The South Korean movie “Gwanghae, The Man Who Became King” is a great example of both popularity and artistry. Aside from screen monopolization and volume, the movie has a lot going for it in South Korea, which is enough to attract 10 million viewers.
Kwang Hae-gun is the second son of an ancestor, whose mother is Gong Bin Kim. He is the son of a concubine, not the son of a prince. Seonjo originally did not want to appoint Gwanghae-gun as his successor, but when the Imjin War broke out and his favorite holy army was killed, he was forced to appoint Gwanghae-gun as his successor. Gwanghae-gun then led the temporary adjustment on behalf of his fleeing ancestor, and rose to prominence during the Imjin War. After the Imjin War ended, Ancestor, who had been on the run, became jealous when Gwanghae-gun was praised by the people for his role in the Imjin War, and tried to change the czar to Yeongchang-daegun. While the Youngjeongjeong and the vassals are in favor of the change, Sejah dies, and Gwanghae-gun ascends to the throne. As king, Gwanghae-gun’s support base was weak, and he was caught up in party strife and threatened with death. When Gwanghae is threatened by a group of people who want to kill him, he orders his loyalist Heo Gyun to find a substitute who looks like him. However, the real Gwanghae wanders into the Sutra after his opponents burn poppies in his rice and eat them. At this point, Heo Gyun brings in the fake Gwanghae, who has been acting as a clown in the streets of Yogyakarta without anyone realizing it, and has him act as the real king.
This movie is a fictionalized version of a 15-day period that is not recorded in history. A fake Gwanghae was created, and the movie’s content was fictionalized. In fact, it’s not really a historical drama. Rather, it’s more of a comedy or drama in terms of genre. It’s a movie set in a bygone era, but it’s more fictionalized than historical drama. What elements of the movie captivated audiences?
First of all, the centerpiece is Korean actor Lee Byung-hun. Lee Byung-hun is the actor who plays the role of Gwanghae. No matter how solid the story is or how good the director is, a great actor can make a movie. Lee Byung-heon was born in 1970 and debuted as a 14th season KBS talent. Although he looks younger than his 20s, he is a veteran actor who delivers masterful performances that everyone recognizes. Lee Byung-heon is one of the few luxury handsome actors who has proven his acting skills and box office power through his roles in “JSA,” “Sweet Life,” “All In,” and “The Good, the Bad, and the Weird. He is considered a luxury actor alongside Song Kang-ho, Kim Yoon-seok, and Seol Kyung-gu. However, when I first saw the trailer, my first thought was, “Eh? Lee Byung-heon in a historical drama and as a king?” Lee Byung-heon has never appeared in a sageuk before, and I didn’t think he would fit in at all with his usual image. But I was wrong. Anyone who watches the movie will point their finger and say, “It’s Lee Byung-heon!” In the movie, Lee played the role of the real Gwanghae and the fake Gwanghae (Ha Sun). The real Gwang-hae is mentally exhausted and physically exhausted, filled with the fear that his opponents will kill him. Ha Sun, on the other hand, is a clown who impersonates the king on the streets of Korea and brings laughter to the drinking parties of the nobility. Lee Byung-heon does a great job of alternating between Gwanghae’s real-life majesty and his inner fear of his opponents, and Ha Sun’s small-town, down-to-earth persona. One of the most powerful scenes is when Ha Sun defecates. In the old days, the king did not use a toilet, but a wooden toilet called a ‘verytul’ in the room to relieve himself. For Ha Sun, who always used to go to the bathroom alone, it must have been quite embarrassing to defecate in front of the court ladies. Furthermore, the awkward and embarrassed expressions on the court ladies’ faces when they chorus “We salute you” after seeing the geasa are beyond words. The audience may not have been impressed by the charismatic real-life Gwanghae’s performance, but when Lee Byung-heon played Ha Sun, it was refreshing to see a different side of Lee Byung-heon. Through this movie, I was able to discover a new side of Lee Byung-heon as an actor.
Also, the movie is interesting because it shows a new side of the king that the public didn’t know. In history textbooks and various books, we usually only know about the king’s official achievements. In this movie, however, the fake Gwanghae, Ha Sun, shows us the various things that happen when he becomes king. Through the perspective of a character who doesn’t know anything about the royal life, we get a fresh look at what happens in the middle of a king’s life. As mentioned above, the fact that the king uses a ‘verytul’ instead of using the restroom is jokingly expressed, and the king’s late-night snacking on various refreshments is also portrayed in a humorous way. In this way, the king’s life outside of state affairs is shown in a way that makes people feel close to him.
The timing of the movie’s release was also a factor in its box office success. In general, the peak seasons for movie theaters in Korea are January-February and June-August, because January-February is also the winter vacation period for students, and it’s cold, so many people go to movie theaters where they can enjoy warmth indoors rather than other cultural activities. June to August is also the summer vacation period, when students are in high demand for movies. Of the top 20 highest-grossing movies of all time, all of them were released during the peak theater season, except for “Gwanghae, The Man Who Became King,” which was released in September. While Citizen Kane was released in what is typically considered the off-season for theaters, September was different this year. This is because there is a presidential election at the end of the year. You might ask, what does a presidential election have to do with the timing of a movie release? A movie about a king comes out just before the presidential election. Currently, South Korea is a republic without a king, which means that the president acts as a leader to guide the country like a king used to. The public may have been more enthusiastic about the movie because they saw in it the leader we really want. The timing of the movie was also perfect for its popularity, as the public was looking for an ideal leader in the run-up to the presidential election, and Hassan (the fake madman) provided that role model.
Finally, perhaps the biggest contributors to the movie’s success were the storyline and the engaging character of Ha Sun. The movie is quite a long movie, with a running time of 2 hours and 11 minutes. However, unlike other movies, Hassan is the main character for most of the movie. In other movies, the main character is the focus of the movie, which can have the side effect of making the movie too boring and disengaging, but in this movie, the little gags that she does keep the movie interesting and engaging. By focusing on the events that happen to her rather than the other characters, the audience can more easily relate to her feelings. In addition, the character of Ha Sun is a clown who has to live a hard life by entertaining the audience and trying to please the nobility. This is similar to our lives at work, where we struggle to get through the day while keeping an eye on our superiors. Here, the audience becomes even more immersed in Ha Sun. He becomes king, albeit for a short period of time. At first, he is a clumsy, timid, and cowardly “fake” king, but as time goes by, he gradually becomes a “real” king who cares for his people and country. As the movie unfolds, there is a meeting with the viziers to discuss the state of affairs regarding the Ming Dynasty’s dispatch of the Yuan army. He urges Ha Sun not to say anything and to just listen, because he is not the king, he is just a substitute. The ministers press him to send the people and the troops in order to uphold the example of the Ming Dynasty. In this scene, Ha Sun shouts out as the people of the country and as the king.
“The lives of my people are a hundred times more important to me than the example you speak of, the example you speak of!”
This line would have been cathartic for most of the public. They felt vicariously satisfied to see a true king scolding his vassals for the sake of his people and the suppressed voices of his subjects. In this movie, ‘Gwanghae, The Man Who Became King’ captivates people’s hearts by making them immerse themselves through ‘disembarkation’. As such, ‘The Man Who Became King’ is a movie that deserves to break through the 10 million audience mark without the monopolization of the screen or the volume offensive of large distributors.
