Takes place during the fabled Chosun era, “Shadows in the Palace” succeed to be one of the most acclaimed Korean film of 2007. It’s not by chance either if the film was directed by Kim Mee-jeung, who served on the production team of “The King and The Clown”, one of the most successful Korean films which set in Chosun era. Kim also not mistaken if she was really proud with her first movie directing experience here, because Shadow has bring her to be honored as the Best New Director at the 2007 Korean Film Awards. Her previous work with some skillfully directors to the genre had sharpened her visual sense which intensely heightened the appeal of this lavishness historical visual movie. Differing from Chosun era horror “Evil Twins” which centered on a ghost story to build the tension, Shadow was combined suspense, mystery and murder to its whole plot. What that can be point as the similarity between both films is although it takes place in the histories Chosun dynasty era, the story is purely a fictionalized account of what happened among made up characters on the film. Now, it was able to experiencing again the tense atmosphere of this chilling murder mystery, because “Shadows in the Palace” is now available to order on English subtitled DVD that expected to release on January 4, 2008.
Kim has featured mostly an all female cast to this debut film and cast Park Jin-hee who well-known as the Korean Naomi Watts as the leading lady, Park played as court nurse, Chun-ryung who investigated the mysterious death of maid-in-waiting Wol-ryung who was found hanging in her maid chamber. While Chun-ryung does an autopsy on the corpse, she finds traces of the maid having given birth and that was revealed a scandalous fact because maids are sworn to keep their chastity for the king. Chun-ryung concludes that the maid did not commit suicide, but was actually murdered, meanwhile, her superior order her to cover up the death as a suicide. Determined to get to the bottom of things, Chun-ryung undertakes her own private investigations and begin with her first suspect Jung-ryul, the one who first discovered Wol-ryung. Despite to questioning her, Jung-ryul was appears possessed and tormented by a ghost while the other maids keep their mouths tightly closed. But then step by step, Chun-ryung start to unravel many secrets inside the palace, about the corruption of the ruling class, the discovering of the seduction and exploitation of court maids by an aristocrat, and about a shocking conspiracy that leads her to Hee-bin, the royal concubine who was the mother of the only royal heir. It appears that the king has no heir by his queen and he is on the verge of naming the son of one of his concubines, Hee-bin to be his successor.
Product Details:
Product Title: Shadows In The Palace DVD (Limited Edition) (Korea Version)
Actors: Park Jin-hee, Yoon Sae-ah, Suh Young-hee, Lim Jung-eun, Jeon Hae-jin, Kim Sung-ryung
Directors: Kim Mee-jeung
Format: Anamorphic Widescreen 1.85:1, Color, NTSC
Language: Korean
Subtitle: English, Korean
Audio Specs: Korean Dolby Digital 5.1
Region: Region 3 South East Asia (including Hong Kong, S. Korea and Taiwan)
Number of discs: 2
Country Made: South Korea
Genre: Suspense-Thriller
Feature Film Running Time: 112 Minutes
Distributor: Cinema Service
Release Date: January 4, 2008 (Order your copy now!)
This edition comes with the following special features:
Disc 1
• Feature Presentation: Shadows In The Palace
• Commentary with Director Kim Mi Jung and Jung Seung Hye, CEO of Morning Pictures
Disc 2
• Making Of
• Arts Direction
• Costumes
• Visual Effects: Digital Images, Computer Graphics
• Poster Shoot
• Teaser
• Theatrical Trailer
Movie review from Koreanfilm.org by Darcy Paquet:
The wide cast of characters, most of whom are well-known but not stars in Korea, contain an equally wide spectrum of performances. Most prominent is Park Jin-hee (Love Talk) in the lead role of Chun-ryung. I'm a fan of Park's straightforward, accessible style, though here I wonder if she may have been miscast. Chun-ryung's internal drive -- her need to know the truth, even if it puts her in danger -- is the film's key narrative engine, but here I found it not quite convincing. Still, many of the other performances are quite effective, especially Kim Seong-ryeong as a fearsome supervisor who has adopted completely the ruthless strictures of palace discipline.
As the film moves towards its conclusion, the fantasy/horror elements that were merely hinted at earlier begin to creep out of the closet (and yes, there is long black hair). At the same time, though, the film's broader themes regarding oppression and power begin to come into focus. I'm particularly fond of the last scene, with the palace women all dressed in white mourning robes, witnessing power being taken up by a new set of hands. We've been led to believe that the strict set of rules which govern the palace are an insurmountable force, but events may tell us otherwise.
It may not be possible to ever completely understand what life was like for people who lived in centuries past, given the lack of records and the vast cultural gap between us and them. Films set in the past usually end up telling us more about contemporary society than about the era on the screen. But is there anything wrong with that? Cinema is an act of imagination, and setting a film in a little-understood historical setting allows room for the imagination to extend itself. More than anything, it's the conceptual energy and narrative momentum of Shadows in the Palace that makes it an exciting discovery among this year's Korean films.
Some movies meet with the culture: Evil Twins, Muoi: Legend of the Portrait, The King and The Clown, Hwang Jin Yi
Kim has featured mostly an all female cast to this debut film and cast Park Jin-hee who well-known as the Korean Naomi Watts as the leading lady, Park played as court nurse, Chun-ryung who investigated the mysterious death of maid-in-waiting Wol-ryung who was found hanging in her maid chamber. While Chun-ryung does an autopsy on the corpse, she finds traces of the maid having given birth and that was revealed a scandalous fact because maids are sworn to keep their chastity for the king. Chun-ryung concludes that the maid did not commit suicide, but was actually murdered, meanwhile, her superior order her to cover up the death as a suicide. Determined to get to the bottom of things, Chun-ryung undertakes her own private investigations and begin with her first suspect Jung-ryul, the one who first discovered Wol-ryung. Despite to questioning her, Jung-ryul was appears possessed and tormented by a ghost while the other maids keep their mouths tightly closed. But then step by step, Chun-ryung start to unravel many secrets inside the palace, about the corruption of the ruling class, the discovering of the seduction and exploitation of court maids by an aristocrat, and about a shocking conspiracy that leads her to Hee-bin, the royal concubine who was the mother of the only royal heir. It appears that the king has no heir by his queen and he is on the verge of naming the son of one of his concubines, Hee-bin to be his successor.
Product Details:Product Title: Shadows In The Palace DVD (Limited Edition) (Korea Version)
Actors: Park Jin-hee, Yoon Sae-ah, Suh Young-hee, Lim Jung-eun, Jeon Hae-jin, Kim Sung-ryung
Directors: Kim Mee-jeung
Format: Anamorphic Widescreen 1.85:1, Color, NTSC
Language: Korean
Subtitle: English, Korean
Audio Specs: Korean Dolby Digital 5.1
Region: Region 3 South East Asia (including Hong Kong, S. Korea and Taiwan)
Number of discs: 2
Country Made: South Korea
Genre: Suspense-Thriller
Feature Film Running Time: 112 Minutes
Distributor: Cinema Service
Release Date: January 4, 2008 (Order your copy now!)
This edition comes with the following special features:Disc 1
• Feature Presentation: Shadows In The Palace
• Commentary with Director Kim Mi Jung and Jung Seung Hye, CEO of Morning Pictures
Disc 2
• Making Of
• Arts Direction
• Costumes
• Visual Effects: Digital Images, Computer Graphics
• Poster Shoot
• Teaser
• Theatrical Trailer
Movie review from Koreanfilm.org by Darcy Paquet:The wide cast of characters, most of whom are well-known but not stars in Korea, contain an equally wide spectrum of performances. Most prominent is Park Jin-hee (Love Talk) in the lead role of Chun-ryung. I'm a fan of Park's straightforward, accessible style, though here I wonder if she may have been miscast. Chun-ryung's internal drive -- her need to know the truth, even if it puts her in danger -- is the film's key narrative engine, but here I found it not quite convincing. Still, many of the other performances are quite effective, especially Kim Seong-ryeong as a fearsome supervisor who has adopted completely the ruthless strictures of palace discipline.
As the film moves towards its conclusion, the fantasy/horror elements that were merely hinted at earlier begin to creep out of the closet (and yes, there is long black hair). At the same time, though, the film's broader themes regarding oppression and power begin to come into focus. I'm particularly fond of the last scene, with the palace women all dressed in white mourning robes, witnessing power being taken up by a new set of hands. We've been led to believe that the strict set of rules which govern the palace are an insurmountable force, but events may tell us otherwise.
It may not be possible to ever completely understand what life was like for people who lived in centuries past, given the lack of records and the vast cultural gap between us and them. Films set in the past usually end up telling us more about contemporary society than about the era on the screen. But is there anything wrong with that? Cinema is an act of imagination, and setting a film in a little-understood historical setting allows room for the imagination to extend itself. More than anything, it's the conceptual energy and narrative momentum of Shadows in the Palace that makes it an exciting discovery among this year's Korean films.Some movies meet with the culture: Evil Twins, Muoi: Legend of the Portrait, The King and The Clown, Hwang Jin Yi
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