Review on Korean Movie: King and the Clown (2005)

Title: The King and the Clown or The King’s Man (2005)

Genre: Period Drama

Duration:1 hr and 49 mins

Directed by: Lee Jun-ik

Cast:

Gam Wu-Seong as Jangsaeng

Lee Jun Ki as Gonggil

Jeong Jin-yeong as the King Yeonsan

Kang Seong Yeon as Jang Noksu

Synopsis: Jangsaeng (Gam Wu-Seong) and Gonggil (Lee Jun Ki) are part of an entertainer troupe but are barely able to bring decent food to the table.  Their manager prostitutes the effeminate Gonggil to rich customers but Jangsaeng was so sickened by this that he forcefully takes Gonggil to escape. Unfortunately, Gonngil accidentally kills their manager in defending Jangsaeng and both decides to escape and make the best show in town. They band with three more street performers and decides to do a skit that mocks that king and his favourite concubine, Jan Noksu(Kang Seong Yeon).

The troupe was arrested for treason but Jangsaeng makes a deal with the arresting officer to bring them to the king.  If the king finds their skit to be funny, they should be freed but if not, they agree to the punishment of death.  The troupe barely makes it alive until the last joke of Jangsaeng and Gonggil makes the king laugh. 

It soon became apparent that the King was attracted to Gonggil since he always invites him to his chamber to play skits and puppets which makes his favourite concubine jealous and Jangsaeng frustrated.   

Meanwhile, the King becomes more unstable as every performance they have, someone is killed.  Jangsaeng urges Gonggil to leave the palace but Gonggil appealed that they perform for the last time as the king ordered.  He wanted them to perform how his mother was killed but after the performance, he had the ones responsible killed.  After the performance, Gonggil pleads with the king to let him go but his pleas fell on deaf ears as the king refused to let him go.

Jang Noksu frustrated by the attention the King lavishes on Gonggil attempts to have him killed by distributing flyers which insults the king severely in his handwriting.  Jangsaeng takes the blame for the crime and is imprisoned but is secretly released by Choseon, king’s servant, and is told to forget Gonggil.

Jangsaeng refuses and instead returns to the palace and walks on the tightrope and mocks the king loudly and openly.  King shoots arrows and eventually, Jangsaeng falls and is caught.  As punishment, both his eye were seared with hot iron and was thrown into prison again.  Gonggil attempts suicide while entertaining the king in his chamber.  He was saved by the court physician though.

The king then orders the blind Jangsaeng to walk the tightrope again and Gonggil runs to join him and they had a skit full of deep meanings.  The last of which asking each other how they would like to be in their next life of which both answered nothing but clowns.

Review:  I am surprised by Lee Jun Ki’s performance in the movie and that he actually did a film like this notwithstanding his image.  I am amazed at the courage of Jangsaeng as he bravely faced the king and made jests which would make a normal person cringe with fear.

I would like to believe that Jangsaeng’s relationship with Gonggil is purely that of a master to a disciple or a father to his son but the relationship was never clear and there were times when he was fiercely protective of him.  I could never decide whether he was having pangs of jealousy or was just worried about Gonggil given their past. 

I give this 9 out of 10 stars.

Review on Korean Movie: Lovers for Six Years or Six Years In Love

Title: Lovers for Six Years

Genre:  Drama, Romance

Duration:  1:52:22

Cast:

Ha-Neul Kim as Daejin

Gye-Sang Yun as Jae-Young

Seong-rok Shin as Jin-Seong Lee

Hyeon-Jeon Cha as Ji-Eun

Synopsis:  Plot for the movie is not very complicated.  It captures the nuances of a relationship that has gone stale over the years and is on a brink of a breakdown.

Daejin (Ha-Neul Kim) and Jae-Young (Gye-Sang Yun) has been together for six years and has been living next to each other.  Since they have been together for a long time, they practically know everything about each other and have fostered a very comfortable, but at times dull relationship.

Daejin works as an editor at a publishing company while Jae-Young works as a producer for a home shopping network. On their 6^th year anniversary, Jae-Young gives Daejin fake bouquet of flowers and lingerie while Daejin gives him the watch he wanted for a long time. 

While their relationship becomes too predictable, Jae-Young meets Ji-Eun(Hyeon-Jeon), a part-timer who seemed to be full of energy, exciting and most importantly, she offers him new thrills.  He starts to play around with her and begins to see Daejin more of a nuisance and their relationship boring.

Daejin on the other hand is too busy to notice the difference in Jae-Young or at times chooses to ignore the nuances.  She was pursuing Jin-Seong Lee(Seong-Rok) who is bent to ignore her and her calls as she continues to pester him to do a cover for one of the books. 

While both of them continue to question the legitimacy of their relationship and their future, the new people adds more confusion to their already tenuous relationship.

Review:

I understand how the relationship has gone stale after a couple of years together.  They have been too comfortable beside each other that each have begun to question their feeling and ultimately their relationship.  Six years is a long time to be with someone that it’s easy to assume that being together is already a sure thing.

I guess it’s easy to understand how guys at this stage would take the relationship for granted and even treat it as a joke.  Jae-Young shows signs of impatience whenever Daejin complains of chest pains and thinks she’s just being difficult, using it as an excuse not to sleep together, or when she asks him to buy something for her, demands him to eat dinner with her at home, show more concern for her...stuffs that women would expect their men to do in a relationship but what guys would rather not do because it takes too much effort.

It was very apparent that there was a disconnect and that both parties are just too comfortable in their relationship it’s harder to move out or move on.  If anything though, I like the idea that Daejin rejected Jin-Seong Lee because she wanted to find herself but abhorred the conclusion that she would be with Jae-Young again.

But then again, maybe they are fated together.

I give this movie 7 out of 10 stars.

Review on Korean Movie: A Frozen Flower (2008)

Title: Frozen Flower (2008)

Genre: Period Drama, Romance

Duration: 133 mins

Directed by Yu Ha

Cast:

In Seong Jo as Hong Lim

Jin Mo Ju as King of Goryeo

Ji-hyo Song as Queen of Goryeo

Synopsis:

Under the virtual rule of China's Yuan Dynasty, the King of Georyo has to produce an heir to keep his position.  Unfortunately, he cannot bear to sleep with a woman and only has eyes for his loyal general, Hong Lim, who is his real lover.

Thinking that all his political problems will go away once he produces an heir, he unexpectedly asks his lover to sleep with the queen.  He assumed that Hong Lim, who has never slept with a woman before, would stay true and loyal to him even after sleeping with a woman.  He miscalculated on his assumption though and failed to consider that bonds may be formed after mating. 

Hong Lim, who had always placed the king above all else, was hesitant to perform the king's orders at first but after the king urged him to perform his order, he does so and soon, his emotions were stirred in the process of mating with the queen. 

Soon after, all three were enmeshed in a complicated love triangle which led to deep-seated rage, uncontrollable anger, betrayal, and numerous deaths. 

Complicating the situation further is the political stability of the kingdom with threats of killing the king and establishing the Yuan Dynasty as the ruler of the kingdom.

Review:

I was shocked by the graphic sex scenes between the king and his chief guard and the scenes between the queen and the chief guard as well.  What was even more shocking to me is that the sexual orientation of the king seemed to be an open-book secret.  The scenes were very graphic and steamy and at times too revealing but was never offensive.  The cast were beautiful though which probably helped maintain balance in the film.

I was deeply impressed with the performance of Jin Mo Ju and his portrayal of the conflicting emotions, feeling his deep hurt which eventually leads him to abandon his sanity in pursuit of his love for Hong Lim.  In Seong Jo also gave good performance but somehow, I felt his performance was more inclined with the steamy sex scenes rather than the scenes outside of the bedroom (and the library).

I almost felt sorry for the queen in the end but somehow, I never got there.  Although the king did atrocious acts in his jealous rage, I somehow connected to his character more and felt his pain and regrets.  He only had his eyes set on Hong Lim and has never wavered on his emotions towards the chief guard. 

However, it became apparent though that Hong Lim's emotions were not at the same levels as the king's as he wavered after he mated with the queen and fell in love with her, leading him to abandon the king and ultimately seek his death. 

I am not convinced however that he never felt anything for the king besides loyalty due probably perhaps to his hesitation to initially sleep with the queen and his undying devotion before then.  The king might not have been his one great love but I felt, there was an emotional connection between them though.  When he knew he was dying, he chose to look at the king, shed a tear and somehow, I'm not sure if it was regret he felt for denying he ever loved the king, that being his last words or was it he was confused with his emotions until the end?  There was also the scene of them hunting together which was the king's dream which leads me to doubt if he never truly loved the king at all.

The worst scene was when the king wanted to give him the stallion and waited for him until the next day and he told the king he was at the library "reading military strategies" when in fact he went after the queen and slept with her the whole night.  I felt he was asking for death then and was brave enough to stare death on the face.  At that moment, when he lied, I felt as if my heart was being gripped with the knowledge that the king knows he's being lied to and still maintaining a straight face when deep inside, he must have felt like dying.

I found the movie very interesting, moving and stimulating.  We would never truly know Hong Lim's heart and could only stipulate on the scenes on the movie.  I give this movie 8.5 out of 10 stars.

Review on Korean Movie: A Moment to Remember (2004)

Title: A Moment to Remember (2004)

Genre: Korean Movie

Duration: 2 hrs

Directed by: John H. Lee

Cast:

Jung Woo-sung as Choi Chul Soo

Sohn Ye-jin as Su Jin

Baek Jong-hak as Young Min

Synopsis:

Movie starts with Su Jin at the train station heartbroken after being dumped by her previous married lover.  Feeling lost and abandoned, she goes to a store to buy soda but she forgets both the soda and her wallet.  She goes back to the store but was met by Chul Soo holding a can of soda.  She grabs the soda and drinks it in front of him thinking he took her soda and then takes her leave.  He was amused by her display of courage since people usually stay wary of him having the look of a troublemaker.  Su Jin goes back again to the store remembering she did not get her wallet and the attendant gives her back her wallet and soda making her realize her earlier mistake and feeling embarrassed about it. 

Later on, she realizes that he works for her father as a foul-mouthed, bad tempered, perfectionist foreman.  She felt herself drawn to him more especially when he rescues her from the snatcher.  There isn't much of courting as they agreed to be together over a glass of liquor but Su Jin was obviously so much in love and they were both in bliss.

Chul soo had a bad past making him cynical about life, love and people.  He doesn't believe in love and marriage but changes his mind after Su Jin collapses the night he met her family.

They live a life of bliss after with hints of her illness manifesting early on.  She consults a doctor and was confirmed to have a rare disease of Alzheimer's.  She was advised to quit her job immediately since she would not be able to continue working.  She tells Chul soo she'll quit her job and will stay home to do chores.  Chul soo only discovers her illness after she prepared his lunch with two bowls of rice.  Su Jin gets disoriented while on her way to meet her ex-lover while Chul soo frantically looks for her in the street, discovering her at the batting station.  Su Jin asks for a breakup realizing that sooner, she would not even be able to recognize him and would eventually forget the feelings she has for him.

As her situation worsens, Chul Soo begins doubting her feelings for him after she calls him by her ex-lovers name and tells him that she loves him.  He then realizes that he has never told her that he loves her.

More tearjerker scenes follow...

Review:

I knew it was a mistake to watch this movie.  I knew it would be a good one but I knew I would be crying for this movie so I have been avoiding it for the last couple of months.  I just momentarily forgot that I'm not supposed to watch it and when I realized my mistake, I thought I could stop while the story was still happy but I was sucked right in.

Given that she has alzheimer's, I knew it won't be a happy ending.  There is no cure for this disease and there is no happy ending either.  It would just be a movie filled with sadness, being so young and beautiful yet her life is about to end when it's just supposed to be starting.

The actors were superb specially Jung Woo portraying the raw emotions of a man who was hunted by his past but has so much love for his wife that he was able to forgive his mother for abandoning him and making peace with his past.  He is the epitome of the dangerous, ruggedly handsome yet gentle with his lover type of guy who would never leave your side.  He was able to perfectly convey the emotions of a husband torn with the love for his wife, wanting to be with her and yet knowing she needs more than what he can offer.  I made a realization though after the movie, he is also made of pure fiction...listen girls, HE DOES NOT EXIST (hehehe).

While watching the movie, I can't help staring into Sohn Ye-Jin's doe eyes as they show only innocence and happiness until she discovers her illness then it drowns me in sadness and tears.  This movie made her so heart wrenchingly beautiful, so gentle and so innocent...almost ethereal.

I felt that the ending was good since there really isn't anything he can do for her except love her even though her memory of him has been long gone and to not doubt her feelings for him.

I won't recommend watching this movie unless you're prepared to shed some tears and share some happy moments in love. It made my head ache though from crying...LOL

I give this movie 9 out of 10 stars.