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- Korean History Seen through LEE Joon-ik’s Films
- by Kim Hyun-jung / Oct 21, 2015
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It takes longer to study a chapter in the history textbook than watching a film. However, what stays longer in the memory is usually a film rather than a textbook. The 6 million or so viewers who have seen The Throne will remember King Yeongjo more clearly for the alleged crime of poisoning his brother Gyeongjong or starving his son to death in a rice chest, rather than for his numerous great achievements during his 52 years in the reign. Though not seemingly fair, it is the power of the film.LEE Joon-ik, director of The Throne, has so far made 7 period films including soon to be released DONGJU; The Portrait of A Poet. It occupies more than a half of his entire filmography, a total of 12 including Kisses from Spring, a short documentary. Just by watching his films, you may learn quite a bit about the most important moments of Korean history.Once Upon A Time In A Battlefield and Battlefield Heroes deal with two critical events in the unification of Three Kingdoms in the 7th century. One is Battle of Hwangsanbeol in 660 which became the fatal blow to destroy Baekje and the other is the defeat of the Pyongyang Castle in 668 that played a major part in Goguryeo’s surrender. If you are wondering which event took place first, just think which General KIM Yu-shin (both played by actor JUNG Jin-young) looks older.King And The Clown deals with the Restoration of Jungjong in 1506 where the 10th king of Joseon, Yeonsangun, is expelled and his half brother prince Jinseong takes the throne; Blades of Blood surveys the Japanese Invasion of Joseon in 1592.And into the modern era, LEE examines the two periods that left the deepest wounds in modern Korean history, along with the Korean War, and they are the Japanese Occupation and the Vietnam War. DONGJU; The Portrait of A Poet looks back on the life of YOON Dong-ju, a young poet who died at the age of 28, only half a year prior to the Korean Indepence; and Sunny depicts the Vietnam War where 300 thousand or more Korean soldiers were sent, of which 16 thousand soldiers died or wounded.
Although a film is a fiction, some films stay very long with the viewers and become the truth for them. That is why films on history bear heavy responsibility.
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