User reviews

The story that sets in the 1961, but most of the film was a flashback narration that takes us to the 30 years earlier, in the 30s. This is a biographical film of the last Korean princess to be crowned. Though the film clearly briefs her power struggle over the foreign power. The entire tale was told from her perspective as she saw everything. So, it was real, but historical facts were compromised in places with additional characters or events that more cinematised. That's what the film declared at the opening. To be honest, any biopic would be the same. You can't expect a perfect, a flawless portrayal of a person or the event. Since films are just a recreation to spread the truth, whether they are good, bad or nothing important.

There are lots of Japanese dialogue as the story required it. I have seen other Korean historical films, especially about freedom fight. In this too, you could see that phase of the history, but in a different angle. The 2 hour long film, most of it was drama, but there are some action sequences too. A little love story, but overwhelmed by the princess' own struggle throughout her adult life. Probably one of most misunderstood person for her actions by her own people. Because they have seen only from their own eyes, not the truth, what their princess had gone through. Sooner or later, the truth always comes out, and that's where the narration draws its curtain.

While the Korean is being under the rule of Japan, the 13 year old princess, Deokhye witnesses her father's assassination for his objection over some matter brought by the Japanese officials. Now the grownup princess was forced to go to Japan for her higher studies. But she pledges to return home to her mother and people. That's not what happens, she sees many Koreans trapped in there as the slave workers. Her fight for their freedom becomes her next target, though things take twists and turns, leaving her in the tight spot. The remaining story is to reveal her rest of the life after a long struggle.

❝Never give up until the end. Spring will come again to fields stolen from us.❞

Usually a good Korean film will be recognised well in the international stage. Especially for like this, having a wonderful cast and crew, I did not expect the under-notice. As I have seen it, definitely the film deserves more appreciation. Well, I did not like the film either in the beginning. I thought it was too slow, too long and the events were uninteresting. But the real value of the film came in the later part. Yes, the narration picked up the speed with all the sudden developments. Basically what we would call such film is: a slow start, but concluded strongly. So you have to wait till the end to come to any judgement.

One thing I did not mention so far was the emotions. If I'm saying I liked it, that's mainly because of the sentiments. I did not anticipate that, it was like came from nowhere. As I always say, emotions are a big part of Korean films. In that, sometimes I hated for overusing it, though not in this case. Usually a film inspired by real do have such things strongly. The film did not cover any war events, except orally declaring the details for the viewers to get everything happening around.

Son Ye-jin is the most familiar face from the Korean films and as usual her execution was amazing in this. She was the right choice to play the title role, along with the director that seems he's back in the action with this like his earlier films. Its nothing lesser than any kings and queens films you had seen from the west. Since it was about a princess, her movements were strictly restricted within the walls. Which was one the reason she had nothing big to accomplish than being a puppet, except when she stepped into the Japan. Her Japan visit changed her approach, despite it was done against her will. So there are many things about the princess that you could learn through this film. Definitely a must see if you like biopics and history.

7/10

Well, I was not sure that i will like this movie or not. Normally I don't like historical movies. But after watching the trailer I was eager to watch this movie. As usual like every Korean movie "The Last Princess" will take you to a world of thriller for sometimes. And in the ending, you will be emotional. I am really amazed by the making of this movie. I have to admit that the director has shown everything in this movie perfectly. There is no question about Son Ye Jin's acting. Other characters also played their role well.Most Importantly The History has been shown here in a perfect way. You can feel the pain, you can fear, you can cry while watching the movie. In Conclusion, I want to say This movie has fulfilled all of my expectations.

Then watch this...interesting and interesting so should watch it....

The movie is about the last princess of south korea who is taken to japan against her will. This movie has been shot beautifully and the potrayal of the different characters in the movie was well done. The ending was emotional and i did cry 1-3 times while watching the movie. This movie is not very fast paced and takes its time to elaborate the emotions of some characters. It is a good movie overall.

Stellar cast, direction, writing, and production, this is a fine Korean film. A true story, it is both heartbreaking and beautiful. Highly recommended.

The movie is pretty much emotional and, I admit, it made me cry at the end, but besides that, really nothing special. If you watch it you won't regret it, but if you skip it you won't miss much. Technically speaking, the movie is OK, it does not fail anywhere, but it does not impress either, and the acting is good. The plot is ordinary occupation story, with the fact that in Europe we are used to seeing German occupation of European countries while here we have Japanese occupation of Korea. But besides location and different race of actors, this is basically nothing new. I believe that younger generations of Japanese and Korean people should see it, but for the rest of the world, I doubt it is too interesting. Honestly, I was a bit bored. Not enough to give up on it, but if, for example, I was forced to stop watching for some reason, I believe I would not continue later. I would probably completely forget about it. Leading actress is real sweetheart thou, and she was great in her role, but besides that overall impression of the movie is

6,5/10

Eight months later, when I was watching "The Last Emperor", I had the impression that some parts of it were very familiar, as if I had already watched it, and I was sure I didn't. It was only in the last scene that I realized why, because the loan was so large that it could not go unnoticed. "The Last Princess" was apparently created after the model of "The Last Emperor". The titles of the films are almost identical, the story has a lot of similarities, and the end of "The Last Princess" is almost copied from "The Last Emperor". The fact is that the stories of the last Korean princess and the last Chinese emperor by their very nature must have some similarities, but the similarity of these two films is too large to be attributed to coincidence. All other similarities could be accidental, although I do not believe they are, but the end is definitely ripped off.

A good movie must have among other qualities, a solid plot, good interpretations, emotion, suspense and if it is not too much to ask, to include the amazing element. This film gather everything together and much more if we add the depicted splendor of the Old Korean court. From this work so close to perfection you should not talk much. The correct rhythm between the present moment and the past contributes to increase the intrigue in the form of thinking the spectator to himself of "How will these grave and serious situations be resolved?" or "How some people survived from the beginning to the end of the story?. Many positive values are shown to us here such as solidarity, companionship, struggle for ideals, courage but on the other hand as well many negatives such as betrayal, fear, personal interest, falsehood, cynicism and violence and worst of it all: the cowardice of selling oneself to the invading government. It is best to watch the movie and draw each one's own conclusions. Only two issues remains unsolved: The first one: What happened to the bad guy? And the second : Unfortunately In fact, the story did not end so well since the political situation of both Koreas only allows the monarchy in the films.

I really liked the setup of the movie. The way they established the political situation in Korea at that time, The Japanese colonialism and it's effect on korean citizens. The lead actress son ye jin who plays the princess was amazing. All the supporting artists also did a great job. The action sequence in the mid point was nice. There was a good buildup to that situation. There was tension, there was stakes involved. The middle portion of the movie really hooked me the most. The production design and recreating Korea in 60s and before was done nicely. The lead character had a really good arc and to an extend the character impacts us.

The issue I had with the movie is that a few aspects of the movie felt under written for eg why do the people in Korea like the princess very much? What impact did she have on them? Why were they crying so much when she left to Japan? Why were there people ready to give away their life for her? In what way will she be able to contribute for the freedom of Korea? Only if these questions were answered I feel the movie would have impacted us more.

A good movie. If u like historical biography drama, give it a watch.

I just came across this on Amazon Prime and was stunned to find it had only a 6 star rating. The plot is compelling. The acting is good. It is an emotional and harrowing story. It further reveals and confirms that human civilizations in every culture are guilty of colonial cruelty, tyranny, and injustice. But there are tales through all of courage in the face of such extreme adversity.

This is a worthy viewing for any film lover looking to expand their cultural horizons.

Acting: 8 /Story: 7 /Production values: 6 /Suspence - Thriller level: 6 /Action: 5 /Mystery - unknown: 5 /Romance level: 3 /Film noir ~ neo-noir density: 0 /Comedy elements: 0 /Overall: 7

At the beginning the movie looks ordinary but after a while the story became interesting. to be honest the last 15 minutes made me cry till the end of the movie. The actress is so talented.

The history of Korea is not well known. This became a boring melodrama in the second part with apparently some inexactitudes.

Read more about the History of Korea on Wikipedia.

Japanese were evil.

The movie was quite entertaining and well made, had good acting, nice pacing, and solid sound design and was well shot. Sadly I couldn't really relate to the characters, especially the princess which ruined all the drama happening in the movie for me. Also I found this movie a bit too much pandering and it invented way too much stuff to make the actual original story interesting, so I can't really give this movie the bonus of being historical.

While the movie maker put lots of efforts in the form, it lacks identity. Despite the story happens during a time period of westernization in the East Asian, another westernization in the director's view can be seen in the movie. The movie makers tried hard to make a Hollywood movie perhaps based on some specific models in mind. However, the result is neither close to any good Hollywood examples nor a film to shine independently. Except, very beginning of the movie, you won't feel that you are watching a Korean movie.

Some of the characters (e.g. the leading actor) were not well written in the screenplay. Moreover, some of the action scenes were too exaggerated and over act.

Besides all the leading actress did an excellent job especially playing the elderly parts.

This is about history of Korea. The whole movie depicts the Gyeongbokgung palace events and more struggle of the Princess. This is one of the most watch movie of 2016. It does not matter where you are from the dynasty existed and the actors have beautifully presented the character.Thank you so much to the crew of "THE LAST PRINCESS". This is so beautiful.God bless you all team. This is one of the genre that I like and you all will love this so much.I have been so influential with this movie.The act and the directorial is so perfect.The story of the movie is also very good. If you have watched Hackshaw Ridge by Mel Gibson and this one. You will find this movie so much better. It carries your tears at the end and move you away.I hope this team will come up with again another movie that makes people of Korea remember what is there in Korea that still exists to last forever.

A superb movie about a true life historical figure. The story isn't a very familiar one to most so it makes a fascinating story. Completely engrossing. The attempted escape from Japan was thrilling and nail biting. The return to Korea was heartbreaking. Felt the whole grief of the nation in that scene.

Son Ye Jin is a superb actress by any standard. She was so moving. Supporting cast are well chosen too especially the actress playing her mother.

I found this more moving than The Last Emperor. A must watch.

This film assumes that the viewer already knows the story and therefore seems to skip a lot of narration which would have provided non-Korean viewers with a little more context. It is very slow paced and one has to be very determined to ride it out. The lack of context, insufficient attention to narrative, and poor editing all make the roles and events difficult to understand as the dots don't always connect, and one needs to work quite hard to fill in the blanks. This is distracting and could easily have been avoided with better narrative. It is this lack of narrative and continuity that makes me not give it a higher rating. The sets and cinematography are well done and reflect the period and time in history. It's interesting if you want to learn more about a little known aspect of Korean history.

Coming from someone who has zilch knowledge about Korea History, this movie is far more about humanity than Korea to me! The story is mind-blowing. The progression and directing was perfect and the acting.........Amazing. Based off a real life story of the last Princess of the Korean Empire, the movie goes deep into the life of the princess. Her joy, sufferings, complexity of being a royal child mixed up in a very difficult time in Korean history. I really enjoyed this movie.

Wow. This film has one of cinema's best bad guys!! From the first time you meet him, you want to punch him in the .... (not his face).

This is a fascinating story that is well laid out, written, acted and shot.

I cannot vouch for the correctness of the history, but it certainly is a great story. All the characters are fully formed and you love 'em or hate 'em.

It's a tale of politics and people. All kinds of people. Good, bad and so very ugly.

This is an easy film to watch - fast moving, smooth story with fascinating characters to carry you along with them.

If you like history, I think you'll enjoy this.

This is a movie about the sad life of Princess Deokhye and how when Japan ruled Korea she was forced to leave her country and move to Japan. The film is based on a best selling book about the princess who was taken to Japan in 1925 and did not return to Korea until 1962 (37 years.) It is an interpretation of her life but the core facts remain that she was held hostage, she was forced into marriage, her only daughter met a tragic end and she was in a frail mental state when she returned. She is played in the movie by Son Ye-Jin and as always she brings a masterful performance and the rest of the cast are very good too.