Shy Townes

Recently I came across this film and I was immediately drawn to it because the main actor is also in 'That Winter the Wind Blows' (also really good) and I think he's really talented. I'm always drawn to love triangles, & angsty/steamy movies so the synopsis immediately had me hooked. Skipping over the plot summary (it's already been well covered) I'm diving straight into my analysis. It's obvious that from the beginning the King was in love with the Chief Commander... almost obsessively so. He favored him since he was a boy and introduced him to pleasure, albeit a one-sided type of pleasure. The King's first mistake was making someone you love sleep with another person regardless if it's a man or a woman. Opening that door is just asking for trouble. The second mistake was listening to them actually engage in the act. WHY would anyone want to listen to their lover being intimate with someone else?? Unless you have that type of kink, that's a no-no. Moving onto the Commander, I don't think he did anything wrong. Both him and the Queen were each other's first, her being a virgin and him having never been with a woman. Now this is where a lot of ppl have been saying he fell in love with her after their first consummation. I disagree. I believe the Commander had always been intrigued by her, like when he was a boy and noticed when the King refused to greet the Queen, when he overheard her talking about her perfume satchet (& later on remembered it got lost) and when he secretly stared at her when she was singing at the lunch outing. His intrigue is only solidified when they sleep together and then it evolves into love. I think the Queen's initial feelings toward him lean more towards lust as she's sexually 'awakened' but then moves into love when she experiences the Commander's gentleness and thoughtfulness (he replaces her lost satchet). I'm not sure if their relationship constitutes as an affair. If affair equates to deception, then yes. But if it means betraying the one you love, then that doesn't apply. The Queen never had the opportunity to love, or even know the King since he only had eyes for the Commander. The Commander, I think confused 'love' with loyalty because that's how the King led and groomed him to behave. After being with the King and then the Queen, he then had both perspectives and yet he still preferred to be with the Queen. The tragic ending was bound to happen as is common with most Asian dramas but it really didn't have to end that way in my opinion. If the King TRULY loved the Commander, he wouldn't have emasculated and castrated him (even in a jealous fit of rage) just so no one else could have or want him. He would have asked the Commander what he wanted and then accepted his decision. Because that's what you do for those you love, you set them free or do what makes THEM happy despite how you may feel. All in all, this is a great thought-provoking film. It was wonderfully choreographed with talented actors. *viewer discretion advised*