King and the Clown (2005) on Netflix
PG-1320051h 59m
Street clowns Jang-saeng and Gong-gil flee to Seoul after a quarrel with their manager ends in his death, and join three other performers. Their skit mocks the king and his court.
- Netflix3.7/5
- IMDb7.3/106,363 votes
- Rotten TomatoesNot available
Trailer
Plot summary
Jang-saeng and Gong-gil are street clowns and tightrope walkers in an entertainer troupe, with Gong-gil, effeminate and beautiful, taking the female roles. Their manager prostitutes Gong-gil to customers, and Jang-saeng tries to shield him. After a row with the manager, Gong-gil kills him in Jang-saeng's defense, and the two head for Seoul, where they join three other street performers. The group writes a skit mocking members of the royal court, among them King Yeonsan and his concubine Jang Nok-su, and is arrested for treason and flogged. Choseon, a consultant to the king, offers Jang-saeng a bargain: make the king laugh with the skit, or be executed.
Cast
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about King and the Clown (2005)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- The King and the Clown was adapted from Kim Tae-woong's 2000 stage play Yi, which centred on the feminine actor Gong-gil. Its basis was a small passage in the Annals of the Joseon Dynasty briefly mentioning the king's favourite clown, Gong-gil; the co-lead Jang-saeng is fictional.
- Made without a big budget or high-profile stars and director, unlike South Korean hits Taegukgi: Brotherhood of War and Silmido, the film propelled the then unknown Lee Joon-gi into Asia-wide stardom.
