This isn"t really a wuxia movie or action movie. Though the action is done great, this movie is mostly a tragedy-revenge-romance that fits well with the setting chosen lớn portray the story. As someone who despise sappy romance drama, this one just hit the right notes.
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I won"t talk about the action and cinematography much, just say it was stunning. If china is best at portraying colours in their wuxia, S. Korea is great at using different seasons to lớn depict it. This type of experience is what differentiate watching movies from watching dramas.Acting: great on all fronts. I was initially no big tín đồ of Lee Byung Hun but he really commands the scenes he"s in, from the first time we meet him. First time seeing Jeon bởi vì Yeon & she was great. Seeing Kim Go Eun again is a treat and she never disappoints. You don"t feel that she"s acting with other big stars she"s just immersed into the role. The rest of the cast fit their roles as well.The story itself is nothing new, starting with betrayal the revenge that follows. The extend to lớn which the character was willing lớn go for revenge it insane. It"s really hard to lớn judge it. What attracted me most & kept my attention is the complicated characters & the disturbing love story. Deok Ki is corrupted và disgusting in every way, yet his love is so real & pure. As illogical it is, I just totally bought it. Same goes for Sul Rang, that carried true hatred towards him, leading lớn an insane revenge plan, yet wishing she could forgive him. This is the type of intense crazy romance I totally enjoy watching. There"s something so raw & desperate about it. Hong Yi went through many phases in the movie, but I just love her in the last fighting scene, cold yet emotionally intense! Her side love story however was a bore, with typical kdrama cliché that I totally could"ve done without. Still it didn"t remove anything from my enjoyment, it just wasn"t too logical. However I find the main leads" love story also illogical but I totally buy it and believe it.After finishing the movie I read many comments complaining about the movie calling it a Crouching Tiger Hidden dragon copy. While I agree it alludes to lớn it, the movie stands on its own telling its own story. Definitely worth a try.Read More
Not even A-list stars Jeon Do-yeon và Lee Byung-hun can save this plodding Korean martial-arts epic.
An archetypal tale of love, betrayal và revenge among swordplayers of South Korea’s
Goryeo dynasty (918-1392), “Memories of the Sword” is a visually arrestingbut vacuous,instantly forgettable period martial-arts romance. Helmer Park Heung-sik aspires to lớn the vibrant màu sắc schemes và multiple twists of Zhang Yimou’s “Hero” & “House of Flying Daggers,” but his underdeveloped screenplay (co-penned with Choi A-reum) và overwrought narrative makes for plodding viewing, squandering the clout of its A-list stars Jeon Do-yeon (“Secret Sunshine”) and Lee Byung-hun (“I Saw the Devil”). The pic took a beatingat the domestic B.O. But will have a good stab at overseas ancillary following its U.S. Bow.
The Korean title “Hyubnyeo: Kal ui ki-eok,” which roughly translates as “Martial Arts Heroine: Memories of the Sword,” alludes to King Hu’s “A touch of Zen” (“hyubnyeo” being the Korean Hanja pronunciation of “Xia Nu,” the Chinese title of Hu’s classic abouta female swordswoman with a righteous vendetta). However, Park’s story is too much of a potboiler to achieve Hu’s philosophical depth, và the director’sstyle is more reminiscent of Lee Myung-se’s “Dualist” in its visual extravagance and incoherent, quasi-surreal narrative.
The yarn circles around three martial artists, eachcaught in his or herown anguished predicament. Innocent teenager Hong-yi (Kim Go-eun) has been raised by her blind adopted mother Seol-rang (Jeon) with the sole mission of avenging her parents’ deaths. Seol-rang once belonged to a band of warriors dedicated to lớn overthrowing the corrupt monarchy. During one uprising, the rebels captured Jon-bak (Kim Tae-woo), the son of an evil magistrate (Moon Sung-geun) and stormed the đô thị gates. However, they were double-crossed by Seol-rang’s lover, Deok-ki (Lee), who killed his sworn brother Poong-chun (Bae Soo-bin) and his wife. Were it not for Seol-rang, the traitor would have finished off Poong-chun’s infant daughter, Hong-yi too, and the girl still bears the scar of a gash made by his sword.
Eighteenyears later, Deok-ki has risen in court lớn become the King’s most favored man; yet he misses Seol-rang, whom he still loves. Nevertheless, when he accidentally spots Hong-yi displaying the same sword techniques as Seol-rang at a public sparring contest against his protege Yool (Lee Jun-ho, from the boy band 2PM), he doesn’t hesitate lớn snuffout any threat lớn his status by whatever ruthless means necessary.
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The three protags’ relationships — bound by strict martial-arts codes of honor & justice, yet thwarted by passion or ambition — are typical of the genre. However, able performances aside, the emotional turmoil of Deok-ki và Seol-rang meeting again, or Hong-yi’s faltering assumption of her avenging role, are lost in the overwrought structure of mulitiple flashbacks, replayed scenes và contrived coincidences. Even a twist that should intensify the trio’s love-hate conflicts culminates in a ending so lurid và overblown it’s almost comical. The budding attraction between Hong-yi and Yool would also have added some light-heartedness khổng lồ the somber tone, but that, too, fizzles out after two mildly steamy scenes.
While it’s almost impossible for Jeon to lớn disappoint in any film, her imitation of blindness is not convincing as she alternates between fumbling around helplessly andslicing her opponents like carrots. Lee, on the other hand, rises above the banality of the story to deliver a layered turnthat makes Deok-ki’s love for Seol-rang feel genuine, despite his duplicitous behavior in all other respects. Deok-ki’s power struggle with Jon-bak, culminating in a grisly scene, is limned by Lee with cool,blood-curdling sadism. With her peachy complexion and pageboy looks, Kim has become the “it” girl of the Korean film industry since her bold performances in the Lolita drama “Eun-gyo” & mother-complex gangster pic“Coin Locker Girl.” Here, she again remains undaunted in the presence of superstars, demonstrating impressive range in action, light comedy and heavy melodrama.
There’s no question that the ravishing widescreen images byveteran lenser Kim Byung-seo (“Cold Eyes,” “Castaway on the Moon”) và the exquisite sets by production designer Han A-rum representthe pic’s biggest selling points. Even so, the exaggerated artifice of the seasonal tableaux of sunflower patches, dandelion fields, rainswept pavillions & snow-covered grounds situate them in a graphic dimension of their own, isolated from the main plot. Và for all the meticulous re-creations of period architecture, from Deok-ki’s magnificent estate to Seol-rang’s Arab-influenced salon,there’s too much dawdling on decorative details, especially scenes devoted to lớn brewing và sipping tea.
Action setpieces, though exceedingly lavish, are a throwback to ’90s Hong Kong wire stunts. The swordplay is sometimes fanciful and eye-catching, as when Hong-yi gets training from Seol-rang’s master (Lee Kyoung-young), but group combat sequences are downright sloppy. Overall, the kích hoạt choreography fails to draw a line between period authenticity và pure fantasy, so characters levitate into the clouds as if endowed with magical powers one moment, then become vulnerably mortal in the next. The profusion of slow-motion and freeze-framewill give some viewers a headache. Other tech credits are uniformly first-rate.
