Movie Review: 왕의 남자 (The King and the Clown)

왕의 남자, translated as 'The King's Man' and going by the English title, 'The King and the Clown' was a nice movie. I think the reason why I watched this movie was because I saw the striking resemblance between 'The King and the Clown' cover and the 'Masquerade' cover. There was also a section in my Korean book that recommended watching Korean movies with subtitles to hear Korean being used and 'The King and the Clown' was shown.

The King and the Clown. They look alike don't they?

Masquerade 

Synopsis: Set around 1500 during the Joseon dynasty, two minstrels, the feminine 공길 (Gong Gil) and the protective 장상 (Jang Sang) played by 이준기 (Lee Joon Ki from 'Arang and the Magistrate') and 감우성 (Kam Woo Sung from 'The Outlaw') respectively decide to go to Seoul to make it rich showing off their comedy and tightrope walking abilities. But when they insult the king in one of their shows, they end up in the palace, performing for the king himself. He makes them become official minstrels, much to the disapproval from the ministers, causing bloodshed.

From here on out it's spoilers, so you may want to watch before you read!

Favorite Moment: The saddest part of this movie was definitely the ending when they both jumped up into the air and the picture froze. They look like true jesters with their legs spread out in a comedic way. We don't know what happened next, but with the probable blood feud going on below, they also probably perished. 

Favorite Character: Even though he was a complete wacko, I thought the King did a very good job in his role. 정진영 (Jung Jin Young from Love Rain - Yeah he's the dad, mind blown) pulled off the crazy king role. His facial expressions and laughs were just a notch wacko and his obsession with Gong Gil was well shown. His, "왜?!?!?!" when Gong Gil sliced his wrists was his big moment of craziness I think. I know he's a terrible person, but I tend to find those types to be the most interesting. 

Favorite Couple: Gong Gil and Jang Sang weren't in a love relationship, but they were great together regardless. Jang Sang was such a big brother to Gong Gil and took care of him. When Jang Sang rescued Gong Gil from being "pimped" I gained so much respect for him. And the scene between them when the both acted blind was so adorable. 

                            

What made it good: The acting was good. Just period. It's nice to see good acting once in a while. And while some movies that were made around that time tend to be... iffy in directing, photography, acting, etc. this movie did well in all those areas. Some of the comedy they performed was very crude, and it made me giggle a little. The story was also very interesting and the outfits were very detailed. 

The Most Feels: This award goes to Gong Gil. Even though he was a main driving point of this story, I didn't care for him too much. He was in a position where he's so pretty, that even men want him. Including the King. I felt bad for him, and his attachment to Jang Sang was saddened when Jang Sang had his eyes scorched. He's just too pretty for his own good, and that gets him into bad situations. Seriously Lee Joon Ki, you must have been Aphrodite in your past life. 

What this taught me about Korea: This king was crazy. There were many good kings during the Joseon dynasty, but this wasn't one of them. I also didn't know that they had jesters/minstrels back then, let alone in the palace. The props they used allowed me to realize how some masks always represented certain people. Like the red-faced one was always the King.

That one point that bugged me: Now seriously. Did they have balls of steal? How could they land on their crotch on the rope and not be in pain? Didn't it hurt at all? Maybe they did have some kind of protective thing down there, but the audience didn't see it.

Conclusion: Watching this movie was not time wasted. I enjoyed it, but I don't need to see it again. I'm always iffy on watching older movies. It may not be old to you, but to me, Korean movies made in the 2000s look like American movies made in the 1980s. This movie looked nice though. It wasn't too flashy, and only was when it needed to me. I give this movie a 7/10 since the story only dragged sometimes and some things I didn't understand til after they happened. Plus there's the absence of feeling in their crotches. 

Post Script: Lee Joon Gi, you are way too pretty. I honestly thought you were a girl when I looked up who was in the movie and all I saw was your picture.

Post Post Script: Can anyone tell me why photos of the clown from 'IT' popped up when I Google imaged pictures for this movie?