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2015｜113 MIN | Epics/Historical, Drama
DIRECTOR AHN Sang-hoon
RELEASE DATE March 5, 2015
CONTACT CJ Entertainment
Tel +82 2 371 8147  | Fax  +82 2 371 6340 
E-mail justinkim@cj.net

Looking at AHN Sang-hoon’s previous film Blind (2011), his newest title Empire of Lust as a hot melodrama is a surprise. Blind was a moderate success with 2 million admissions at the domestic box office, and in it, a blind woman becomes witness to a murder. The thriller’s tight plot stood out. If Blind was a cold thriller film, Empire of Lust takes the opposite route and deals with a historic event from the Joseon Dynasty through a boiling hot love story.
 
Set in the early Joseon Dynasty, Taejo LEE Sung-gye (played by SON Byung-ho) and Prince YI Bang-won (JANG Hyuk) fight for the right to the crown in Empire of Lust. The supreme commander KIM Min-jae (SHIN Ha-kyun) promises loyalty to the king but after falling in love with a beautiful gi-saeng named Ga-hee (KANG Han-na), he becomes torn. Son of KIM Min-jae and the husband to the princess is Jin (KANG Ha-nuel) who fall to the corrupted life in the midst of the power struggle.

 

Empire of Lust focuses on the tainted history, the secrets surrounding the power struggles, as well as forbidden love. The political tension in the beginning of the film will pull in the audiences, but what director AHN really wanted to talk about is the strange fate of Ga-hee and KIM Min-jae, the man who would give his all to the woman he loves. Although he had promised his life to the king, he opens his eyes to love and ends up being a key movement in a political reform. The story is a ‘faction’ which is an amalgamation of historical records and fictional elements.

SHIN Ha-kyun plays the protagonist Min-jae, while JANG Hyuk also stars in the film who has often played in period dramas. Rising star KANG Ha-nuel and KANG Han-na are also a part of the cast. Especially having SHIN partake in a melodrama is an accomplishment for Empire of Lust. With detailed research and efforts to present early Joseon through the film’s art and costumes differentiated itself from other period films based in the Joseon era. With its mix of action and melodrama, Empire of Lust aims to gain the attention of the mature audiences.