The King and the Clown (2005)

Two clowns living in Korea's 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.

Director:

Joon-ik Lee

Writers:

Seok-Hwan Choi, Tae-woong Kim (play)

Stars:

Woo-seong Kam, Jin-young Jung, Seong-Yeon Kang

11 wins & 14 nominations.

Cast

Credited cast:
Woo-seong Kam	...	Jang-sang
Jin-young Jung	...	King Yeonsan (as Jin-yeong Jeong)
Seong-Yeon Kang	...	Nok-su Jang (as Sung-Yeon Kang)
Lee Joon-Gi	...	Gong-gil (as Jun-ki Lee)
Hang-Seon Jang	...	Cheo-sun
Hae-Jin Yoo	...	Yuk-gab (as Hae-jin Yoo)
Seok-yong Jeong	...	Chil-duk
Seung-Hun Lee	...	Pal-bok
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Woo Hyeon	...	Hong
Shin Jeong-geun	...	Lee Geuk-kyun
Yeong-seok Lee	...	Nobleman
Yeong-su Park	...	Court Clown
Seung-won Seo	...	Steward
Woon-seob Shin	...	Spectator 1

Storyline

Soul mate minstrels Jang-sang and Gong-gil eke out a living in 14th century Korea through bawdy stories presented in a tightrope act; however, sexual interests of the rich over Gong-gil's androgynous looks impair their basic desire to entertain once too often. A line is crossed, an authority figure dies, and the pair must flee to Seoul. They soon take up with a trio of fellow minstrels and, lead by Jang-sang, present riskier shows that prove more lucrative; but, a scathing exhibition satirizing the king and his concubine puts them under arrest with a set date for execution. Forced to present themselves to the king for final judgment, they surprisingly wind up becoming his court performers, but the tyrannical king, though sensitive and intelligent, is also excessive and psychologically scarred, with the minstrel shows putting him uncomfortably in touch with buried issues over his dead mother (long ago forced to commit suicide by the court). This makes him dangerously unstable. The ...

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Plot Keywords:

korean history | south korea | king | korea | mistress | 

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Taglines:

Forbidden desire, sumptuous tragedy

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Genres:

Drama | History

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Certificate:

PG-13

Did You Know?

Trivia

This film was selected as the official Korean entry for the Best Foreign Language Film award at the 79th Academy Awards. The runners-up were Kim Ki-duk's Time, and the horror comedy The Host.

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Goofs

In the on-screen translation, opening titles call out Korea's 500-years-plus Chosun Dynasty as being unmatched in the annals of "word" history, rather than "world" history.

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Quotes

Yuk-gab: [From subtitles] Someone grabbed my balls, thinking I really had none. It scared the shit outta me!

User Reviews

A stunning movie...

When I first heard that the movie King and the Clown was being made, I thought that it wouldn't be very interesting. But it was so good. Directed by Lee Joon Ik(a quite well known director in our country,though not in overseas),King and the Clown tells about a love story between two courters and the triangular relationship between them and the king.(of course,unlike what many foreign audiences might think,although the king,his concubine and Kong Gil are real people,the story itself is 100% made up)What was most astonishing about this movie was that,it showed the passionate love between the two male jesters without showing any sexual scenes.(I liked Brokeback Mountain,but not it was too explicit)And the choreography,costumes etc were so beautifully made with a low budget(around 4.5million dollars). Finally I see a well made Korean movie that was very interesting even without any star actors.

Details

Official Sites:

Official site [South Korea]

Country:

South Korea

Language:

Korean

Release Date:

29 December 2005 (South Korea)

Also Known As:

The King and the Clown

Filming Locations:

Seoul, South Korea

Box Office

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$74,539,870

Company Credits

Production Co:

Eagle Pictures, CJ Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

119 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1