Name : Lilih Sopia

NIM : 1172040058

Class : 3B

The Throne (2015)

The Throne is about the life of Crown Prince Sado, the heir to the throne who was
deemed unfit to rule and was condemned to death by his own father by getting locked in a
rice chest for eight days until he suffocated and starved. The film is set in the Joseon period,
wherein a king tries to teach his son the way of being an eligible prince and a competent king.
Efforts made by the king to straighten out his son his son only result in a bitter end. The king
in his late age, losing hope in his son, trains his grandson for the position. In a drunken fury
from bitterness and regret, the prince rushes to the palace one night to assassinate the king.
The king, who initially tries to forgive, is manipulated by some members of the palace
officials and ministers into thinking that the prince is beyond reckless and not worthy of
being future king. The king order his son to be locked in a rice box until his death, on the
eighth day the price dies, and ceremonies are held. The film is essentially a potrayal of a
power struggle between a desperate father and his emotionally abused son, who initially
strives to earn his father’s love and admiration, but rabels against his father once he realizes
that he can not meet his expectations. At seemingly every opportunity, the king-father
publicy belittles and humiliates his son before his governing subjects, making the regent-son
question his own self-worth, driving him into a perpetual state of anxiety, self-loathing and
eventually madness. However, it makes clear at the end that both had a fierce love for the
other, and that the driving force for both king and prince was to see the other happy. This
story is told in a long and very effective flashback showing the distance between a father who
is disappointed with his son and a son who longs for his father's love. Even those who take
historical facts and use them to intrigue and force tears. This film also succeeded in
convincing in technical matters. Beautiful sets and stunning costumes are among the strong
points like a well-arranged soundtrack. Furthermore, in technical matters it should be noted
that Director Lee's decision to remove films from several colors without a set lost their
splendor added much to the film's rather dark tone. Unfortunately, the director made a typical
mistake dragging the epilogue very much to underline the film's tragedy. The duration of the
film that was too long also made me feel a little bored to watch to the stories in the film. But
at some point you have enough tears. At other points, the film will also get a little less than
all melodrama. in the film it is not told how the crown prince could have an interest in the arts
and did not explain how the crown prince established relationships and cooperation with
monks, prostitutes and others even though the security system of an empire was certainly
tight which was less likely to enter the palace. It would be more interesting if the film did not
only discuss power issues, power struggles, and thrones, but also included other stories, such
as love conflicts and so on. The author must also consider the duration of the film.