Movie: A Frozen Flower
Genre: mm, Korean, historical
Rated: R for graphic violence, sex
Director: Ha Yu
Writer: Ha Yu (screenplay)
Stars: Jin-mo Ju, Ji-hyo Song, In-seong Jo
IMDB says: A historical drama set in the Koryo dynasty and focused on the relationship between a king and his bodyguard.
HanCinema says: Source http://www.koreanfilm.or.kr Synopsis: In the end of Goryeo era politically manipulated by the Yuan Dynasty, the ambitious King of the Goryeo Dynasty organizes Kunryongwe. Hong Lim, the commander of Kunryongwe, captivates the King of Goryeo, and the Queen keeps her eyes on the relationship between Hong Lim and the King with a reluctant view. Meanwhile, the bilateral relation between Goryeo and the Yuan gets worse as Yuan demands to install the cousin of the King in the Crown Prince of Goryeo with ascribing it to no son the King has. The King refuses it resolutely, so the high-ranking officials of Goryeo, who are in submission to Yuan, are discontented with the king. One day, the King gives Hong Lim a covert yet unobjectionable order to sleep with the Queen instead of himself to protect the independence of Goryeo from the Yuan by making a son, the successor to Goryeo throne.
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So, okay, I watched this the other day and the only thing I can say is that the cinemetography is excellent, as is the camera work in every scene. I fell in love with the chracters and I desperately wanted them to have happiness in every regard. But given the nature of what they were doing and the time period when they were doing it in… well, there’s no other way it could have gone, not with the tone the movie was taking.
I honestly wish the King and guard could have loved each other the same amount, then I really think things might have gone much differently.
The first half of this movie was incredible and left me breathless. Then things took a turn, and while everything remained just as beautiful camera wise, that’s when the whole “tragedy” thing started taking place. And I was left stunned for a very long time and I just have to say that this movie deserves all kinds of awards.
My only wish? That things could have ended on a happier note. Though I guess some people could see the end segment as a kind of bittersweet ending with just a little more sweet than bitter.
My rating: 5 stars for cinematography. 3 1/2 stars for the story, mostly because the ending upset me (still a beautiful movie though.)
