The King and the Clown (2005)

Excelente película

Tenía muchas ganas de ver esta película por tratarse del primer trabajo de Lee Joon Gi, quien interpreta al hermoso y delicado Gong-gil, y tal y como esperaba, trabaja espectacularmente, haciendo notar que desde sus inicios ha sido un excelente actor (me parece maravilloso que Joon Gi esté a día de hoy tan orgulloso de haber trabajado en este film). El cast en general, igualmente, me pareció muy bueno. Kam Woo Sung, quien interpreta a Jang-seng, era un completo desconocido para mí pero me encantó tanto su personaje como la interpretación que hizo del mismo. Ambos protagonistas despliegan un abanico de emociones muy amplias y profundas que logran ganarse al espectador.

La producción es buenísima: los vestuarios son hermosos y las puestas en escena de las obras de teatro son increíbles, y encima con cada obra nueva todo este aspecto mejora más y más. La última obra es impresionante visualmente. Si bien esta película es todo un drama, maneja un humor muy particular que me encantó, y que está muy bien aprovechado con los juglares y las obras, creando un buen balance entre lo trágico y lo cómico.

La trama es sencilla pero cuesta muchísimo imaginar a dónde va a parar todo, qué les va a pasar a los juglares, de qué es capaz el rey y cuáles son sus objetivos. Esta intriga constante y la tensión que había en muchos momentos, hicieron que las dos horas que la peli dura se me pasaran volando. Me encantó la forma en que se revelaron diferentes cuestiones del pasado de cada personaje principal, y la escena final es tremenda y súper emotiva. En fin, una película buenísima, me encantó.

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My advice is to watch with an open mind but with no too high expectations or spectacle. It is more about the plot than anything else. For I am not sure myself what to take from the storyline. For most of the film I was wondering whether he was a man or woman (I did not want to check out the cast) and even then I had the lingering desire to know whether I was meant to think that something happened with the king or it was just a platonic relationship / friendship. Then we are made to wait for the explanation between Gong Gil and Jang Seng – how they became friends???

STORY:
Definitely nothing as I had imagined. Does keep you hooked through the questioning thoughts of each scene. Many scenes I did not know whether to take it serious or see the funny side so many times I watched on in neutral until revealed. The awkwardness and uncomfortableness and fear when dealing with the king did manage to overflow into me that I myself did not dare laugh until the king did (it also helps to know that his laugh is funny) . And of course someone had to die :( ...

ACTING:
Was well believable; got nothing to add :)

SOUNDTRACK:
In honesty the soundtrack song is the reason I found out about the film :)

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Story: The story, in all honesty, didn't interest me much. I'll admit that I was a little bit excited to see a gender bending historical drama where it's about a guy for once, but it wasn't really a big deciding factor when I watch this. Lee Jun Ki was the only thing I really found appealing about this before watching it.

As for the story, it really wasn't bad. It showed the relationship between two people who are incredible friends. The friendship between those two is what makes this movie good. The shows that the jesters put on had me laughing each time. Those are really the only two things I enjoyed about the movie.

The last half hour or so had me wondering how much longer it would be until it was finished. It just seemed to really be dragging.

Acting/Cast: Without a doubt, the saving grace of this movie.

The chemistry between Lee Jun Ki and Kam Woo Sung was fantastic. I had absolutely no trouble believing they were best friends.
When Yu Hae Jin, Jung Suk Yong, and Lee Seung Hun come in later, they're another trio of people I could easily believe were best friends.
All five of them together was endearing to watch.

Jung Jin Young is what I loved about this movie though. I've seen quite a few historical Korean dramas/movies, and he was, by far, my favorite king. He was eccentric, and it was awesome. He always seemed to be having such a great time, and it was adorable.

Music: I don't remember a single piece of music from this movie. There was the beating of drums during skits from the jesters, but that's all I remember hearing.

Rewatch Value: The cast alone, unfortunately, is not enough to make me want to ever watch this again.

Overall: Taking into account my love of the friendship storyline, the chemistry between the five main jesters, and Jung Jin Young as the king, that's what gets this movie an 8 from me.

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I did not expect to have my brain cells in gear

At the time of writing this review, I am currently on a quest of watching all of Lee Joon Gi. This is among the most accessible ones and diving into it I had no idea what I was getting into. I might be calling this a masterpiece for how much it took me off guard, since I was on an impression of a light-hearted, 2-hour immersion. Maybe it's good to not let titles fool you, just as they say to not judge the book by its cover (hah). Out of all the things this movie might impress you by, I'd say with how well the script is written it is the crème de la crème, and only the best acting gives justice to this level of writing. Overall, it inspired me to write this review to say I now understand why Lee Joon Gi became who he is after this film. But of course, everyone in the film has levelled with him (superb acting). Watched it for him, I definitely got more than what I expected.

P.S. all the awards this film amassed was well-deserved.
P.P.S just wanted to add it's a film ahead of its time for its theme, and one that is timeless.

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To be honest, I don't think a lot of people will grasp the magnitude of how powerful this movie is at first watch.

Heck when I first watched it I was all like "HUH?" and did not even both to watch closely. I would've rated it a 7-8 at first.

But on the second time around when I really paid attention, it was just so much more in depth and powerful than just friendship or love. The relations between the characters, the nature of each character, the impact that one character has on another, the emotions that flow through them and their actions...

I can't even explain it properly but just know that this movie did not become a huge Korean hit for no reason.

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Inusuale, "antico" ma godibile

Tenuto conto che si tratta di un film che ha quasi vent'anni, girato in Corea, tanto di cappello. E' ovvio che non può essere paragonato ad un'opera dei giorni nostri.
Un Lee Joon Gi ancora in boccio, ma che già prometteva quel che ha poi mantenuto, e anche tutto il resto del cast ha funzionato alla grande. E' normale che nella lunghezza di un film si perdano molte sfumature, la storia si sarebbe forse potuta migliorare con un breve drama, ma anche così è stata soddisfacente.
Forse un po' oscuro e sospeso il finale, in linea con le ultime inquadrature che vedono i protagonisti sospesi per aria.
Un'ottima visione, per me.

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Important movie for South Korean cinema, start of Lee Joon Gi stardom <3

This historical movie tells the story of a(n) actors/clowns troupe at the court of the infamous and tyrannical King Yeon San in the beginning of the 16th century of the Joseon Dynasty. I quite enjoyed discovering this rather original part of Korean history with the tale of a king and "his clown".

Story-wise, I found it poetic and beautiful: it is about artist lives in trying times, mental health issues, court ordeals and much more... The pacing could have been better but I was overall pretty invested in the plot despite some of the characters' choices being quite illogical (or at least not very smart). It make sense in the context of the poetry of the film, but at the same time it can feel a bit frustrating. It is fair to say that huge gestures and statements might trumps here practical and sensible decisions.

The bromance was epic in a way but could have been pushed further as well as the interactions with the secondary characters which remained quite superficial. Still, acting-wise, Lee Joon Gi, Kam Woo Sung and Jung Jin Young are really good and solid in their respective roles with some stellar moments. A lot is left unsaid regarding the relationships and sentiments which is interesting as the viewer is really relying on the actors performances to understand the feelings rather than on the dialogs.

I loved the OST which supported so well the measured dialogs and their sporadicity, it was made of sorrowful instrumentals, fitting for the dramatic mood of the film. The production value is great, there are a lot of really amazing acrobatic scenes as well as dances / comedic / jesters bits. All the costumes, accessories and decors felt high quality (especially as the movie has been released 18 years ago, I was pretty impressed).

I would recommend this to people that are curious to see the movie that made Lee Joon Gi's talents recognised. Personally, I first discovered him in the 2005 drama "My Girl" and clearly I do not regret to have finally taken the time to go back to watch his first big movie performance for which he was particularly (and rightly so) praised for. If you like historical movies and are not afraid of a gut-wrenching poetic journey, you will likely enjoy it!

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