language U.S. television network Telemundo planned to produce its adaptation entitled Escalera al Cielo, the Spanish translation of its title.
