"That's the hook of this lively period piece, in which village chieftain Um Heung-do strays into a neighbouring settlement and because the former minister of justice is in residence is amazed to find the place awash in mouth-smacking treats. Wanting a piece of that action, Heung-do puts in a bid to sinister government official Han Myeong-hoe for his own outcast."
"Early on, The King's Warden flirts with being an ironic Ealing-style comedy about the price of upward mobility, with the simpering chieftain hoisted by his own ambition. But once the guest's identity is revealed, director Jang Hang-jun changes tack and cycles rapidly through other, less piquant genres: a sentimental two-hander, similar to Mrs Brown, about the growing rapport between a monarch and a commoner."
"Strung together rather disjointedly, this straggling parable doesn't distil subversive political apercus of the same quality as fellow Joseon court drama Masquerade from 2012. Nor does it gather the emotional momentum needed to sell the tear-jerking finale in which Heung-do puts everything on the line for his high-born pal."
The King's Warden is a 15th-century Korean period drama following village chieftain Um Heung-do, who seeks to acquire an exiled court official to bring wealth to his settlement. Instead, a sickly youth arrives who is revealed to be the recently deposed king Yi Hong-wi. Unable to eliminate the conspicuous royal without drawing suspicion, Heung-do becomes entangled in counter-rebellion plots. The film begins as an ironic comedy about ambition but shifts through multiple genres—sentimental drama, social commentary, and political thriller—as the relationship between commoner and king deepens. Director Jang Hang-jun's tonal inconsistency prevents the narrative from achieving the political sophistication or emotional resonance of comparable Joseon court dramas.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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