The King and the Clown (2005)

Original title

왕의 남자

Directed by

Lee Joon-ik

Genre

drama film, comedy drama, historical drama, LGBTQ-related film, philosophical fiction

Country

South Korea

Runtime

1h 59m

Rated

15

Rating

7.0 of 10 from 116 voters

Elsewhere

IMDb

How it feels

Two traveling clowns are arrested after performing a satire of the king. They are brought to court where their performances catch the king's interest, leading to complicated relationships and dangerous games.

intimatetensemelancholicplayfuldramaticbittersweetslow-burn

What happens

The King and the Clown (Korean: 왕의 남자) is a 2005 South Korean historical drama film starring Kam Woo-sung, Jung Jin-young, and Lee Joon-gi. It was adapted from the 2000 stage play, Yi ("You") about Yeonsangun of Joseon, a Joseon dynasty king and a court clown who mocks him. It was released on 29 December 2005, runs for 119 minutes; and distributed domestically by Cinema Service and internationally by CJ Entertainment. The movie is referred to by various titles. It is sometimes known as The King's Man (the literal English translation of the Korean title). In Chinese, the title is "王的男人" or "王和小丑", and in Japanese, it is known as "王の男". It is also known as The Royal Jester in English, as the movie's English translator found it more fitting than the original title. The film was chosen as South Korea's official submission for the 2006 Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. With over 12.3 million tickets sold, it was the most watched movie of South Korea of the year, as well the 13th highest-grossing film in South Korea. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

Trailer

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