The king and the clown by Lee-Jun-ilk

By Allal El Alaoui

The king and the clown is a beautiful film showing the richness and culture of Korea. The story is about Korea itself in the sixteen century, jang-seng and Gong-gil are two actors working altogether in the street of this country.jang-seng convinces Gong-gil to go to Seoul.

Arrived there, they are arrested for insulting the king, jang-seng proposes something foolish to his mate if they achieve to make the king laugh.Then,they will be free.

Bingo, the king invites them to his palace. An ambiguous relation starts with the king and jang-seng.The king is a complex character living under torture of a disloyal queen. As for his wife, she is so jealous of Jang-seng that all film becomes interesting to finish. The king and the clown has a Shakespearean flavour .It reminds me of Hamlet actors playing before their king and the intrigue of killing is well inserted and fabricated by Lee-Jun-ilk’s script which is a brilliant one, revealing a confirmed director.