King and the Clown

King and the Clown Hangul hanja RRWangui Namja , lit. The Kings Man is a 2005 South Korean historical drama film, starring Kam Woosung, Jung Jinyoung and Lee Joongi. It was adapted from the 2000 stage play, Yi You about Yeonsangun of Joseon, a Joseon dynasty king and a court clown who mocks him. It was released onDecember 2005, runs for 119 minutes and distributed domestically by Cinema Service and internationally by CJ Entertainment.

Set in the late 15th century during the reign of King Yeonsan, two male street clowns and tightrope walkers, Jangsaeng Kam Woosung and Gonggil Lee Joongi, are part of an entertainer troupe. Their manager prostitutes the beautiful Gonggil to rich customers, and Jangsaeng is sickened by this practice. After Gonggil kills the manager in defense of Jangsaeng, the pair flee to Seoul, where they form a new group with three other street performers.Together the group comes up with a skit mocking some members of the royal court, including the king and his new concubine Jang Noksu. After they are arrested for treason, Jangsaeng makes a deal with Choseon, who turns out to be one of the kings servants, either to make the king laugh at their skit or to be executed. They perform their skit for the king, but the three minor performers are too terrified to perform well. Gonggil and Jangsaeng barely save themselves with one last joke at the king, who laughs and then makes them part of his court. The king falls for the effeminate Gonggil, whom he calls to his private chambers often to perform finger puppet shows. Jangsaeng becomes jealous of this relationship. Meanwhile, the king becomes more and more unstable. He makes the clowns perform a skit depicting how his mother, the favorite concubine of the former king, was forced to take poison after being betrayed by other jealous concubines. The king then slaughters these concubines at the end of the play. Jangsaeng asks Gonggil to leave with him and the gang at once before the king kills them too during one of his homicidal fits. Gonggil, who initially sympathized with the king, begs the tyrant to give him his freedom but the king refuses. ........

Source: Wikipedia