Philosophy
The
"King and the Clown" (Wang-ui
Namja) is conceived, produced and
directed by Lee Joon-ik. In essence, it is very much a Lee Joon-ik's film. To understand
the film, it is necessary to know the man behind the movie - his history, his struggle and
his motivation.
Mr.
X from Twitchfilm has done a wonderful introduction job in this respect. His detailed
reviews and explanations of the film are extracted below.
1. Introduction to Producer Lee Joon-ik's (Cine)World - the man and his struggle.
"Our
philosophy is clear: we make money with movies, we don't make movies with money."
-
Lee Joon-ik
(Full
Article
1)
2. Introduction to Director Lee Joon-ik's "Once Upon a Time in the Battlefield" -
the man and his ideology.
"Life
can often be more dramatic than a work of fiction itself."
"Playing
with history and how events of the past influence ideology today, Lee and Jo created what
would become one of the pioneers of a new genre, the Fusion Drama. Giving a post-modern
twist to ancient history...Once Upon a Time in the Battlefield was born."
(Full
Article
2)
3. The "King and the Clown" - the man and his motivation behind the story.
"History,
as they say, is written by the winners. In Cinema just like in life and war, the one
standing on top after a lengthy battle, the last one to laugh writes the end."
"It's
not just loved by industry insiders and used as an example to follow because it's on top
of the mountain, but because of its journey to get there. Unlike all the record hits which
preceded it, Lee's film had no stars, a shaky budget of just over 4 Billion Won, and a
company with a big debt to deal with."
"...how
did this film with no stars, a problematic subject (Yeonsan) and up to now unpopular
undertones (homosexuality), low budget and no aggressive marketing campaigns end up on top
of the mountain, with some people watching it a dozen times?
....Because
this film was made for the people
...And
it was made by people...giving all you have, passion, confidence, fear, talent, hard work,
blood, sweat and tears."
(Full
Article
3)
RSS
