The Concubine (2012)

I'm still learning english ! I know it sucks ! please bear with me ;-)

Hey guys, a friend of mine recommended the korean movie Concubine of King and I thought i give it a shot. The movie contains a lot of sex scenes and what you get to see is comparable to any softporn. So I wasn’t sure if this movie is really good. Usually movies which contain erotic of this level are low budget productions and I thought this is another one. I was mistaken (again). The movie is high-class and is anything but trashy which amazed me. But there is one thing which confuses me I thought established actresses with a good carrier wouldn’t play such a role. I mean you get to see Jo Yeo Jung stark naked (which isn’t bad - she is beautiful). But then I found out that she starred in similar roles before (including being naked - “The Servant”)

“The film proved her fine taste in roles when, despite the hype, it was well-made and critically praised. Jo says that most of all, she wants to be seen as an adventurous and intriguing actress.” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jo_Yeo-jeong


Now I want to write something about the story. It’s basically about a king who has no say. The King is in love with the queen who was married to his brother (who was poisoned) But the queen is in love with someone else. A love triangle comes into being. The story is anything but innovative. I’m certain there are at least 20 movies with a similar story line. Just the end of the movie confuses me (the last scene). I’m sure everyone who watched this movie knows what I mean.

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Watch this when your tv watching is dry and you are suddenly consumed by curiosity.

I love anything to do with Asian royal courts so when I saw the title of the movie : I was in.

The story is interesting and makes a fascinating watch. The reason why I rate a seven is simply because it was obviously ostenstatious and was super determined to prove a point. One can tell that the writers wrote this out to prove some sort of point and that’s annoying and quite frankly lazy. Good stories do not need to be backed up by the narrator or the maker but they just simply tell their stories without forcing the viewers to feel a certain way.

However - I was successfully pulled along in aghast and shock and did not think for a minute to hit stop and do something else. Instead I was thinking the following; “woah- really?” “This is quite pornagraphic - is this allowed?” “ What the ...?” In my book that counts for something and that’s why it doesn’t score a flat 5.

Moreover -I felt manipulated in my discernment of the plot that I wasn’t sure if my thoughts were really my own as this movie made it it’s mission to control every reaction.

Acting :Kim Min Joon was good because his portrayal of Kwon Yoo was not so concentrated but rather muted and subtle which was a breath of fresh air in the heady 2hrs. Cho Yeo jeong was such an obvious tool in the ostentatious production . She was way too obedient to whoever the director was , much to her shortcoming. The rest of the cast just fade out quite frankly.

Music was dramatic and tense and so was the cinematography. It really aided the curious intentions of the production. Solid 8.

As for rewatching- I don’t need to rewatch this and neither should you. Like I said in the headline : Watch this when your tv watching is dry and you are suddenly consumed by curiosity.

Overall - meh. The shock factor just became blah but that finale scene really was something! Kudos to Cho Yeo Jeong for that seriously crazy last scene !

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