A week ago I went to see the Korean movie “Ssang Hwa Jeom” – 쌍화점. The English title is A Frozen Flower (2008), directed by Yoo Ha.The film recounts the fictional tale of a King during Korea’s Goryeo Dynasty (918-1392). At the time depicted in the film, the Goryeo Dynasty was subordinate to the Mongolian Yuan Dynasty. In order to keep the throne the King needs to produce a son, lest the Yuan Dynasty enthrones the King’s cousin. The King is unable to perform with women and instead asks his childhood friend and closest bodyguard Hong-Rim, who is also his lover, to sleep with the Queen and produce an offspring on his behalf. A devastating love triangle between the King, Hong-Rim and the Queen is the result. It’s a movie of steamy (heterosexual and homosexual sex), bloody violence and beautiful traditional Korean clothes and striking cinematography.
Movies such as this one always make me question Korea’s supposed prudishness. A Frozen Flower is anything but prudish. The sex scenes are very raunchy and almost soft-porn in depiction. While Koreans may still call themselves conservative, their media production stands contrary to such a claim.Another thing about A Frozen Flower is that it is a typical han-movie. Han is that unique (or so it’s claimed) Korean emotion of despair. It would seem that a Korean movie is not authentically Korean, if people aren’t crying and dying. By saying this I’m not giving away anything about the plot that is not expected of a typical Korean film. As I said, if people aren’t crying and dying, it would be unKorean.
The cinematography is exquisite and the traditional music is beautiful. If you’re not too squeamish about the explicit sex and violence, it's an interesting depiction of how Korean royalty might have looked during the Goryeo Dynasty.Below is the trailer...
No comments:
Post a Comment