Vincenzo: K-Drama Casts Song Joong-ki As Italian Mafia Lawyer?

K-DramaK-Adoptee

May 7

“During a visit to his motherland, a Korean-Italian mafia lawyer gives an unrivaled conglomerate a taste of its own medicine with a side of justice.”

— Netflix

Vincenzo

It took me a bit to decide to watch Vincenzo. I hated Goodfellas and had no desire to watch a show about the mafia. But then I found out Vincenzo is a Korean adoptee. Every time I see a K-adoptee storyline in a K-drama my heart stops for a second—for the title character to be a Korean adoptee—of course, I had to watch.

The opening scene gave me pause because it was definitely headed down a stereotypical mafia path. Vincenzo is a Mafia consigliere but Song Joong-Ki who I had recently seen in Descendants of the Sun isn’t your typical mafia guy—not that I even know anything about the mafia. In fact, let me put a disclaimer here. When discussing Vincenzo in a K-Dramatics room on Clubhouse one of the Italian members from Italy said Italians will not be pleased with the portrayal of the mafia. If I understood her correctly it’s partly because it’s a stereotypical character and not based in reality. As an Asian American, I can relate to being frustrated by constantly being portrayed as a stereotype which is often a caricature and usually negative. The other point she brought up—the mafia is real and the actions of the mafia and their consigliere have dire consequences. In other words, it’s no laughing matter. Having said that, it’s ironic to note I couldn’t have watched Vincenzo without the humor woven throughout the storyline but I think it’s important to acknowledge the concerns mentioned by someone who is an Italian living in Italy and be reminded of the artistic license taken when it comes to entertainment. Vincenzo is definitely what you would call a dark comedy.

I truly was excited that Vincenzo is a Korean adoptee. There are 200,000+ K-adoptees adopted to more than 15 countries around the world. We didn’t get to see much of his life in Italy but I had to chuckle when people questioned why this Korean guy’s name was Vincenzo Cassano because growing up Pfaltzgraff in Iowa I got the same thing all the time. The impression I’ve always been given is Korea is ashamed of K-adoptees and many who return to Korea don’t feel welcome. Seeing a K-adoptee storyline in several K-dramas gives me hope that maybe what people think is evolving and Koreans won’t always view us through a lens of shame. K-dramas may even play a role in that evolution just as they have impacted my own self-image in a positive way. I was glad to see them give this part of Vincenzo’s character more than just a passing thought because being adopted can be complicated—especially when it’s transracial and international. The most important scene for me was when Vincenzo is talking about training his ass off when he was young because it was the only way for a weak Asian kid to protect himself against racist Caucasians. This tells me someone in Korea understands. Someone knows what Korean adoptees face growing up surrounded by people who don’t look like them. It gives me hope for what I will experience when I finally make it back to Korea.

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The plot of Vincenzo revolves around a large stash of gold hidden in a building called Geumga Plaza along with a jump drive holding the “guillotine file” that has info on all the dirty players in S. Korea including government officials, politicians, law enforcement, and the wealthy who control them. This is another K-drama with a fairly large ensemble cast that plays significant roles. Most of these characters were not very developed and another case of them being more caricature than character. With so many episodes it seems they could’ve delved more into what made each of them tick. Why were they good or bad? The Geumga Plaza gang were a bit over the top but you still find yourself cheering for them—mostly.

[SPOILER ALERT] The resolution of Vincenzo was a bit controversial. I was okay with it solely because I knew it was fictitious—and it was almost cathartic to have these characters be held accountable for their actions. Again, I’m coming solely from the perspective of this being fictitious and am in no way in support of violence. Even so—the last two episodes were disappointing for me as I felt the storyline didn’t follow the character they had built for Vincenzo (there’s no way Han-Seok would have gotten the best of him—TWICE—in the situations as shown) and there was also too much emphasis in the finale on a romantic relationship that was barely there the rest of the season. Sometimes I wish they’d leave romance out completely rather than trying to force it (ie: Memories of the Alhambra) or at least not suddenly make it more important than it was just for the finale. [END SPOILER ALERT]

Overall I did like Vincenzo but you can’t look at it from a black and white perspective because there’s definitely a lot of grey.

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Released: February 2021 Epidsodes: 20

Cast: Song Joong-Ki Vincenzo Cassano, Jeon Yeo-Bin Hong Cha-Young, TaecYeon Jang Han-Seok, Jo Han-Chul Han Seung-Hyeok, Kwak Dong-Yeon Jang Han-Seo, FULL CAST