My Side of the Mountain; A gay-themed film becomes a surprise hit in Korea.

Byline: Mark Russell

Like "Brokeback Mountain," South Korea's "The King and the Clown" is a mainstream movie featuring homosexual characters that urges viewers to put the story ahead of sexual politics. But unlike the highly publicized "Brokeback," the $4.2 million "King and the Clown," produced by Eagle Pictures, emerged from obscurity. It's since become the biggest film in Korean history, seen by 12 million of the country's 47 million citizens. That translates into $77.5 million at the box office; by comparison, the highest-grossing foreign film ever shown in Korea, "Lord of the Rings: Return of the King," made only $38 million. "Before the premiA[umlaut]re, we knew it was good," says director Lee Jun-ik. "We hoped it might sell 5 million tickets. But nobody could have predicted what happened."

Fantastic word of mouth has fueled the film's success. Despite being a period drama devoid of big-name stars, "The King and the Clown" has sparked enough buzz to draw swelling crowds week after week. Set 500 years ago, it's the story of two traveling entertainers--the macho Jang-seng and the effeminate Gong-gil--who become official performers in the royal palace. The movie skillfully mixes comedy and drama, against a fast-paced backdrop of high-wire acrobatics and clown culture, and has ...