Sado

Yoo ah in performance shredded my heart into a thousand peice. He a true artist and deserves all the respect in the world. The throne is about a father-son relationship that got ruined because of politics and royal blood. After reading about prince sado, the events of the movie were 100% accurate BUT it didn't include everything in order for us as the viewers to feel compassion and sympathy for prince sado, the movie didn't include alot of his wrong doings (killings/rape/violence ) that were recorded by his wife (one of his wives to be more accurate).

My respect goes to Yoo Ah-in (Crown Prince Sado)for his performance, though there were other quite good performances as well. I have watched many Korean films, and was surprised to have not seen Yoo Ah-in's face before, so I googled his name. He appears to have been a model before taking on acting, and rightfully so based on his good looks. Not sure if modeling came before acting, but either way, this guy is not just another pretty face actor. There were a couple of scenes in the film where his character simply commanded me to well-up. The "trivia of decorum" is a phrase that stuck with me after watching this film. The only advantage of being the first born boy to a monarch in many ancient cultures (not just Asian), was that you were at least guaranteed meals, especially if times were hard. Otherwise, the pressures on young heirs seems to have been almost unbearable.

Any time Yoo Ah-In is in the film or series, he will reward viewers with his talent, and he always seems to be maturing as an artist. This film is one of SK's finest and one of the actor's best performances. It is also based on a true story that is painful to watch unfold as it does in "The Throne", perhaps too slowly, yet the closure is also beautiful.

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.

Maybe, 40 minutes in the beginning little bit boring and slow, but must to watch until the end. I love how the plot told back-forward story, just watch the King's beard if you got confused hehe. This is drama of father and his son in the palace. The message that we can took from this movie is even though we don't believe to anyone, even as a King, please be nice to your own child.