The kings of Joseon are almost exclusively portrayed either as genuine twits or tyrant rulers who abuse their powers. The king, as played by Lee Sun-gyun in "The King's Case Note", comes off as a rather happy-go-lucky leader who acts like Sherlock Holmes and even knows a few magic tricks. Any resemblance to factual persons, living or dead, is definitely accidental.
This king, therefore, personally neutralises the threat of the usual plot to overthrow him. He does this alongside his own dr. Watson, the pie-faced eunuch Yoon (Ahn Jae-hong), who comes to the palace as a "royal historian" to keep a record of the king's movements. Yoon has a photographic memory to boot. The king calls him Obo, meaning Five Steps, because that's as far from the king as he is permitted to be. Yoon actually gets "promoted" to Sambo (Three Steps) later.
The plot, as the say, is slight. There is the obligatory old men's club of bearded conspirators who sit in darkly lit rooms, simply because, I guess, they have traditions to uphold. The main villain, played by veteran bad guy Kim Hee-won, is so evil that he even slices a maid in half simply for overhearing them. They want to replace the king to gain control of the country's trade. Or something to that affect. Yes, they're from the north. And yes, the movie does have a scene where assassins jump over the palace walls in the darkness with tom-tom- toms on the soundtrack. This is in every Korean period piece. Every single one.
The king and his eunuch remains in focus, though, and together they make this a Korean comedy that does not contain tragic melodrama. Or a love story. Or women in general. The king performs an autopsy. He even explains scientifically how a witch or shaman makes her bottles rattle (they supposedly contain human souls). The king also wants to catch a Nessie-like "ghost fish" wreaking havoc in northern rivers, which means that we get to see the king laid back on the boat with a fishing rod in his hand, to the pluck-pluck notes of a gayageum on the soundtrack. Sure sounds like a first in a period piece.
The two main characters only have to change names and professions to make this movie another instalment in the Detective K-series with Kim Myung-min and Oh Dal-soo. I liked it. It has a lighter and different approach to the material, with little violence, and no sex or nudity. And it would be kind of cool to have this guy as my king.
This king, therefore, personally neutralises the threat of the usual plot to overthrow him. He does this alongside his own dr. Watson, the pie-faced eunuch Yoon (Ahn Jae-hong), who comes to the palace as a "royal historian" to keep a record of the king's movements. Yoon has a photographic memory to boot. The king calls him Obo, meaning Five Steps, because that's as far from the king as he is permitted to be. Yoon actually gets "promoted" to Sambo (Three Steps) later.
The plot, as the say, is slight. There is the obligatory old men's club of bearded conspirators who sit in darkly lit rooms, simply because, I guess, they have traditions to uphold. The main villain, played by veteran bad guy Kim Hee-won, is so evil that he even slices a maid in half simply for overhearing them. They want to replace the king to gain control of the country's trade. Or something to that affect. Yes, they're from the north. And yes, the movie does have a scene where assassins jump over the palace walls in the darkness with tom-tom- toms on the soundtrack. This is in every Korean period piece. Every single one.
The king and his eunuch remains in focus, though, and together they make this a Korean comedy that does not contain tragic melodrama. Or a love story. Or women in general. The king performs an autopsy. He even explains scientifically how a witch or shaman makes her bottles rattle (they supposedly contain human souls). The king also wants to catch a Nessie-like "ghost fish" wreaking havoc in northern rivers, which means that we get to see the king laid back on the boat with a fishing rod in his hand, to the pluck-pluck notes of a gayageum on the soundtrack. Sure sounds like a first in a period piece.
The two main characters only have to change names and professions to make this movie another instalment in the Detective K-series with Kim Myung-min and Oh Dal-soo. I liked it. It has a lighter and different approach to the material, with little violence, and no sex or nudity. And it would be kind of cool to have this guy as my king.
