Gwanghae

__**Film: Gwanghae**__

This story is a Korean version of the prince and the pauper. In this film, the king wants to escape from the scheming servants. So, he decides to bring another double that takes his place. At first, the double doesn't have anything he wants, but because he has a kind and warm heart, he begins to truly want to become a king that serves for his country. He realizes the injustice in the country and tries to bring justice. In the end though, the original king realizes that he can't escape forever and comes back to become a better king and the double quietly retreats.
 * The plot of the film (what the character wants): **

The theme of the film is about how a country needs a noble and honest king. At first, the king escapes from the scheming servants, but before he escapes he was in the process of slowly becoming a bad king. The country was in a total mess and people were becoming poorer. However, when the double takes place, he becomes a model for what a honest and noble king should be like. The king that escaped realizes from the actions of the double that the country needs a noble king and returns back to become one.
 * The theme of the film (what the character needs): **

The tone of this film is serious and solemn, because the theme of this film is about a noble and honest king, whenever the double showed signs of nobility in a serious and solemn manner, the audience would be moved. The double seemed more like a "king" than the real king. During the last scene when the double talked about how important the people of his country were to him, the tone and the mood provoked a sense of majesty.
 * The tone of the film (how the film makes you feel, or the emotional content): **


 * Mis En Scene **

1. This scene is the opening scene to this movie. The king isn't wearing his clothes nor his crown. The king's clothes is situated in the right hand corner where there is the sun shining through. This indicates the theme of being a "noble king". Without wearing his crown or having is clothes on that symbolizes being a "king", what is he? Can his nobility still indicate that he is a king? The actor looking directly at the camera seems to be questioning these questions to the audience.

2. This scene is where it indicates the king's work load. The rows of people are all pleading the king for something and this represents the endless work that the king has to face. The director purposely situates the king at the middle with an endless rows of people all crying out something in order to indicate the amount of stress and the burden the king has to undertake. This stress and burden eventually leads to the king's meltdown and his decision of taking in a double.

3. This is the scene where the real king meets the double. The standing position, where the real king stands and the double bows, show their rank. The dark and low light intensity shows the solemnness of this occasion and how this event will affect the whole story. This is the point in the story where the two main characters meet the first time and it will indicate what will happen further on in the story. So, it was important for the director to take out any other color that might make the two main characters seem less important and emphasized the two characters. It is necessary to note the change through the film as the double, currently bowing to the king showing his own inferiority, will soon show signs of a noble king that wouldn't escape from his duties unlike this king.

4. & 5. This scene on the left is of one of the king's loyal servant and the double. The double's position and of his lower level literally indicates his lower status than the servant on the left. The servant has no respect for this "double" and the mood is lighter because the status in definite. However, the servant soon recognizes the nobility inside the king and like the scene on the left, has a lower stance than the double. The lighting is dark, because the status is no longer definite and the real king's nobility is brought into question.

6. This scene is of when a young maid tells her sad story about how she got to be a maid. The servant is telling her story and the king is seemingly also crying with her. The soft glow golden glow and also golden background indicates the nobility that he is showing through also portraying sympathy for this girl. Even though he is a dummy, there is a certain glow of nobility showing through him.

7. This scene is when the double is seated at in the royal chair. The director shows a lot of nobility by surrounding the double in gold. The double is also situated in the middle to indicate his significance. This scene is suppose to summon a sense of solemnness and touch the hearts of the audience as the double states his views upon justice and how his people are more important to him than anything else. The dragons and gold inevitably pictures this double as a noble king.

8. This scene is of the real king. While the fake king is making sermons about justice, the real king is trying to escape from his duties. The un-nobility is portrayed through the darkness of this whole scene. The king isn't wearing anything at all and seems small and inferior.

9. This scene is when the loyal servant asks whether the double wants to become the king. The director purposely positions the king's chair in the middle and shines a light upon it. The double undoubtedly wants to become the king, but his face is covered in darkness. This indicates that there are many things for him to think about before saying yes to the loyal servant. This scene sets a serious mood for the double's desire to become a king or become a noble person, because by him being a king, he would have to kill other people in order to rise.

10. This is the last scene of the movie. As the boat that the double is on leaves the dock, the loyal servant comes to the dock to pay respect to the double who had shown nobility. The director intentionally situates the double in front of a less colorful background with a less colorful clothes than the one he wore when he was a king, but his smiling face indicates the still present nobility in him. The loyal servant bows to the double, even though he had given the double no respect at first, in the end this action clearly shows that there was something that had changed the loyal servants mind about the double.

Extra.

This scene is of the real king's wife, the queen. The view point is from that the double as he sees the beautiful woman. The queen is purposefully situated with flowers and the bright colors of the palace in order to indicate her beauty, but her expression seems very forlorn and indicates that she isn't being loved by the real king.

The double falls in love for her and tries to make the queen smile. But the queen thinks of it as weird. The wall between them indicates the wall between their status and the love the double cannot acquire.



The queen becomes extremely superior and the double is portrayed extremely inferior as the queen finds out that the double isn't the real king and that he is only a dummy. The mood is dark and solemn as to indicate that the love cannot come true.