The King's Letters

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Movie
German title The King's Letters
Original title Naratmalssami ( 나랏 말 싸미 )
Country of production South Korea
original language Korean ,
Sanskrit ,
Japanese
Publishing year 2019
length 110 minutes
Rod
Director Jo Cheol-hyeon
script Lee Seung-won,
Geum Jeong-yeon,
Jo Cheol-hyeon
music Dalparan
camera Kim Tae-gyeong
cut Kim Seong-beom
occupation

The King's Letters is a 2019 historical film by South Korean director Jo Cheol-hyeon. The film is about the creation of the Korean alphabet , Hangeul . The Korean original title 나랏 말 싸미 Naratmalssami comes from the Hunminjeongeum and means something like 'the language of our nation'.

The King's Letters is the final film by the 2019 different actress Jeon Mi-seon .

action

In the Joseon Dynasty Korea in 1442, King Yi Do (posthumous name: Sejong) wanted to develop a script that was easy to learn and write. The Chinese script is said to be too elitist, since only the top class has the time to learn it. They do not allow the common people to be educated. He studies Chinese works on phonetics , but he gets stuck.

One day Japanese envoys came to him and asked him for the original Daejanggyeong , the canon of Korean Buddhism . Since Korea has devoted itself to Confucianism and turned away from Buddhism, the work is no longer needed. Yi Do is skeptical because Buddhism is important for some parts of the population and Buddhist rituals also take place. But his advisors can convince him that they no longer need the work. It is kept in the Haeinsa temple . This is headed by the monk Sin-mi. When he hears of the king's plans, he sets off for the capital Hanyang . He argues that the work belongs to the Korean people, not the king. Japan should create a Buddhist canon itself.

The king asks Sin-mi for an audience. From Sin-mi he learns a lot about the phonetic scripts Sanskrit , Phagpa and Tibetan . He tells the king that the basics of these scriptures are described in Daejanggyeong. However, the king wanted a simpler script, with few letters and easy to write. Both decide to work together, with monk Sin-mi demanding the construction of a Buddhist temple in Hanyang in return for his help.

Sin-mis's students are smuggled into the palace. The ministers are strictly against Buddhism, so no one is allowed to find out about the cooperation. King Yi Do and his sons as well as Sin-mi and his students first classify the sounds of the Korean language using the three scripts mentioned. When this succeeds, they start developing the letters. King Yi Do studied mathematics and geometry. Let the letters follow the basics. Simple and made up of dots and lines.

Queen Soheon is a born Buddhist. Her father was considered a traitor and never received a Buddhist funeral. Sin-mi will catch up with her. But the prayers can be heard outside. Thus, rumors about Buddhists in the palace arise among the king's advisers. The king then decides to pretend that his condition is deteriorating due to diabetes and to consult a doctor outside of Hanyang. Sin-mi and his students leave earlier. There they continue to work and complete the scripture. But the king is criticized for his absence. According to tradition, they give the script the modest name Eonmun ( 언문 ), which can mean both general and coarse as well as strong and resistant .

A new challenge is the establishment of the font. A dispute ensues between Sin-mi - who wants to bring the scriptures to the people without the help of the Confucianists - and the king. Ultimately, they can agree. The Buddhist temple is being built in the palace, and the Confucianists are given a say in writing. The scholar Jeong In-ji is allowed to write the afterword and choose the name, while the king writes the foreword to the work on the teaching of the scriptures. The Confucianists delete everything that could infer Buddhist teaching and connect the origin with the Chinese. One reason for the criticism was fear of China. The emperor of China could not accept a Korean script and retaliate. Nevertheless, Yi Do does everything possible to spread the scriptures. When he asks his ministers to do so, almost all of them leave the room, leaving the Hunminjeongeum behind.

reception

The King's Letters was released in South Korean cinemas on July 24, 2019 and reached almost 950,000 admissions within the first four weeks. The film was largely criticized by cinema viewers in South Korea. He does not stick to the facts and is a shame for King Sejong . In the film, Sejong did not develop the script alone, but received the help of a Buddhist monk. There have always been various hypotheses about the history of the Korean alphabet, as the only record of its origin is in the annals of the Joseon Dynasty , according to which Sejong invented the script for the common people. The monk Sin-mi is not a fictional character, but existed. He is mentioned several times in the annals of the Joseon Dynasty , but not in connection with Scripture. Director Jo had the idea to link the story with Sin-mi based on a book by the Korean linguist Jeong Gwang. Kim Boram from Yonhap rates the film rather positively, as it works on some theories and Song does justice to the role of King Sejong, as a dignified and warm-hearted ruler. However, Kim already fears in her criticism that the introduction of the role Sin-mis could cause criticism, since the view that Sejong developed the script alone is largely accepted.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ The King's Letters (2019). In: Korean Film Biz Zone. KOFIC, accessed on August 26, 2019 .
  2. ↑ Yim Seung-hye: Film about hangul's history creates a firestorm. In: Korea JoongAng Daily . August 12, 2019, accessed on August 26, 2019 .
  3. ↑ Kim Boram: (Movie Review) 'The King's Letters' introduces unknown contributor to Hangeul. In: Yonhap . July 17, 2019, accessed on August 26, 2019 .