Directed by: Han Jae-rim (한재림) Starring: Jo In-sung (조인성), Jung Woo-sung (정우성), Bae Seong-woo (배성우), Ryu Jun-yeol (류준열), Kim Ui-Seong (김의성), Kim So-jin (김소진) Release Date: January 18th, 2017
Tae-soo (Jo In-sung) is a bad-boy from a countryside town who climbed to the top of the social hierarchy of power with his unbeatable fighting skills. He realizes one day that his reign will come to an end upon graduating from high school so he decides to pursue the life of a career prosecutor which will allow him to stay top-dog well into adulthood. So Tae-soo changes his ways and becomes a model student, blowing everyone away with his academic achievements as he realizes his goal. But just as he enters the world as an empowered prosecutor prepared to fight the good fight, he learns of the top 1% of Korean prosecutors who hold the true power over everything in the country.
The elite group is lead by the revered prosecutor Han Kang-sik (Jung Woo-sung) where money, drugs, and beautiful women are the spoils of their calculated prosecutions. When Tae-soo is recruited into their inner circle at the highest level, he’s stripped of his pride and moral convictions that have guided him to this point, and he learns what it truly means to be king in Korea. But the higher he climbs, the harder of a fall he begins to risk.
The King boasts a an exquisite visual aesthetic. With its colorful and fun vibe peppered with sporadic moments of high dramatic tension, nearly the entire film looks and sounds like an expensive music video or luxury car commercial. It features a dynamic filmmaking style that employs energetic camera movements and creative editing techniques reminiscent of a Martin Scorsese picture. And with all the bureaucratic scheming going on, The King feels a lot like Scorsese’s The Wolf of Wall Street although slightly less eccentric and drug-infused.
There are some great moments of top-shelf acting from the amazing ensemble cast in The King. Not only are the household names of Jung Woo-sung (A Moment to Remember, Asura: The City of Madness) and Jo In-sung (The Classic, The Great Battle) great, there are amazing supporting actors like Bae Sung-woo (Beasts Clawing at Straws) and Kim So-jin (The Man Standing Next, The Drug King), as well as Ryu Joon-yeol (Believer, Little Forest). Darkly comic, most of the characters go over-the-top with a lot of exaggerated behaviors as they nobly behave in reprehensible ways. It can be a bit weird at first, but when it becomes clear that The King is going all-in with its tongue-in-cheek approach one can sit back and enjoy the master-class performances for what they are.
The King falters somewhat with its over-reliance on narration which comes in heavy doses from lead actor Jo In-sung. While it helps to establish his character’s upbringing and give deeper insight into the moral conundrums he faces, the continued use of narration throughout The King detracts from being able to establish stronger emotional connections with his character. Instead of watching Tae-soo’s relationships develop, he simply tells us how they play out. This makes it difficult to generate much sympathy for the character as he spirals downwards, and the third act of The King is left delivering a much softer punch as a result.
The King explores common themes in Korean film that many will have come to notice by now. That being the runaway power of the wealthy elite class and a lack of trust in governmental institutions. The King uses footage from some of real-life political scandals that have plagued the country over the years to mark the passing of time that help emphasize a lingering sickness of corruption that when juxtaposed with the fictional caricatures on display help make for a strong and relevant overall point. And with all the film’s eccentricities, The King is ultimately a call to clean up politics and governmental bureaucracy with its central message aimed at empowering the populace to choose their leaders wisely.
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