Min Jin Lee’s 2017 novel Pachinko presents a sweeping account of multiple generations of a Korean family, chronicling events that span from 1910 to 1989. Its broad view of history results in frequent time-jumps throughout the narrative; it’s not uncommon for multiple years to pass between chapters, or even within them (“The marriage was a stable one, and eight years passed quickly”). It’s no surprise that such a grand story—which takes place in Korea, Japan, and, briefly, the United States—was adapted not as a film, but as a streaming series, whose first three episodes premiere on Apple TV+ on March 25.
Lee’s work, which received a Kirkus star and was a finalist for the National Book Award, starts in 1910 with the story of a kindly Korean fisherman, Hoonie, and his fiercely practical wife, Yangjin, who run a boarding house in Busan, Korea; later, in the early ’30s, their teenage daughter, Sunja, has an affair with a wealthy fish broker, Koh Hansu, which results in her getting pregnant. It turns out that he’s married, which Sunja didn’t know; he refuses to leave his wife and daughters but offers to keep Sunja as his mistress and financially support her and the child. She refuses and cuts off contact with him, and she later marries a goodhearted Korean Christian pastor, Isak, who offers to become her husband after learning of her situation. They move to Osaka, Japan, where they stay with Isak’s brother and his wife and she gives birth to her son, Noa; she later has another son named Mozasu. The family faces constant bigotry in Japanese society, as well as financial hardships, but Sunja and her sister-in-law manage to make a living selling kimchi. Eventually, it’s revealed that Hansu, who has ties to organized crime, has been keeping close tabs on Sunja and his biological child.
Much later in the novel, in the 1980s, the narrative introduces Solomon, Sunja’s grandson, who attended Columbia University in New York and now works for an international bank; his father, Mozasu, became successful owning pachinko parlors in Japan. Solomon has a complicated relationship with Hana, the troubled, estranged daughter of his father’s longtime girlfriend, and works on a deal for his employers in which he must convince a South Korean woman to sell her home.
There’s a lot more to this deeply immersive novel, but the first season of the streaming series focuses almost exclusively on events of the ’30s and ’80s, weaving the two storylines together as it skips back and forth between them; the novel is straightforwardly chronological, and—as with many adaptations—the show develops some characters more than the author did, while completely excising others. Fans of the novel will hope for at least one more season of this series, because as faithful as this one is, it can’t help but feel curiously incomplete.
Still, it’s a spectacular adaptation. Executive producer and writer Soo Hugh, who also developed the 2015 ABC show The Whispers, changes a few details of Lee’s source material but retains its emotional immediacy as it delves into the Korean immigrant experience in Japan. Directors Kogonada (After Yang) and Justin Chon (Blue Bayou) helm four episodes each, which they guide with sure hands; however, it’s the performances that will leave the deepest impression. Yuh-jung Youn, who won an Oscar for her supporting role in the 2020 film Minari, shines as the tough elder version of Sunja. Lee Minho, best known for his role in the Korean drama series Boys Over Flowers, brings effective charisma and menace to the role of Hansu, while Steve Sanghyun Noh, as Isak, has a disarming and appealing sincerity. Newcomer Minha Kim gives teenage Sunja a gritty, hard-won soulfulness that will keep viewers watching, even as the character faces seemingly endless trials. It’s a heart-wrenching story, to be sure, and there’s still plenty more of it to tell.
David Rapp is the senior Indie editor.
