I caught the Korean blockbuster "King and the Clown" with my sisters last Friday. Singapore apparently didn't think that this movie would be as popular locally as the movie was screened in probably the smallest theatre in Cineleisure, Orchard.

I thoroughly enjoyed it. The entire 119 minutes were captivating. You would not find a single minute boring, or wondering if the movie is finally coming to an end. In fact, I sat through the 2 hours so caught up with the development of the movie that I didn't realise that it was coming to an end until I noticed the cinema staff (apparently he positioned himself there to inform the audience that the exit was at the back) come in through the entrance which was near the screen.

I cried. I laughed. There were moments so intense that I almost couldn't breathe. Scenes so crude that I was aghast. Bloodshed. Hysteria. Desperation. Doom. This movie is not just BBM. True that there is some homosexual content. But it's more about that. It's an honest film about people and feelings.

The film focuses on a pair of clowns, Jang-seng and Gong-gil, who perform comic plays, songs, and acrobatic tricks for aristocrats or commoners during the Joseon Dynasty in the years of the infamous King Yon-san. Jang-seng possesses a disarming self-confidence and disrespect for authority that seems likely to get him into trouble one day. Gong-gil plays the woman to Jang-seng's man in the comic skits they perform. Gong-gil also possesses a certain self-confidence and grace that turns him into an object of fascination and desire for the pair's aristocratic patrons, inclduing the King. One day, they go to Seoul and their group hit the jackpot by playing a show about the King and his lady, femme fatale, Nok-soo. But soon they get arrested for insulting the royal king and Jang-seng bet their lives to make the King laugh with their play. Their fortunate success leads them to stay in the palace and perform regular plays. As the King shows growing attraction and love towards Gong-gil, Nok-soo who is out of control of her lust and envy for Gong-gil, as the King turns his back to her, secretly plots to take Gong-gil's life.

If you ask me, everyone in this film, perhaps except Gong-gil and Jang-seng, are a bit crazy. The King has to be insane though. The King featured in this film is King Yonsan, one of Korea's most famous and notorious monarchs, who possessed concentrated power but lacked the sanity to use it effectively. He is brutal. He is arrogant. He is wilful. But somehow you cannot bring yourself to hate him. He is just one pathetic fellow who is so saddened and affected by his childhood that he simply cannot be happy. He indulges in pleasure - wine, good, entertainment, women, and even pretty boys. But he is still unhappy. I think that's super pathetic and even if you have all the wealth and power in the world, what's the use.

There is no villians in this film. There are just many pathetic fella. You can't help but feel sorry for everyone in the end.

Apart from a well-formed plot, however, the film's real highlight is the play-acting by the two clowns. Both actors are mesmerizing in their verbal sparring and their enthusiasm for performing, and one wishes there were even more of these scenes to enjoy. You just have to catch the movie. The skits in the movie were so daring, and sometimes even crude, but definitely a good laugh, especially in the conservative society of Singapore.

The original Korean title of this film is "The King's Man", which references much more directly the erotic current underlying this film. Lee Joon Ki as Gong-gil was soooo pretty that I would have wanted to screw him if I was a guy too. No, honestly. But I'm a girl who's still more interested in muscular, alpha male types compared to androgynous or outright feminine-looking boys like Lee Joon Ki, so "No No" for the actual me haha. But I can see why both the King and Jang-seng have the hots for Gong-gil. He's prettier than many girls. It's in fact hard to treat him as a guy haha. In the movie though, in contrast to his later relationship with the insane King, romantic feelings between Gong-gil and Jang-seng are strongly implied, but never stated explicitly. Don't expect any action like BBM though - this is afterall a NC16 movie without any cutting.