South Korea’s connection with its own historical roots is deeply embedded in popular culture. Period movies and costume melodramas have always held their own space, even during the nation’s gloomy times. From The King and the Clown (2005) and Masquerade (2012) to The Night Owl (2022), and back to the numerous retellings of the popular Chun-hyang love story through to countless K-dramas, merging fiction with ancient history is a codified trope that never fails to attract an audience.
In 2026, the enormous success and popularity of The King’s Warden might have opened new perspectives on sageuk (historical drama) movies and perhaps even sparked a resurgence in the genre, with its tale of the demise of the boy king Danjong (1441-1457).
The film, Korea’s biggest-ever box office hit with US$110 million in takings, played to wild applause at the 28th Far East Film Festival in Udine, Italy, where it shared third place in the audience award.
Director Chang Hang-jun and the film’s star Yoo Hae-jin made the trip to northern Italy, along with producer Im Eun-jeong, and they shared some reflections both via a one-on-one interview and as part of a panel looking into Korean cinema in general on why they decided to adapt the story of King Danjong for the big screen.
“In Korea, stories about this era have mostly focused on events up to Danjong’s removal from the throne, because that story is very dynamic, dramatic, and spectacular,” said Chang. “Most works stop right at the moment the throne is taken – in a way, the perpetrator ends up as the protagonist. But Danjong’s own story has never been properly told. He’s always been seen as a secondary character, merely a victim. So I wanted to ask: who was this person really? What kind of king was he? In that sense, there was more room for fresh interpretation than with more celebrated historical figures.”
The story could indeed have been made more spectacular by focusing on the coup led by Suyang Daegun and his rise to the throne, but the director intended to tell a story of paternal love – imagining the life of a commoner (played by Yoo) and his relationship with a deposed king (Park Ji-hoon), often ignored in historical annals. Hence, the deliberate choice not to show the antagonist Suyang Daegun on screen was important in terms of both narrative and style. As the director explained: “I hoped audiences would sense a vast, invisible power lurking behind everything; the menacing weight of Joseon’s political order.”
In the end, the filmmaker chose to blend historical accuracy with fiction.
“Historically, there are only a few lines written about [Danjong],” he said. “But those few lines stimulate the imagination all the more. The figure of Eom Heung-do [Yoo’s role], too – it’s not clearly recorded who he was. But there is a mention that he collected Danjong’s body, gave him a burial, and then went into hiding. So the question becomes: at a time when entire families were being executed for such acts, who would dare do this? Perhaps it was someone who had lived alongside Danjong, sharing hardships. And perhaps their deep friendship was what drove him – out of genuine grief, out of a need to mourn – to risk his life to recover the body. That’s the imaginative spark.”
Love thus becomes the driving force of the movie, leading to a tragic ending while searching for meaning in the lines found in an ancient record that the director decided to include before the end credits: “Even though many people hesitated, Eom Heung-do said: ‘Doing what is righteous and meeting with misfortune – this is what I am content with, not what I fear.’”
Central to the film’s success is the performance of Yoo, whose casting, looking back now, was practically inevitable. During the festival panel, the filmmakers joked that the “ugly” face of the actor was a face straight out of the Joseon period, and made this movie possible. Jokes aside, it’s true that the incredible acting and versatility of Yoo raised the level and popularity of this piece.
In films such as this, when the ending is predetermined, the director believes it is important to keep a balance between tragedy and humour. “In a story heading toward tragedy, laughter is what makes the audience empathise with the characters,” he said.
And that’s what Yoo delivers, with his vast experience across three decades in both comic and profound roles, he can perfectly convey laughter and sorrow, joy and pain together.
Yoo himself said that he values laughter deeply in a film: for him, it is like a comma, or a break, or a refreshing glass of water. There must be humour even in drama. As for his role as Eom, the challenge he faced while preparing for shooting was the paternal dimension of the character.
“What started as a character who was using the young king for his own purposes gradually, without my noticing, shifted into the perspective of a father. That shift was a very special experience for me, making this film what it is,” he said.
Just why the film has been such a success may be difficult to answer, but the energy and passion the crew placed in this production are undeniable. In times of uncertainty and in the post-COVID woes of the film industry, producer Im decided to keep developing the project even when others had lost faith. Ten million tickets sold is an unimaginable reward, but as the cast and crew came together, signs of something special happening started to appear.
“That energy is what got us started,” commented producer Im. “As for hitting ten million admissions… if we’d actually aimed for that at the beginning, we’d have been delusional. I couldn’t have imagined it. But as we went through the process – as the director came on board, as veterans joined, as our superstar cast all moved in the same direction – I began to sense, little by little, that this wasn’t going to be a small success.”
Perhaps the success of this movie can be interpreted as a symbolic celebration – not only a spark of light for Korean cinema but also a literal memorial. 570 years later, as the whole nation finally got up and paid its respects to Danjong’s through this film.
Written and interviewed by Sara Domenicano, who was part of the FEFF Campus initiative for emerging film industry talent.
Featured image © 2026 Alice BL Durigatto
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