The Throne (2015)

Set in 18th century Korea, long-ruling King Yeongjo's struggle with his son, Sado, sees the king take extreme measures in order to deal with his heir.

Director:

Joon-ik Lee

Writers:

Cheol-Hyeon Jo (screenplay), Song-won Lee (screenplay)

Stars:

Kang-ho Song, Ah-In Yoo, Geun-young Moon

25 wins & 46 nominations.

Cast

Credited cast:
Kang-ho Song	...	King Yeongjo
Ah-In Yoo	...	Crown Prince Sado
Geun-young Moon	...	Lady Hyegyeong
Hae-sook Kim	...	Queen Inwon
Won-Sang Park	...	Hong Bong-han
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Ji-seong Eom	...	Crown Prince Sado (young)
Hye-jin Jeon	...	Yeong-bin, Lady Yi
Ji-hee Jin	...	Princess Hwawan
So-dam Park	...	Lady Moon
Ye-ji Seo	...	Queen Jeongsun
Ji-seob So	...	King Jeongjo

Storyline

Over a period of eight days, an 18th. century Korean king punishes his only son for attempted regicide. Flashbacks reveal the chain of events that led the son to rebel against his father in this tale of the strained relationships that exist between all fathers (who want their sons to grow into fine and competent men) and their sons (who struggle to prove themselves in order to earn their fathers' respect and approval).

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Plot Keywords:

korean history | father son relationship | 18th century | based on history | royalty | 

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Genres:

Drama | History

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Did You Know?

Trivia

Geun-young Moon's first film in 8 years.

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Quotes

King Yeongjo: [leaning against the rice chest his dead son is locked in, weeping] You... my silly boy... Why did you have to... commit this atrocity?

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Soundtracks

As Flowers Bloom And Fall
Performed by Seung-woo Cho

User Reviews

Excellent storytelling and faithful to history

I have nothing bad to say about the storytelling. In the last 20 minutes of the film, I cried like I never did before while watching a movie. The last time I cried while watching a movie was with The Road Home (Zang Ziyi). It's very painful. A father forced to wait for the death of his son for a week. It must have been very painful for both the father and the son.

On the other hand, this film is not only true to history. It is also authentic and realistic. This is the first Korean period piece that presents the royal family like those in the paintings. The king, queen, and his concubines are not good looking. They look like real people contrary to those sageuk we used to watch where lead stars are all dolled up. The prosthetics of the elder monarchs show reality of old age. I appreciate this aspect of the film.

When I watched period dramas that present the early like of King Yeongjo, I really thought that he would be both a great father and king. I mean, King Sukjong was a great father and Suk-bin Choi was a caring mother for Pri NBC e Yeoning-gun (Yeongjo). But perhaps being a child prodigy himself, King Yeongjo expected too much from his court especially from his heir. He became a disciplinarian parent and king. His knowledge of Confucian teachings dis not help him become a good father. He never appreciated his son on his achievements. He berated him for his mistakes. All sons, princes or commoners, need love from their parents. I don't believe that a royal family is different from any other family when expressing love and care for children. This film tells us that too much adherence to rules dehumanizes a person. A son longing for a father's warmth developed depression. And a father knowing his son is already losing mind isolated himself even more from his son. Tragic.

Details

Country:

South Korea

Language:

Korean

Release Date:

16 September 2015 (South Korea)

Also Known As:

A trón

Filming Locations:

Seoul, South Korea

Box Office

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$42,165,755

Company Credits

Production Co:

Tiger Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

125 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1