The King and the Clown

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Movie: The King and the Clown
Revised Romanization: Wang-ui namja
Hangul: 왕의남자
Director: Lee Jun-Ik
Writer: Choi Seok-Hwan, Kim Tae-Woong
Producer: Jung Jin-Won, Jang Won-Suk, Lee Jun-Ik
Cinematography: Kim Sang-Bum, Kim Jae-Bum
Release Date: December 29, 2005 (South Korea)
Runtime: 119 min.
Distributor: Cinema Service
Language:South Korea
Country: Korean

Plot

At the height of the 16th-century Chosun Dynasty, a pair of rural male actors—boisterous, macho Jang-seng and quiet, feminine Gong-gil—travel to Seoul and team up with a struggling acting troupe. When their irreverent show—complete with enough bawdy humor and gender-bending to make a contemporary audience blush—mocks the famously hedonistic king, they get more than they bargained for. After being promptly arrested, they’re given a chance to spare themselves if they can make the king laugh. To everyone’s surprise, the ecstatic monarch loves the show and names the actors official court jesters, giving them more extravagant food and shelter than they’d ever imagined. But the king’s attentiveness to Gong-gil makes it quickly apparent that humor isn’t the only thing motivating his generosity. The king’s mistress, the country’s ministers and Jang-seng soon grow suspicious, and jealousy and anger spring from all sides.

Notes

"The King and the Clown" is based on the 2001 play "Yi".
Total box admissions were 12.3 million, easily making it the most viewed in Korean cinema history up to that time (surpassed by The Host in 2006).

Cast



Lee Joon-Gi	Kam Woo-Sung	Jung Jin-Young	Kang Sung-Yeon
Gong-Gil	Jang-Sang	King Yeonsan	Jang Nok-Su



Yu Hae-Jin	Jung Suk-Yong	Lee Seung-Hun
Yuk-Gab	Chil-Duk	Pal-Bok

Additional Cast Members:

Jang Hang-Seon - Cheo-Shin
Choi Il-Hwa - Sung-Joon
Woo Hyeon - Hong Nae-Kwon
Yun Ju-Sang - Sung Hee-Ahn
Yun So-Jeong - king's mother Insoo
Maeng Bong-Hal - public officer
Shin Jeong-Keun - Lee Keuk-Kyoon
Jo Kyeong-Hun - cardplayer
Jeong Dae-Yong - fortune teller
Park Yeong-Su - court performer
Keum Dong-Hyun - skilled card gambler
Kang Eun-Jin - court lady 1
Park Soo-Il - Park Won-Jong

Trailers

Image Gallery

Comments

Comment #6
Gasenadi Says:
Feb 22 2012 6:23 pm

Shakespearean level of everything! Except that Shakespeare's plays never made me cry like this movie did. Even the demonic king made me cry, the insanity of his "position" so pathetic. And that ending! Simply superb.
Comment #5
Consus Says:
Jan 19 2012 8:59 pm

This movie was awesome. The top three male leads made this movie. I am a fan of K-drama but now have become a bigger fan of K-movies. There is more artistic freedom that isn't shown on the dramas because of the censorship.
Comment #4
CLown1 Says:
Apr 12 2011 12:53 pm

Actually Gam Woo Seong is the right spelling based on the Korean romanization. Seong sounds like "Sung." BTW this is one of the best movies for me too!
Comment #3
Nanci Yin Says:
Nov 28 2010 6:16 pm

* Kam Woo Seng ~~~ got the wrong name .____.'
Comment #2
Nanci Yin Says:
Nov 28 2010 6:14 pm

One of the best movies i have ever seen ! Jun-ki Lee and Jang Hang-Seon were great !
Comment #1
Ki Says:
Mar 16 2008 10:06 am

Entertaining movie that successfully fulfills the hype surrounding the film. In its theatrical run in South Korea the movie was an unexpected success, because of the homosexual relationship between the main characters, as well as the film not having any A-List actors or a huge budget. Hmm sounds good to me. The King and The Clown eventually went on to sell 12 million tickets, which is the largest ever for South Korea and its population of 48 million people.

With that stated the film itself is a very good period piece that gets very dramatic as the movie develops. There are parts towards the end of the film which are quite depressing, which some will view as adding to the dramatic flair and others (like myself) finding it to be excessive. The part that people will first talk about is the homosexual relationship between the two clowns and the king, which is fairly mild compared to Western standards. The most intimate scene you will see between the two clowns are of them sleeping together but separated by a few feet and they have their own blankets. Anyways I did appreciate the movie dealing with their relationship as between two people, rather than a relationship between two gay men (would have been more gimmicky). Furthermore, in the immortal words of Aerosmith “That dude looks like a lady!” which made their relationship appear almost heterosexual.

I would have loved to seen more scenes where the couple interacts with the common villagers. Who knows what their reaction would have been? But they are rarely shown outside of their traveling group. Very good performances by Lee Joon-Gi, who played Gong-Gi, the feminine clown. He played the character in a very realistic, understated manner. No cliches whatsoever. Woo-seong Kam, who played the masculine clown, was equally impressive (he was very good in Spider Forest as well).

The backdrop of South Korea in the Chosun Dynasty was the area I was interested in the most, simply because I didn’t know much about that era at all. From the information I gathered after watching the film, the story is based on a true king, who actually killed two ladies during a banquet believing they plotted his mother’s death. At first, the king in the film, seemed to be a stern but fair king, but as the movie progressed you realize that he shared somewhat of a kindred spirit with the Dennis Hopper character in Blue Velvet. Credit goes to the director for making a great time period piece that is as entertaining as it is thought provoking. The ending was tragic and quite melodramatic. I can’t say I enjoyed it as much as the build up leading to those final scenes, but regardless this film is worthwhile to check out.