The fishing hook found in a Michelin-star-fish-meal for a high level guest
A male chef waking up in new female body, a Queen in a different time period.
The chef realizing his 'path' back to the modern world and his male body is temporarily blocked.
The King hiding porn in his book of current state affairs
The loyal Eunuch of the King destroying the-said-book to save his master from extreme embarrassment .
The Queen quietly jubilating that she graced her coronation without wearing a bra
The catchy theme tune 'Bong Hwan A' at the end of the episode
And this is only the first episode...imagine what happens in the next ones!
The series written by Park Gye Ok, centers around the story of a man, a chef thrown back in time to the Joseon era/Kingdom into the body of Queen Cheorin. The K-drama stars Shin Hye-Sun as Kim So-ong , Queen Cheorin and Kim Jung-Hyun as Yi Won-Beonm, King Cheoljong.
There is some controversy around this drama... firstly the alleged claims it is an exact rip off of the Chinese drama Go Princess Go, secondly the fear that audiences may think it is an accurate historical and 'disrespectful' depiction because they use the real names of people who existed (note: it is not a real depiction), and thirdly that it prompts discussions on sexuality and gender which are not addressed in depth. Even while typing this review I know my use of the correct pronouns may be all over the place. My sincere apologies in advance.
So what made this a brilliant enjoyable watch for me?
1. The Superb Acting and Comic Timing of the Royal Servants
2. The Main Characters Magnetic 'No-touchy' Chemistry
Yooooooo, I love watching these two bicker! These actors just played off each other so well and the chemistry was off the charts! I looked forward to every scene that they were in together. At first, the Queen spends her time avoiding consummating her marriage to the King, and trying to return to the modern world and her male body. In turn, the King avoids her too, because of his distain of the Andong Kim family. They disrespect him in court and make it clear he is an inexperienced 'puppet' King. This is an arranged marriage, forced on the King to keep the most powerful family at the top. That's our dramatic tension.
Awkward and outspoken the Queen 's role is played so well by Shin Hye-sun, in collaboration with Choi Jin Hyuk. Through her internal dialogue, we remain convinced that Jang-Bong-Hwan lives inside her. Forgetting sometimes that he is in a women's body or maybe even rebelling against his seemly doomed situation, the queen heading to a brothel in the middle of the night or hitting on her fellow co-wives by writing them secret love letters just added to the comedy. My favorite moment was the Queen twerking in the palace courtyard while it was raining to the utter dismay of Court Lady Choi; then rebuking the King when he humbly approached her to apologize and share his umbrella.
A lot of dialogue happens in the minds of characters during this k-drama, most especially for the Queen. The fact that they were able to sustain this throughout many episodes and keep it amusing and enthralling, speaks to the talent of the cast, the director and the scriptwriter. Usually internal dialogue works well on paper but becomes very boring in film. Not the case with this series!
3. Political Intrigue and Suspense
Like every ancient royal drama there is the essential fight for the throne, for power and for influence! So we don't just spend every episode giggling, we are also intrigued.
What's going to happen next?
Who is going to win?
Will my favorites die?
Even though this is a fictional series, knowing that in the present day Korea is no longer ruled by a monarch somehow adds to the suspense.
Will they try to incorporate some historical elements, even though the story is purely fiction?
I was enjoyably kept me on my toes, holding my breath till the very last minutes of the the very last episode! There are some great characters and elements that add to the thrill and the suspense...
The Andong Kim Family clan though the Grand Queen Dowager ( Bae Jong-Ok) and her brother Kim Jwa Geun (Kim Tae Woo) are vying for power against the Poongyang Jo family through the Queen Dowager (Jo Yun Hee) and the royal concubine Jo Hwa Jin (Seol In A). We learn most of the history about this ancient family feud through Jang-Bong-Hwan's internal dialogue.
Jo Hwa Jin, the royal concubine added to the intensity in the beginning because she was part of the love triangle between the King and the Queen. Her character arc was a bit 'meeeeh' towards the end. She had integrity, which means there wasn't much for the writers to work with later on, so she bows out gracefully. #Justmytwocents
Then there's the Queen dowager and her witchcraft tendencies...
Lastly, the cinematography is good. It sooooo much a part of the storytelling you hardly notice how clever the crew was at making the story flow so easily for the audience . There are some ingenious moments, you'll know when you see them.
posters/photos downloaded from Hancinema
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