Movie directors tend to add fictional factors to movies based on real historical events to draw more audience.
The Korean movie The Throne (사도) was released in North America on October 16, 2015.
Featuring Yoo Ah-In and Song Kang-Ho, the movie drew more than 6 million viewers in Korea.
The movie was made based on the real story of Crown Prince Sado (Yoo) and King Yeongjo (Song) of the Joseon dynasty.
Prince Sado was born as the second son of King Yeongjo. After the death of his older brother Prince Hyojang, Prince Sado became the royal heir to the throne. Prince Sado was smart and began to study politics and Confucianism at the age of 2. Prince Sado also loved playing war games with his maids.
Because King Yeongjo wanted Prince Sado to focus on studying, King Yeongjo was strict on Prince Sado. King Yeongjo killed the prince's maids and scolded Prince Sado many times. After the death of his maids, Prince Sado feared his father, to the point that historical records recount that Prince Sado could not even stand in front of the king.
When Prince Sado turned 15, he became the Prince Regent due to King Yeongjo’s illness. Although King Yeongjo did not like Prince Sado’s regency, Prince Sado did his best with the responsibility. While King Yeongjo and Prince Sado’s continued to have conflicts, Prince Sado’s first son was born. However, the child died after 3 years and King Yeongjo blamed Prince Sado on the death of the child. After 2 years, Prince Sado’s second son was born, but Yeongjo didn’t like Prince Sado’s second son due to the conflict between him and his son, Prince Sado.
As the conflict between Prince Sado and King Yeongjo worsened, Prince Sado began became violent. He killed many innocent people in fits of stress and rage. Historical records cannot account for how many people Sado killed.
Because of the prince's mental problems and his violence, King Yeongjo dethroned Prince Sado and locked him in a rice chest. Prince Sado died a few days later due to starvation.
(Prince Sado’s second son became King Jeongjo after Prince Sado’s death)
The director of movie The Throne, Lee Joon-Ik, produced the movie strictly based on historical fact. However, he produced the movie from a different perspective, that of King Yeongjo's. He tried to explain why King Yeongjo had to be harsh and strict on Prince Sado. Because Prince Sado was actually born between King Yeongjo and a maid, vassals looked down on both Prince Sado and King Yeongjo. To hand over the powerful throne to his son, King Yeongjo had to be strict on Prince Sado, in order to garner support from the court.
Many people have felt sympathy by watching this movie because the movie portrays the conflict between the older generation and new generation in Korean society.