A Frozen Flower () is a 2008 South Korean historical erotic thriller film. It is directed by Yoo Ha and stars Zo In-sung, Joo Jin-mo and Song Ji-hyo. The historical film is set during Goryeo Dynasty and is loosely based on the reign of Gongmin of Goryeo (1330–1374), but it does not strictly comply with historical facts. The controversial story is about the characters' violation of royal family protocol and their pursuit of love.
It was released in South Korea on December 30, 2008, and was the 6th most attended film of 2008 with 3,772,976 tickets sold.
Plot
The King (Joo Jin-mo) of Goryeo is married to a Yuan Dynasty princess (Song Ji-hyo), but they do not have any children. There is constant pressure on the King both from the Yuan emperor and his own counselors to produce a crown prince and ensure the continuity of the royal dynasty. The King's palace guard is composed of thirty six young soldiers, led by military commander Hong-rim (Zo In-sung), who is also the King's lover. The King finally decides to charge Hong-rim with a strange commission: penetrate the Queen to impregnate her. Hong-rim and the Queen are uncomfortable accepting the royal order, but they finally comply. However, their relationship does not stop at procreation, but an intense romance soon blossoms between the two, and in this strong intimate relationship there is no place for the King.
The two passionate lovers surpass their "official mission" and continue to meet each other at midnight in the library in secret. The King begins to suspect Hong-rim's infidelity and soon gains evidence through his junior commander. To punish them and to also gauge the depth of Hong-rim's affection for the Queen, the King calls the two together to his chamber. The king tells them that he has decided that the Queen will continue to try and beget an heir, but only with another subordinate. The King remains firm in his decision, despite entreaties from both the Queen and Hong-rim.
In despair, the Queen attempts to kill herself by slitting her wrists, but fails. In a last-ditch effort to change the King's mind, Hong-rim asks the Queen to stay away from him, and goes to the King to offer his own life in exchange for forgiveness. The King pardons him, believing Hong-rim's claim that his involvement with the Queen was purely lust. He decides to overlook everything that had happened, and instead orders Hong-rim to go away for a while to clear his mind and settle his emotions.
The night before Hong-rim's departure, the Queen's personal maid secretly informs him that the Queen wishes to meet him one last time. She also bears news that the Queen has finally conceived a child. Hong-rim sneaks out from the King's bedside to meet the Queen in the library. They end up having passionate sex in the library, but the King realizes what is happening and catches them in flagrante delicto. When the two lovers attempt to save each other by begging the King to kill them and not the other, the King realizes how strong their romantic love for each other is. In a jealous rage, he has Hong-rim castrated and sent to prison.
The Queen now realizes that the King will eliminate everyone who knows their secret, so she sends her maid to warn Hong-rim's loyal subordinates, and they manage to free Hong-rim from prison and flee the city with him.
Upon learning of the escape, the King demands to know Hong-rim's whereabouts from the Queen, but she refuses to answer. In response, he kills her maid. The King is then informed that the Queen is pregnant, and as the Queen had predicted, he then orders the execution of everyone who knows that he is not the child's father. Only his junior commander, who took over from Hong-rim, is spared.
Some time later, and having recovered from his wound, Hong-rim realizes that the Queen is still in the palace and not on the run, as his subordinates were ordered to tell him. Furious, he starts out for the city on horseback, despite their protests, but then he stops in his journey, realizing how futile it would be. However, on returning to the refuge, he finds that his men have been tracked down and captured.