"The King and the Clown" (Korean Movie)

[Mikawa Ossan]

The other day I say a movie from Korea that I really liked a lot! There's not much in the way of special effects, but the story is so compelling that it hardly matters.

The movie's English title is "The King and the Clown", and the Japanese title is ﾂ「窶ｰﾂ､窶堙娯?冕ﾂ」 .

It's about a couple of entertainers who come to work for the king of Korea in perhaps the 16th century. Eventually they become part of the political intrigue of the Korean court and it completely engulfs them.

At any rate, I couldn't recommend it higher! I had no idea what to expect when I rented it, but I am really glad that I did, and I wanted to share.

If anyone else has seen it, what did you think? I'd love to talk about this film if anyone's interested!

 

[SushiShin]

The King and the Clown (왕의 남자, or Wang-ui namja) is a 2005 South Korean film, adapted from the 2000 Korean play titled "Yi", ("You") about Yeonsangun of Joseon, a Joseon dynasty king who falls in love with a court clown who mocks him. The movie is based on a small passage from the Annals of the Joseon Dynasty that briefly mentions the king's favorite clown. Production costs were relatively modest for a Korean film, approximately $4.5 million dollars.


There are alternative titles of this movie: The King's Men or The King's Man (the literal translation of the Korean title to English) and All the King's Men (working title). In chinese, the title is "王的男人" or "王和小丑", and in Japanese, it is known as "王の男".

This film was chosen by Korea as its submission for the Oscars in the best foreign film category

Directed by Lee Jun-ik

Produced by Jeong Jin-wan

Written by Choi Seok-hwan (screenplay)
Kim Tae-wung (original play)

Starring Gam Wu-seong
Jeong Jin-yeong
Kang Seong-yeon
Kwon Won-tae

Music by Lee Byeong-wu

Cinematography Ji Gil-Wung

Editing by Kim Sang-beom
Kim Jae-beom

Distributed by Cinema Service

Release date(s) December 29, 2005 (South Korea)

Running time 119 min.

Language Korean

Budget $4.5 million USD

In Korea, 12.3 million people saw the film, and it grossed more than any Korean film before it - $85,000,000 (In the sumer of 2006, the film The Host surpassed this with 13 million tickets sold.). But it did not fit the usual mold of popular Korean films. With a lack of high-profile stars, a deep focus on traditional arts, and a homosexual subtext, it did not seem like the type of movie to have such popularity, especially in a country with high prejudices against homosexuality. But the presentation, acting skill, and deeply-moving plot (as well as young Korean school girls' heavy attraction to effeminate Lee Jun Ki) seemed to push prejudices aside for the 119 minutes it takes to watch this film.

However, despite the movie's huge popularity in Korea, China went so far as to ban the film from showing. As well, they banned Brokeback Mountain from being shown in theatres, and as recently as 2001 China even considered homosexuality to be a mental disorder. They have allowed the DVD version to be distributed



japanese DVD

 

[RockLee]

Nice copy/paste work Herb! We sure couldn't find that information on our own...

 

[Kreize]

I love that movie! it was great, and The King and the Clown was what made Lee Junki famous overnight. ;D gotta love him. he's so sweet! oh, and just a minor typo, but it's Lee Junki. not "Lee Jun-ik" as it was written in whatever Shin copy-pasted.

 

[SushiShin]

Hey guys im only doing this for you guy's to make it easy for you ;-) it doesn't matters where i have it from, so long it has it have to make with this thread then its okey savvy mate? ;-)

the source: wikipedia ofcourse

 

[Kreize]

omg. did i just correct wikipedia? wow... *shocked*