reviews_and_ramblings | A Frozen Flower (Ssang-hwa-jeom) (2008) directed by Ha Yu

A historical drama set in the Koryo dynasty and focused on the relationship between a king and his bodyguard.

Director: Ha Yu

Writer: Ha Yu (screenplay)

Release Date: 30 December 2008 (South Korea)
11 October 2009 (Chicago International Film Festival, USA)

Genres: Drama, History, Romance

Storyline: The king of Goryeo Dynasty Korea attempts to shake off the dominance of Yuan Dynasty China and establish an autonomous state. He forms a palace guard composed of thirty six young soldiers, led by military commander Hong-rim. But the king faces betrayal when Hong-rim falls in love with both him and his rival, the Yuan Dynasty queen.

The Goryeo King is under pressure from his Yuan rulers to either produce an heir, or name his cousin the Crown Prince, which he resolutely refuses to do. Although married, the King's true love is not his wife, the Queen, but his chief bodyguard, Hong Lim. During his marriage he has never so much as touched the Queen. One day the King asks Hong Lim to sleep with his wife, assuming that would solve the issue of his succession as long as a royal son is produced. Instead it begins a vicious love triangle filled with forbidden lust, betrayal, and uncontrolled revenge.

Awards: 2009 Won Baek Sang Film Art Award as Best Actor to Jin-mo Ju
2010 Orient Express Section Special Jury Award to Ha Yu, Fantasporto

@IMDb
@Amazon: A Frozen Flower (2008)
@Netflix

Cast (in credits order)
Jin-mo Ju ... King
Ji-hyo Song ... Queen
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
In-seong Jo ... Hong-rim
Hong Jong-Hyeon
Hyeon-woo Kim
In-beom Ko ... Yeon Ki-mok
Tae-won Kwon ... Jo Il-moon
Ju-hwan Lim ... Han-baek
Ji-hyeon Min ... Concubine
Min-wu Noh ... Min-wu
Ji-ho Shim ... Seung-gi
Jung-ki Song ... King's men - No-tak
Wook-hwan Yeo ... Im-bo

The Chief and the King

A Frozen Flower (Ssang-hwa-jeom) (2008) directed by Ha Yu

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I have this movie for more than a year and I have never seen it before since I had the feeling it was probably magnificent but also very sad. And if you don't want to be spoiled stop to read here.

The Eastern movies are always like that, I'm not an expert but probably there is even a word to define this trend, but they are always epic (even when they are contemporary) and tragic. The setting is usually rich and splendid, the passion is on an high level, but the spectator knows that the tragedy is just behind.

A Frozen Flower is maybe not exactly a gay themed movie. The King is for sure homosexual, he has no desire at all for women, he has 1 Queen and 4 concubines, but he is not able to perform with any of them. He is impotent, but only with women; he is indead very much in love with his Chief Captain, a boy he has raised with other 36 boys to become his personal guard. Chief has never seen anything else if not his King, and when he is picked to be not only his personal guard, but also his lover, he doesn't question. I think Chief is in love with King, but he is also bisexual, and when the King asks him to impregnate his Queen, he has the first chanche to "taste" something different. Chief thinks to be in love with the Queen, he is convinced, but I think he has simply never seen anything else. When faced with what he has done, his loyalty is with the King. For this reason I didn't like the character of the Queen, I think that most of the tragedy is a consequence of her actions.

There is one homoerotic sex scenes, but then most of the sex is between Chief and the Queen, and sometime it was even too much: it was really aesthetic, but then the director indulged too much and it became unnecessary.

In any case, I think the fans of historical movies will like this one, above all if they are also lovers of Eastern culture. By the way the sword fights (when they happen between the two) are wonderful, almost a dance.

It certainly looks gorgeous, and I know what you mean about the grim, fatalistic trend in Asian films. What you describe sounds to me like it's along the lines of the 'tragic doomed gay' stories of most patriarchal cultures--anyone who doesn't follow the "Pass Down Your DNA" edict winds up dead. For all the differences in culture, the basic idea sounds more or less like Marlowe's Edward II.

Indead not only there is the tragedy of having to produce an heir when you are basically impotent with women, there is also the jealousy of discovering that, where you (the King) are basically homosexual, the love of your life is instead bisexual. In a modern contest, the obvious solution would have been to have a menages a trois, but in the tragic contest of this historical drama, the love of the King for his Chief was too strong to allow that.

Wow, this looks intriguing - going to check Amazon. :)

It's more bisexual than gay, but the setting is wonderful and I like both the men characters, of course the King, even if crazy with jelaousy, is my favorite.

Oh. My. The, um, costumes are simply lovely.

it's very "rich", in costume and setting, if you like that style, it's a joy for the eyes even if the movie is tragic

Usually I'm *very* spoilerphobic. However, I've learned that, when it comes to gay Asian cinema, I have to know how the movie is going to end lest I get my heart broken about a particular couple or character.

I once watched a pretty cool-looking, OK-acted M/M Thai movie that, although serious, had me thinking I would see the M/M couple in a HEA. Imagine my surprise as the film reaches the end and the ending is SO downbeat I was tempted to throw the movie into the trashcan! (I didn't because it was rented, but it left me a really sour taste in my mouth.)

Maybe I'll rent "A Frozen Flower" when it comes on DVD here. The fact that I now know NOT to put any expectations on the couple's end makes me think that I could sit through it. Maybe.

Well, it's not much of a spoiler ;-) the movie is so tragic from the beginning that indead I would have been surprise to find an HEA. But the acting and the setting is very good, so it's worth the sight.

Even before reading your comment, I had the impression that this would be a visibly stunning, but very tragic movie. The still shots shown above are gorgeous.

Definitely visibly stunning and definitely tragic ;-) so you are warned.

This Korea movie usually compared with another movie "King and the Clown".They both are historical drama ,have great costumes.
"King and the Clown" maybe is not exactly a gay themed movie , but the love between Gong-gil and Cheo-sun is touching!
The actor(Gong-gil)'s performance is wonderful,and pretty than woman!

I added The King and the Clown to my "to be seen" list

I've just seen the movie, it’s utterly beautiful, shocking, and sad. The director shows the cheating very raw way and it has its chilling effect. I think the king was a kind of person who is rather cheated instead of cheating himself, or rather killed than forced to kill himself his beloved. I've seen the movie even in Russian and dialogs between the boys are not that curt as in English, they are more informal, affectionate and natural for the long term couple, and you have an impression that they really lived day by day like a couple, which I didn't get from the English translation. And you are true, each their sword fight was like a lovers dance.

Thank you for the comment. I'm glad when I can have another opinion on a movie I liked. This was one movie that you don't easily forget.

A Frozen Flower (Ssang-hwa-jeom) (2008) directed by Ha Yu

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Forgives my bad English ....>"<

Re: Forgives my bad English ....>"<

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