Empire of Lust

Must watch ! It is actually pretty good the productions the actors are my favorites! Everything looks realistic like damn!!! Hahaha! I love it. This is back in 2015 y'all. So expect the old story especially with romance scenes. The only thing I don't like about this is the ending. I'm crying no I'm not crying. Well Netflix brought me here so must watch if you're bored and looking for movies to watch before bed. Now I am going to bed I enjoyed the movie very much.

I honestly watched this film because of Jang Hyuk. He played a supporting roll in this dark film, but it was still worth the watch for me. This vengeance film was both dark and hyper- sexual. Despite that, there was a sad love story intertwined with a war story that some viewers might find interesting.

Like many a "Joseon Empire" historical action movie, this 2015 South Korean film is solidly anchored in sword violence. (To put it bluntly, there's lots of blood and gore.) But the addition of rape scenes made it significantly more disturbing than your average TV K-drama "sageuk", which (as of 2023) are always pristinely sanitized in romantic and/or sexual situations. This movie opens with an arty inter-splicing of a bloody battle and rather raw lovemaking, which may seem gratuitous to some, but provides a deft summary of the 2 faces of lust that fueled the rise of a 500 year dynasty. The directing and acting is top notch, especially from the two lead actors, noble hero Shin Ha-Kyun and psycho-villain Jang Hyuk (who rose to prominence in the iconic sageuk "The Slave Hunters"). Both of these action stars can actually act, and superb at packing a universe of emotion into a "100 yard stare". This film is basically a love story and could have been improved with better couple chemistry and a more memorable OST. The k-drama TV series "My Country: The New Age", also set in this era and with Jang Hyuk reprising his role as Bang Won, is cheesier/ less sophisticated than EoL, but it's much more entertaining and more visually enticing. In summary, Empire of Lust is a film worth 2 hours of your time, but its depictions of extreme avarice and cruelty are not easy watching.

Apart from the grand looking production this unpleasant movie is full of unlikeable characters. The taking of the throne by a bypassed son could have been interesting but what they chose to show wasn't interesting. Throwing in some rape and unattractive love scenes didn't help. Didn't feel for the lead characters.

I'm huge fan of Ha-kyun Shin since I saw him in Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance. I've seen most of his work and this wouldn't be the best part of it. Especially that usually Koreans know how to make an exciting historical drama. Although I'm not a big fan of this genre quite a few times I was really impressed with the way they approach history. Ha-kyun Shin is a sold actor but he doesn't seem to get much support from anyone else. Overall it is still worth seeing as at times it get pretty interesting when you realize how difficult it was to survive at the court with everyone around you playing their own games.