a frozen flower movie review

A Frozen Flower: Movie recap and review

By sevenses.

Just a word of warning – the movie does deal with adult content, so I would like to respectfully ask people to stay away if they cannot be mature about the discussion. Thank you!

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Frozen Flower, a Review

In which Joo Jin-mo plays the king, Jo In-sung plays his loyal guard Hong Lim, and Song Ji-hyo plays the queen.

In short, the story takes place during the Goryeo dynasty, and the king portrayed in the movie formed his own group of elite bodyguards called the Kunryongwe. Hong Lim is the captain of these guards. The queen is a princess of Mongolian Yuan, and the movie revolves around the love triangle that forms around the three of them.

From the time of his introduction as a little boy in training to become one of the Kunryongwe, Hong Lim is shown as loyal and dedicated to a fault. He may not be the best swordsman, but he would always be the one to practice the longest. His devotion soon caught the notice of the king, who cherished him as a close companion.

Of course, this companionship comes with a price, and the first foreshadowing hints of trouble to come when the princess of Yuan arrives and is summarily ignored by the king. Hong Lim seems vaguely disturbed at this, but his king doesn’t care at all.

Fast-forward 10 years, to the present, when a group of the Kunryongwe is in hot pursuit of a runaway member. Han-baek, a junior guard, has decided to elope with a palace maid, which is obviously against the rules.

This carries a death sentence for both the maid and the guard, but Hong Lim is close enough to the king to be able to persuade him otherwise. The king treats Hong Lim with an abundance of affection and allows him the sort of freedom rarely given to even the queen.

Of course this incites jealousy from multiple quarters, one of them being that of the vice-captain. He taunts Hong Lim with using pillow-talk to distract the king from vital affairs, though Hong Lim’s skill with a sword usually puts an end to all the idle talk. He certainly isn’t ostracized and even seems beloved and well-respected by the other guards.

Anyway, the king and the captain of his guard are close. I think we get that by now, but just in case anyone has lingering doubts, there you go.

The queen comes to visit the king occasionally, but he just doesn’t give her the same kind of attention he does for Hong Lim, and everyone knows this as sort of an open secret in the palace. Unfortunately, her relatives are also coming to visit, and the continual lack of a royal heir is bound to come up as an issue. The problem isn’t the queen – the king has an abundance of concubines – it’s just that he’s gay.

However, the lack of an heir leaves the king open to deposition from the Yuan dynasty and treachery from his own nobles. The queen understands this, and in a secluded corner of the royal gardens, frigidly thanks Hong Lim for ‘taking care of something I should have done’. It’s a double-edged dagger kind of remark, because she’s referring to both his rescue of the palace maiden and (presumably) his place in the king’s bed every night. However, the queen reminds Hong Lim that in light of the royal heir problem, his devotion to the king may not be tolerated for much longer. Oh, the resentment, you can cut cubes of it and make stew.

On a rare outing from the palace, the king and queen relax and do their version of ‘kicking back’, but then assassins attack.

The Kunryongwe have been well-trained, and fight back relatively well. It’s just that the king, in defiance of all common-sense and self-preservation, refuses to leave with the queen. He wants to stay and make sure Hong Lim is alright. (Geez.)

Surprisingly, the king is much better at swordsmanship than any of his guards, which means he ends up rescuing Hong Lim a couple of times. As the fighting goes on, though, the two are outnumbered in the pavilion. Of course, narrative demands that the king gets hurt in trying to save Hong Lim. (Seriously, in this aspect he’s really the worst kind of ruler possible – doesn’t do anything to further the line and breaks all the rules for one person.)

The king survives being stabbed in the chest, and the first thing he does after waking up is to ask for Hong Lim and see if he ‘s okay. If anyone needs me, I’ll be in my corner, facepalming.

The investigation into the assassination points the finger at Lord Cho, who’s influential enough that even the Kunryongwe don’t dare to accuse without more proof. So for the moment the bodyguard are going with the ‘random Japanese pirates’ story, though Hong Lim commands further undercover investigating.

Meanwhile, back at court the Yuan ambassador is welcomed with open arms if not exactly smiles. In the absence of a royal heir, the Yuan emperor has decided to enthrone a distant cousin, the lord Kyungwon, as crown prince, thereby robbing the king of autonomy in his own country. (It’s all a little too ‘big brother is watching you’ for me.)

In addition, the Yuan dynasty also demands that Goryeo send soldiers and maidens to help in the fight against insurgents ‘enemies of the empire’. (If it’s fighting, what the hell do they need maidens for?) The attitude of the emissary, while not calculated to be humiliating, views the king as just another pawn of the Yuan empire. And to add injury to insult Lord Cho and presumably the new heir is fully prepared to agree with all the demands.

The queen is really angry at this, however, and rather unrealistically lashes out at the assembled lords for their lack of loyalty towards the rightful king. It’s nice that she’s willing to take the blame for not having an heir, and even defending the man who pretty much treats her as just another part of his kingship.

Later at night, the king urges her to go home before he becomes only a puppet king controlled by the Yuan. However, the queen has firmly settled her loyalty on her husband, and refuses to go. (Either she has feelings for him at this point, or I’m blind.)

Then the king mentions ‘another option’.

Fertility rituals and preparations begin, as the king and queen formally set aside a night to try for the heir. Hong Lim is somewhat dismayed at the king’s request while the queen is just plain unhappy at literally being used as a brood mare.

The first attempt between Hong Lim and the queen don’t, ah, yield fruit, but that just means he has to try again. Hong Lim somewhat confusedly asks the king why he even considers doing something like this, and the king only answers that his heir must be a fair child, like Hong Lim.

The second and third nights are more successful, but all parties involved experience mixed feelings about the event. Hong Lim enjoys himself, the queen slightly less so, and the king is jealous of his lover and his wife spending nights together. The fractures in each relationship begin to show and Hong Lim gets totally confused about his attachment to the king. He uses the ongoing investigation as an excuse and runs away.

The king rushes out of the palace in plainclothes to greet Hong Lim’s return, but the latter had just returned from visiting the queen. (That’s terminally silly, but then I don’t write scripts and cautious people make bad stories.)

Meeting the king and being reminded of how loved he is brings out all the guilt again, because why miss a chance to angst?

Hong Lim continually oversteps his bounds by paying too much attention to the queen. By now they are both fatally attracted to each other and have trouble staying away for long periods of time. Hong Lim’s frequent absences and wandering mind irritate the king, who suspects the truth but is willing to believe in Hong Lim’s (weak) denials.

The Kunryongwe uncover that a merchant named Ma Young-il was recently killed after smuggling lots of Japanese weaponry. Being able to trace him back to Cho provides the king with proof to pursue and execute those who are disloyal. One of the co-conspirators include the queen’s older brother, the visiting emissary from Yuan. His special status means that he doesn’t get killed at the same time the treasonous nobles – but he can’t escape death.

Hong Lim is ordered to kill him, but a subordinate later reveals to the king that he was let go for the sake of the queen. (He’s still dead by someone else’s hand, though, as the head in the box attests.)

Things go rapidly downhill from there, as the queen attempts suicide after hearing the news. The king loses faith in Hong Lim while the latter is full of self-doubt at his own betrayal. He does promise the king that he was acting out of mistaken lust. (Yeah, you wish.)

They all try to return to life as it was, but it only makes things worse. The shape of the inevitable is obvious, and the tension is only waiting for the next disaster to break.

The king decides to send Hong Lim away to the border to clear his mind. However, the queen sends for Hong Lim, with the news that she is pregnant. They meet in their usual place, the library, and are caught in the act by the king and a retinue of servants and guards.

Incensed, the king orders that Hong Lim be castrated and imprisons him. He manages an escape, with the help of his friends remaining in the guard. The five of them seek refuge at an old temple.

However, the king has a bargaining chip in the queen, who is now alone to protect both herself and her child.

Naturally, when Hong Lim realizes this, he abandons his friends to ride off to the queen’s rescue. Halfway, he realizes the futility of actually going against the king. Unfortunately for Hong Lim’s former subordinates, when he returns, the king has already caught up with them. They are brutally tortured for news of Hong Lim’s whereabouts.

I think we all agree that the king has stepped off the deep end by now, and kudos to Joo Jin-mo for doing such a good job. He’s so desperate to have Hong Lim back that he won’t hesitate to commit more atrocities.

Defeated and alone, Hong Lim returns to the capital in time to see the heads of four men staked on the wall – he recognizes them, and also the pendant of the queen hanging from the fifth head.

Now solely aiming for revenge, Hong Lim disguises himself as a returning soldier and enters the palace during the celebratory feast. The king leaves while the celebration is still going on, and we find out two things: the queen (as expected) is still alive, and Hong Lim still retains his title as captain.

The king has killed everyone involved in the adultery case, with the exception of the vice captain. Now he tells everyone in the guard of what has happened, as a safeguard for his own life and the future of the Kunryongwe guards.

While the discussion is going on, Hong Lim has entered the king’s chambers and forced a fight. He intends to kill the king, though the latter is mostly yielding to him. The prolonged fight destroys most of the king’s furniture and suite. When Hong Lim cuts through a treasured painting of the two of them hunting, the duel becomes serious.

Multitudes of guards arrive, but are kept back by both the king’s command and the vice captain’s restraining hand.

As always, the king is the better swordsman, and when Hong Lim asks for death, the king stabs him through the shoulder, pinning him to a pillar. The king asks if Hong Lim had ever loved him, and he denies it. Then he walks forward, impaling himself further and stabbing the king in the stomach.

The king dies pretty quickly, but Hong Lim’s shoulder wound isn’t immediately fatal, so it’s up to Seung-ki, the vice captain, to kill him as an assassin. (It’s almost a matter of personal revenge, as Seung-ki seems to have been in love with the king this whole time.) The queen finally pushes her way past the guards in time to see Hong Lim in his death throes on the floor.

He hears her voice, and with the (er, hopefully) last effort of a dying man, lifts himself up so that he dies looking at the body of the king.

The bustle of dealing with the bodies fades into a flashback from happier times, when the two had just met:

Hong Lim: Wow! Everything looks really great from up here. King: My home is right there. Hong Lim: It’s beautiful. I’d love to live there. King: Then how about spending our entire lives there? Hong Lim: Yes, of course!

And the movie ends on the dream sequence of the two of them hunting in the Northern Plains, exactly as the destroyed painting depicted.

Commentary/Rambling :

– Okay, first of all, I have to say, outstanding job on the scenery and choreography. Gorgeous doesn’t begin to cover it. I also really like the music used here – it doesn’t drown out the story, and the music follows the movie, not the other way around.

– Joo Jin-mo did a great job portraying all the turmoil and angst inherent in a role like his. His character felt so real, in fact, that I was totally on his side during the entire movie – even when he went crazy and killed so many people. I had expected it of Joo Jin-mo, as he’s a charismatic veteran actor with lots of films under his belt, but I had also hoped Jo In-sung would move past just being a pretty face. Oh well, he has plenty of time to develop when he comes back from military service. As for Song Ji-hyo, her performance here is a step up from what she did in Goong – understated, but she gets the message across. In terms of chemistry, however, it’s all on Joo Jin-mo.

– The actor for young Hong Lim deserves a special mention, I think, not just for his creditable performance here but in other dramas as well. For his age, Yeo Jin-goo shows pretty good depth and manages to retain the childlike vitality that underscores Hong Lim’s earlier relationship with the king.

– The costumes are a little too gaudy, but then historical movies always contain an element for dress-up. What I really didn’t like was the fact that the movie felt bloated with prettiness. More editing and tightening would have prevented fatigue during the second half – flashy is nice, but not at the expense of the plot. At the end, I just wanted all of them to die.

– Despite the presence of the queen and all the declarations of love running around, this movie is still very much about Hong Lim and his king. Their tragedy lies in the fact that they both feel too much (as opposed to feeling too little). Their emotions run to extremes all the time: they love too hard, they hate too hard, and they tied themselves together far too tightly for the break up to end well.

– There’s a tired joke I always trot out with friends unfamiliar with epic wuxia movies – namely, that the couple trying to find love against all odds will die (well, everyone dies, but their deaths have that special 30 minute prismacolour surround-sound touch). And while Frozen Flower doesn’t have much in common with the average wuxia movie (except teh sageuk pretteh, I suppose), I think it’s significant that the king and Hong Lim are the ones to die together.

– What’s your take?

Tags: Jo In-sung , Joo Jin-mo , Song Ji-hyo

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August 27, 2009 at 2:14 PM

I'm so glad you did a review of this movie. I watched it a while back and loved it. I think the two male leads had amazing chemistry, not to mention super great looking.

August 27, 2009 at 2:31 PM

It is brokeback mountain except asian style. Interesting.

August 27, 2009 at 2:37 PM

Thank you for the recap and incisive commentary, Sevenses, and for sharing the review on your blog, Javabeans. Makes me want to watch the movie even more.

August 27, 2009 at 2:53 PM

Joo Jin-mo was so good in this movie.. but I can't help but notice our lovely Park Gyu lol

August 27, 2009 at 2:56 PM

does anyone know where I can watch this movie? Everyone raves about it so I want to watch it. Thanks!

December 6, 2012 at 5:19 AM

there's already one in youtube. it is divided into 2 parts

6 TestingJake

August 27, 2009 at 3:00 pm.

I thought the movie to be beautiful in terms of visuals and the plot to be very interesting. I really enjoyed the move so much and I agree I was on Joo Jin-mo side the entire time. When he was betrayed by the one he loved so was I , but then again never let another man sleep with your woman no matter his "orientation".

August 27, 2009 at 3:10 PM

saw this movie...did not like it...just wasn't that good of a movie. I'll never watch it again for sure.

August 27, 2009 at 3:12 PM

Ooh, I've been wanting to see this. I have friends who like this kind of movies...erm *whispers* I do too actually... :P

August 27, 2009 at 3:15 PM

Surprising me that you recap this. Since i was crazily waiting this movie for zo in sung. It bit disappointed me. I want see his acting , not his look. hmm.. i want something memorable like dirty carnival. He 's sacrificied him self in sex scene but it seems useless (for me ). But whatever reason i still love him hehe. It reminds me with Joo jin mo in HAPPY END hehe Hohoww that movie as crazy as frozen flower. Haha Thanks for recaps

August 27, 2009 at 3:18 PM

"that the couple trying to find love against all odds will die"

LOL, freaking true. I just finished "Portrait of a beauty", and pretty the same thing happened. Steaming sex + dead in the end.

Movies, this type, are pretty to look at. But I forget the second after it ended. Maybe it's just me.

11 Sevenses

August 27, 2009 at 3:20 pm.

@6: Cecee, Email me at of.seven.seas[at]gmail.com.

To misquote: If you watch a movie because it was full of beautiful frames, then it was a crap movie.

(To poster above, yes, there was no need for all that sex. In addition, some of the implications regarding homosexuality are kind of offensive.)

August 27, 2009 at 3:33 PM

OMG, so that was Im Joo Hwan running away with the girl at the beginning?

August 27, 2009 at 3:52 PM

From this summary, the story sounds like a mix of Alexander, Mists of Avalon, and the King and the Clown.

14 Sorrowmask

August 27, 2009 at 3:54 pm.

Oh. I can't say it is a great movie or the movie I like very much.. But I love Joo Jin Mo's acting and character here. I agreed with you. I sided with the King's pathetic love rather Hong Lim and the Queen. I think it is because of JJM's acting. It is very persuasive and real, made my heart feel sorry for him even the King is merciless killing those peole involved in. Jo In Sung is just okay in this movie, I don't think he really stepped up. For the Queen, the actress is alrigh, she certainly improved since Goong. But her role was shadowed by the King and Hong Lim.

August 27, 2009 at 4:35 PM

You should do more of these reviews, I can't keep myself from laughing when I read some of your comments about certain scences. Lovely!

16 all4movies

August 27, 2009 at 4:49 pm.

Nice recap Sevenses. I've been wondering about this movie even though the subject matter doesn't appeal to me. Now I've got a better idea of what it's all about.

August 27, 2009 at 4:54 PM

I LOVED THE MOVIE !! THE BEST EVER MADE if not sine i have stated to be interested in korean drama and movie! THE BEST !! so beautiful

August 27, 2009 at 4:57 PM

I for one absolutely love this movie... So tragic that it lingers in your mind for quite some time afterwards. I absolutely agree with the doomed lovers thing cause having been re-aquainted with korean 'historic' 'movies through Frozen Flower, I went back and watched Portrait of a Beauty and Untold Scandal....

I have read somewhere that the frequent sex scenes were imperative to the pacing of the film as it builds up audience tension in awaiting for the inevitable discovery of The Betrayal. Sex in film is a good thing- both between Hong Lim and the King as well as Hong Lim and the Queen- but sometimes there's just too much. So much that you start to roll your eyes (Again?) and then press the ff button just to find out what happens next - never a good sign for a film.

I think that a major interest in this film is how flawed the main characters are, as well as how seemingly every choice they make regarding their relationships turns out to be the wrong one and propels their interaction onto the next phase, especially near the end. I would say HL character is weak to temptation (especially as there is a definite question about his sexual orientation... was he gay? If he was then why would the King think that HL could serve the queen if he, the king can't. Was he bisexual? Was he groomed/ coerced by the King from his childhood days?). The King obviously loved HL very much, and was willing to forgive him right to the end and I for one was hoping for this outcome/ pairing... However, castrating your beloved, killing his friends and lover... not the best way to make him come back to you, man.

One of my major problem with this film is the issue of love between the Queen and HL. When did that happen? Great sex does not equal love and the love confessions just came out of nowhere. It also ended with HL saying that he have never loved the King- not even once, which I take as a lie (only because it makes for a better story...) plus the fact that at this point HL was mightily pissed off with him. HL kills him. Then he gets killed. Queen comes in. HL makes a deliberate effort to turn and face the king as he lies dying. A single drop of tear as he takes his last breath...... (AHHHHHH I'm so confused about what this means?!!) Would someone enlighten me??

April 9, 2013 at 10:58 AM

"HL makes a deliberate effort to turn and face the king as he lies dying. A single drop of tear as he takes his last breath…… (AHHHHHH I’m so confused about what this means?!!) Would someone enlighten me??"

Check out wikipedia, it really helped me understand. :)

Most of your reasonings were spot on. HL was extremely pissed to the point that he said he didn't love the King. At that moment he probably hated the King so much that he wanted him to die with a broken heart.

When HL realizes that the King hadn't really killed the Queen, but instead had lied and done everything just to lure HL back to him...you've got to wonder - what was it all for? Think from the POV of HL, fucking confusion, yeah.

From great love stems great hatred. His last question was probably "Why?"

blackberries

February 12, 2014 at 4:48 am.

You are seeing the movie with too modern eyes :) ... must watch it keeping the historic customs in mind. It's the Asian Middle Ages, after all - just to put it in perspective.

People around the king were taught to attend to his wishes, and not to waver in doing it - that could cost you the position you tediously (or painfully) climbed to (often the life itself could've been on the line) ... a word had multiple meanings and the pressure was immense... the king himself was brought up as a superior being, and there are few people who don't succumb (from a humanist point of view) to this sort of instilled self-importance

Women were supposed to obey their male family members - and their wish was paramount: be it the father or, later, the husband. Besides, she had really no value outside a family, and if she was rejected by her partner it was a social and personal disaster (even if young, she was already "expired" )

In regards to this , I don't see the characters as "flawed", but each fighting to survive within the social pressures of the day, while keeping their dreams too.

The king, an ambitious man, had his authority severely reduced by the dependence to the Yuan empire... a sort of political castration, which echoed in his inability to control his noblemen. To add wound to the insult, all his value was reduced to his duty of producing a heir. (imagine, say, all ur family around u asking when u'r going to have a kid, but when? tell us! u have to do it now! or we're just not interested in u!...sort of thing)

The queen knew she would be a shamed woman if returning home, so she held tight in there , although being submitted to having sex with the man she hated most (for taking her husband from her) was immensely humiliating for her.

Hong Lim is the frozen flower.

He was a very interesting character to follow, yet with all the sex scenes the attention was whisked away from what was more important (it sold the movie though :D ) As a young boy, being taken away from his family, he needed an authoritative yet warm and friendly figure, and he found it in the young prince - as such he sought to impress him (sword fight and devotion)... but as he grew that relationship had to change (court rules, king' own mix of affection and selfishness - fueled by his insecurity and hurt pride )... and he turned into a very submissive young man, which had to fulfill his king wishes . He had a strong affection for king, but not love. The queen was a virgin, so, in a way they both started from ground zero - which gave them equal chances to discover and explore each other , and as such HL felt much freer, livelier in this relationship... hence the confusion, the fear (she was the queen after all), the inability to fulfill anymore his duty to the king.

... but when somebody inflicts such a gruesome mutilation , it's really impossible to have any affection left for that person...

The last tear was for those pure, wonderful times, lived without fear, selfishness, possession or destructive ambition

February 12, 2014 at 6:17 AM

:) hum... out of characters-limit-fear I didn't sketched better the queen attitude towards her husband:

When writing that she hated HL because he took away her husband, it wasn't because of some unrequited love... but mostly because her life at the court became extremely unhappy (also as an imposed foreigner), and stressful with all the gossip, people's (and her family) unfulfilled expectations for the heir, and waning authority... it probably felt like breathing in an air vacuum... and the specter of even more troublesome times was rising as a Crown prince was being proposed - and she diverted all the frustration and resentment towards Hong Lim.

...As a matter of fact she is the last one to get fully involved in the relationship with HL - in the beginning she even uses his feelings (wearing the necklace to allure him) & deliberately forces him to meet in hiding out of revenge... later, when he bursts into her room, she realizes he is totally in love with her, ready to risk his own life - and this reaction made her give in, and let her heart open. The tea & rice cake scene from afterwards speaks volumes about their shared, but dangerous, love.

Later when the king proposes a different mating partner, she is so scared, desperate and disgusted at the idea of "staining" her body&heart , that she demands from HL to run away, even though knowing that was a capital crime ... in the end she slashes her wrists, and the king backs up, for the moment.

I think the queen is deliberately played in low-key - as a beautiful (but not outstanding) woman , without particular artistic skills or bright personality, to let the stage open to the two male leads, and step up a bewildering feeling in the viewers regarding HL's preference for such an woman, and not for the handsome, charismatic king... :) I guess the trick worked

January 24, 2015 at 11:44 PM

I discovered the film last year and I thought it was one hell of a literature. The approach was modern but the story is quite different from those Korean movies and movies I'd watched.

Today I came across news about Jo In Sung and suddenly I remembered "The Frozen Flower". And now I found this site and read your comments. I think that your opinion and your assessments of the movie were almost the same as my thoughts. I find that your understanding of the story is quite laudable.

March 27, 2017 at 9:39 PM

I agree to you... =)

19 ar_arguably romantic

August 27, 2009 at 5:03 pm.

"namely, that the couple trying to find love against all odds will die" --- so true. I knew both guys were going to die the moment you said the two guys were close. The ending dream sequence was so sad =*(

August 27, 2009 at 5:05 PM

thanks for the recap...this indeed is a good movie, scene, music, costumes...etc. I enjoyed the movie & 2 thumbs up for Joo Jin-Mo & Jo In-Sung.

21 peachys2sleep

August 27, 2009 at 5:13 pm.

I would have really liked to see the sword dance without all the sex scenes woven in.

22 Sevenses

August 27, 2009 at 5:26 pm.

@19: My personal theory is that Hong Lim + the king = true lovers. All the symbolism with the painting, and especially the post-death ending sequence point that way. (It is kinda creepy that the king met Hong Lim when the latter wasn't even a teenager and decided, 'That's it, he's the one.')

It's always irritating when two people have sex and voila! Instant love. But we must suspend disbelief, even if the queen and Hong Lim pretty much disliked each other up til that point.

While we're on the subject of flaws, if you look at the king, objectively, he's a pretty sucky monarch. He won't provide an heir, which leaves not just himself but the entire country at risk. His problem is that he values personal pleasures over other obligations. It's hypocritical to force his boyfriend to sleep with the queen because it's unpleasant - it's not any less pleasant for Hong Lim, but he'll do it because it's his duty. And the queen, poor thing, has a bad habit of latching on to the nearest unrelated male and feel (real/fake) love for him.

As for the gay/or not question, who knows? (Maybe he's bi. That'd explain a lot.)

February 12, 2014 at 8:00 AM

The young prince is NOT sexually interested in the young boy.

There was a special bond created between them, like when you favor somebody out of a group, not because you're sexually interested in him/her, but because you can both relate better than with others...

The kid was probably like one of those puppies, lost from their pack, that trail after you and jump&roll ... and the king treated him like that, later developing a sense of possessive affection, and treating him as something between a lover and a pet - he would do anything for Hong Lim as long as he behaves as he wished ... I wasn't convinced at all that HL was in love with the king - in the love scene between them, HL is so overwhelmed that it really looks like a chore , than pleasure (nice bodies btw :)

see also my comments above for the other issues

June 11, 2015 at 10:49 PM

The Queen has been married to the King for 10 years. Hong Lim would have to be there too whenever the King visits the Queen. They are hardly strangers. There may be animosity on the Queen's part towards Hong Lim but I doubt he even disliked the Queen remotely. In fact, the way he glanced at her when she's singing made me think he may even like her secretly hence why he resisted so much when the King made that offer.

The last scene could be projected as the King finally living his dreams. But nothing suggests to me Hong Lim returns the same love towards him. Affection and care? definitely.

August 27, 2009 at 5:40 PM

For those who have also seen The King and the Clown and Farewell My Concubine, how would you compare Frozen Flowers to them (if comparable, that is)?

24 soysauce

August 27, 2009 at 5:47 pm.

I saw this a month back or so, and it left me pretty confused. I wasn't sure too sure to take Hong Lim's words when he said he has never loved the king. But then again, I wonder if lust can blossom into love. As for the sex scenes, they were extremely graphic, and a little unnecessary. I also find it kinda "odd" that the King wasn't even wiling to elope with his wife. I mean, sure he doesn't love her, but a couple tries can solve the problem. Why drag Hong Lim into this? And the King is in assumption that Hong Lim loves him, so if he can't proceed with this task, what makes him think Hong Lim can do it for him? However, as a whole movie, it was enjoyable. The sceneries were brilliant as well as the colorful wardrobes.

February 12, 2014 at 8:27 AM

Welcome to the Korean roller-coaster : one moment a suave song, the next slashed throats... love scenes, then history lessons, love scenes again , mutilation next and so on ... aihoooo :D

August 27, 2009 at 5:55 PM

I liked your review and point of view on the movie, and I agree te best performance in the entire movie was from the King.

But I must admit, I couldn't help but hate the King, and I know it was all part of the plot, but really. What would he expect from making his lover and the queen sleep together? Of course he'd get jealous, and I just wanted his character to die in the end. I got way to frustrated with all the angst that I couldn't just look at the beauty that the movie wanted to emit.

Overall for me, great idea and plot, but could've been a bit better.

26 Missemergency

August 27, 2009 at 6:08 pm.

I just watched this movie only days ago, and while I enjoyed it, I was not a fan of the relationship between Hong Lim and the Queen nor the King's needy tendencies. The biggest gaping flaw for me was that the queen and Hong Lim only ever have sex, I think they speak a total of ten sentences to each other. How can either of them say that they are in love?

I also agree in that there could have been a lot less sex and a lot more emphasis on the relationship between the king and Hong Lim. It felt as though the filmakers were still very uncomfortable with the whole gay plot.

However I must agree, this movie was gorgeous to look at and the music was especially nice.

January 30, 2013 at 7:05 PM

Because it was like a young romance for them both. Neither had been with the opposite sex before. And sex leads to oxytocin which leads to attachment.

The king was stupid and selfish here.

April 9, 2013 at 10:43 AM

Hahahaha. This was a movie about selfish, intense and impulsive people... anyway, I think it's a bit too much to go into detail here about the oxytocin and all. No need to drag in science to analyze a plot hole lol.

The movie followed a simple storyline, and the focus wasn't really much on the love between the Queen and HL. Probably that's why the whole thing just felt cobbled together.

June 11, 2015 at 10:59 PM

The Queen is more like a supporting character, hence why.

27 mochiballs

August 27, 2009 at 6:32 pm.

@ Sevenses...i think the king's love for hong lim was real but i don't think hong lim's love for the king is real at all. he might have genuine affection & respect for the king having grown up and spent most of his life by the king's side...not to mention being doted on by the king...but it came across very obvious to me that he just didn't know any better until he got intimate with the queen...and realized that he really bats for the other team. although i do agree that sex doesn't necessarily equate to love, however, the intimacy can bring out all sorts of feelings! :P so i didn't get the sense that the queen and hong lim's supposed love was random at all. there were times when i felt that maybe the queen didn't really love hong lim but rather just wanted his male companionship b/c she was obviously lonely...and horny! lol joo jin mo definitely did an awesome job in this movie...he played the lover scorned so well!

28 budsdiana

August 27, 2009 at 8:01 pm.

WOW, finally a discussion about FROZEN FLOWER.

I so agree a lot with @28 mochiballs King's love for HL = true HL love for King = total devotion he grew up in his household, romantic love I don't think so. Queen's love for HL = yes possible, remember male and female reaction to "sex" are quite different. Male can do it without emotions, female usually attaches a certain amount of emotions to the act of sex. The frequent sex, I am sure stirred a lot of emotions to the queen.

JJM was awesome, for me the best part was when he discovered the Q + HL doing it in the library, his facial/eyes reaction was SUPER. When I was watching this part and the build-up of the scene where the K was looking tentatvely at each aisle, i was literally shouting at the screen, "NO! NO! PLEASE DON'T LET THE KING DISCVOVER THEM, HE WILL BE DEVASTATED FOR SURE, POOR HIM.

Then the next scene was the castration part, whew!! my heart was really pumping so fast. I so love the action of the the vice-captain, when the King ordered TO DO IT NOW!! His initial hesitation, confusion but finally he has to do it, the sputter of blood drops (tacky).

I just wish the scene (backtrack) of the bodyguards performance with the sword dance(?) in the scene where there was a festivity, was loooonger. There was so much eyecandies and I sooo love it. Instead the scene was alternated with the Q + HL doing their tryst in the library (bummer!). I saw the scenes in youtube when they were rehearsing this scene and most of the actors (bodyguards) were shirtless or wearing sleeveless shirts, hmmmm yummy.

Again, JJM was sooooo GREAT.

29 budsdiana

August 27, 2009 at 8:15 pm.

I forgot, thanks a lot SEVENSES for the review. I forgot to mention that I watched this initially without sub, so I barely understood the real gist. Then I watched it again when I happen to see later that eng sub was now avaialble. But the episodes that had sex in it was deleted. Now, reading your review I now understood the correct storyline.

@19 Meix2 "Then he gets killed. Queen comes in. HL makes a deliberate effort to turn and face the king as he lies dying. A single drop of tear as he takes his last breath…… (AHHHHHH I’m so confused about what this means?!!) Would someone enlighten me??"

My take is that, when all this fighting was happening HL believes the Queen was dead, so when he saw the pregnant Q walks in, he had to look at the King in his dying seconds. Probably HL was thinking "how could you let me think she was dead...." or probably "thank you for not killing the queen and the future heir (or my baby)...." I like this scene as well..

February 12, 2014 at 9:11 AM

I wonder how come so many people believed that head was the queen's ??

just because there is a hanging necklace doesn't put an identification tag ...

Hong Lim didn't attack the king to revenge the queen's "killing", but because he realized she is not safe anymore, the king he thought he knew is capable of doing lots of harm ..and he was fearful for his child as well

(and she was not safe anymore as - although from a powerful empire , and squashing her like a fly could have been a trigger for war - she was still vulnerable to slow poisoning & other sneaky tricks....)

August 27, 2009 at 8:33 PM

I like jim mo very much. He's so charming and handsome. And he can act very well.

31 thankyou

August 27, 2009 at 8:55 pm.

Thankyou for the review. I enjoyed reading it. I haven't seen the movie yet, but will now. "Their tragedy lies in the fact that they both feel too much (as opposed to feeling too little). Their emotions run to extremes all the time: they love too hard, they hate too hard, and they tied themselves together far too tightly for the break up to end well." Story of my life!

" It’s hypocritical to force his boyfriend to sleep with the queen because it’s unpleasant – it’s not any less pleasant for Hong Lim, but he’ll do it because it’s his duty."

I haven't seen the movie so what I am about to say may be completely wrong. I wonder if the reason king forced Hong to sleep with the queen was because he rather be cheated on than cheat. I use the term cheating here loosely considering all parties involved had prior knowledge. The king rather go through the angst of having his lover be with someone else instead of watching hong in misery. "I rather be cheated on than cheat" kinda logic. It is selfish nonetheless.

December 6, 2012 at 5:32 AM

my take is that maybe the king is so gay he won't touch a woman. and hong lim, being a loyal subject, followed the order

February 1, 2014 at 12:52 AM

lol yeah, I think the King is so gay too, he probably considers himself the "female" in a relationship, while HL is the "male" and only HL - though involved in a homo relationship- can still make love with women. On the other hand, HL was juz a child recruited and lured by the King, he definitely had not had experience with women before and somehow forced into the relationship with the King. Cant say its love.

32 langdon813

August 27, 2009 at 9:04 pm.

Every movie that deals with male homosexuality is always compared to Brokeback Mountain and I'm not going to be any different. BBM is one of the best movies I've ever seen in my life. I can't watch it without having a complete emotional breakdown; in fact I've only ever watched it completely twice. But it really hits me where I live and I always irrationally hope for a different outcome. In my mind, Ennis and Jack are living on Brokeback Mountain with gray hair and beer bellies, happy together forever.

It's the same for me with A Frozen Flower. I wanted so badly for the king to get his happy ending, but barring that, at least SOME admission of love from Hong-lim before they died. What a credit to Joo Jin-mo's acting abilities that so many people feel this way!

I completely understand why Hong-lim is confused by the events that unfold. The king has practically raised him from early childhood, given him every advantage and opportunity; and lavished him with attention and great affection. Hong-lim in return is fiercely protective of the king, respects him tremendously, and wants only to please him. They could have lived out the rest of their days blissfully happy together...if only the king had not made this one fateful command.

But he did...and now Hong-lim has had sex with a woman for the first time. The king is gay; Hong-lim is not. That, to me, is the bottom line. Hong-lim has spent his formative years in the company of men, was introduced to sex by a man. Up to that point he'd never known anything else. But after the fact, he clearly prefers sex with the queen to sex with the king. The queen, a virgin who has long desired her uninterested husband from afar, is also awakened to the joys of sex. Is it love? Probably not, but it's really hard to tell your raging hormones that when it's all new and exciting. "Wait, you mean THIS is what I've been missing? More please!"

It's not the king's fault; he was born that way and his love for Hong-lim is very pure and very natural to him. It's not Hong-lim's fault; he might never have left the king's side had he not been forced to, but once he did, he realized that he was meant to be with a woman. It's not the queen's fault; she loved her husband but he was unable to return her desire, so she transferred those feelings to a man who could.

It's a tragedy of Shakespearean proportions, if you ask me. The pity is that the movie wasn't quite strong enough to flesh out (no pun intended) the emotions of all the parties involved. With the possible exception of the king, which is why so many of us who watched the film feel that he is the most tragic character of them all. Because he is; he is the one character who never hides nor wavers on his true feelings. Who doesn't become irrational at the thought of losing the love of their life? The act of castration is horrifying and barbaric, but it was done in the heat of the moment after witnessing not just a physical betrayal but an emotional one. Remember, the king wants to believe that Hong-lim loves him, not the queen. And if lust is the reason Hong-lim can't stay away from the queen (which Hong-lim stated was the case, truthfully or not) then why not make it impossible for it to ever happen again?

I tend to agree that Hong-lim was the weakest character, not because of his actions but because the emotions behind his actions weren't expressed enough. He had to know that what he was doing would destroy the king, but a few sad, pouty faces here and there didn't really cut it for me. We should have seen Hong-lim struggle as much with his love for the king as with his lust for the queen. Because then the scene in which he rises up one last time to gaze at the king as they die would have had a lot more impact, rather than leaving us to wonder if he did or didn't love the king after all.

June 18, 2013 at 3:58 PM

Just found out about this movie and reading DB reviews and comments now. And I want to compliment you on such an insightful and beautifully written review of your own.

February 12, 2014 at 10:04 AM

It's amazing how people can still use affection/ love as a justification for mutilation.

NO the king never fully loved Hong Lim if he was capable of such a horrendous act. He cared for him alright, but he considered him his possession, his work of art, and could use his body as he wished.

I don't see HL as weak - he is following his heart (watch the movie again, and don't pay too much attention to the sex scenes) and being true to his feelings, not lying to keep his position and rights (one of the reasons the king refuses the offer the vice-chief is making, because the king knew he was more sneaky, and not fair, like HL)

... actually it takes lots of courage to do what HL did.

April 3, 2018 at 9:11 AM

totally agree. Hong lim is not in a position of power(both king and even queen are) hence i felt more pain for his situation - he had nothing basically, where the king and queen had some glory, some freedom of choice. i simply wished there was some happiness for Hong lim and there was none. the queen has a son a life ahead of her, the king has enjoyed the person he loved for over 10 years. hong lim had nothing but self-sacrifice.

33 Nom_Kitteh

August 27, 2009 at 9:07 pm.

JB, I won't read your review until after I have watched the movie for fear of spoilers, but wanted to give you a high five for the including Rufus Wainwright in your song for the day. Hallelujah indeed.

August 27, 2009 at 9:08 PM

I was so excited to see your review, Sevenses! Thank you. This is maybe only the second or third review I've seen of the flick, in spite of how long it stayed in the theater, and I've been wondering a lot what other people thought of it.

Personally, I was sooooo disappointed with this film. First and foremost, I couldn't believe what an uproar it caused even before it was released because of the love scene between Hong Lim and the king, a scene which turned out to be **NOTHING AT ALL** compared to the 1001 heterosexual sex scenes that followed. I won't lie--I had been looking forward to the film specifically for its slashy nature, and it was a terrible letdown for me when it ended up, IMO, focusing so much more on the relationship that developed between Hong Lim and the queen.

Furthermore, it seems to me that the overabundance of sex scenes between Hong Lim and the queen (which I normally wouldn't mind at all) was supposed to be a way of showing the desire that grew from what had originally only been duty, but I'd be a lot more accepting of that if I'd found any of the sex scenes sexy. I never felt any chemistry between the two of them at all, and the expression on the queen's face every single time left me wondering whether she was enjoying it or in pain.

And finally, I had no sympathy for the king whatsoever--I think that's really what ruined the film for me. Such a selfish and immature character, the king was the cause of all of his own problems, and I was neither surprised nor moved by his demise.

What a shame! I was bummed that I disliked the movie so much, but at least other people enjoyed it.

August 27, 2009 at 9:16 PM

I was so excited to see this film due to the topic but was so disappointed in Jo In sung's performance. I had to laugh in some scenes because he was so bad. This movie would have been a lot better with another actor. I think his performance brought an element of cartoonishness to the story rather than any genuine tragedy.

Also I do not shrink in face of man on man love having seen enough gay porn thanks to my status as a "faghag" (not my words) but the scenes were so awkward it felt literally like two straight actors bravely plowing forward. I felt almost like they had those scenes for the sake of showing audience that korean cinema had arrived to the world where broke back mountain was a mass success and that they had real artists who weren't afraid to show some gay love. If it can't be done well it would have been better for the director to allude to the intimacy. Sometimes a picture isn't worth a 1000 words.

I actually felt the most compelling part of the story besides Joo Jin Mo's acting was the love story of Hong Lim and the Queen. It was an awakening in both of them. Not only did Hong Lim realize he wasn't batting on the same team which must have been a shock to him after 20+ years but his chief rival to his surprise is his love, soul companion, object of his lust and his baby mama. How quaint and refreshing is that?

36 whatsupalisa

August 27, 2009 at 9:27 pm.

I'm glad you did a recap because I was never sure that I fully understood this movie. i can't say i liked this movie but i do agree that the background scenery and the costume was really beautiful.

37 maxon888

August 27, 2009 at 10:09 pm.

thanks for recapping this movie, as always you rock....Jo Jin Mo did a great job in this movie, lots of eye candy and the scenery was gorgeous..........I waivered between Jo Jin Mo and Zo In Sung's characters, gripping... thanks once again

August 27, 2009 at 11:53 PM

I love Jo in Sung and watching this movie at first got me really uncomfortable...OMIGOSH...I have never saw a Korean movie that is so full of sex scenes...My family thought I was watching a Porno or something...When I finally got over my uncomfortable stage, then I was able to enjoy the storyline...I thought Jo in sung did a great job in this movie ...but now when I see him, I can't help but imagine him naked all the time ....

39 orangemania

August 28, 2009 at 12:12 am.

I didn't really enjoy the movie. I didn't see any love from the Queen for Jo In Sung at all. I think that was a major flaw and didn't really make the movie work. I was a little disappointed after watching it because i expected ti to be better from the trailer.

August 28, 2009 at 2:03 AM

I have to say, never having been a fan of Jo In Sung or Joo Jin Mo, (okay... maybe during the 'Memories of Bali' stage with Jo In Sung), this film has certainly make me take notice of these two actors. So I went back and watched some of their other work (I'm just coming out of my Cha Seung Won (Cityhall) addiction!) While Jo In Sung has done some decent films - Dirty Carnival etc. Jo Jin Min has left me considerably less impressed with his past work, which make me wonder why the heck I like him so much in this film (to be fair, 'Musa' was ok and I have yet to see 'Real fiction').

I suppose choosing Hong lim to impregnate the queen was a monumentally bad decision (duh), if the only reason being a matter of trust and wanting the child to look like HL. Maybe he wanted to raise HL child together as a couple, but surely this must cause problems if the child does indeed, as the King wants, to resemble HL. Surely, it would be much easier to find someone else to impregnate the queen and then silence them with death after the fact? Or maybe he chose HL because he knew that the Queen despised him and so there was little chance of any affection growing.

Generally, the more I read about and discuss the movie, the more questions arises? Why this, why that, why, why, why.... Don't get me wrong, I still love the movie but only wish that there was a bit more explaining to the audience and not just glossing over important character/ relational issues. This is one movie that needed a directors commentary to explain what was what and bring on the 'Oh, I seeeeee' moment. Opening discussion about a film is always a good thing, but having a film that NEEDS discussing just shouts pretension and laziness in directing/ editing. This is a good film, but it could have so easily been a great film.

February 12, 2014 at 11:47 AM

"I suppose choosing Hong lim to impregnate the queen was a monumentally bad decision "

:) well, it's the 14th century... I guess people were still oblivious to the effect of certain decisions

It's always difficult for a director to dissect his own work :) it's like pulling out all the magic that he created ... and anyway, that is what a film/ creative work must do - bring questions & debates forward

August 28, 2009 at 2:14 AM

Oh and in answer to the question as why the King never slept with the Queen himself and needed Hong Lim, I always got the impression that it wasn't that he couldn't do it because he found it distasteful (okay that too) but rather he couldn't because he was 'unable to take a woman' - meaning he found it so disgusting that he could not get aroused. Which raises the question... what made him think that HL can? So some part of him realised that HL was not gay like him?

Okay, I'll stop asking questions now.

July 17, 2011 at 9:16 PM

I felt it was a test for Hong Lim....the first time HL and the queen tried, they failed. And when HL was asking for forgiveness from the king for failing, the king had a slight and very subtle please smile on his lips.

That's why when HL did start enjoying it, the king started going bonkers with jealousy and denial.

February 12, 2014 at 12:12 PM

I don't think it was to test him - after all 10 yrs have past since being together, and all that time he could've tested Hong Lim.

It was the pressure to produce a heir ... and the queen offered to remain by his side, and not to return to her home-country - so the king (after the humiliating episode with the Yuan envoy) decided to use his most trusted man to solve the issue.

Plus , as anyone knows, "you get laid, you'll have a baby" - so the king expected (probably knowing what could HL do) that everything will be finished after one...two sessions... it's just it's not always as smooth as that

June 12, 2015 at 12:05 AM

Hong Lim was maybe around 12 when he was taken to the palace, he's 22 now and who knows at what age he started a relationship with the King. The King had to know his own sexual orientation already at that time as he's much older (he's uninterested to the Queen's arrival) but Hong Lim's is a bit unclear maybe even to the King. I think he probably think Hong Lim swings both sides. Part of him is hoping HL can't do it.

42 MEIKO**** ^-^

August 28, 2009 at 2:20 am.

Thanks Sevenses! Am very much surprised someone did a recap on this!!!

I have been waiting for this movie.... it's not available anywhere...and the DVD is in region3...*sigh*

can i email you too?! ill do it anyways!

I have been reading so many good reviews on this movie....

Am just browsing over your recap...just enough to get the gist...dont want too much spoilers... ^-^

August 28, 2009 at 3:08 AM

...so it’s up to Seung-ki, the vice captain, to kill him as an assassin. (It’s almost a matter of personal revenge, as Seung-ki seems to have been in love with the king this whole time.)

I didn't get the impression that Seungki would have been in love with the King but more like he was in love with the position Honglim had and Seungki wanted to be more important and was ready for sacrifices. I might be wrong though idk... I would have wanted to see more of this character in the movie.

July 17, 2011 at 9:24 PM

Well, Seungki definitely wanted to replace Hong Lim in the king's heart....hence SK pointedly asking to let him serve the king that night. But then, orchestrating the downfall of them both does not really make sense that Seungki is acting out of 'a man scorned'.

It would've been more interesting if Hong Lim was the one Seungki was infatuated with since Seungki is obviously obsessed with being HL.

But alas, too many sex scenes to allow that sort of plot line to develop more.

June 12, 2015 at 12:08 AM

He came across like a power-hungry that is willing to do anything for power. I seriously don't see him liking the King or Hong Lim at all.

44 budsdiana

August 28, 2009 at 3:23 am.

Same here, i did not get the vibes that "he is in love with the King" when was it manifested or implied in the movie? Was there I dialogue I missed (probably it got lost in the translation). He is more in love/jealous with HL's position. Probably he felt he was better/expertise (swordmanship, etc) than HL and yet HL was the captain bec. of we know what.

August 28, 2009 at 4:01 AM

Personally I don't think Hong Lim has ever loved the King, I don't think he's gay either. He was raised with men, and his first sexual encounter was with a man, and with the king no less. Although it was wrong that he was emotionally cheating on the king, he was also a victim; a victim of circumstance. From the get-go we are given the impression that Hong Lim is an extremely loyal man, and I think this loyalty was what made him into the king's lover in the first place. The scene at the end where he made an effort to turn his head was because he was sad that this was how they had ended, even when he preferred the queen, he still valued, loved (even if it's not romantic) and had fierce loyalty towards the king. Remember that scene in the library before they got caught? the queen was saying that the king would not love their child, but Hong Lim had argued and believed in the king's goodness.

July 17, 2011 at 9:33 PM

Agree with all you've said, I do think Hong Lim did love the king...but not in the "in love" sort of way he discovered with the Queen.

I think part of the reason why he refused to say he loved the king at the end was because (1) he mistakenly believe his king was bad and had killed the queen with his child and (2) knew that the king was asking about "in love" type of love.

Perhaps the film didn't emphasize this aspect of HL enough or in the right way, but he is indeed fiercely and blindly loyal (and when those loyalties clash as they did with the Queen, he becomes wretchedly lost). So when the Queen begged to elope, Hong Lim chose to sacrifice himself and answered that he was afraid and would remain the "the king's subject".

August 19, 2013 at 4:01 AM

I think, Hong Lim is the victim here.. The King confused him eversince he was a kid and enter the palace. He devout himself for the king.

Even when he falls in love with the queen and he knows the queen feels the same, he sacrificed to continue "the King's Subject" as to be the queen's lover is far more forbidden at least to him.

When the queen as to elope and he repkied he is afraid is not that he is afraid of him getting killed. More likely he are more worried about the queen getting harm that is why he choose to say and sacrificed himself as he was made to believed to sacrificed for the King.

July 12, 2012 at 9:58 AM

I also don't think Hong Lim was "in love" with the king and I don't think he was gay. In fact, I suspect the king realized that HL wasn't gay. I think part of the reason why he commanded that HL sleep with the queen was to test him.

After all, if the king couldn't have sex with a woman, why would he think his lover could? That never made sense to me unless the king wanted to find out how attracted HL was to women.

There are two scenes that make me wonder about the king's motivations for having HL sleep with the queen. The first was when he asked HL if he ever thought about running away like the guard had at the beginning of the movie. The other scene was when the king seemed pleased when HL told him that he wasn't able to have sex with the queen that first night.

I also agree that HL was a victim and that his loyalty to the king made him believe that he would never harm the queen or their child. I think he knew the king well enough to know that if he and the queen ran away together, the king would never give up trying to find them. So, he thought it was best that she stay with the king.

When he told the king that he loved the queen, I believed him. However, I think HL was too insecure in his abilities to take care of the queen and their child, so he thought she would be better off if she stayed with the king.

That scene where HL admitted he loved her was so sad because he just seemed to be exhausted. Although he said he would go back to being the way he was before he fell in love with the queen, I think he realized this wasn't possible, so he just wanted to end it by having the king kill him.

Perhaps, because of his loyalty to the king, he couldn't kill himself, so he wanted the king to make the decision. Unfortunately, he didn't realize that the king would have him castrated instead. I don't think he realized until that point, just how obsessed the king was with him.

August 19, 2013 at 4:19 AM

I think the King ask HL to do it 1. because he only have trust for HL as he knows that HL will never say know to his orders. 2. Because HL is the other man that the queen quite close to other than himself (close means meets "officially") and knows their so called"secret" 3. He wants to have an heir that looks like his lover as he knows well he cant bear an heir himself.

but he really never expect that the 2 will fall for each other as the fact that they should be rival to each other to have a place at the king's heart. Suddenly the king's becomes the "unwanted in picture figure". I do pity him at first but when he turns violent and castrate HL is just cant be tolerate.

Yup you were right why HL wants to be with the king and becomes "his subject" is merely to keep the queen save. At this time he didnt know the queen already pregnant. And he found out from the queen personal maid and he realised the queen tried to commit suicide he felt guilty of being afraid earlier.

if they weren't caught i think they already ran away. When he got castrated than only he knows that the king was rather obsessed about him. i think HL already dead once he was castrated, but when the king kill off his friends and make he thinks the queen too, that is when he is soo enraged and no regrets to kill the king. He even state his objective to the king.

December 6, 2012 at 5:53 AM

king's love = true love

hong lim's love to king = filial love

hong lim & queen's love for each other = erotic love

i guess that's my assessment of the levels of their love

June 12, 2015 at 3:09 AM

The King loves Hong Lim to the point he's willing to give up his kingdom but he doesn't love him enough to allow him comes to terms with his own sexuality and let him be happy. I won't call it true love, more like possessive love which turned to be toxic.

Even if the Queen didn't enter into the picture, their relationship isn't healthy. One is overly dominant and authoritative over the other and at the same time love the other person a lot more. It suffocating and can kill any love they may have had.

August 28, 2009 at 4:02 AM

Soob, i think he was in love with the king, he offered himself and was quite jealous of Hong Lim.

February 12, 2014 at 12:26 PM

I have a different opinion - think of the final sequence , and Seung-ki's reaction to what was happening to the king.

47 glencorajane

August 28, 2009 at 4:10 am.

I have some interest in astrology and I found out that all the 3 leads are leos! And the HL and the queen are born in the same year with very close birthdates. Amazing!

As to the suppose love between HL and the queen, I think it is just typical of a male director who think that sex generates love! I think all the romance is really lacking.

As for the last scene where both guys are hunting, I think the director just wants a happy ending. Confusing plot? Confused director I think.

48 budsdiana

August 28, 2009 at 5:14 am.

@47 anonymous

Oh, so there is a dialogue that Seung-ki offered himself? Missed that one, however, I think that does not mean he is in love, I think he just did it to be in the same standing career-wise as HL, IMO.

49 SIITTIE2009

August 28, 2009 at 6:09 am, 50 budsdiana, august 28, 2009 at 6:17 am.

Just finished reading your parody, wow LOL.

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A Frozen Flower

Story: During Goryeo dynasty in the 14th century the king (Ju Jin-mo) of the country is under enormous pressure. Goryeo is a vassal state of the Chinese Yuan-country which is forcing the king to finally produce a legal heir, otherwise they would install a prince of Yuan as the successor. However, the king isn't capable of sleeping with his queen (Song Ji-hyo) as he is homosexual and in love with the leader of his personal bodyguard unit Hong Lim (Jo In-seong), who has been by his side since childhood days. Nonetheless, as the queen has to get pregnant as soon as possible he asks Hong to spend the night with her. At first, Hong and the Queen aren't really happy about this idea, but they have to obey to their ruler's wish, anyway. After a few nightly meetings the relationship between Hong and the queen starts to shift to a romantic relationship full of lust, which they continue behind the king's back even after he decided that further meetings wouldn't be necessary anymore. Eventually, the king finds out that Hong's feelings aren't directed at him anymore but someone else. At the same time some of his subordinates plot a scheme in order to overthrow him and so the king lets everyone feel at court, who has still the power in his hands...

Review: "A Frozen Flower" is Korea's proof that Koreans are by far not that prudish anymore like they still were a few years ago. Apart from some really hot and explicit sex scenes the likes you haven't seen them in Korean movies before, this costume drama full of lust, violence, betrayal and love more importantly offers a small bed scene between the king and his lover Hong Lim that shocked the audience. Homosexuality is a subject you can actually only talk about for a few years now. "A Frozen Flower" obviously takes a leaf out of "The King and the Clown" 's book in order to tell its extraordinary tale of a love triangle at the royal court and most of all it stands out because of its impressive pictures, sets that show the director's eye for details, fantastic costumes and well-written dialogues. This shouldn't come as a surprise since director Yu Ha had been a poet before he turned to making movies. What's the most apparent, though, is that the story, even though soon looked through concerning its demise, remains thrilling at any time, despite a running time of nearly 140 minutes.

Korea has had some basic problems when it came to producing historical or costume movies that could make me feel the enthusiasm I'm used to get from the Chinese counterparts, which is a reason why I didn't want to find the time to watch "The King and the Clown" yet, but Yu Ha changes that. His chamber play at the royal court oftentimes reminds us of Zhang Yimou's "Curse of the Golden Flower" with its pompous sets, even though Yu's film might take place within a framework that's less epic in scale. The answer to why the colourful costumes and sets can be that fascinating in Yu's work may lie in the fact that they aren't based a hundert percent on what people actually wore at that time, but most of all Yu Ha's great eye for the many small details is responsible for the fantastic look of the movie. At the numerous feasts we are introduced to traditional dances, music and sword performances, which aren't just a pleasure for the eyes, but also make us dive into the film in no time.

While the already mentioned bed scene between the king and Hong is still rather modest, there is a lot of skin revealed in the numerous sex scenes between Hong and the queen, which is a real surprise. It's not an overstatement to say that these scenes could have been taken out of a softcore porn movie, too. But even though these scenes will become somewhat repititive in tone, they also serve the rise of tension at any time as we feel the catastrophe drawing nearer with every meeting they have. In any case, director Yu deserves some special words of praise for having the courage to implement so much explicit sex into his movie. Anyway, "The Frozen Flower" also doesn't lack a good amount of violence either. Every now and then the pacing of the movie gets more tight and we are presented with some nicely choreographed sword fighting scenes, whereas the camera doesn't always capture from the right angle what's happening so that we sometimes get the feeling that we might miss one or two things. However, you won't miss the blood spilling all over the screen. Body parts are chopped off, bodies are pierced, people are tortured etc. Nevertheless, the most gruesome scene is one towards the end which will make every man groan in pain... The fate Yu Ha's protagonists have to endure naturally isn't a pretty one, as we can already foretell after the first meeting between Hong and the queen how things might end. There is always something that's inescapably casting a cloud over the actions of the protagonists and yet the film always manages to keep the tension up. This is mainly thanks to the complexity of the story, which weaves conspiracies at the royal court and some small twists into the apparent drama of the love triangle. Jo In-seong, also main actor of Yu Ha's last film "A Dirty Carnival" proves that he has made gradual progress concerning his acting skills since movies such as "Madeleine" and therefore manages to convince in the complex role of Hong, even though his acting might seem a bit too reserved at some points. Ju Jin-mo ( "200 Pounds Beauty" , "Wanee and Junah" ) on the other hand delivers a multi-layered portrayal as the king who becomes a villian because of his feelings towards Hong and manages to provoke feelings of sympathy and hatred of the viewer at the same time. Song Ji-hyo ( "Wishing Stairs" , "Some" ) bestows something inscrutable upon on the queen, so that it takes some time for us to figure out if her actions are only the result of lust or if she has actually fallen in love with Hong.

The king introduces Hong to a woman for the first time, and thus he experiences the sort of lust that soon changes into love, something the king didn't calculate in his plans. The queen on the other hand has been neglected by the king for years, so that she starts to develop feelings of love towards this new man, and this of all the other men at court towards the man she actually hated at first, because he more or less took away her husband from her. We have to wonder if Hong was maybe never homosexual and only victim of the king's power as he always had to bow down to the king's wishes (no pun intended). Without spoiling anything you might also want to take into consideration that Hong is maybe just bisexual. Yu Ha has yet to deliver a bad movie and in some respects "A Frozen Flower" may even be his best movie to date, at least concerning tension and character work. It's not easy to say what's actually the ingredient that's making his films so special, there is just something lyrical in them, which shouldn't surprise anyone considering that Yu Ha was a poet before he became a director, as already stated. "A Frozen Flower" is a wonderfully courageous and complex costume drama which deserves an extra point simply because of the fact that Yu's previous movies all just missed a better rating by inches. But more importantly, this is the first Korean costume film that could win me over. Finally...

A Frozen Flower

Where to Watch

Zo In-sung (Hong-rim) Ju Jin-mo (King) Song Ji-hyo (Queen) Cho Jin-woong (Tae Ahn-gong) Shim Ji-ho (Seung-ki) Lim Ju-hwan (Han-baek) Kwon Tae-won (Jo Il-moon) Ko In-beom (Yeon Ki-mok) Do Yong-gu (Ki Won-hong) Min Ji-Hyun (Queen's maid)

Ha Yoo, Park Young-Sik, Shin Jae Myung, Kim Su-Jin-I

A historical drama set in the Koryo dynasty and focused on the relationship between a king and his bodyguard.

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A Frozen Flower Reviews

There are a lot of ways that "A Frozen Flower" is gross and creepy, even by the standards of 2008.

Full Review | May 4, 2024

Some aspects about how the story unfolds are a bit far-fetched, while the melodramatic element could not be missing here also, but as a whole, it emerges as an excellent movie, particularly in the way it offers entertainment and visual pleasure

Full Review | Original Score: 7 | Jan 4, 2023

This is the MM Paranormal series you didn't know you needed to read!

I’ve been betrayed by someone I trusted. Because of him, I was captured by my loathed enemy: The vampires. Right now, the sun is still high in the sky, but I know when it sets, I’m as good as dead. They can’t wait to get their fangs into me. I guess some would say I have it coming. I did raise a lot of hell with my Resistance crew, and I was planning on raising a hell of a lot more at dawn before I was sold out by Jonah. The vampires, werewolves and dragons, have been trying to track me down for months and I’d always been two steps ahead of them.

   *Laughs* I guess my number is up. I just hope they make it quick. You see, the vampires in my reality aren’t the romantic lot you read about in books. They don’t sparkle or hang out at high schools with their teenage girlfriends. Hell no, vampires are brutal, calculating, sadistic and bloodthirsty. As a matter of fact, all of the monsters are! That’s how they were able to take over the world so easily and change an entire civilization to suit their needs. Whatever happens, I know it’s not going to be pretty, so I’m preparing myself for the worst. May God help me.

Reader Advisory: 18 and older. Content may be sensitive to some readers, discretion is advised.  

Read For FREE

• Apr 10, 2022

A Frozen Flower - Movie Review

Man, this was a breath of fresh air on par with the BL series History: Trapped. I'm always looking for quality gay movies that aren't all coming of age, or romantic comedies, or some tragic drama.

I can deal with those movies, but I also want to see some thriller, horrors, action and adventure, supernatural, sci Fi, and suspense in the gay genre too.

This movie checked off most of those boxes.

Of course, you know it's going to be a problem when the king as to produce and heir, but he can't. In this instance, it's because he's gay as all hell. So, after speaking with the Queen about their options, he orders his lover and chief protector to serve the queen to get him an heir. That will help stave off a plot to overthrow him from the thrown.

A part of me can't help but feel a bit sorry for the king. He can't help that he's gay and living in a society that would not accept him for it. So, he has to hide it. I also felt for the queen, as her sole purpose is to produce his heir.

But, shit does kick off and I did find myself highly intrigued.

Especially the scene where the King questions his lover regarding his whereabouts the night before.

He's like (and I'm paraphrasing) "where the fuck was your ass at last night, because it wasn't in MY bed?"

And dude had to think quick, he was like, "um, shit. Ummm I was reading a book in the library".

"All damn night?"

" It was an engrossing book"

"Oohh, well tell me about this book that had you sooo fucking captivated."

Man, the king questioned his ass about that book like he was doing a report for school. 😂

Basically, he was like, you better NOT be giving my dick to anyone but me.

The king was put in a bad situation because of what happened between them. It's not like he could just let that shit slide, over and over again, especially with so many ppl knowing there may be a scandal brewing.

His lover and queen were pretty selfish, if you ask me. Sometimes, you can't have who or what you want. Or the life you want. And their pursuit of that affected more than just them. They didn't think about the ramifications of their actions.

FINAL VERDICT: INNOCENT like them mofos who were just doing their jobs and got caught up. I'd hate to be a personal servant of royalty when their asses is up to no good. Movie, you did a great job entertaining me. However, I will say you were gratuitous with them damn straight sex scenes, and stingier than a fucking toddler with a bag of chips with that gay sex scene. I should hold your ass in contempt for that unbalanced shit, but I'll let it slide because you gave me a great plot and action.

Bailiff, release this film this instant.

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Frozen Flower, A (2008) Review

“A Frozen Flower” Korean Theatrical Poster

Director: Yu Ha Cast: Jo In-seong, Joo Jin-Mo, Song Ji-hyo, Shim Ji-Ho, Im Ju-Hwan, Yeo Wook-Hwan, Song Joong-Gi, No Min-Woo, Do Ye-Seong, Jang Ji-Won, Lee Jong-Gu Running Time: 133 min.

By JJ Hatfield

A Frozen Flower is a fictional drama set sometime near the end of the Goryeo Dynasty, 918 – 1392. The region is under control of the King (Jin-mo Ju) however it is always being watched by China. The young king sets about finding young boys to serve as his personal guard. He trains them well and allows them into the palace as well as sleeping there. As they grow up they are highly educated and taught that there is nothing more noble than to die for the King. The Chief Guard is Hong-lim (In-seong Jo) Hong-lim’s fighting skills are excellent and he is well respected. The King is content with the way things are as Hong-lim’s position as Chief allows him a greater freedom to come and go as he wishes.

It is obvious by the time Hong-lim is Chief that he has a special relationship with the King. He even sleeps in the King’s bed. There are only a few brief scenes of the King and Hong-lim having sex. There is no frontal nudity, mostly passion filled kisses. Even when they are in public, the honor and respect Hong-lim demonstrates towards the King is obvious. This arrangement would have suited the King well for years to come.

China, however was not content with the situation. The King had no heir. If anything happened to the King, chaos and violence might be part of the result and the overflow could effect China. The edict from the Chinese ruler was that if an heir was not produced within a specific amount of time the Chinese would put some one else in charge and the King would remain so with no authority, existing as only a figurehead.

The King has never once approached the Queen (Song Ji-hyo) in a romantic or sexual manner. Or even a warm embrace. They do not sleep in the same bed. When the mention of an heir arises she dares to suggest that perhaps if he made more of an effort things would be different. He responds by telling her he cannot take a woman, that he is homosexual but they do have other options. The possibility takes the King to talk with Hong-lim who is horrified at the very idea of trying to conceive a child wih the Queen. Not only would he not be sleeping with the King but a woman – who was the Queen! He has never even touched a woman, he has no interest in women. Hong-lim is understandably bewildered. The Queen is willing to try because she knows the importance of an heir to the throne. The first attempts are awkward and embarrassing, as well they would. The King insists Hong-lim try again. This time when Hong-lim meets with the Queen he is able to awaken her sexuality as he discovers his own.

Hong-lim and the Royal Guards investigate an earlier assassination attempt on the King. In talking with local folk he is able to determine there are a number of people that have vowed to stand together and remove the King, one way or another, preferably by death. The King schemes a way to deal with his two faced enemies and rid the Royal Court of those who are disloyal to the King.

As time passes Hong-lim and the Queen spend as much time together as they dare. The King has begun to grow suspicious because he senses a change in Hong-lim though the Chief denies anything is different. The covert meetings are dangerous but Hong-lim and the Queen feel more than lust for each other and it is that the King senses.

A Frozen Flower is a visually beautiful film. Most of the story unfolds indoors but the scenes are so rich and full of detail the viewer does not feel claustrophobic. The costumes are bright and colorful and full of intricacy. Delicate embroidery graces most of the clothing, even the Royal Guards uniforms. Ornate head-pieces and exquisite jewelry overfloweth. The festivals are grand and full of dancing, singing and good wishes. There are a lot of people involved in crowd scenes and for festivals. Nothing feels cheap, everything, every prop, dress, armor, glass, sword, has great detail and look very real. Part of the success clearly goes to the three main characters – the King, the Queen and Hong-lim. The actors did a splendid job in convincing the audience this was a real event, so much so that many people think it is an epic historical piece. These characters, these people could certainly have stepped out of time and seemed believable.

The music/soundtrack was really quite good and in some scenes propelled the situation forward. At different times, both the King and Queen sing and play for the court. The songs work in well with the overall theme.

Unfortunately, idiots abound in every nation and country in the world. Some of the idiots seem to be giving sex way too much thought with this movie. I had heard all sorts of ridiculous rumors before I saw this movie and I have no idea what the complaints were really about. Movies with three-way love triangles usually involve sex. The majority of “sex scenes” involve the Queen and the Chief. There is no full frontal nudity, meaning breasts and butts and nothing else. They do have sex in different positions but since when is that a bad thing? The aspect that makes this triangle so intense and so dangerous is because love has entered the picture.

Humans can go to incredible lengths and sink to frightening depths over what they may call love. Who is to say any caring relationship is right or wrong?

Kudos to Ha Yu for his brilliant screenplay and his willingness to show men having sex with men is hardly new or unique. South Korea is still in the early phase of acceptance of gays and lesbians. Especially homosexuality is not well received. I believe Ha Yu will be rewarded for his bravery in including sensitive material in his film.

This film is one you should see a couple of times. There is a lot of intrigue and changes the lead characters go through. It’s a lot to absorb in one sitting.

JJ Hatfield’s Rating: 8/10

About JJ Hatfield

3 responses to frozen flower, a (2008) review.

What a tangled web we weave… As Hatfield says, this a wonderful film. Watching this movie, I kept thinking about all those characters/groups trying to control someone else. Layer upon layer of deceit, and what a price each pays for his/her efforts. Indeed, this a beautiful film and the music is perfect. The actors, everyone, make the story believable. Excellent review, JJ Hatfield of another excellent movie.

I love being able to share good films! So glad you enjoyed it : )

A bit of trivia – the actor who plays the king in “A Frozen Flower” was the Korean general in “Musa”

Thanks for the comments. It makes my day to know people enjoy films I have recommended.

I did not know that bit of trivia. Those 2 characters are are quite different from each other and both excellently played. What a good actor he is.

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A Frozen Flower

Original title: 쌍화점.

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A Frozen Flower streaming: where to watch online?

Currently you are able to watch "A Frozen Flower" streaming on Kocowa, Rakuten Viki or for free with ads on Tubi TV. It is also possible to rent "A Frozen Flower" on Amazon Video online and to download it on Amazon Video.

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A Frozen Flower is 22004 on the JustWatch Daily Streaming Charts today. The movie has moved up the charts by 20188 places since yesterday. In the United States, it is currently more popular than A Double Life but less popular than The Great Escape from Women's Prison.

A historical drama set in the Koryo dynasty and focused on the relationship between a king and his bodyguard.

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Streaming Charts The JustWatch Daily Streaming Charts are calculated by user activity within the last 24 hours. This includes clicking on a streaming offer, adding a title to a watchlist, and marking a title as 'seen'. This includes data from ~1.3 million movie & TV show fans per day.

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A Road Warrior’s Driving Lessons in the Thrilling, Sprawling “Furiosa”

By Justin Chang

The last time we saw Imperator Furiosa, in the dystopian chase thriller “ Mad Max: Fury Road ” (2015), she had just returned from the heat of battle, her face streaked with blood, one eye swollen shut, her body so fatigued and battered that she could hardly stand. Furiosa, played by a stupendous Charlize Theron , had spent several days and nights driving an enormous truck, the War Rig, across miles of open desert, withstanding fiery assaults, a lethal sandstorm, and the surly company of a reluctant ally named Max (Tom Hardy). But triumph, at last, was hers: the vile warlord Immortan Joe (Hugh Keays-Byrne) lay dead at her feet, and hundreds of newly liberated desert dwellers were erupting in celebration. Amid the chaos, Furiosa scanned the crowd for Max and caught him slinking away. For a moment, he looked back and gave her an approving nod—then turned and vanished into the throng.

On one level, this is how all the “Mad Max” movies have ended: with Max going it quietly alone, moving on to his next infernal adventure. The Australian writer and director George Miller conceived the character—played, in the first three films, by a broodingly effective Mel Gibson—as a classic loner antihero in a near-future verging on social and economic collapse. The original “Mad Max” (1979), Miller’s scrappily potent début feature, introduced Max as a police officer behind the wheel of a black muscle car, prized for his skill at pursuing lawbreakers at high speeds. Personal tragedy brought Max low and turned him loose; his wife and young child were murdered by an outlaw biker gang, and, even after he avenged them, grief and rage had clearly destroyed any lingering hope of human connection. By the arrival of a sequel, “The Road Warrior” (1981), Max had become a gun-for-hire nomad, driving across a vaguely Australian landscape, where every highway was a potential battlefield. He might still join a fight or a noble cause, but only if the price was right, and with no promise of loyalty. Now, and in the following film, “Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome” (1985), his only aims were to survive and keep moving.

Why, then, did Max’s exit in “Fury Road” trigger such an onrush of emotion? The answer is Furiosa. For once, Max had met his match in road warriorship—an equally skilled driver, a better sniper, and a fellow avatar of taciturn grit. There were differences, too: Furiosa had lost her left arm in unexplained circumstances, and did her driving and fighting with the aid of a robotic limb. Crucially, unlike Max, she was invested in something more than personal survival. The plot of “Fury Road” was set in motion by her decision to free Immortan Joe’s five young “wives” from sexual bondage, a gesture that turned out to be anything but casual or blandly altruistic. Furiosa, we learned, had been born into—and kidnapped from—a matriarchal society called the Vuvalini, a lost sisterhood to which she desperately wished to return. For all her battle-hardened toughness, she was, in Theron’s fiercely felt performance, very much a child longing for home.

She was also a reminder that a life scarred by tragedy need not be doomed to nihilistic solitude, and that made her a moral counterweight to Max. One of the thrills of “Fury Road” was its willingness to interrogate and even disrupt the long-standing foundations of the series. In taking up a new question—how would women cope with the end of a world dominated and destroyed by men?—Miller ingeniously remapped his own dystopia and tapped into fresh reserves of audience pleasure. When Max passed his rifle to Furiosa and invited her to take a difficult shot, conceding her superior marksmanship, we watched as one hard-bitten hero passed his baton to the next. Or, because this asphalt-hungry franchise was built for vehicular metaphors, we watched as Max took a back seat in what had looked, until then, like his story alone.

Now, nine years on from “Fury Road,” Miller brings us a “Mad Max” film in which Max himself is almost entirely absent. Miller says that he will be back, likely still played by Hardy, in future sequels, but the new movie, “Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga” is a prequel, filling in Furiosa’s origin story. (Miller co-wrote the script, with Nico Lathouris.) Unfolding like the darkest of fairy tales, it recounts how a girl, mesmeric of gaze and flinty of spirit, is stolen from her home and forever transformed, through a crucible of unrelenting physical and psychological brutality. At one point, the director considered having Theron reprise the role of Furiosa, using digital de-aging effects. He ended up casting two younger actresses instead: Alyla Browne plays her as a child, and Anya Taylor-Joy plays her as a young woman.

The tale begins, post-apocalypse, in the Green Place of the Many Mothers, a lush oasis tucked away amid towering desert dunes. Here dwell the Vuvalini, who have taken refuge from a world ravaged by oil wars, environmental blight, and unceasing violence. One of the first things you notice is that the young Furiosa (Browne) is already named Furiosa; it isn’t some moniker she acquired after plowing her pickup truck into the school prom. It’s the name she was presumably given by her mother, Mary Jabassa (Charlee Fraser), who must have sensed her daughter’s ferocity in the womb—or who knew that, whatever the child’s temperament, such a name might well armor her against a world defined by rage.

“Furiosa,” in other words, is both an end-of-days thriller and an Edenic parable, Revelation and Genesis rolled into one. The first thing we see the young Furiosa do is pluck a piece of fruit, signalling an imminent fall from grace. Within moments, she is kidnapped by male marauders on motorcycles, who tie her up and whisk her off into the burnt-orange desert. Mary valiantly gives chase, but her pursuit ends in brutal defeat, and Miller distills the horror of mother-daughter separation into a single devastating shot—a near-crucifixion, to continue the religious imagery—seared, with a diabolical flourish, into Furiosa’s ultra-magnified pupil. She will spend the rest of the film seeking revenge against her captors, specifically their leader, Dementus (Chris Hemsworth), a swarthy, malevolent warlord whose most prized and perverse accessory is a Teddy bear, usually worn dangling from his leather gear. Don’t suffer the little children to come unto him.

Dementus’s voice, equal parts merriment and menace, is recognizably Hemsworth’s, though the actor’s features have been obscured by a mangy beard and a bulbous prosthetic schnoz; without them, perhaps, he might have looked a bit too much like his most famous character, Thor, gone to goth-biker seed. In time, Dementus and his gang will forge a most unholy alliance with the young Immortan Joe (Lachy Hulme), who huffs and puffs through a mask of rotted metal that resembles the world’s grodiest CPAP machine. Immortan Joe oversees a mighty desert citadel, where he is served by fanatical young followers known as War Boys: you may remember them from “Fury Road,” screaming, “I am awaited in Valhalla!” right before they hurled themselves, like suicide bombers, to a fiery doom. Higher up in the ranks are various unsavories with names like Scrotus, Rictus Erectus, the People Eater, the Organic Mechanic, and the Bullet Farmer. Even after two viewings of “Furiosa,” I confess that I can scarcely tell these grotesques apart, let alone make sense of their roles within Immortan Joe’s fascist circle. It’s of little consequence; one way or another, Furiosa, lusting for freedom and revenge, will outwit them all.

She will accomplish this, in part, by disguising herself as a boy and working undercover in Immortan Joe’s hellish garage, where construction of the War Rig is under way. It’s around this time that Anya Taylor-Joy steps into the role—in one of the most seamless actor-to-actor transitions I can remember—and shows us Furiosa’s way forward: through an apprenticeship of flame and steel, carried out in the company of dangerous men. In passing herself off as one of them, Furiosa buries her femininity and hones her mechanical skills, like an antipodean Mulan. But Mulan, stealth gender bender though she was, ultimately undertook her deception to serve an empire. Furiosa means to subvert one—to escape it and, in the end, destroy it from within.

Women haven’t always held such a powerful or prominent place in Miller’s films. The sole memorable female character in the first “Mad Max” was Max’s wife, Jessie (Joanne Samuel), who dotes on her cop husband and worries constantly for his safety. Their moments together with their son at a seaside retreat are almost sacred in their sense of domestic contentment: “Crazy about you,” Jessie coos to Max as he heads out on his next perilous mission. Watch that exchange again and see how the tenderness of their marital rapport corresponds to the relative lushness of the scenery: the ocean waves lapping at the shores, the greenery outside their window. The apocalypse, for now, is still a work in progress. In time, there will be only dirt and gravel and dust—and Max’s aching memories of Jessie and their son.

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Like a jalopy of jammed-together old parts, “Mad Max” was assembled from several influences: classic Westerns, Buster Keaton stunts, Chuck Jones’s Road Runner cartoons, the 1973 oil crisis . Another key inspiration: before Miller became a filmmaker, he was a doctor, and the horrific injuries he witnessed in the emergency room, many the result of car crashes, did their part to fire his imagination. For a newbie director, practicing medicine on the side doubtless had its financial as well as creative uses. Miller’s hospital work helped replenish the indie coffers; Max derives his surname, Rockatansky, from the nineteenth-century Austrian physician Carl von Rokitansky, who pioneered a method of examining organs at autopsies to determine the cause of death. An appreciation for viscera certainly suffuses the series, but what you remember from a “Mad Max” movie isn’t the extremity of the carnage; it’s the breathtaking clarity of the action. That quality, too, derives from Miller’s scientific mind. You sense in all his work a continual desire to lay out cause and effect, to ground even his most outlandish inventions in realism. The violence in his movies doesn’t merely convey sensation and impact; it has tremendous integrity.

“Mad Max” was a huge success; made for less than five hundred thousand dollars, it grossed more than a hundred million worldwide. “The Road Warrior” proved an even greater triumph, critically and commercially. Miller’s storytelling was tighter, and his world-building had deepened. Society’s descent into flaming anarchy was fleshed out in a grimly expository prologue: in a wasteland where most matters were settled via high-speed car chase, gasoline had become the single most important resource, so the story centered on a besieged oil compound. Where “Mad Max” announced an exciting new talent, the sequel confirmed that Miller was here to stay.

The next film, “Beyond Thunderdome,” which Miller directed with George Ogilvie, is less fondly remembered than its two predecessors. It’s an unusual “Mad Max” adventure, sporting less of the series’ signature gonzo vehicular action, a greater focus on young characters, and a curiously buoyant, optimistic spirit; it even secured a PG-13 rating. Though it was less successful than its progenitors, its pleasures are too eccentric and manifold to be dismissed. Chief among them was the gladiatorial arena called Thunderdome, a steel-cage marvel in which Max and his opponent dangled from elastic cables, springing and soaring through the air to attack each other with whatever weapons—spears, mallets, chainsaws—came to hand. The movie also planted the seed of gender parity that would flower in “Fury Road,” by giving us the saga’s first pillar of female strength, a town leader known as Aunty Entity. Wickedly calculating but not wholly devoid of heart or mercy, she was played, in the film’s greatest coup, by a cackling, resplendent Tina Turner.

In the thirty years that elapsed between “Beyond Thunderdome” and “Fury Road,” Miller built an eclectic but highly successful directing career, with an output that includes the supernatural dark comedy “The Witches of Eastwick” (1987), the wrenching medical drama “Lorenzo’s Oil” (1992), and the upbeat, Oscar-winning animated feature “Happy Feet” (2006). He had hoped to return to “Mad Max” sooner: “Fury Road” was announced in 2002, and Gibson, his body then still in fighting shape and his reputation as yet undamaged, was expected to reprise the role of Max. By the time the cameras rolled, years later, he had been replaced by Hardy, and the long-gestating project had become less a sequel than a reboot—an opportunity to resurrect the series for a new generation of moviegoers.

“Fury Road” was conceived as essentially a two-hour chase scene, with only brief interludes of downtime. It features the most sustained action and the most astoundingly acrobatic stunts of the franchise, and, despite the added layers of studio gloss, Miller sought to minimize digital manipulations and film with as many live-action and in-camera effects as possible. That meant a tougher shoot: made in Namibia and beset by constant delays, “Fury Road” ranks among the most ambitious and difficult productions in recent Hollywood history, but it is also proof that some of the greatest pictures emerge from adversity and risk. Released in May, 2015, it drew raves, became the highest-grossing “Mad Max” movie, and was nominated for ten Academy Awards, ultimately winning six. It remains the zenith of the series, a sand-blasted masterwork of viscerally pure cinema, made with a coherence, rigor, and imaginative audacity that have all but vanished from the C.G.I.-heavy content mill we call Hollywood.

Its cultural resonance is no less significant. “Fury Road” appeared more than two years before #MeToo took hold in the entertainment industry, and its decrying of sexual violence now feels uncannily prescient for Hollywood. So does the figure of Furiosa herself, who, unlike some of the regulation Strong Female Characters that have since rolled off the studios’ comic-book-movie assembly lines, never seemed like a cynical bid for representational cred. She reads like a character who had to exist and who may, in fact, have always existed, just waiting for the right story—and the right actress—to break her loose.

As thrilling and beautifully made as it is, “Furiosa” isn’t—and isn’t trying to be—the tightly honed tour de force that its immediate forerunner was. Miller seems to be almost preëmpting the inevitable comparisons with the predecessor by attempting something conspicuously different. Where “Fury Road” travelled from west to east to west, moving cleanly along a practically straight line, “Furiosa” spills out across the desert in all directions. And where the previous film unfolded a tautly structured, turbocharged story over a few days, “Furiosa” forsakes speed and momentum for a discursive two-and-a-half-hour sprawl, stretching out across some fifteen years and segmenting its narrative into five windily titled chapters. The story it tells is illuminating, but I’m not sure that the earlier film didn’t already tell it better. One of the triumphs of “Fury Road” was how fully expressive and persuasively realized the character of Furiosa was, even with only a few terse dribbles of backstory: “I was taken as a child” is about the extent of her recap. She doesn’t say much, and she doesn’t have to; she comes to the movie fully formed.

The searing power of Theron’s performance is a tough thing for a young performer to match, even one as skilled, as assured in her physicality, and as eloquent in her silence as Taylor-Joy. This isn’t the first time she has played a young woman driven, by a steel-trap mind and a cruel orphanhood, to pursue an outsized greatness. To watch her in “ The Queen’s Gambit ” is to behold a proto-Furiosa of the chess world, brilliantly strategizing her way to victory. Would Beth Harmon, though, for all her game-changing ingenuity, have gone to the lengths to which Furiosa is willing to go? (We know that, somewhere along the way in “Furiosa,” our heroine will lose her arm, occasioning a grisly image that harks back to a memorable moment from the first “Mad Max.”) Taylor-Joy’s commitment and ferocity are unimpeachable, but her icy sombreness can feel a bit one-note, and it strikes perhaps too stark a contrast with Theron’s vivid warmth. Even when the young Furiosa slices off her hair and smears dark grease across her brow like war paint, only fitfully do you feel a bone-deep connection with the Furiosa of old—a sense that we are truly beholding an earlier version of the character in the oil-slicked flesh.

Where Taylor-Joy convinces, however, is where it counts most: the action. In the movie’s finest sequence, which at once distills and elaborates on the Looney-Tunes-on-wheels inventiveness of “Fury Road,” Furiosa is again in the War Rig and paired with a male fellow-traveller. This one is a stout-hearted fellow named Praetorian Jack (a terrific Tom Burke), who’s driving the truck when it comes under attack. Suddenly, the camera seems to be everywhere: it dives into the truck’s undercarriage, where Furiosa has either cleverly or foolishly stowed away; follows her into the passenger seat, where she and Jack join forces; and chases her up to the top of the rig, just in time to blow up a hang-gliding enemy. Miller stretches out this delirious set piece to a luxurious length, tugging the mayhem in every possible direction. The whooshing camera movements are impossibly fluid; the score’s drumbeats have the intensity of a religious ritual. The upshot, still, is an almost primal exhilaration—a sense of sheer satisfaction and play that is every moviegoer’s birthright. For a glorious moment, we are all awaited in Valhalla. ♦

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