King and the Clown (2005)

I did'nt wanna see this movie when it first relised coz I though that it may be some kind of odd style. I was totally wrong! This movie is not about gay, homosexual etc as many people might think of it, it's all about human's natural feeling, emotion... I like everyone from this film, all the actors played perfectly. Also I have to add that Lee Jun Ki was born to play GongGi, some people might not like his look, but I believe that nobody could ignore his talent. Adter seeing this movie, I spent quite a lot of time to search all the relevant info of it. I was obsessed in a beautiful way from this movie. It is definitely one of the great Korean movies!

The movie enjoys huge success in both commentary and box-office figure in both Korea and Mainland China since its premiere in 2005. Strangely, though Hong Kong does import large bunches of Korean movies in the past five years, no cinema or distributor's eyes were on this. Its DVD was just out last weekend yet it has already become a top hit DVD in the Mainland.An obvious reason for its being slighted could be: Hong Kong viewers may flatly compare the female images of Leslie Cheung in Farewell My Concubine (1993) and Jun-gi Lee's (Gong-gil), a young Korean screen hopeful (to-date 24 years old) who is known for his commitment to the industry. (He sings, dances, acts in TV and movie, attends demonstrations for protecting Korea's film industry against the authority's unfavourable policies…) And the truth is not distant from our guess, audience can just link up these two movies as Lee frankly did admit that he has watched "Farewell" for 20+ times before the camera rolled its first round. When being promoted in China, it was even nicknamed "Farewell my concubine - the Korean interpretation"! In actuality, besides the look of the two feminine protagonists, no other similarities of these two movies exist! And thus, Hong Kong may not be that interested in the story or the presentation as we have already had our late sweet-heart Gor-gor Leslie Cheung.The storyline is simple with some funny glitches. Anyway, it is not the story but the wardrobe, the striking feminine look of Lee, the traditional Korean street-acting, "Darwaz" (High altitude tightrope dancing/walking -- originated from the present Xinjiang area/Central Asia. There it is taken to be a sport rather than performing art in this film.) catch my attention more. To me, a Chinese, they are not strangers but with novelties. If you like to know a bit of Korea's older days, this may satisfy some of your wish.

When I first heard that the movie King and the Clown was being made, I thought that it wouldn't be very interesting. But it was so good. Directed by Lee Joon Ik(a quite well known director in our country,though not in overseas),King and the Clown tells about a love story between two courters and the triangular relationship between them and the king.(of course,unlike what many foreign audiences might think,although the king,his concubine and Kong Gil are real people,the story itself is 100% made up)What was most astonishing about this movie was that,it showed the passionate love between the two male jesters without showing any sexual scenes.(I liked Brokeback Mountain,but not it was too explicit)And the choreography,costumes etc were so beautifully made with a low budget(around 4.5million dollars). Finally I see a well made Korean movie that was very interesting even without any star actors.

This is one of the most powerful Korean movies that I've seen in my entire life. The story of The King and the Clown, (왕의 남자) is an artful tale of entertainers that dare to mock the King, and then are brought to the palace. Though well-known for the gay-themes that the movie brings, it is only implied, and not the sole purpose of the story. It deals with corruption in the high court, the art of entertainment and survival.Although the script, cinematography and etc. are done masterfully to successfully bring the audience back to the Joseon Dynasty in which our story is set, its main attractions are the characters that are beautifully portrayed by actors Kam Woo-Seong, Jeong Jin-Yeoung and, last but Definitely not least, Lee Jun Ki. Jeong Jin-Yeoung plays the slightly deranged tyrannical King, scarred from his mother's early suicide forced upon by his court ministers, who later becomes obsessed with one his new entertainers, Gong-gil (Lee Jun Ki). Kam Woo-Seong, who plays Jangseng, the leader of the troop, managed to win a DaeJong award (equivalent to an Oscar) for his role, while Lee Jun Ki, for his brilliant acting that brought tears to his audiences, as well as his beauty that surpasses most girls, became an instant (and extremely popular) success.I highly recommend watching this film. The end brings the audiences heart-rending tears, and empty wallets from watching it about 20 times. It is that. good.