One-sided Love of Princess

Sook-kyung, the youngest tomboy princess, loves playing hide and seek with her same-aged court ladies and is extremely curious about the life outside the palace. An opportunity comes for her on queen mother’s birthday celebration. Princess Sook-kyung gets to explore the outside world with the help of her older sister princesses and falls in love with a Seonggyungwan scholar she meets coincidentally. The variety of character twists in this film which is reminiscent of romantic comedies such as Roman Holiday and Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night. The queen mother with a fancy royal costume but wears glasses because of her poor vision, and the court ladies who protect the princess day and night are usually slow and doze off but have the strength to push against male henchmen. The princes outside the palace walls seem like that of a naïve country girl who eats a rice cake at the marketplace because she thinks it’s free.

Directed by Choi Eun-hee, One-sided Love of Princess leans on a strong ensemble — Nam Jeong-im, Kim Gwang-su, Jo Mi-ryeong — to carry a story that balances spectacle with character.

The film landed with audiences for its craft and performances, and remains one of the most talked-about drama titles of 1967.