“History is a common asset, not a bowl that a filmmaker can lock in his own world. Reinterpreting history in a director’s own way is a job requiring a grave sense of responsibility.”
“About 70 to 80 percent of the lines are from the historical materials. I closely looked into all available history records such as the Annals of the Joseon Dynasty and the Diaries of the Royal Secretariat with the film’s three screenwriters. The film is different from other TV dramas that previously depicted the same story in that it focused on the complex relationship between the lead characters.”
- Lee Joon-ik, director of “The Throne”
Filmmaker Lee Joon-ik of “The Throne” (image: Yonhap)
SEOUL, Sept. 8 (Korea Bizwire) – Even for Lee Joon-ik, a veteran director who previously made nine feature films, including four period dramas, making a film about the famous historical tale of Sado, an ill-fated crown prince of Joseon Dynasty (1392-1910), proved to be a grueling task.
His upcoming film “The Throne” is a period genre picture that aims to shed new light on the most tragic family story in the history of the dynasty by trying to find out exactly what drove King Yeongjo to confine his only son, crown prince Sado, to a rice chest and slowly starved him to death.
The top Korean movie star Song Kang-ho and rising star Yoo Ah-in played King Yeongjo and Sado, respectively.
The film intertwines the story, moving back and forth between the present and the past, to condense the 56-year-long history spanning three-generations of the royal family, based on history records as much as possible.
The director, whose 2005 costume film “King And The Clown” was a big commercial success, drawing more than 12 million viewers, excluded no entertaining elements such as action, violent or obscene scenes to focus on the drama.
Still, Lee says his goal was to catch two rabbits in a single stroke — making both a meaningful and commercially successful film — with the new film.
“Anxiety,” he answered when asked what was his biggest challenge. “Meeting the public after making a film is a really scary thing.”
(Yophap)
