I cried. Really hard. The film is simply amazing.. I hate and love it at the same time. It left me conflicted at times.
The acting was great and I liked the cast, too.
Now, I think that the King did love Hong Rim. It was obvious how much he was hurt throughout the first part of the film. Later on, it was as if he grew obsessed, he had lost all his reason and sense when it came to his guard. I can't defend his actions, but I can somewhat understand where he was coming from; the one he cared for slowly drifted away from him and no matter what he did, he couldn't do anything to prevent it. He had been betrayed by his most important person time after time, which is, in my opinion, a very heavy blow.
Regarding Hong Rim, I think it is normal that he felt such passion after being with the Queen, given that all his life he had been with the King solely and he hadn't had the chance to freely explore his sexuality. I do think that he was fond of the Queen and cared for her, but- I don't think that he truly loved her and vice versa.
They didn't have much interaction with each other besides having sex; they didn't have any real, proper conversations nor did they get to know each other at all; I refuse to believe that their love could have been born from sex. It felt like the Queen saw Hong Rim her as her escape route from the life she had led. She might've mistaken her desire and passion for love since she had never received these things from the one she was married to- the King- who already had a beloved and only had eyes for him. She probably just wanted to be loved.
I believe that Hong Rim did love the King, but I think it was more of a platonic kind of love; It could've even been the strong sense of loyalty he had towards the King as a subordinate, but I don't find it important, either. The tear he shed while breathing his last made me think that he actually cared for him. He even hesitated at first and tried to distance himself from the Queen. But, somehow things got out of hand, he had changed and everything just went downhill.
The only thing I do know is that I feel extremely sympathetic for all of them, the poor Queen, the sad King and the tragic Hong Lim. It's as if all of them had found themselves in a tormenting situation with no way out.
The acting was great and I liked the cast, too.
Now,
I think that the King did love Hong Rim. It was obvious how much he was hurt throughout the first part of the film. Later on, it was as if he grew obsessed, he had lost all his reason and sense when it came to his guard. I can't defend his actions, but I can somewhat understand where he was coming from; the one he cared for slowly drifted away from him and no matter what he did, he couldn't do anything to prevent it. He had been betrayed by his most important person time after time, which is, in my opinion, a very heavy blow.
Regarding Hong Rim, I think it is normal that he felt such passion after being with the Queen, given that all his life he had been with the King solely and he hadn't had the chance to freely explore his sexuality.
I do think that he was fond of the Queen and cared for her, but- I don't think that he truly loved her and vice versa.
They didn't have much interaction with each other besides having sex; they didn't have any real, proper conversations nor did they get to know each other at all; I refuse to believe that their love could have been born from sex.
It felt like the Queen saw Hong Rim her as her escape route from the life she had led. She might've mistaken her desire and passion for love since she had never received these things from the one she was married to- the King- who already had a beloved and only had eyes for him. She probably just wanted to be loved.
I believe that Hong Rim did love the King, but I think it was more of a platonic kind of love; It could've even been the strong sense of loyalty he had towards the King as a subordinate, but I don't find it important, either. The tear he shed while breathing his last made me think that he actually cared for him. He even hesitated at first and tried to distance himself from the Queen. But, somehow things got out of hand, he had changed and everything just went downhill.
The only thing I do know is that I feel extremely sympathetic for all of them, the poor Queen, the sad King and the tragic Hong Lim. It's as if all of them had found themselves in a tormenting situation with no way out.