The King and the Clown (2005)(왕의 남자; Wang-ui Namja): Two clowns living in the Chosun Dynasty get arrested for staging a play that satirizes the king. They are dragged to the palace and threatened with execution, but are given a chance to save their lives if they can make the king laugh. (7.5)
Director: Jun-ik Lee
Writers: Seok-Hwan Choi, Tae-woong Kim (play)
Stars: Woo-seong Kam, Jin-yeong Jeong and Seong-Yeon Kang
Language: Korean (w/ English subtitles)
The major themes in this movie are the implied homosexuality in the 16th century Korea, the questioning of the authority at various levels, the tyranny of a reckless king, the use of comedy to say what otherwise cannot be said to the court, etc. I think, I may have missed some stuff (jokes, mannerisms, etc) in the translation, but I got the gist of it. A quite well-thought-out story. Nicely and elaborately filmed, specially the scenes of the royal court in session. I liked this movie a lot. My Rating: 7.5
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