'Sado(사도,思悼)', Between 'Hyo(효,孝)' and 'Oedipus Complex'

 For most Koreans, "Chuseok' means family. I guess many Koreans agree that "Chuseok' could be the time to fulfil family responsibilities that have been put off with an excuse of their busy modern life. I was quite negligent for my family responsibilites for the whole Chuseok. I filled the abundant time with watching a couple of latest Korean movies on TV and reading books at home alone. Until the last afternoon of Chuseok, I didn't do anything special. I started to feel guilty after I got a call from mom for dinner. I decided to go to the movies with her. Mom and I both like histories, and we chose 'Sado(사도,思悼).‘I had wanted to watch and compare the new movie with other ones about Prince Sado.

As a matter of fact, there have been so many movies, novels, and TV dramas about King Youngjo(영조,英祖), Prince Sado(사도세자,思悼世子), and Jeongjo(정조,正祖) for decades. The first work I got to know about them was a novel called "Eternal Empire(영원한 제국). I read it four times. It was made to a movie. The core of the novel is existence of Geumdungjisa(금등지사,金縢之詞).‘Geumdungjisa' is a confessing script written by King Youngjo who regreted killing his son, Prince Sado. The main storyline of 'Eternal Empire' is about bloody conflict between King Jeongjo who tries to reveal 'Geumdungjisa' to strengthen his royal authority and the strongeset opposition party,Noron(노론,老論), which strives to pull King Jeongjo down from the throne.In the novel, each character is described as Machiavellic political being like to kill or die. In the movie with the same title, such aspects got more emphasized with the intention to make the story more thrilling. Many of the works released afterwards didn't get over the stance "Eternal Empire" revealed.

However, in 'Sado‘, the three are pictured in a unique perspective which has been seen rarely. They are depicted as a family mingled and destroyed with tragedy. King Youngjo disliked his son Prince Sado, but treasured his grandson King Jeongjo. After all, he killed Sado, and made his grandson succeed the throne. During the Choseon era when Hyo(효,孝) which basically means respect for parents and ancestors, was valued as the priority, there was no more tragic story than this. The tragedy among the three is so complicated that it can't be explained with a few factors, but the movie shows a few common things ordinary Koreans can easily understand how it happened. One thing is 'studying' that Korean parents have been historically passionate with for their kids and family. "Studying" has been the prime medium that builds up the relationship between children and their parents in Korea. Kids with good grades are treasure in the family. On the other hand, kids who don't have interested in studying are parents' main concern. Royal Families were not exception in Choseon era. Prince Sado couldn't keep up with his father's high expections and had more interest in other things like art, martial arts and etc. However, King Youngjo kept pushing his son to study harder to make himself and his family be more respected by his subordinates. He was not confident for his throne because his mother was from the low class and he was suspected that he had poisoned and killed his elder brother, King Gyeongjong, before succeeding the throne. He wanted to justify his throne through making realistic achievement and showing academic superiority against his subordinates. He wanted his son, Prince Sado to do the same way like he did. King Youngjo felt pathetic with his son, and and Prince Sado felt bored and scared with his father. King Jeongjo,on the other hand, did the opposite from his father,Prince Sado. He studied hard and obeyed his grandfather even after he died. King Yeongjo loved his grandson, who was studying hard. He loved him more because Jeongjo was his grandson, which was the one of the main factors that their relationship was quite smooth from the start to the end. Friction over studying, father's sterness to his son, and Grandfather's generosity to his grandson, these are common things that are seen in most Korean families even now.

Hyo(효,孝) which based on obedience and respectfulness to parents was the foremost value in Choseon era. From the perspective of Hyo, Prince sado was a wicked son whereas King Jeongjo was a faithful grandson. The discord among the three persons who were at the top of political power turned into a Oedipudic tragedy. By Freud, father and his son are competitors as well as coordinators. Their relationship is completely unbalanced from the start. Father has absolute power and authority and his son barely can survive with his parents protection. Recognizing the situation, the son identify himself with his father and fulfil his royalty. However, as time goes by, father gets older and weaker and his son becomes bigger and stronger. If the father failed to get his son to be his copy cat, tension and friction are unavoidable. Unable to meet his father's expectation, Prince Sado starts to draw a different picture, and the two become political enemies to each other. In a kingdom like Choseon, ultimate power can't be divided. After all, Prince Sado gets removed. Watching how his father was eradicated directly, King Jeongjo who had revealed his full loyalty and honesty to his grandfather(or fufilling his hyo(효)) becomes the next king instead of his father Prince Sado.

"Sado" has its uniqueness in the point that it pictures psychology and relationship of the historical characters in a more detailed manner than the ones released before. Director Lee Joon-Ik's effort to draw historical people in a more existential perspective trimming off transmitted fantasy and stereotypes over them, gave fresh stimuli and inspiration to me. I'd say 'Sado' as the genuine movie for Korean fathers and their sons.