King and the Clown is a historical drama which has the cinematic beauty, unique plot and highly talented actors. In addition, it gracefully breaches subjects that have been considered taboo. One of the sub-themes of the movie is to demonstrate how art imitates life.
There are several occasions in the movie where actual situations and actual words that people speak become dramatized in a theatrical sense. In the movie, the clowns’ sexuality is completely accepted and not even discussed.
The King and the Clown takes place in the Joseon Dynasty, like so many other generic Korean dramas, but the plot has a very original spin. The story centers on a band of impoverished traveling entertainers. The two main characters Jang-Saeng and Gong-il are lovers. The fact that they are both men should be shocking to Koreans, but Gong-il played by actor Lee Jun-ki is looks so much like a girl; you almost want to believe that he’s female. They decide to go to Hanyang (now Seoul) where they can put on a bigger and better show.
There, they find other talented minstrels to join their act.In order to draw a crowd and make more money, Jang-Seang, the default leader of the troupe, decides to stage a show mocking the King and his favorite concubine Nok-Su. One of the King’s officials gets wind of the show and has the troupe arrested for treason.
The official agrees to let them perform for the King with the agreement that if the King enjoys the show, their lives are spared. In fact, the true motive the official has in taking the troupe to the palace is to expose the corruption plaguing the King’s regime. ok so there enters the king who is quite traumatized by the childhood he had and also irritated by the ministers of his kingdom, who used to control all his decision and wishes.he goes for Gong-il and things start going haywire.
See movie for the remaining melodrama.The most remarkable thing about King and the Clown is how it manages to walk the tight-rope without falling into the realm of the shocking or over-exaggerated, each element of the King and the Clown is perfectly played out that the underlying premise never seems vulgar. The director Lee Jun Ik pointed out that main point of the story was not to talk about homosexuality but rather to evoke the world of the traveling clowns.This one of those few movies which I would like to remember...