The Fatal Encounter

The film depicts 24 hours leading up to the assassination attempt on the life of King Jeongjo and it shows who the people around him truly are.

 

A film that could have been amazing with better camera control.

 

Leading the fray is King JeongJo (Hyun Bin) a man who has lead a hard life despite being the son of a prince and the grandson of the previous king. Now he is a clever and patient man who has to protect himself from the people that are close to him. Despite that he hasn't lost himself in revenge, he knows that it takes time and care. Yet he is not a weak man, he can handle a bow like the rest of them. His whole aura commands respect but at the same time you can tell he is lonely. Will the king survive the life he has always known?

One person standing in his way is his step grandmother the Queen Dowager, Queen Jeongsun (Han Ji-min). She is quite calculating and serves as King Jeongjo's rival within the palace. Besides her intelligence she is beautiful and at times forgiving. At times she looks confident but there are a few slight moment were she appears to be lonely as well.  Despite the fact that she can be seen quite similar to her grandson, the two are not close at all.

 

Standing next to the king is the royal clerk Sang-chaek (Jung Jae-young) secretly he was planted into the place to assassinate the king. He is quite intelligent and shown to be a supporter of the king as he also appears to be the closet one to him. Besides being the clerk he appears to be the king's advisor telling the king that the bloodline needs to continue when he catches the king looking at a female servant. Sang-chaek is a very complicated man that will have to make the hardest decision of his life.

The greatest performance in this film from was Hyun Bin and Han Ji-min. These two surprised me quite a lot, these roles are so different than their normal ones. Hyun Bin as a long suffering confident and patient prince. Han Ji-min as a ruthless and calculating Queen Dowager. These two are quite a match I wish there were more scenes with the two together but they stand quite well in their separate scenes.  Jung Jae-young did a good job but his character needed more depth than he was given. I felt like that side was a bit weak as towards the ending it was slightly predictable on how some of the supporting characters will end up. No one else really stood out in the film but I felt like the rest did a good job as well.

This was the directors first film but not his first directing job. I think he did a wonderful job but he needs to grow a lot more. I like his style so far, can't wait to see more movies from him.

 

3.5/5

 

Starring

 

Hyun Bin

 

 

Also appeared in:

 

Spin Kick

A Millionaire's First Love

 

Dramas:

Secret Garden

 

 

Han Ji-Min

Also appearing in:

 

The Plan Man

 

Dramas:

 

Padam Padam...The Sound of His and Her Heartbeat

Rooftop Prince

 

 

Jung Jae-young

 

 

 

Also appeared in:

 

Guns and Talks

Someone Special

Going by the Book

Castaway on the Moon

Moss

GLove

Countdown

Confession of Murder

The Plan Man

Broken