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Memories of the Alhambra (알함브라 궁전의 추억; Alhambeura gungjeonui chueok) is a 2018 South Korean television series, starring Hyun Bin and Park Shin Hye. Primarily set in Spain (and in South Korea in latter episodes), the series centers on a company CEO and a hostel owner who get entangled in a series of mysterious incidents surrounding a new and intricate augmented reality game inspired by the stories of the Alhambra Palace. It aired on cable network tvN from December 1, 2018 to January 20, 2019, and is also available via online streaming in Netflix.
The drama is one of the highest rated Korean dramas in cable television history, and was praised for its creative plot and its unexpected twists. Its title also alludes to Francisco Tárrega's eponymous classical guitar piece Recuerdos de la Alhambra, which is also a part of the series' soundtrack.
Synopsis[]
| “ | While looking for the cryptic creator of an innovative augmented-reality game, an investment firm executive meets a woman who runs a hostel in Spain. | ” |
—Official Description[1] | ||
Memories of the Alhambra tells the unique and suspenseful love story of Yoo Jin Woo and Jung Hee Joo. Strong spirited Yoo Jin Woo is the CEO of an investment company with a degree in engineering and a knack for developing video games. He has an adventurous and competitive spirit. Suffering after his best friend betrays him, he takes a business trip to Granada, Spain in search of the mysterious inventor of an innovative augmented-reality video game. He ends up at a hostel that Jung Hee Joo owns. Hee Joo is a former classical guitarist who came to Spain to further her studies. After the death of her parents, she takes on various jobs to support herself, including running the old hostel. They are both drawn into a series of strange and unexpected events.[2]
Cast[]
- Hyun Bin as Yoo Jin Woo (39 years old)
- Chief executive officer of investment company J One Holdings. Doctor of Engineering who is talented at developing games. He is fearless, adventurous and cynical.
- Park Shin Hye as Jung Hee Joo / Emma (27 years old)
- Lee Chae Yoon as Young Jung Hee Joo
- Jung Hee-joo: Owner of Bonita Hostel. A former classic guitarist who came to Spain for further studies, but took on several jobs there to sustain livelihood following the death of her parents. She has artistic sensibility but zero financial sense.
- Emma: An NPC character in the AR game created by Se-joo based from Hee-joo.
- Min Jin Woong as Seo Jung Hoon (33 years old), Jin Woo's secretary
- Park Hoon as Cha Hyun Suk (39 years old)
- CEO of IT company Neword; Doctor of Engineering. Jin-woo's college friend and co-founder of J One Holdings, who later betrayed him and became his biggest rival. He is proud and competitive.
- Kim Eui Sung as Cha Byung Jun (68 years old), Hyung Suk's father and a professor of Business Administration at Korea University
- Park Chan Yeol as Jung Se Joo (18 years old)
- Kim Joon Eui as Young Jung Se Joo
- Hee Joo's younger brother and a genius reclusive programmer who develops an intricate augmented reality game.
- Lee Seung Jun as Park Sun Ho (43 years old), Jin Woo's college senior and Business Strategy Director of J One Holdings
- Lee Hak Joo as Kim Sang Beom (30 years old)
- A classic guitarist and international student at Spain. He is close to Hee-joo and cares for her, but often oversteps his boundaries.
- Kim Yong Rim as Oh Yeong Shim (75 years old), Hee Joo's grandmother
- Lee Re as Jung Min Joo (14 years old)
- Park Chae Hee as Child Jung Min Joo
- Hee Joo's younger sister, who dreams of becoming a girl group member.
- Lee Shi Won as Lee Soo Jin (36 years old), Jin Woo's first ex-wife & Hyung Suk's wife and a pediatrician
- Han Bo Reum as Go Yoo Ra (33 years old), Jin Woo's second ex-wife and a celebrity
- Jo Hyun Chul as Choi Yang Ju, the head of R&D Center Research Team
- Abel Ryu as Lee Soo Kyung (32 years old), Soo Jin's younger sister and a florist
- Park Jin Woo as Noh Yeong Joon (45 years old), Yoo Ra's manager and ex-boyfriend
- Lee Jae Wook as Marco Han (22 years old), a programmer and hacker who is affiliated with Se-joo
- Kim Hyun Mok as a game co-employee
- Bae Kang Min as Go Yoo Ra's manager
Soundtrack[]
Episodes[]
In this table, the blue numbers represent the lowest ratings and the red numbers represent the highest ratings.
| Episode | Aired | Average audience share | |
|---|---|---|---|
| AGB Nielsen | |||
| Nationwide | Seoul | ||
| Episode 01 | December 1, 2018 | 7.507% (1st) | 9.188% (1st) |
| A frantic young man is running scared in Barcelona. CEO Yoo Jin-woo heads to Granada on a quest after getting a strange call while on business in Spain.[1] | |||
| Episode 02 | December 2, 2018 | 7.363% (1st) | 9.179% (1st) |
| Jin-woo learns that Jung Hee-ju may hold the key. While trying to locate Se-ju, he notices that a new user has entered the immersive virtual universe.[1] | |||
| Episode 03 | December 8, 2018 | 6.950% (1st) | 8.788% (1st) |
| As Jin-woo gets deeper into the game, he encounters a guitarist who looks uncannily familiar, and later makes an offer to Hee-ju that she can't refuse.[1] | |||
| Episode 04 | December 9, 2018 | 8.154% (1st) | 11.180% (1st) |
| Hee-ju and her family are elated over their sudden good fortune. Jin-woo contends with the shocking turn of events and tries to decipher the situation.[1] | |||
| Episode 05 | December 15, 2018 | 6.829% (1st) | 8.351% (1st) |
| Hee-ju makes a shocking discovery. Jin-woo tries to deal with an unwanted visitor at the hospital and thinks he knows what happened to Cha Hyeong-seok.[1] | |||
| Episode 06 | December 16, 2018 | 7.863% (1st) | 10.206% (1st) |
| Jin-woo sets out to handle Cha Hyeong-seok on his own but is compelled to accept Hee-ju's help. Steeped in doubt, Jin-woo makes an abrupt decision.[1] | |||
| Episode 07 | December 22, 2018 | 7.442% (1st) | 9.921% (1st) |
| The game moves to Seoul. Pursuing a hunch, Jin-woo continues to level up by killing new—— and old── enemies. Jin-woo notices Hee-ju seems different.[1] | |||
| Episode 08 | December 23, 2018 | 8.504% (1st) | 11.200% (1st) |
| Hearing about Se-Ju, Hee-ju is devastated—— and her belief in Jin-woo shatters to pieces. Jin-woo stumbles upon a peculiar behavior in the game system.[1] | |||
| Episode 09 | December 29, 2018 | 7.563% (1st) | 9.797% (1st) |
| Convinced that only his delusions make any sense, Jin-woo embarks on a secret quest to find Se-ju upon receiving a special message to return to Granada.[1] | |||
| Episode 10 | December 30, 2018 | 9.207% (1st) | 11.776% (1st) |
| Unable to ascertain Seo Jeong-hun's whereabouts, Jin-woo proceeds alone after retrieving a parchment message instructing him to go to Alhambra Palace.[1] | |||
| Episode 11 | January 5, 2019 | 9.431% (1st) | 12.440% (1st) |
| News of Jeong-hun plunges Jin-woo into a nadir. Attacked from all sides, an old enemy goes on the offense and strikes a blow—— but Hee-ju is there.[1] | |||
| Episode 12 | January 6, 2019 | 9.851% (1st) | 13.592% (1st) |
| The reopening of Cha Hyeong-seok's case worries everyone but Jin-woo asserts he has nothing to hide and tells Hee-ju that he's not going anywhere.[1] | |||
| Episode 13 | January 12, 2019 | 9.316% (1st) | 11.841% (1st) |
| While news of Jin-woo hits the airwaves, he resumes the quest and has Hee-ju talk with Emma, hoping to get some clues related to the enigma.[1] | |||
| Episode 14 | January 13, 2019 | 10.025% (1st) | 12.996% (1st) |
| As he levels up further in the game, Jin-woo is ambushed by attackers all around him, but things get more precarious when he's chased by the police.[1] | |||
| Episode 15 | January 19, 2019 | 9.004% (1st) | 11.450% (1st) |
| Se-ju comes home and the quest appears complete, but Jin-woo realizes that there's a bug in the system as he embarks on the final story—— his own.[1] | |||
| Episode 16 | January 20, 2019 | 9.933% (1st) | 12.383% (1st) |
| Se-ju doesn't know who cracked his quest, but Jin-woo deciphers there's a lingering error to fix and disappears without a trace, confounding everyone.[1] | |||
| Average | 8.434% | 10.893% | |
| Special | December 21, 2018 | 3.341% | 4.319% |
International broadcast[]
- Memories of the Alhambra was broadcast on Netflix in Asia and English-speaking territories an hour after its broadcast in Korea. In Japan, the drama was broadcast on December 2, while in Europe, South America and the rest of the world, it was launched starting December 11.
- In Thailand, it was broadcast on Channel 7.
Production[]
The series is helmed by director Ahn Gil-ho, who directed Stranger and writer Song Jae-jung whose previous works include W and Queen In-hyun's Man.
Touted as Korea's first augmented reality-gaming drama, Memories of the Alhambra was revealed to be inspired by tech mogul Elon Musk and the Pokémon Go game.
The first script reading took place in May 2018.
Overseas filming took place in several cities in Andalucía and Catalonia, such as Granada (Andalucía), and Barcelona and Girona (some interiors and exteriors) and Terrassa (exteriors and film studios) in Catalonia from late May to June. In early August, the cast started filming in Budapest, Hungary, and Slovenia. The script for the last episode was completed on December 19, 2018 and filming wrapped up on December 29, 2018 in South Korea.
A preview screening event was held at CGV theaters on November 28, 2018 prior to the airing of the first episode.
Reception[]
Memories of the Alhambra was a commercial success, consistently topping the cable television viewership ratings in its timeslot. Its 14th episode recorded a 10.025% nationwide audience share according to Nielsen paid platform, making it as one of the highest rated in Korean cable television history.
The drama has attracted attention for its unique theme of augmented reality; and earned praise for its high-end computer graphics, cinematography and fast-paced storytelling. Critic Jeong Seok-hee praised the drama for its mysterious and captivating plot that held viewers' attention until the very end, and that it "has the potential to become one of the very best TV dramas we have seen in years". However, later on it received criticism for its confusing development and slow development of plot, and its excessive product placement.
According to the Korean Foundation for International Cultural Exchange, the series is receiving favorable reviews and popularity in China for its actors' performance, cinematography and fresh story.
Awards and nominations[]
| Year | Award | Category | Recipient | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | 55th Baeksang Arts Awards | Best Director | Ahn Gil-ho | Nominated |
| Best Actor | Hyun Bin | |||
| Best New Actor | Park Hoon | |||
| Technical Award | Park Sung-jin (Special effects) |
Won | ||
| 12th Korea Drama Awards | Top Excellence Award, Actress | Park Shin Hye | Nominated |
Trivia[]
- This drama took over the timeslot previously occupied by "Room No. 9" and was followed by "Romance is a Bonus Book" on January 26, 2019.[3]
Gallery[]
Video Gallery[]
