NYAFF REVIEW: ‘The Throne’ charts troubled father-son relationship in Joseon Dynasty

Lee Joon-ik’s The Throne is a marvel to behold. The two-hour drama, set in the Joseon Dynasty of Korea, follows the tribulations of King Yeongjo (Song Kang-ho) and his son, Crown Prince Sado (Yoo Ah-in). Although Sado is the heir to the throne, the king will not give up his trusted seat without instilling his strict rules and regulations, all inspired by his belief in Confucian doctrine.

Yeongjo is a man of tradition and expectation. He doesn’t like surprises and wants everything and everyone to be in precise order. He runs meetings with his advisers efficiently and resolutely. Everyone in his presence bows, acquiesces and follows his guidelines … everyone except his own son, Sado.

The crown prince eventually becomes regent, a position that lets him have authority at the advisory meetings, but the king is upset with his son’s decision-making. He doesn’t study enough, doesn’t think enough and doesn’t have the future of the dynasty in mind. From Sado’s perspective, his father’s unrelenting criticism is bad for business and demoralizing. It would seem that Sado can’t make a move or say a word without receiving a harsh rebuke from the king.

Using a timeline that jumps back and forth between the prince’s younger days and his present predicament, Joon-ik has the narrative focus on the regality of the king’s 50-year reign. Tradition and pageantry are part of everyday life, and the director brings these cultural practices to wondrous life.

But the pageantry also yields to the dramatic story at the movie’s center: Sado upsets his father so much, and steps over the line too far, that the king decides to imprison his own son in a rice chest for more than a week. The conditions the crown prince must endure are frightening and maddening, causing him to lose his last shred of sanity.

As the king, Kang-ho offers a powerful and effective performance. He exudes respect and determination. One glance from him and people listen intently. He always falls back on his Confucian teaching and refuses to budge for his son and his newer ways. Kang-ho has the perfect voice to instill fear in the crown prince, and his stone-cold face can cause nightmares. He comes off as brutish and unwilling to negotiate, but deep under the surface is a father yearning for his son to accept his spot in the royal lineage.

Ah-in as the crown prince has the flashier of the two roles. The audience sees his emotions as he stumbles from one scene to the next. It starts as mild retreats from his father’s ways, but eventually the chasm between the two is too large to overcome. Ah-in’s Sado turns to alcohol and carousing to calm his frayed nerves, and this further aggravates the monarch.

Joon-ik should be commended for depicting such an infamous chapter in Korean history with near-perfect resonance and power. He captures excellent performances from his two lead actors and brings together the best costumes, sets and cinematography to tell this regal tale. The screenplay by Cho Chul-hyun, Lee Song-won and Oh Seung-hyeon is unique for its broken timeline that shifts between the time of Sado’s tortuous imprisonment to the past when there was still promise in the air.

The film is part of the New York Asian Film Festival at the Film Society of Lincoln Center.

By John Soltes / Publisher / John@HollywoodSoapbox.com

• The Throne
• In Korean with English subtitles
• 2015
• Directed by Lee Joon-ik
• Written by Cho Chul-hyun, Lee Song-won and Oh Seung-hyeon
• Starring Song Kang-ho, Yoo Ah-in, Moon Geun-young and So Ji-sub
• Running time: 125 minutes
• Rating: