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I`m very happy to have this film as my first review for the year. I`ll admit I selected it off the schedule without thinking too much about it, mostly out of nostalgia for my early 20s` fascination with historical Asian cinema. I was not prepared for how much this movie made me feel.

Okay, yes, maybe I am a bit of an impressionable sap, but I am a selective impressionable sap. This film seemed to hit all the right buttons with me. It was visually stunning. I mean, the colors, the fabrics… the Director of Photography must have had a field day.

The actors were fantastic. I`m out of touch with the newer generation, particularly in Korean Cinema, but the whole cast did very well. In particular, Suk-kyu Han, as Dol Seok the Head Taylor, and Shin-Hye Park, as the young Queen. They stood out to me.

I can`t stress enough how goddamned charming the first half of the movie is. Not to mention the chemistry between the Queen and the younger taylor, Kong-Jin. The way these two were written and filmed reminded me a bit of the feelings I got while watching Michelle Yeoh and Chow Yun-Fat in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon maaaaaaany moons ago. I mean comon, just look at this screen capture.

As nice as these two characters` chemistry was, the relationship in this movie that most moved me was the one between the two tailors. One an older, traditional, established and well regarded taylor, the Royal Tailor, no less The other is younger, creative, naive, idealistic genius with a flair for provocative new ideas.  The young man`s talent shines so bright he attracts the attention of the Queen, who commissions new clothing from him. Watching the Head Taylor struggle to manage his own feelings towards the younger man is what made the ending of the film so painful.

They are friends, despite his stubborn instinct to dislike the new talent overshadowing his own. Arg. Ok no won`t ruin the ending, so I won`t carry on with this hahaha

Please see this movie. It`s not an action film, but it is beautiful and moving.