Korean Movie Review: 청풍명월 (Sword in the Moon)

[hlwar]

In 17th century Korea, a coup d'état succeeds in placing a new king on the throne but destroying the justly Sword in the Moon warriors. Thus setting people against sovereign, friend against friend...

"Cheongpung myeongwol"
Release Information:
Directed by: Kim Ui-seok
Released by: Sinabro Entertainment (2003)
Running time: 102 minutes
Genre: Historical Drama | Martial Arts | Action

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Synopsis
In 17th century Korea, a coup d'état succeeds in placing a new king on the throne but putting the nation under hard times; rebels openly attack the king and his ministers. In this viscous reign, the head of the Royal Guards, Yun Kyu-yeop (Cho Jae-hyeon) garners for himself the title of "Human Butcher" because of his no-nonsense form of killing. Still, Kyu-yeop's only wish is for a peaceful country, as instilled by his training as part of the righteous "Sword in the Moon" army-which was massacred during the coup. Finding himself on the opposite side of his old Master's teaching, Kyu-yeop tries hard to follow his old beliefs, even if it means defending the pompous new sovereign.

Soon the guards are engulfed in a sudden mystery as the king's council members end up dead, one after the other, in execution fashion. Realizing the assassin is no mere rebel, Kyu-yeop keeps a careful watch over the remaining ministers, only to discover the assassin is none other than Choi Ji-hwan (Choi Min-soo), his best friend from Sword in the Moon-a man he thought he himself had killed.

Now Kyu-yeop must face the sins of his past as he tries to catch the friend he betrayed, all the while held back by the reins of the king's Ministers and his own volition to do the right thing.

Trailer

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Review (Spoiler Warning)
Sword in the Moon is a lavishly filmed historical movie, full of high class cinematography, beautiful scenery, epic soundtrack and orchestrations, and a top-notch cast including veteran actor Choi Min-soo, who I personally like. It has all the appearance of a wonderful swordplay film and could have been great.

Could have been. Unfortunately, it lacks in-depth characterization and a solid script. Although the plot to Sword in the Moon is straight forward and revolves primarily around only two characters (the best friends) it somehow loses its stability. Most likely by adding a heap of other minor characters, all of whom have no real driving purpose to the story by the end of it, and muddles the plot around by throwing in flashbacks at random intervals. None of which are engrossing.

The movie opens by appeasing the action fans, showing Kyu-yeop earning his "Human Butcher" status by heatedly fighting a group of rebels all by himself in a picturesque bamboo field. It begins steadily to show the beauty of the landscape, then swells into the battle full of dashing swordsmanship and blood splattering. We know right away that the film will be a wonderful historical action, and there's no question as to Kyu-yeop's skills.

Nest we see in office, Kyu-yeop is brooding and bitter, and he has no qualms about showing his disdain for the new government officials. He also has no other emotions except brooding and bitter. Actor Cho Jae-hyeon has an intense masculinity about him that makes him perfect in the role, yet I can't help but wonder if the man is even capable of cracking a smile. Even in the flashback sequences he appears hardened and tough-as-nails, which shows no evolution or change of his personae.

Assassin Choi Ji-hwan is perhaps the biggest let-down as far as characters. He is so two-dimensional and merely serves the purpose of being the backbone to the revenge and betrayal plot that stems from these two friends. His motives are clear, but not elaborate, and again the emotional aspect is regrettably toned down. Personally I would have liked to see more thought-provoking, deep moments concerning Ji-hwan and Kyu-yeop, because it is a movie about them, not so much what's happening around them. But the film does focus too much on the action and not the characters.

Choi Min-soo is wonderful as Ji-hwan, though. He is also very rugged, but unlike Cho, he does give youthful boyish smiles and almost bespeaks a sort of innocence about Ji-hwan as he was in training with Sword in the Moon. Unfortunately, he wastoo much actor for such a small role.

Although the story was not confusing, what kept throwing me for a loop was keeping up with all the Ministers and government officials. Most of them died in the first half-hour of the movie, but others held on to be sneaky little backstabbers and talk-down to Captain Yun Kyu-yeop. Poorly executed was also the other Guard members: Private Jang (Ki Goo-bong) and Private Jae-deok (Lee Jong-soo). These two were the older-to-younger comedic relief and I personally would have liked to see young Jae-deok featured more often.

Then there was Private Suh, who was also a part of Sword in the Moon back in the day; now, because of their betrayal to the group, he's turned to being an alcoholic. He seemed to convey visually the hurtful thoughts of Kyu-yeop, and it would've been nice to see more conversations between the two regarding the coup five years ago. It would have given the characters more of an emotional attachment.

Of course there also has to be a woman between the two best friends. That would be the daughter of General Kim In (Jo Sang-geon), the Master of Sword in the Moon who taught both Kyu-yeop and Ji-hwan. Kim Shi-yeong (Kim Bo-gyeong) is a beautiful maiden trained in her father's likeness. She falls in love with Ji-hwan and is the one to save him after the coup, becoming a Ninja-like assassin along with him. Besides fighting and ultimately confessing her love, the woman also does little else. Shame, because she did hold a lot of potential. On the other hand, people who find that romance bogs down their historical action epics will like Shi-yeong for her kickass fighting, but no eyelash batting, involvement.

The sacrificial, vengeful characters are rather standard, and the heroes were tiring because they were simply too hyped up. You know, the kind of warrior who could get away with any deed, no matter how unrealistic. So it was sad there was no strong characterization to save them from that lowly fate. Had there been more emotional qualities to their interactions and their cause-and-effect lives, Sword in the Moon would have risen to the tops despite the occasional script flaws.

However, paired up with a chaotic story-telling method and those erratic flashback moments, it's the only reason why the movie just couldn't soar. The ending was pointless and disappointing to boot; it gave no closure or comeuppance, nothing to live up to the "people's army" Sword in the Moon status, nor any resolve between the characters. Or indeed for us, the audience. It basically ended at the fate you'd expect, with the same amount of melodrama.

Those who are looking for a visually stunning Korean period-piece will find Sword in the Moon enjoyable. It is gorgeous to simply look at and watch, as long as you don't think too deeply into the characters or can hold back your expectations for the scenes to come. Martial arts and swordsmanship fans will also find the fight scenes plentiful, realistically gory and riveting, even if there is no depth to the reason the men are battling, besides the obvious.

(Originally published as nozomu_bunny to korean_cinema circa 2005.