Song Kang turns 31: Roles that defined him — and why Navillera still hits the hardest

There’s a Song Kang for every mood — and the one you pick says everything.

Some love the brilliant, nuanced and depressed Kang in the terrifying thriller Sweet Home. Some are drawn to the Nevertheless peculiarity,  the wounded, charming casanova who left a fandom so divided, some swear he was toxic, while others insist he was just terrified of commitment. And then, there is the My Demon crew, who will never recover from the fashionable cake-tasting demon from hell who was just in reality, a big softie for his reincarnated love.

And, we see you, Love Alarm justice warriors, don’t worry. He deserved the best in the story, but got the real raw deal.

These shows are all signs of how curiously Kang fits into any role that’s given to him, demons, broken-hearted souls and a weather report too (the much debated Forecasting Love And Weather), and while they are all riveting, fun, entertaining in their own way, but among all his characters, there’s one performance that stands apart. One that’s tender, deeply moving, and yet criminally underrated: Navillera.

Navillera is a tender, deep, poignant and deeply emotive show, about an unlikely friendship between two ballet dancers. We meet Shim Deok-chul, a man in his 70s, who decides to learn ballet, ignoring the eyerolls of society and his own body that is filled with aches and pains. That’s the Navillera, which means butterfly, free, untethered---a person who can grow wings even as he approaches his last days.

He meets Kang’s 23-year-old Chae-rok, who is already jaded and exhausted with his life, owing to the burdensome expectations and never-ending financial woes. Yet, a fire is reignited as he learns ballet with Deok-chul, and an unlikely friendship is born. That’s what Navillera is all about: It’s never too late to try something, even if you’re in the autumn of life. Without delving into excessive preachiness, it shows you how cherishing a passion, regardless of how strange others might find it, keeps the fire in you burning. It saves you. And maybe, there’s just no such thing as too late.  

It's one of Kang’s most nuanced and profound performances, with a sense of quiet maturity that just builds in every episode.  One of the most painful scenes occurs in Episode 8, is when Deok-chul, who is suffering from Alzheimers, is almost catatonic, and a frantic Chae-rok decides to dance on the streets, to rekindle just a spark of his memories. There is a presence of soulful heartache in every graceful move—and combined with the flashbacks and Deok-chul watching him, slowly remembering his love for ballet, it is one of the most excruciating scenes in K-Drama history. And finally Episode 10, where Deok-chul with a new light in his eyes tells Chae-rok that he has never skipped a day in ballet, and a quietly tearful Chae-rok says, “Keep doing it. You should do it.”

Navillera might not have been the buzzy hit of its season — no trending hashtags, no meme-worthy scenes. But in its stillness lies Song Kang’s quietest triumph. It's a reminder that sometimes, the roles that don’t scream are the ones that stay with you the longest.