The Throne (film) explained

The Throne
Director:Lee Joon-ik
Producer:Oh Seung-hyeon
Starring:
Music:Bang Jun-seok
Cinematography:Kim Tae-gyeong
Editing:
Distributor:Showbox/Mediaplex
Runtime:125 minutes
Country:South Korea
Language:Korean
Gross:[1]
Native Name:
Hangul:사도
Rr:Sado

The Throne is a 2015 South Korean historical drama film directed by Lee Joon-ik, starring Song Kang-ho and Yoo Ah-in.[2] [3] [4] [5] Set during the reign of King Yeongjo, the film is about the life of Crown Prince Sado, the heir to the throne who was deemed unfit to rule and, at age 27, was condemned to death by his own father by being locked in a rice chest for eight days.[6] [7] [8] [9] [10]

The Throne won three awards at the 35th Korean Association of Film Critics Awards, including Best Film.[11] [12] It was also selected as the South Korean entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 88th Academy Awards, but it was not nominated.[13] [14]

Plot

The film opens with the crown prince, Sado, carrying out a plot to kill his father, the king. However, the assassination - for untold reasons - does not take place.

The next day, Sado's mother goes to the king to encourage him not to punish Sado's son when he punishes Sado. The king summons Sado and tells him to kill himself. Fearing for their own lives, Sado's supporters rush in and save him from suicide. Instead the king orders Sado into a large rice box, which he then nails shut since no one else will do it for him.

The movie proceeds to flip back and forth chronologically between the rice box in the courtyard and the history of how it got there.

The king is presented as a doting father very concerned with the educational attainments of his young son. Sado is presented as winsome and diplomatic even at a very early age. However, he does not take well to the rote memorization he is expected to perform. He fails to properly acquire a passage written by his father, and we find him preferring to socialize and paint. When asked how often he likes to study, all are shocked with his very frank answer of "once or twice a year." The king perceives his son is being rebellious.

Meanwhile, three days in the box Sado begins to hallucinate. He imagines he is covered by centipedes and breaks out of the box, washing himself in the pond. He is returned to the box, which is then fortified.

In another flashback, the king describes familial relations among royalty being different from commoners. "In the palace, parents think of their children as enemies." Sado's father goes on to tell how his father had his wife poisoned, and he himself has been accused of killing his own brother to secure the throne. Here and at other places during the movie he claims he does not want to be the king.

The king proposes his son be made a substitute king, a method by which the crown prince may exercise the office of king under the ongoing tutelage of the elderly king. In his new role, Sado is assertive and just, but some factions that have enjoyed special privilege under the corrupt elder king take issue with his rulings. The elder king jumps to the conclusion that his son is capitalizing on schisms within the kingdom to weaken the elder king's powers. He directs his son to make fewer decisions and allow the nobles to lead. However, when his son defers to them, the king is alarmed at the decisions of his nobles and countermands Sado's rulings. Then Sado begins to consult his father to make wiser decisions, but the old man ridicules his son for being unable to govern independently. Nothing Sado does is pleasing to the king, who proceeds to humiliate his son. However, the Royal Queen Dowager is overjoyed at Sado's wisdom and acts as his protector.

When the king refuses to call for celebrations for the queen's 60th birthday, the tension comes to a head. He storms into her chambers and insists that she support him or approve his stepping down. Much to his shock, she approves, thereby making Sado king.

Curiously, Sado refuses to ascend the throne. After the elderly king's departure, Sado remains kneeling in the courtyard where his subjects fear he will die of exposure. The queen is forced to revoke her approval, and in humiliation, she stops eating, bringing her life to an end. At her funeral, the elder king blames Sado for her death. Sado snaps.

Sado becomes a religious zealot and an alcoholic. He digs an underground grave complex for himself and refuses to pay his respects to the new queen. In a rage, he kills one of the palace eunuchs. He throws a celebration for his mother for her 60th birthday at which his actions imply madness. Meanwhile, the elder king takes on Sado's son as his new protege, but has his own son framed for plotting a conspiracy against the crown.

The scene from the beginning is replayed with a few additions, the important one being why he did not kill his father. At the critical moment, he found his son with his grandfather and overheard his son tell his grandfather that Sado had a good heart. Sado did not go through with the assassination.

Sado dies on the seventh day of his imprisonment and is buried on the eighth, but his father has all memory of him erased. He directs his grandson never to even speak his name. However, after the death of the elder king, Sado's son goes out of his way to honour his father, thereby vindicating Sado.

Cast

Production

Filming began on 8 July 2014.[15] The Throne was Moon Geun-young's first film in 8 years.[16]

Reception

Box office

The Throne opened in South Korea on 16 September 2015. By October 25, it has grossed from 6.23 million admissions.[17] [18] [19]

Awards and nominations

AwardYearCategoryRecipient(s) and nominee(s)Result
35th Korean Association of Film Critics Awards[20] 2015Best FilmThe Throne
Best DirectorLee Joon-ik
Best ActorSong Kang-ho
Yoo Ah-in
Best CinematographyKim Tae-gyeong
Best ScreenplayCho Chul-hyun, Oh Seung-hyeon, Lee Song-won
Best MusicBang Jun-seok
Top 10 Films of the YearThe Throne
15th Korea World Youth Film Festival[21] Most Favorite ActorYoo Ah-in
52nd Grand Bell Awards[22] Best FilmThe Throne
Best DirectorLee Joon-ik
Best ActorYoo Ah-in
Best Supporting ActressKim Hae-sook
Best Art DirectionKang Seung-yong
Best Costume DesignShim Hyun-sub
Best MusicBang Jun-seok
36th Blue Dragon Film Awards[23] [24] Best FilmThe Throne
Best DirectorLee Joon-ik
Best Leading ActorSong Kang-ho
Yoo Ah-in
Best Supporting ActressJeon Hye-jin
Best ScreenplayCho Chul-hyun, Oh Seung-hyeon, Lee Song-won
Best Cinematography and LightingKim Tae-gyeong, Hong Seung-cheol
Best EditingKim Sang-bum, Kim Jae-bum
Best Art DirectionKang Seung-yong
Best MusicBang Jun-seok
19th Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival[25] Grand PrixThe Throne
Best MusicBang Jun-seok
5th SACF Artists of the Year Awards[26] Artistic Impression in Motion Pictures AwardYoo Ah-in
The Korea Film Actors Association Awards[27] Top Star Award
Best Director AwardLee Joon-ik
Cine 21 Movie AwardsBest ActorYoo Ah-in
Best ScreenplayCho Chul-hyun, Oh Seung-hyeon, Lee Song-won
2nd Korean Film Producers Association AwardsBest Supporting ActressJeon Hye-jin
Best ScreenplayCho Chul-hyun, Oh Seung-hyeon, Lee Song-won
Best SoundChoi Tae-young
7th KOFRA Film Awards [28] 2016Best FilmThe Throne
Best ActorYoo Ah-in
Best Supporting ActressJeon Hye-jin
Asian Film Critics Association AwardsBest PictureThe Throne
Best DirectorLee Joon-ik
Best ActorSong Kang-ho
Yoo Ah-in
Best Supporting ActressJeon Hye-jin
Best ScreenplayCho Chul-hyun, Oh Seung-hyeon, Lee Song-won
Best Original ScoreBang Jun-seok
20th Satellite AwardsBest Foreign Language FilmThe Throne
Best Costume DesignShim Hyun-seob
11th Max Movie AwardsBest FilmThe Throne
Best DirectorLee Joon-ik
Best Supporting ActressJeon Hye-jin
Best PosterThe Throne
Best Trailer
10th Asian Film Awards[29] Best Original MusicBang Jun-seok
Best Costume DesignShim Hyun-seob
Next Generation AwardYoo Ah-in
21st Chunsa Film Art Awards[30] Best DirectorLee Joon-ik
Best ActorYoo Ah-in
Best Supporting ActressJeon Hye-jin
Best ScreenplayCho Chul-hyun, Oh Seung-hyeon, Lee Song-won
Special Sharing AwardLee Joon-ik
Grand Prize (Daesang)
25th Buil Film Awards
Best Art DirectionKang Seung-yong
Best MusicBang Joon-seok
10th Asia Pacific Screen AwardsBest DirectorLee Joon-ik
Best ActorSong Kang-ho
4th Asian Film Festival BarcelonaBest FilmThe Throne
47th International Film Festival of India
Special Jury Award

See also

Notes and References

  1. Web site: The Throne. 2016-04-15. KOFIC.
  2. Web site: Jin. Eun-soo. New take on King Yeongjo and Prince Sado. Korea JoongAng Daily. 12 September 2015. 14 August 2015.
  3. Web site: The Throne filmmaker speaks highly of actor Song. The Korea Herald. 12 September 2015. 3 September 2015.
  4. Web site: Jin. Eun-soo. Movie tells timeless tale of father-son dispute. Korea JoongAng Daily. 12 September 2015. 11 September 2015.
  5. Web site: Won. Ho-jung. Herald Review: The Throne brings royal strife down to Earth. The Korea Herald. 6 October 2015. 16 September 2015.
  6. Web site: Kim. Hee-eun. Song Kang-ho joins Lee Joon-ik film. Korea JoongAng Daily. 19 June 2014. 3 April 2014.
  7. Web site: Pierce. Conran. SONG Kang-ho Boards New LEE Joon-ik Film. Korean Film Biz Zone. 19 June 2014. 9 April 2014.
  8. Web site: Yoo Ah-in set for Sado role?. 19 June 2014. Kim. Hee-eun. Korea Joongang Daily. 14 May 2014.
  9. Web site: Jeon. Su-mi. Moon Geun Young, Yoo Ah In and Song Kang Ho Confirmed for Film Sado. enewsWorld. 19 June 2014. 26 May 2014.
  10. Web site: Baek. Byung-yeul. Same role, different actors. The Korea Times. 9 November 2014. 18 August 2014.
  11. Web site: Park. So-jung. The Throne rakes in three film critics' awards. Yonhap. 6 November 2015. 28 October 2015.
  12. Web site: Conran. Pierce. THE THRONE Tops Korean Association of Film Critics Awards. Korean Film Biz Zone. 6 November 2015. 2 November 2015.
  13. Web site: Oscars: South Korea Submits The Throne for Foreign-Language Category. Lee. Hyo-won. The Hollywood Reporter. 1 September 2015. 3 September 2015.
  14. Web site: The Throne picked as Korean candidate for Academy Awards' foreign language film award. Yonhap. 2 September 2015. 2 September 2015.
  15. Web site: Song Kang Ho and Yoo Ah In's New Film Sado Holds First Shooting. Soompi. 24 July 2014. 18 July 2014.
  16. Web site: Pierce. Conran. YOO Ah-in and MOON Geun-young Confirmed for SADO. Korean Film Biz Zone. 19 June 2014. 13 May 2014.
  17. Web site: Intern climbs ladder at South Korea box office. Kevin. Ma. 5 October 2015. 5 October 2015. Film Business Asia. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20160304075012/http://www.filmbiz.asia/news/intern-climbs-ladder-at-south-korea-box-office. 4 March 2016.
  18. Web site: The Throne Racks Up 2 Million Viewers in a Week. The Chosun Ilbo. 25 September 2015. 23 September 2015.
  19. Web site: The Phone rings up South Korea box office. Kevin. Ma. 26 October 2015. 11 November 2015. Film Business Asia. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20151117023709/http://www.filmbiz.asia/news/the-phone-rings-up-south-korea-box-office. 17 November 2015.
  20. News: 35th Korean Association of Film Critics Awards Winners . Hancinema. 2016-04-15.
  21. Web site: http://stoo.asiae.co.kr/news/view.htm?sec=enter99&idxno=2015102216394730798. ko:유아인 박보영 류승완…청소년 뽑은 인기영화인 선정. Asiae. 2015-10-22. 2016-04-15. Korean.
  22. News: 52nd Daejong Film Awards (Grand Bell Awards) 2015 Winners. HanCinema. 2016-04-15.
  23. Web site: Who are the winners of 36th Blue Dragon Film Awards?. 2015-11-27. Kpopherald. 2016-04-15.
  24. News: 36th Blue Dragon Awards 'The Assassination' awarded Best Film: Complete list of winners. . 2016-04-15.
  25. Web site: Tallinn Black Nights awards winners . 2015-11-28. FilmNewEurope.com. 2016-04-15.
  26. Web site: Actor Namgung Won gets lifetime achievement award. 2015-12-08. 2016-04-15. The Korea Herald.
  27. Web site: Actor Yoo Ah-in had the best year. Korea JoongAng Daily. 2016-04-15. 2015-12-26.
  28. Web site: Korean reporters pick 'The Throne' as best film of 2015. 2016-01-21. 2016-04-15. Kpopherald.
  29. Web site: Celebrities light up Asian Film Awards. 2016-03-18. 2016-04-15. China Daily.
  30. Web site: 2016 춘사영화상, '사도'-'암살' 사이좋게 2관왕. 2016-04-05. DongA. 2016-04-15. Korean.