Summarize this content to 2000 words in 6 paragraphs in Arabic Unlock the Editor’s Digest for freeRoula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.In 1945, a young woman sits for dinner with her family in a barn in rural Japan, unsure whether there will always be food on the table, unsure whether they will ever be able to go back home. In 1989, an old woman dines with her grandson in his Tokyo apartment as he discusses multibillion-dollar property deals. One life, two very different worlds. The exquisite, era-spanning inter-generational saga Pachinko returns after more than two years for a second season on Apple TV+ that confirms its standing as one of the most visually striking, emotionally stirring shows of the past decade. An adaptation and expansion of Min Jin Lee’s eponymous novel by Soo Hugh, the series continues to chronicle the life of Sunja, the reserved, resilient matriarch of a Korean family in Japan, across two interlaced timelines.In the first, set towards the end of the second world war — seven years after the events of the previous season — Sunja (Kim Min-ha) and her two sons flee firebombed Osaka for the countryside under the wing of her ex-lover, the slippery yet suave businessman Koh Hansu (Lee Min-Ho), who is also the biological father of her elder son. In the second, set during the “bubble economy” of the late 1980s, recently fired financier Solomon (Jin Ha) tries to re-establish himself in a world that continually places his Korean identity at odds with his American-influenced aspirations, much to the concern of his grandmother (an older Sunja, played by Oscar-winner Youn Yuh-jung). As before, scenes from one flow into the other, bringing contrasts into sharp relief while also accentuating the things that reverberate through time. Often one shot fades as the next appears; the past a spectre haunting the present.So much meaning and pathos can be found in these pieces of subtle storytelling. At a time when more content means less attention to detail, Pachinko stands out for its keen eye for painterly compositions, its delicate ear for words and sounds and its ability to layer emotions and moods: love and sorrow, optimism and ominousness. We see children playing soldiers interrupted by the fateful delivery of a letter from the front; the warm glow of fireflies prefigures a devastating fire.While the realities of war, the scars of the Japanese occupation of Korea and the unchecked cynicism of 1980s capitalism provide rich period backdrops, the story continues to be driven by intimate family dynamics. It is not, for instance, Solomon’s ethically ambiguous business dealings that compel so much as his complicated relationship with Sunja and their struggle to bridge a generational divide. For the former, the weight of what his grandmother went through to secure a “pathetically easy life” for him is too much to carry. For the latter, seeing her grandson become ground down by the modern world seems like a cruel irony. “Things should be easier for him,” she confides to a new friend (Jun Kunimura). “No matter the times, life is never easy,” comes the reply, distilling the essence of the series in one neat line. But in Pachinko, captured in all its colour and complexity, life is also never without substance and beauty.★★★★★First episode on Apple TV+ from August 23. New episodes released weekly
