(It seems that the stuff I am loving recently is not apparently liked by many, and vice versa. Still, I give my experience as a review)
For beginners, I had not read the synopsis before watching the movie, and I still understood the story, so maybe it was not as vague for me.
The story is about a girl forced to act as her brother and sent to royal court as trainee painter. This is her story from discovery of the aspects of her talent- painting; to her discovery of the unseen parts of the world, to discovery of herself, her love and sacrifice.
Considering the year in which the movie came, this movie is bold in aspects of intimacy and act of love-making (or easy word nudity😒). I have not seen the drama, so I can't really comment on the deeper shades of characters portrayed, but I would like to justify one point:
A book is often great than a movie adaptation, and a drama adaption will often be greater than movie adaptation (obviously time constraints we will forget😤to consider while judging).
Just as the main character tries to make a point- whatever she painted was normal humans, something she doesn't find disgusting or obscene, and I guess it applies to the movie as well. It may have many explicit scenes, but the ones shared by the main couple really read different vibes (if you really have to compare it to obscenity found on dark web)
Also, many events and maybe even the story is something that has already been better presented in other fine projects, but that doesn't make this movie a complete failure.
I watched it purely for KNG, and once again, I am amazed by his choice of work. Really bold of him to take up such projects in span of mere 3 years (I will never forget "no regret")
This is what I thought of about the movie. As for rewatch, I may just run through it. I admire it, but I agree it doesn't have that impact on me.