King and the Clown

Title: The King and the Clown, The King's Man
Romaji: Wang-ui-namja
Hangul: 왕의 남자
Director: Lee Jun Ik
Writer: Choi Suk Hwan
Producer: Jeong Jin Wan
Original Screenwriter: Kim Tae Woong
Cinematography: Ji Gil Woong
Music: Lee Byong Woo
Release Date: December 29, 2005
Genre: Drama, History, Thriller
Studio: Eagle Pictures
Country: South Korea
Language: Korean

SYNOPSIS

In the years of the infamous King Yeon San, two clowns start a play that is satirical of the king and become popular among the common people. But soon they get arrested for treason, and they bet their lives on making the king laugh with their play acting. Their fortunate success leads them to stay in the palace and perform regular plays. As the king shows growing attraction and love towards one of the clowns, they realize that they are into irreversible stages of their lives, entwined with desire, power and thick blood.

INTRODUCTION

The "King and the Clown" (Wang-ui Namja) is adapted from the 2000 highly acclaimed Korean play titled "Yi" ("You") about Yeonsan-gun, a Joseon dynasty king who falls in love with a court clown who mocks him. The play is based on a small passage from the Annals of the Joseon Dynasty that briefly mentions the king's favorite clown. Instead of focusing on the love between the clown and the king, the movie craftfully blends in many other subtexts (life, love, politics, fate, etc) making it a much subtle and deeper film. Yet, it is highly entertaining at the same time.

It was the highest grossing (over US$85,000,000 in domestic receipts) Korean film in history with 12.3 million viewers, surpassing the total admissions of Silmido and Taegukgi until the horror film The Host surpassed its record in September of 2006. For a Korean film, it has a relatively modest production cost of only approximately US$4.5 million dollars. It seemed unexpected that the film gained so much success, what with its focus of traditional arts and homosexual underlings, especially without the attraction of high profile celebrities.

Despite the movie's huge popularity in South Korea, it was first banned from screening in China. It premiered in Shanghai on October 28, 2006 and Chinese DVD version is distributed.

Related Links:

The King and the Clown Official Website (Taiwan)
The King and the Clown Official Website (Japan)
The King and the Clown Unofficial Fansite