Ssang-hwa-jeom
a.k.a.
A Frozen Flower (2008)
a.k.a.
A Frozen Flower (2008)
Directed by Yoo Ha, "A Frozen Flower", is a gorgeous looking Korean movie set in ancient Goryeo Dynasty, which tells the story of forbidden love between the king and his chief bodyguard. This beautifully-told story wraps together love, passion, lust, relationships, jealousy, betrayal, and even action. The acting was simply incredible! Kudos to Joo Jinmo for his excellent portrayal of the king. Joo played his characters so beautifully and gripping - his emotions just smoldered through his eyes. The film captured Hong's emotional ambiguity and turmoil, as well - you can sense the oppression and the dilemma between obligation and the desire to follow the heart. Song Hi-Jyo, also did a wonderful job as much playing the ice-queen. Despite "A Frozen Flower" was marked as a gay movie, it contains very little in gay eroticis and a lot more heterosexual scenes between the bodyguard and the queen. Visually the film is bright, colorful and breathtakingly lush, and often reminds of Zhang Yimou's "Curse of the Golden Flower". The cinematography is spectacularly lavish, richly detailed and stunningly beautiful, and the vivid use of color is definitely very pretty to look at. Although the fight/swordplay sequences are few and far between, they're nicely-choreographed, realistic, intense and, last but not least, very well-edited. Yoo Ha's directing is top-notch and extremely precise, and the music score is mesmerizing. Although certain sex scenes felt somewhat unnecessary and film's conclusion was a bit unsatisfying, "A Frozen Flower" is a near masterpiece, that is deeply captivating, both visually and emotionally!
- My Rating: 8.75/10
- Rotten Tomatoes: N/A
- IMDb: 7.1/10
2 comments:
Never really like this film except for Song Ji-hyo's nude scene ;)
Character development is barely emphasized here, what with the one-dimensional presentation of the King as an outright villain for most of the film. The transition from hate to love between Hong Lim and the Queen is also handled rather abruptly without much buildup.
I Don't even know what to say... I completely disagree about the king! Jealousy is a negative and powerful emotion that reveals the evilness in you and takes you under control. That's why the king was presented as a villain.
Hong didn't hate the Queen, and neither she hated him. They barely known each other...barely ever even spoke to each other! And suddenly they were forced to become physically close and intimate. And then love appeared...:)
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