Ya ok.. I admit, I've yet to watch The King and the Clown as I am waiting for the Director's Cut for this. But after reading reviews and forums, I found the story, similiar to Farewell To My Concubine.. which has 'gay themes' but the audience were never really told whether characters were gay or not (not that it matters). Any thoughts?
shareFirst, I think you're going to have problems with that wait for the director's cut; it was included in the special edition box that came out when the DVD was first released (on a separate disc, as "International" or "extended" version). It includes ten extra minutes that aren't critical to the film, but fill in Jang-Saeng and Gong-Gil's relationship a little bit more.
You can see the DVD Heaven listing for it at http://www.dvdheaven.com/dvd/dvd_detail.php?idx=17336.
I've been following South Korean film for a couple of years now, but in that time I've never seen a hit movie get resurrected years after the hooplah with a director's cut (although I freely admit I could be wrong). The pattern around releases is different than in other places, in part because buying DVDs isn't as big in South Korea as it is elsewhere (been told that by people involved with the Korean film industry).
Second, the comparison is really apples and oranges. Farewell My Concubine delves deeply into the society around it, and can stand as an allegory for the PRC (among a lot of things). Although some compared it to Roh Moo-hyun's administration (more as a joke), King and the Clown is much more focused on individual characters, choices (or lack of them), and fate (and is also loosely - very loosely - based on historical figures).
It's a little like comparing The Poseidon Adventure and Titanic because they both have large boats that capsize.
You should really go into King and the Clown with no preconceived notions and just watch, then see if the comparison holds up. It's a very good film, and stands very well on its own.
Happy viewing!