Memories of the Sword
This Korean period wire fu martial arts film is lovely to look at but is
as emotionally barren as a burnt out marriage. Not admittedly for lack of
trying - it is overly wrought with talk of dying, revenge and fate but the
script feels so manipulative and incohesive that none of it sticks. But the
visuals and sets are gorgeous with some very graceful wire fu and a lot of
killing by the sword. The film has two big Korean stars - Lee Byung-hun (Bittersweet
Life) and Jeon Do-yeon (You're My Sunshine), but both of them spend the entire
film just looking morose and weeping. Neither are at all likeable. The other
main actress in the film is Kim Go-eun who won the Asia Rising Star Award
at my old festival the New York Asian Festival but as cute as she is she
seems more suitable for Korean comedies and romances.
There is a tragic cloud that surrounds the story. Years previously three
leaders of a rebellion against the crown have the King's son as a hostage,
but one of them (Lee) betrays the cause and kills the main leader while his
love (Jeon) looks on. But they spare the leader's baby girl who Jeon raises
in guilt. But she raises her with a strange and convoluted logic - she tells
the girl that her father was killed by two people and trains her to revenge
them some day. Of course, she and her ex-lover who is now a high ranking
official are those two people. There is also a half-baked romantic angle
thrown in for no particular purpose between Kim and a fellow swordsman (Lee
Jun-ho) who looks like he should be in a boy band - and as it turns out he
is (2PM).
The film shuffles along slowly towards the inevitable face off with flashbacks,
vows of vengeance, tears and guilty suffering that turn it into a weepy melodrama
as much as an action film. There are though a few nicely choreographed wushu
scenes that are poetic and the final fight in the snowfall is well-done and
finally hits some pathos that had been missing through the film.
Rating: 5.5/10