King and the Clown

Some number of months ago, I saw a review for King and the Clown, a film that went on to become one of the most popular in Korea (South, that is. Swimming pools. Movie stars.)

It was, in its own way, the Brokeback Mountain of Korea, though certainly with different themes. Indeed, the only common theme is about gay love, sorta, with the emphasis on the sorta.

I was under the impression the film had a bit of action in it, something akin to Crouching Tiger, but that wasn't at all the case.

But let me back up some. I was skimming what was showing on DC Film Fest. Dave had put the information on his away message, so I looked it up. The one thing I really dislike about film festivals is the sheer number of movies they show. I know, this is supposed to be a bonus, right? You get to see a lot of movies you wouldn't otherwise see.

But, see, I can barely watch movies if I have Netflix where I have all the time in the world to see it. Ideally, there'd be some way I can watch the movie whenever I feel like it, perhaps via Netflix. Sure, they could show it at a theater, but it'd be nice to know I could get the movie whenever I wanted. Distribution of films from film festivals basically suck. And because there are so many movies, I won't be able to reasonably watch a fraction of it. This has to be a bad way to encourage people to watch films.

So I decided to Metro in to watch this film, knowing it would be tight on time. I took the Metro to Tenleytown/American University from my work, which is 8 stops away, so about 20 minutes, plus the time it takes for the train to arrive. This would leave me ten minutes to get to the theater, and that's assuming I could figure out which way to head on Wisconsin once I arrived.

Once I did arrive, there wasn't a convenient map. I should have gone to the local Starbuck's, because they're usually good about directions. Instead, I ask about the worst person possible, which is some Metro attendant. She gladly pointed out the wrong direction, and I walked several blocks the wrong way, before I met an elderly lady, and she said to go the other direction. So I had to back up, and head the other way, nearly as far as I had gone this way. I would have been late had I gone the right way, but I was doubly late going the wrong way. Amazing how major roads never tell you which way is which. It would be extremely useful.

Once I got there, the movie was about half an hour in. The good news is that its run time was nearly two hours, so even as I got in a little late, I don't think I missed a great deal.

At the time I arrived, there was a minstrel troupe which had, as far as I could tell, been picked up the the king, and asked to perform. The routine, being a bit bawdy, and anti-royalty was a bit dangerous to perform, but somehow, it all works out, and the king laughs, and begins to fall for the woman played by a man.

I haven't really seen a Korean period piece, though I've seen Japanese and Chinese ones, and there is some resemblance, from the kind of drumming and singing you'd associate with kabuki. However, there are elements of Kurosawa and/or Shakespeare.

The titular king has apparently taken his position after his father, a highly revered king, has passed away. His father had his mother killed, for some unknown reason. Many of the courtesans are still loyal to the deceased father, while the son seeks to assert his own power. His relationship to the queen (if she can be called that) shows his powerlessness, as she acts like his mother, and he acts like the incestuous son.

The film hits a bunch of topics, from people with privilege (the royal court) and those without (the traveling minstrels), from schemers seeking to take over the kingdom, to the king who falls for the womanly Gong-gil. As it turns out, the leader of the troupe, Jang-sang, is also affectionate for Gong-gil, and he's jealous of the king's attention.

Unlike, say, Thailand, where homosexuality is treated far more openly than other Asian countries, Korea has yet to deal with this issue in films. In its way, it's had to be subtle, much like Brokeback Mountain, but where Brokeback could afford passionate kisses, there's only one innocent kisses, and Gong-gil flitters between being male and female. In many scenes, Gong-gil looks very womanly.

Unlike Kurosawa, this film is a bit more, hmm, what's the right word? Not quite campy. It's not like having the cast of Xena do Lord of the Rings, where you feel the lack of good acting would make it seem like a bad telling, but the queen is petulant, the king unassertive. Compare this to, say, Curse of the Golden Flower, where Chow Yun Fat and Gong Li have a much more magisterial quality, the leads feel like pretenders, with the backbiting of a soap opera, and those were soap opera qualities were criticisms leveled on "Curse".

The film's a bit heavy on the melodrama, but it's not as nasty as "Curse" where scandal upon scandal lead to hard to believe storyline. There's a more innocent touch to this film. Korean film may not be ready to have two strong males (rather than the stereotyped effiminate male) be leads in a gay-themed film, but I suppose that might come soon.

At the time, this film was the highest grossing film in Korea, but that was soon displaced by The Host. The Host is still the better film, but this isn't too bad. I'd give it a B or so for being entertaining, without being outstanding. As usual, Korean films manage to distinguish itself from Chinese and Japanese films, sort of the blue collar version of their Asian brethren.

I'm hoping to catch Time by Kim Ki-duk, who filmed Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter, and Spring, 3-iron, and Samaritan Girl. Kim is the master of wordless dialogue, with people who find it difficult to communicate, but communicate nonetheless.