War of the Arrows
Korea (South) has always been very adept
at making patriotic films in which they are fighting either the North Koreans,
the Japanese or the Chinese - or in this case specifically the Manchu's.
Some of these nationalistic films lay it on too thick with multiple coats
of jingoism - at least to the foreign audience - but many of them hit a lot
of emotional notes that everyone can relate to. This is one of those. I expect
that is because it co-mingles country and family very well.
The first 20 minutes of the film almost
had me reaching for the "stop" button as it has a prelude in which two young
children escape after their father is executed for treason and go to live
with a friend of the family. The children are extremely annoying. Then it
picks up 18 years later and the son has turned into a bit of a ne'er-do-well
and the daughter is getting married and there is some silly attempts at comedy.
I was groaning. Then on a dime the film gets really good. It just takes some
murder, mayhem and a Manchu invasion to do so.
It takes place during the Joseon Dynasty
(1392 - 1897) in the 1600's and the Manchu's are invading (which they did
in 1636). They destroy the city in which the brother and sister live, killing
many and taking hundreds as slaves. The brother Nam-Yi (Park Hae il) was
out of town lollygagging but the sister Ja-in (Moon Chae-won) is taken away.
It turns out that Nam-Yi has one skill - the bow and arrow - and one principle
- to protect his sister. That spells trouble for the Manchu's as he tracks
his sister down and kills one Manchu after another on the way. Then the Manchu's
send an elite group of assassins after him and it gets real good ala The
Naked Prey and quite tense as arrows are whizzing around like gnats on a
hot summer day. The film was a big box office hit.
8/10