The only complain I have about the film was the extensive sex scenes, it was too much to the eye. In a story like this, audience are more interested in the story than the sexual portrayals. A one extensive scene between the King and Hong Rim and between Hong Rim and the Queen would be enough but in every encounter between Hong Rim and the Queen the scenes are no longer pleasant to the eyes.
I love the ending where the audience are given to chance to have their own conclusion as how Hong Rim really felt. Whether he really love the King or not. Seeing Jo In Sung in this kind of film was shocking and suprising I doubt he will do this kind of film again. Jo In Sung is my favorite Korean actor by the way.
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The storyline follows a homosexual king (Joo Jin Mo) and how he rules, hides and overcomes his desires. Personally, I felt the storyline controversial topic in the depicted culture/ era; plus my investigation revealed the possibility of truth in it which makes it that more provocative and debatable in my head as each sexual scene or plots was introduced.
The love triangle that forms is well thought through and broke down in a manner that may be relatable. The unfortunate status Jo In Sung finds himself born into additional to catching the king’s eye was heart breaking to watch as well as strengthening to observe his loyalty (brilliant acting by Jo In Sung as always).
ACTING: 9/10 - CHARACTERS: 7.5/10
All three main actors/ actress (Joo Jin Mo, Jo In Sung and Song Ji Hyo) delivered a believable performance of their roles; especially during the sex scenes. I totally did not expect such intimate scenes, both the heterosexual and homosexual ones for an Asian based film (a step out of the norm).
Every plot delivered is presented in a manner that derives emotions of sadness; together with the straight faces of the actors made certain scenes overly tense as the fear of suspense filled me.
MUSIC: 6.5/10
LIKED – Despite it making me a tad uncomfortable, I liked that despite it being a known taboo in mainstream Asian films; this did not stop them from showing such in-depth sex scenes.
DISLIKED – More on a personal note as a heterosexual individual the homosexual scenes made me uncomfortable to watch but do acknowledge their relevance in the film.
CONCLUSION:
You should watch this drama if you enjoy genres such as SUSPENSE – FORBIDDEN LOVE – HOMOSEXUALITY – GREAT PLOT – SLICE OF LIFE – WAR – HOPE – GREAT ACTING – NON FICTION – EMOTIONAL.
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This review may contain spoilers
What caught my intention was the female lead (she's a regular on Running Man)
I was not expecting the vivid sex scenes in this movie, and honestly it didn't bother me as much as the storyline. The story is about a selfish king (who is gay), and from a young age, he preys on the little boys who are in training to be guards. BTW, I was shocked seeing this within the first 5 minutes of the movie. One of the guards grows up and becomes close with the king. The king probably brainwashed the guard into sleeping with him, as kings in those days had authority, and probably would kill a person and their family if they rejected the king's request. The king doesn't have an heir to the throne, and instead of fulfilling his duties as king by impregnating his wife the queen, he would rather be dethroned, send his wife to basically live as an exiled queen (aka nun), or offer his wife (the queen) to sleep with his bodyguard male lover. This happens all within the first 30 minutes. Honestly, I am disgusted with the storyline. None of this screams romance.Note: My review maybe bias, as I am not interested in BL dramas or movies.
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Of loves between men and forbidden romances in the Forbidden City
'A Frozen Flower' (Ssang-hwa-jeom) is a historical drama set in the 14th century, in a time of war for power and palace intrigues in which the need to produce an heir forces Gong Min, the king of Goryeo , to make a decision that will have dramatic and unexpected consequences on himself and everyone around him.Faced with the discovery of a plot to assassinate him and seize the throne, the king must secure an heir, but here the conflict arises: the monarch has no pleasure in women and loves Hong Lim, his faithful general, the only person he accepts in his litter.
Given the circumstances, she decides that her lover takes his place in the queen's bed and fertilizes her, all under the greatest secrecy and discretion. And there the next problem arises: Hong Lim falls in love with No Guk, the queen, a role played by Song Ji Hyo ('The Witch's Diner'), despite being reluctant at first because he has never slept with a woman, but no. can disobey the king.
The grand historical setting and political plots are clearly overshadowed by the central story.
We are faced with a story of a king in love with his chief of the imperial guard, who has been instilled since childhood that one must please the king in every way. For that reason, he is shocked when he receives the king's order.
Neither the queen nor Hong Lim have a choice. They are puppets of royal power, so they obey without any other alternative. As in a kind of sacrifice, the queen has to have sex with a stranger. But here is precisely the key to the story: if she has never had sex, he doesn't know what it's like to have sex with someone of the opposite gender to his.
After the initial impact, both discover an unknown, unexplored sensual side. What at first is a repugnant obligation soon becomes a discovery of the senses that leaves the three completely perplexed.
A passionate and irresistible desire will push the queen and Hong Lim to face great risks, endangering both their loyalty to the king and their own lives in a story that grows in tension with each scene. And the king will not sit idly by and will explode in anger and seek revenge, because there is nothing that hurts a lover more than having what he considers his own taken from him, and even more so if you are the one in power.
Hong Lim is caught between his desire for the queen and his loyalty to the king. A simple misstep could be considered treason. And they both run this danger.
In my opinion, the female character is the one who bears the brunt, since in the end she loses the two men in her life who, although they never loved her, only used her. His only consolation, besides having loved, is the son he fathered.
Ranked 44th among the best South Korean films of all time, according to the FA rankings, the viewer will be struck by the explicit and realistic sexual scenes, whether between Jo In Sung in his role as Hong Lim, whom we remember for his tender and sweet image in the series 'Shoot for the Stars', with Joo Jin Mo ('Empress Ki'), an actor who plays the king, or between his lover and the queen. And in 2008, at the time of filming, all the romantic scenes in South Korean series and films had the characteristics of being very modest and subtle, more of suggesting than showing. Even today they are not free from this peculiarity, much less if it involves sex between men.
The topic of homosexuality and the love relationship between a king and a member of his imperial guard is not something new or unreal. Historical documents prove it. What is interesting about the film is the decisions that the lovers make and how these lead them to a tragic destiny. This is how the film explores other themes, such as the importance of decisions, the weight of carrying their consequences and regret (or not).
With three nominations for the Blue Dragon Film Awards (South Korea) in 2009, the director does an excellent job of obtaining facial and body expressions from the actors between the feminine and the masculine with total naturalness. The face of Jo In Sung will remain in cinema history as the king scorned and wounded in his self-love for the person he loves madly.
Based on a film text by the director himself, the South Korean filmmaker Yoo Ha, known for his work in films such as 'Gangnam 1970', 'Once Upon a Time in High School' and 'A Dirty Carnival', among others, the feature film recreates a love triangle between the king, his subject and lover, and the queen, or more precisely, a forbidden romance in the Forbidden City.
The film will soon make the viewer understand the complex situation that involves the three protagonists, and how it escapes the hands of the young couple involved, since, when she also falls in love with the head of the imperial guard, they will begin to have dates clandestinely behind the king's back, who, upon learning of the events, must intervene drastically, venting his fury like any jilted lover.
The king, in the end, lets himself be carried away by his obsessive love. Frustrated, more than by his inability to procreate a child, by having to share the body and heart of his lover, making him the villain, since Hong Lim will blame him for everything that happened.
In addition to the solid performances, the impeccable script and the magnificent direction, we must highlight the love story, the plot tension, the dazzling display of costumes, makeup, hair, very consistent with the time, and a full-blown art direction, in addition to a photograph, in the hands of Choi Hyun-gi, clear, luminous, even in closed and dark spaces, such as the lovers' darkened bedrooms, and perfect camera framing, all in order to embellish this historical fiction.
Kim Jun-seok's exquisite music, including diegetic music, that is, that performed by the protagonists themselves or the rest of the cast in public and private royal festivities and celebrations, introduces the viewer to that oriental world in which there is no shortage of combat with swords and other bladed weapons and martial arts fights.
'A Frozen Flower' is, in short, a film whose main theme is simply love.
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This review may contain spoilers
This film isn't usually my fair, but I came for the BL and felt a little cheated. It almost felt that the King was a villain, but honestly there were none, it was just a series of events that ended in a tragedy.
I don't understand people's issue with the ending. I can see where they might be coming from if I had a high-powered microscope, but to me it felt like that was the overall theme...loss.
The king had loved chief Hong for years only to have the betrayal of not being loved back and to be told, and I even think Hong during back to the King with the single tear was his apology because in saying no, was the only way for the king to let him go and fight him seriously...
Overall the movie was gripping, I always think Asian films just go overboard with straight sex like they're trying to redeem themselves for some reason, but the whole film kept me invested
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If I will be given a chance, I really want to change how it ends because it so painful.
I despised the king because of what he had done to his lover yet I understand the cause he was madly in-love. I hope he just made sacrifices and set free his lover with the queen. Time could tell if they were truly meant for each other.
This was truly a MASTERPIECE and fascinating because it was released in early 2000s.
I hope there will be more films having the same plot like this...
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Why the movie is named A Frozen Flower?
Well, I'm not gonna answer that question on this review, neither I gonna tell you nothing about the plot... I'm only going to say that if you after watching this movie are in need to ask what is the meaning of the story (like I see on other review), probably you won't be able to say why the name of the movie.The story is more oriented to explore human feelings than break your head with fancy ideas or deep plot twist. The acting was so good and the story telling is pretty easy to follow up. The scenes are well embroidered with the music.
At contrary of others review, the sexual scenes are filled with fully significance if you are aware of the little details, so calling them unnecessary is just result of overlooking one of the mains motives of the story.
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This review may contain spoilers
Discovered this 17 years later. beautiful tragic love story.
Things you need to know about me: I am a total and complete prude, I don't watch sexually explicit shows, I hate tragedies, and I hate gore. This is all of those. And it was exquisite. (I did close my eyes during the gore -- and there's a lot.) I've watched in four times since then.This is an intense, emotionally intense sexually explicit/sensual love story. It is highly erotic, and those scenes are beautiful. (and smoking hot too.) But even their glances at each other are sensual and you see their love bloom. It's not just the sex.
It does not have a happy ending, and yet I was satisfied with the ending. More on that later.
For the homosexual relationship, the king considers the ML as his lover. But as a pedophile and sexual predator, he cannot love him. He uses him and owns him. He believes he loves him. But it is a relationship with complete imbalance of power. You can see that the ML had no choice from the beginning, has lived with the king for years since he was a little child, is under his complete control, and is effectively the sex slave of the king. Subtle glimpses of this throughout -- his humiliation that he has to wear the delicate feminine clothes that the king gifts him in front of the soldiers he leads, and the mocking he endures by the other soldiers, who all know he is the "chosen one" of the king.
He is forced by the king to have sex with the FL, but you know that he is intrigued with and interested in her beforehand -- his glimpses of her before this event, and his gentleness in their first forced encounters reveals that. By the middle he is torn between knowing he is owned by the king, and his own love for the FL. He has guilt and despair knowing he is hurting the king. You see ML's experience of Stockholm syndrome throughout the film. In contrast, the two heterosexual main FL and ML experience a sexual explosion that leads them to experience a deep love for the first time in their lives. They are clearly smitten, not just sexually. You see his utter bliss of finally feeling loved and sexually fulfilled after being with the FL in different situations, not just sex. By the middle of the film, you see the ML pursuing his own desires and wishes, and not just being used. He pursued the FL (not just sexually) as opposed to his relationship with the king, where he is the pursued, and, now knowing what love truly is, he has to bear it. For the FL, who is also being used, she also discovers that the ML loves her, and is blissful and fulfilled for the first time.
The three main actors are unbelievable in their parts. The ML actor is INCREDIBLE. His every subtle expression -- you have to see the film more than once to see how brilliant he is.
Why I was satisfied with the ending: despite knowing that their life-changing love will end in tragedy -- the ending is beautiful -- because both the ML and FL realize that the other loves them (no one ever has before) they both stand up to the king and speak their truth, despite knowing the consequences. The ML breaks free from his abuser and tells him, "I never loved you! I love the queen!!" Their love for each other has given him courage and power to break off his shackles and stand up to the king, no matter the cost. There's some misunderstanding about whether ML loves the king. It's very clear to me he doesn't and never did. There would be no need for him to lie at the end when his life as about to be over. When he turns to the king at the end, he is NOT showing he loves him. He's making sure the king is dead so he doesn't go after the queen.
It's utterly beautiful. I highly recommend it.
Sincerely, the utter prude with delicate sensibilities.
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Mind blowing
This movie literally blew my brain up and changed my worldview. It was shocking and beautiful. It was my first experience with this type of production and the last one. There is simply nothing like A Frozen Flower.It is not a perfect movie, but it is certainly an interesting aesthetic experience. The story itself is beautiful, but a little shocking, so for me personally, it's a beautiful film that I never come back to.
Without a doubt, the best thing about the movie is the story itself. I must also praise the costumes and photos. The music is not memorable to me, hence the slightly lower rating.
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