Linda Wear

I don’t usually watch foreign language films with English captioning. I do watch lots of movies though. I am a woman who doesn’t watch soap operas or Hallmark Channel love stories and I don’t read romance novels. But The King’s Affection kept showing up on my Netflix feed, and I was temporarily mostly homebound, so I decided to give it a try… and…well…WOW! I was so drawn in to this 20-episode series that I have now binge-watched it 3 times! I And I may find time to curl up on the couch with a box of tissues nearby and watch it again. I thought it was that good! I can’t imagine watching it spread over 20 weeks though. I have to devour it as fast as I can. It is probably better to go in with no expectations and just let the story sweep you up and carry you along, so it might be better not to read the following comments and just watch it. But if you are curious why I liked it so much, I make my case. This is a sweet and innocent story of a first love that lasts a lifetime. There are underlying other loves stories, characters with interesting backstories, and intense political conflict and intrigue. Some characters are of a pure and good heart, some characters are agonizingly conflicted, and of course, some are wholly despicable, consumed by greed and lust for power. I struggled with those who tried so hard to hide their love to protect the kingdom as well as those who loved with no hope of having that love returned. I cheered for the king’s supporters who wanted so badly to protect the nation and create a government that really cared for its people and sacrificed so much for those goals. So many times, the way forward seemed hopeless. The characters were oftentimes crushingly unlucky and at other times incredibly lucky. Amidst all the political turmoil and despair and the unbearable heartache there is just the right amount of comic relief. The period costumes for royalty were elegant and gorgeous. The setting in a Korean district called Joseon, with the city streets and markets, the royal palace and gardens, and the countryside adding such visual inspiration to the story that I want to go there and stand in the assembly hall and the throne room and walk over the elegant stone bridges and through the beautiful gardens and spend time in contemplation in that secret sanctuary garden the same way I want to visit Hobbiton in New Zealand. The music was haunting and touching. I keep playing “One and Only” and “If I” in my head and must find a copy of the soundtrack. For those who enjoy such things, there are plenty of well-choreographed sword fights, lots of stabbing and slicing, and several bloody deaths by sword, knife, or poisoning, with lots of blood and not too much gore. I laughed some and cried some every time I watched it. The slow-motion embraces depicted how it feels suddenly to be in close proximity to someone you care deeply about but cannot reveal it. Time slows down and everything and everyone fades away in that moment. The story, of course, was not totally realistic—but it FELT real. It made me really care. I needed that. All the acting was first-rate. The king, the tutor, the tutor’s father, and Prince Jaeun were incredible, and I am now scouring my Netflix and other sources to find other films these actors are in as well as similar films (found Crowned Clown!) Park Eun Bin, Rowoon, and Nam Yoon-su are so young that I expect great things from them in future films and will be on the look-out. Just wish I understood Korean!