La concubina

Things jump quickly from one thing to another and it was hard to follow what was going on. Felt like a series on fast forward. Just couldn't keep up with the different characters. Why they did what they did isn't explained well.

Yeo Jeong Cho displays her body in a few surprisingly graphic sex scenes in Kama Sutra like positions. The story is a Borgia type one with an evil queen who rules with ruthlessness to further her control. Her son has no power and his queen, played by Cho, makes attempts to save her father and keep her son safe from the scheeming queen. The scenery is gorgeous and the film a great one.

The previous reviewer dwelled on the penis thing and the erotic aspect of this film, but I think he, along with many others, missed the point. It's partly the fault of the advertising campaign, which I understand emphasized Jo YeoJung's (as well as other actors') nude scenes -- but I don't know how anyone can still retain the impression that this movie is an erotic bodice-ripper after actually watching it. This is a dark, perilous journey through the obsessions and grudges of people who cannot stop running lest they fall behind, and the sweat is all of the cold kind.

The said scenes involving nudity and sexuality are not in the least erotic, nor did I find Kim DongWook's reaction to the coitus-by-the-book(literally) as the hapless young king at all comedic, intentionally or otherwise; rather he did a fine job of assaying a pathetic and desperate character trapped in an intolerable situation, and his mental near-collapse was almost palpable. And the supporting characters' stories did not interfere with the unfolding of the main plot for me -- they were not subplots so much as back stories for the characters' motivations, and served to flesh out, not complicate, the plot.

Aside from the mostly fine direction and the acting -- which latter ranged from decent (in a few cases) to very good (mostly) -- for me the art direction and cinematography were particular standouts. While most historical epics tend to emphasize sumptuous costumes and the splendor of the architecture and ornamentation, this movie did the opposite; while it is visually rich in its own, gloom-laden way, everything in it is in dark, muted colors as if it were dyed with tea, the ladies wear little jewelry and the sets are kept very lean, to sometimes very striking, almost expressionistic, effect, as when HwaYeon's maid is assigned new, better quarters of her own after catching the King's eye, but the room is entirely empty, and the woman is shown laughing in semi-hysterical self-congratulation on a tiny mat on an otherwise bare floor.

There are many, many scenes shot at very close range, often lit by simulated candlelight at night, creating an overall claustrophobic feel that visually replicates the suffocating atmosphere of the intrigue-riddled court these people endured. Fittingly, the scenes of violence are presented suddenly and starkly, with minimal cues in the soundtrack, which makes them all the more shocking yet realistic.

While not exactly a masterpiece, this movie is a well-thought out and well-executed production, much superior to the kind of titillating fluff it is made out to be by some. It definitely deserves a thoughtful watch.

This is probably a good, or maybe even great, movie. I struggled through the entire thing. I am a native English speaker with a Masters degree ... I CAN read English. The sub titles appear on the screen and are gone too fast for anyone to completely read. Countless times I had to stop the film and skip back to read the subtitle. It was IMPOSSIBLE to take in the subtitle content and to appreciate the beautiful photography. The subtitle appeared on the screen as the actor began to speak and then immediately disappeared as their line was finished. Leaving the subtitle up for perhaps another 5 seconds, as in other subtitled movies (and I watch a lot of them), would have solved the problem. Such a shame to ruin a beautiful film with such a stupid technical error.

Set during the Choson Dynasty this film involves a young prince by the name of "Sungwon" (Dong-wook Kim) falling in love with a nobleman's daughter named "Hwa-Yeon" (Heo-heong Jo). Unfortunately, although she knows of Prince Sunwon's attraction for her, she has fallen in love with another young man by the name of "Kwon-Yoo" (Min-Joon Kim) instead. So one night, overcome by their devotion to each other, both Hwa-Yeon and Kwon-Yoo make the fateful decision to run away together rather than abide by custom or family tradition. Unfortunately, after sleeping together that night, they are caught the next morning and in a desperate effort to spare Kwon-Yoo's life, Hwa-Yeon tells her father that she will now consent to become Prince Sungwon's concubine. What she doesn't know is that, although her father agrees to spare his life, as a penalty for shaming the family Kwon-Yoo is castrated that very night. To make things even worse, when she arrives at the palace the "Queen Mother" (played by Ji-Young Park) takes an immediate dislike to her and does everything in her power to reduce Hwa-Yeon's status there from that point on. Now rather than reveal any more I will just say that I was very impressed at the overall depth of this movie as the plot was extremely intricate and the acting was first-rate as well. Be advised, however, that there are a couple of very graphic sex scenes which definitely precludes this picture from being seen by a younger audience. Be that as it may, I thoroughly enjoyed this film and have rated it accordingly.