Empire of Lust

Watching this movie is like watching a play, not a amazing Shakespeare type of play but a decent one. That involves greed, jealousy, betrayal, vengeance and lust. To be honest I would have been bored watching this in theaters, but if I saw it while flipping through the channels it would have been a alright watch. The story isn't very coherent and it doesn't flow very well when it comes to the context of the plot. It's basically like watching one of those historical Korean dramas except with nudity and a lot of blood. It's just not a very stand out movie and can be easily forgotten. This would have been a television movie if it was made in the U.S. The acting was mediocre at best with performances that works for the most part but nothing groundbreaking. Even Jang Hyuk who is a actor I actually like just chuckled all the way through it (when you see this film you will know what I mean). The love and lust aspect of this movie is the main thing going on in the story but the political parts of this film just felt like it was thrown in there and made the whole thing drag on. Despite it playing a somewhat pivotal part near the end, but it's just really boring to sit through. Because there is almost nothing interesting about that banter and it's just doesn't come off as something important when it comes to the story. Overall, this is a alright TV watch but that is about it.

5/10

Like many a "Joseon Empire" historical action movie, this 2015 South Korean film is solidly anchored in sword violence. (To put it bluntly, there's lots of blood and gore.) But the addition of rape scenes made it significantly more disturbing than your average TV K-drama "sageuk", which (as of 2023) are always pristinely sanitized in romantic and/or sexual situations. This movie opens with an arty inter-splicing of a bloody battle and rather raw lovemaking, which may seem gratuitous to some, but provides a deft summary of the 2 faces of lust that fueled the rise of a 500 year dynasty. The directing and acting is top notch, especially from the two lead actors, noble hero Shin Ha-Kyun and psycho-villain Jang Hyuk (who rose to prominence in the iconic sageuk "The Slave Hunters"). Both of these action stars can actually act, and superb at packing a universe of emotion into a "100 yard stare". This film is basically a love story and could have been improved with better couple chemistry and a more memorable OST. The k-drama TV series "My Country: The New Age", also set in this era and with Jang Hyuk reprising his role as Bang Won, is cheesier/ less sophisticated than EoL, but it's much more entertaining and more visually enticing. In summary, Empire of Lust is a film worth 2 hours of your time, but its depictions of extreme avarice and cruelty are not easy watching.

Probably more graphic than I usually care for, but not a deal breaker. Because there is definitely a beautiful love story, and the ending is quite moving.

Apart from the grand looking production this unpleasant movie is full of unlikeable characters. The taking of the throne by a bypassed son could have been interesting but what they chose to show wasn't interesting. Throwing in some rape and unattractive love scenes didn't help. Didn't feel for the lead characters.

I'm huge fan of Ha-kyun Shin since I saw him in Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance. I've seen most of his work and this wouldn't be the best part of it. Especially that usually Koreans know how to make an exciting historical drama. Although I'm not a big fan of this genre quite a few times I was really impressed with the way they approach history. Ha-kyun Shin is a sold actor but he doesn't seem to get much support from anyone else. Overall it is still worth seeing as at times it get pretty interesting when you realize how difficult it was to survive at the court with everyone around you playing their own games.