The King and the Clown

"...For all sad words of tongue and pen, the saddest are these, 'It might have been...' " - John Greenleaf Whittier

The people in The King and the Clown care a lot, but their cares are different in some ways yet similar in others.

For instance, three street entertainers care for their survival, as their stomachs are empty and their options limited. They are common folks eking out a living, and will do whatever it is necessary to guarantee food and shelter. But nowhere in this film portrays this inseparable trio as miserable beings, for they can count on their fellow buddies to bask in the ups and endure the downs, and they seek to enjoy their time here as long as it lasts. There is something almost pure and admirable about their sensibilities, in fact. The laugh when they are tickled and cry when they have to. Their emotions are true and the friendship they share with one and other, open and caring. They are like a surrogate family, pure and simple. Alas, as fate would have it, into their circle, two other runaway minstrels intrude.

The older minstrel, strong and resourceful, takes care of his younger charge. Other than that, the older man seems to have no care for the world. He refuses to relinquish willing subservience to any sacred concepts or symbols of authority, and he has no worries that he is leading an impoverished existence. He only comes alive when he walks the tightrope of performing to his cheering audience, showcasing his skills as an acrobat and revelling them with the wit of a jester. However, in closer scrutiny, there is a milder side to this untamed creature. He often softens in simple contentment, when in the quiet company of his young companion. His only care in this world, lies in sharing the good and bad times with this man and protecting the unbreakable bond of this complex friendship.

The younger man, blessed with an alluring androgyny, is an effete and sensitive creature. He is weak in will and physicality. He seems to care for many things, his older friend and mentor, the people around him, what they think of him. And when circumstances force the minstrels' entry into palatial grounds, the young man cares for the king too, for he is privy to both sides of that broken man.

The King has a lot of love to give but he does not know where to put it. He may be too far gone, forever lost in his own madness to properly care for himself. But he does care, it appears, for an alternate reality where the past is unjust and irreconcilable, where the present is his "payback playground" for him to exact vengeful games. His wilful rage, his tyrannical cruelty and his abysmal insanity belies the psyche of a broken man, one who pursues desperately to unlock the tortured child within. This "boy" seeks for a
sanctuary of comfort from a select few people who may wean him off his maelstrom of torment, albeit temporarily.

One of these people is a eunuch, serving the King in faithful silence. His intentions may be benign but he is no less treacherous and scheming. However, he cares for his king with a hint of paternity, unlike most of the king's men. Those ministerial subjects care more for the official legacy of the previous king's rule and the preservation of the government. Unbeknownst to himself, he is to be instrumental in fueling the trajectory of this sweeping tragedy. Sadly, like the angels in Wim Wender's Wings of desire, this sagely eunuch is ultimately a bystander. He may know how it all ends but he can do nothing about it. That is the worst predicament that can be inflicted upon any human being.

The last person worthy of mention in this most intricate of human studies, is that of the King's concubine. Looking like a manipulative femme fatale who mollycoddles the King's sometimes childish desires, the woman is revealed to be one who defies popular opinion of her outwardly skanky persona. A telling blink-and-you-miss scene involves the King, half smitten with his new object of desire (the androgynous minstrel), but summoning his once favoured muse (the concubine) to offer him alternate satisfaction. However, the fickle King callously rejects his concubine's carefully tailored advances. With his back facing the woman, we see traces of immediate realisation and sinking hurt that she is no longer in the King's favour. Panic, anger and abject despair flash before her coiffured facade. It is in this very instant that one realised the woman's love and affection for the King runs deeper than prior assumptions. She may in fact be the one who cares for the King, the most.

The central characters in The King and the Clown broke their backs scaling insurmountable mountains. They chase after what they want, not realising what they need is more important. In the process, some will bid farewell to king and concubines, others to friends, or lovers. There are hidden secrets kept due to sundry fears and loathing. There are schemes set into motion by good or bad intentions. There are blatant lies told with compelling reasons, but for most of which, is love.

Stripped of the social and political fabric dressing this movie, and we have some of the most evocative aspects of love demonstrated by The King and the Clown's myriad characters, where each of them stakes a claim in its wide emotional spectrum. By observing and understanding these practitioners of love via their telling/ nuanced behaviors, the resonating power of this film's finale hence crescendo into a frenzy, for we have seen the respective arcs of the main protagonists' journey culminate, reaching a thrillingly intense fever pitch.

But what exactly, is love? And what can it do?

Love can transcend hunger for power, desires for carnality and greed for material pleasures. Love may be sought after for a rare moment of comfort, dissolving away pains when they are most tortuous. Love, which demands our understanding that to give, and not expect it in return, is its purest representation. This love is ingrained in all humans, from parents to children and vice versa, from amongst friends to siblings, from slaves to their masters, from those whom you hold dear, your true beloveds. Indeed, we are all capable of love, but this capacity is equally adept to create or to destroy, as this film evocatively illustrates.

In retrospect, The King and the Clown has spun a tale which laments with Shakespearean sentience. It observes its characters like games people play. It lets them be who they are, but it plots their paths along a Greek-tragic spiral, pushing their descending slides toward an inevitable destination. Their lives are already written, but their respective ends not revealed to them. The players hence behave as mere mortals do, without foresight, unprepared to deal with the forces of their respective destinies. The irony being that, the truths could have been unravelled earlier, if they had delved a little deeper. Feelings could have been reconciled faster, if they had bothered to look each other in the eye.
(Note to readers: The "eyes" in this movie deserve our unblinking stares for they speak more effectively than "mouths" do.)

That said, there is a purpose to this cruel study, for it serves to test the limits of amour. We weep not because of a tragic end, for in this world of missed opportunities and twists of fate, we are heartened that the humanity of its characters remains intact. Beyond its constricting environment and cultural mores, The King and the Clown demonstrates that love is pure. Love has the innate potential of providing us all, comfort, closure and contented acceptance of this mortal coil. Lives may be surrendered but love wins in the end. An innocent notion perhaps, but in my book, it's worth each and everyone's subscription.

Blessed with crisp direction, an engrossing story and one of the best ensemble performances of the year, The King and the Clown is packed with a viscerally forceful energy which carves deep into our emotional landscapes. Its quiet hopes (perhaps) are to heighten our sensitivity towards our strengths and failings, to illustrate the universality of human nature. We may live in different times and places, we may be impoverished or privileged, but our basic needs for love is homogeneous. Once we understand what we do is affected by who we are, then I think the film has accomplished its most sincere aim.

The King and the Clown opens in Singapore cinemas on 22 June 2006. Watch out for it.