akash_sebastian 'The King and the Clown' is well-written, and quite entertaining, historic drama. Other than its comic overtones, it deals with many interesting themes, which include love, power, affection, satire and freedom of speech. Its unique plot and characters are what hold your attention throughout the movie. It has a well-stirred mix of aesthetic and commercial values.The three main protagonists are the core of the film; a talented jester, a tyrant king and a beautiful eunuch, who gains the affections of both. The three actors playing them are really brilliant, especially Lee Joon-ik, who plays the effeminate eunuch with such charm ad charisma, and looks more beautiful than some actual actresses (ahem).The summary of the movie, which says "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." - This is just the beginning of the whole story; the plot is much more than that.The king's character is the most fascinating one: His mother was ordered by the previous king to commit suicide by consuming poison. Her death left a lasting trauma on the future king's psyche, which played a significant role in the deformation of his character. But other than his tyrannical excesses, he was a man of great sensitivity and intelligence. And the way he connects and forms a bond with Gong-gil, through Gong's jests and plays, is quite moving. It's forms an interesting study of human nature.The climax scene is quite artistic and meaningful, and shows the end of a reign and beginning of love & friendship (in next life) so beautifully merged.(Note: It's a period drama, and the homosexual themes are just implied. Some foreign viewers call it the 'Korean Brokeback Mountain', but that's an amusingly misleading nickname; the are no sex scenes or nudity. The themes have been explored in quite a subtle way because of the country's culture.)

RBO The King and the Clown is an excellent film noteworthy of it's critical acclaims. It showcases the purity of love in a universal light - something that is easily misunderstood in the Western world. It's difficult for me to explain my interpretation of the relationship between the main characters - simply put, they are soul mates and the soul does not discriminate between gender. To say their relationship is not homosexual, is a Western explanation, but most Westerners (especially Americans), will not easily understand this because love to is categorized differently. I think of it as taking the "sentiment and care" felt by loving a child, parent, lover, friend, husband, and wife and eliminating the titles, roles, sexual intimacy, and stripping it to only the "sentiment of sincere care". This is what I mean by purity of love.This film expresses this beautifully.

clokie this is genuinely a great movie, a movie that i believe deserves recognition by everyone. i heard it has been chosen by Korea as there choice to go for the best foreign movie award at the Oscars, and i would be shocked if they did not come out the winners.its hard to say what genre this movie is because it has so many, to say it is a tragic love story would be doing the movie a dis justice as its more than just a love story, and to others eyes it may not be tragic.to quote what a previous commenter has said about the times saying its the Korean brokeback mountain. i think its better than Brokeback mountain, i was one of the few that didn't think that brokeback mountain was that good a movie, it was good but not as good as everybody said it was. the king and the clown just had something else that brokeback mountain didn't have.at first i was sceptical about watching this movie, after the major hype it received as they tend to be a bit of a disappointment, but i throughly enjoyed this movie.everything about it was of the highest standard, the script, the story, the scenery, the costumes and who could forget the acting.lee jun gi will forever be one of my favourite actors alongside tom hanks and gong li. His performance was captivating and who would believe that he is actually a man, his face is just so beautiful and feminine to quote another site 'prettier than most normal women' he was just absolutely perfect for this role, it was like it was written for him. he is certainly the prettiest man i have ever seen. In Korea he won the best supporting actor for his performance in the King and the Clown and now is the most sort after male actor in Korea.His fellow compatriot Woo-seong Kam also put in a stellar performance that bagged him the best male actor award, his performance was so that it was hard to differentiate whether this movie was about homosexual love or brotherly love, that maybe what makes this movie so great as it allows the viewer to believe what it wants to believe. For example is the king in love with gong gil in a homosexual way or was it a motherly figure way.i don't believe i could recommend this movie highly enough, even if this doesn't seem like your type of a film, you should watch it for the acting performances alone as it will surely blow you away.

polsixe I thought it was all very contrived and elements of the movie are a blend of others done before all meant to push forward a modern tolerant society alternative lifestyle movement.Tony Curtis/Laurence Olivier had a similar dynamic in Spartacus. The version we saw had English subtitles so the characters appeared to be speaking an Elizibethan Shakespearean form "thou art a knave" , but the spouse said the spoken Korean was current colloquial. That was the initial thought, oh yeah, this is a lift from Shakespeare's Europe, the court jesters, men playing women's roles (wouldn't they at least shave??), the palace court and consort scheming away, a play within a play. "The Play's the thing wherein I'll catch the conscience of the King". The costumes and roles we saw before in the episodic Dae Jang Geum series - (did they re-use the sets and clothes??), everything looked very familiar. I was looking for the palace cooks and maids in the background...That being said, the "Captain" of the minstrels, Jang Saeng, comes off as an interesting, athletic, strong moral character, against any possible stereotyping as a limp wristed homosexual.So, nice try, but too much "sampling" of previous arts.