The King and the Clown

I knew this movie was extremely popular in South Korea, but I never had a chance to watch it until today. And I am very glad to report that it exceeded my already high expectations.

Not so many excellent movies draw my full attention from the beginning; they tend to pull me in toward the climax. With this movie, I found myself completely immersed after the first few minutes. Although the theme of love, jealousy, and politics are commonplace (except the subtle homosexuality which I don't believe plays too much role in this movie), director Jun-Ik Lee magnificently put together the beautiful Joseon dynasty Korea, euphonious dialogs, and some great acting. I particularly liked that of the King (Jin-yeong Jeong) and Jang-sang (Woo-seong Kam).

It made sense why the movie was so popular and why many people have seen it more than once. It is a multifaceted masterpiece which can appeal to multifarious crowds: it is a love story, a political drama, a comedy, a tragedy, a musical, a historical gallery, and maybe more.

I believe the dialogs are straightforward enough to be translated well into English, but non-Korean audiences may lose some great rhymes and subtlety - especially those of the clowns as their dialogs are downright colloquial and hilarious. Granted, I still believe everyone will find the film enjoyable from at least one perspective.