Korean Movie Review: 무영검 (Shadowless Sword)

[hlwar]

It is the time of the fall of Balhae, in 926 A.D. when Khitans defeated the once great kingdom. Beautiful lady-warrior Yeon Soha must retrieve the exiled last prince to save Balhae.

"Muyeonggeom"
Sometimes called Legend of the Shadowless Sword

Release Information:
Directed by: Kim Yeong-jun
Released by: CJ Entertainment (2005)
Running time: 98 minutes
Genre: Historical Adventure | Martial Arts | Fantasy

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Synopsis
It is the time of the fall of Balhae, in 926 A.D. when Keoran (Khitan) defeated the once great kingdom. In the aftermath of the invasion, the remnants of the Balhae people continue to fight in hopes of revival. However, the scattered government and civilian militia are having little effect on their own. What's more, the Dongranguk of Keoran send out their skilled assassin team known as the Killer-Blade Army to kill off the last of the Royal Family. After the murder of Crown Prince Dae Seo-hyeon at the hands of the Killer-Blade's leader, Gun Hwap-yeong (Shin Hyeon-jun), the Balhae government laments for a sovereign to unite the resistance force and reclaim the kingdom.

That sovereign is the last prince, Dae Jeong-hyeon (Lee Seo-jin) living in exile for the past 15 years in the outskirts of the fallen kingdom. Upon discovering his whereabouts, Balhae sends the beautiful lady-warrior Yeon Soha (Yun So-yi) to retrieve the Prince and escort him back. Dongranguk also learn of the Prince and send the Killer-Blade after him.

Soha finds Jeong-hyeon now living as the street-smart pawn-broker Sosam, but the young deposed monarch has no desire to have Soha as his bodyguard, or returning to rescue Balhae. Despite his lack of enthusiasm and king-like qualities, Jeong-hyeon decides he has little choice in the matter when the Killer-Blade Army appear, threatening his sole rule, which is survival. But Soha firmly believes in the Prince, even offering memories of his dignified past, and with assassins at every turn, Jeong-hyeon learns to recover his old beliefs-that the sword is meant to protect something valuable, not to merely kill.

Trailer

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Review (Spoiler Warning)
After five years since his first flick, director Kim Yeong-jun returns to the wu xia genre and creates a story in the likeness of his first film, Bichunmoo. He seemed to have learned from the flaws of his predecessor epic, but also went overboard on the good points. What happened is that Shadowless Sword is not bogged down with unimportant characters and misunderstood plot-lines, but is almost wholly a costume adventure.

Sure, there is nothing wrong with pretty pictures, and indeed this movie is visually stunning. The cinematography, landscapes and backdrops, which were filmed on location in China, are absolutely dazzling. The wardrobe is more fantasy than historical, especially in the case of the street thugs who all look like Egyptian pirates and the Killer-Blade Army whose look seems to draw from Goth designs, but this helps to give this sword-and-sorcery a fresh image, and some attitude. This is probably why all promotional images, still footage and screen captures look so vibrant.

But this is not a postcard, and for a moving picture there needs to be something deeper (in my opinion) to keep it moving, and to keep your attention. It needs to live and breathe, through story and characters.

True action fans and lovers of martial arts films may disagree with me that it needs depth, I'd imagine. For those who like shallow reasons and straight-forward movement, Shadowless Sword is sure to please with its reluctant Good-guy versus misunderstood Bad-guy, and Good-guy making a mad dash to save the world while being hunted by Bad-guy and his kickass minions. Oh, and two hardcore female fighters. You all loved Xena, right?

For me, though, it is about enjoying the company of the characters and actually caring about the story they are living through. If I cannot connect to any one person in the plot, or find something interesting about the tale, then the movie is a total let-down.

So let's look at the story:

Like Bichunmoo, the film takes a historical conflict and focuses on the characters during that time. The fall of Balhae is hardly what drives this movie, and there is little history to be learned here. In fact, had I not re-watched this after seeing the KBS television program Dae Jo-young which is about the founding father of Balhae, then my uneducated brain would have just let that 926 forward disappear into meaningless opening chatter. However, now that I know more about the ancient Korean kingdom and the neighboring Khitans, I can appreciate the historical element a little better, and also be a mite disappointed by what Shadowless Sword had to offer, as well.

Indeed, after the plot point of the demise of Balhae, there is basically no more mention of it in a greater sense than "that's what happened here" (as punctuated by the scene where they're trying to slip across the border by dressing like Khitan farmer joe and wife in a buggy). Instead, the story focuses solely on Soha's retrieval of the Prince, and Jeong-hyeon making it back alive to lead the revival movement. Yeah, that's about it.

With a story this simple, it should offer a great in-depth look into the characters that are heading the progression. And you know what? It doesn't. Soha is a woman living in a man's role, and she saunters loyally forward with a stone face and brooding air. She's a warrior of Balhae, having lost her parents as a tot to a Keoran raid, and being raised by the military since. Of course, little by little she lets on to knowing more about the Prince than your normal soldier, but all of this personal history is suddenly slammed in your face with poorly timed flashbacks. These flashbacks take out any subtly the characterizations might have had, and then everything becomes so obvious and predictable.

I like seeing women in strong roles, but very few are ever pulled off correctly and in a believable way (to me anyway). Soha's look is totally wrong for someone so bland and tough; she tries too hard to look pretty, with feathery tresses and gauzy shirts and an airy cloak. It's that picturesque thing again. But they killed her warrior statue presence with moments like, "Oh dear me, it's raining! We can't ride to Balhae in the rain!" It wasn't working for me.

And I wasn't much impressed with actress Yun So-yi in the role. She looked good, and while I didn't hate her portrayal, I don't believe she had anything to offer the character. Most of the time she just stared at people with dead eyes, and she never struggled with whooping butt; the female fight scenes were too choreographed and dance-like for my taste, which gives me a pessimistic idea that they were only implemented into the film to draw male viewer's attention. Like busty chicks with guns.

Then there is Prince Jeong-hyeon, aka Sosam. Again, a pretty standard character played in a very standard way by actor Lee Seo-jin. Having been on the streets scratching a living for the last 15 years, Jeong-hyeon is of course tough-as-nails and suspicious of all. But he's also a good guy at heart, and the young heart-throb, so he's given to innocent smiles and caring moments and cracking sarcastic jokes. He tries desperately (read: half-heartedly) to escape his fate and ditch Soha. He tries even harder to hide all of his old beliefs, and live simply to survive.

But of course Soha changes all of that with her light gestures of honor and hope, and Jeong-hyeon starts believing that good must prevail and no one can run from a fight. There you go, kids, you have a morale to the story.

And a little bit of romance as Soha and Jeong-hyeon start falling in love. Of course. This was utterly bound to happen, and I don't mind that-however, why was it necessary to create this past between them via the flashbacks? I do not understand because it could have been left out entirely, and the film would still have sent the same message and reached the same exact ending. I think it was the writer's way to cheat; why try and create a romance between two strangers when you can simply have destiny reunite childhood could-have-been's? I thought the flashbacks and "promise" were all pretentious and pointless.

Then there is the Killer-Blade Army members, all of whom would fit right into Japan's Shinobi. Two of the members (the crazy monk and the giant archer) are pretty useless in the end, and are merely there for the cool factor. Then you have Gun Hwap-yeong, the enigmatic leader who announces his arrival with sending a hawk, and who (gasp) has a tragic past and also (gasp) a hidden agenda. Both of which are under-played and revealed through blink-and-you'll-miss-it flashbacks. Once again Shin Hyeon-jun takes the reins of this dark, brooding, pouty character, and this time he gets to play evil. Gun is extremely similar to Jahalang from Bichunmoo, right down to having his Black Swordsman and obsessed love-interest. I guess the character muse was stuck in 2000 for that screenplay. Despite the actor's one-note portrayals, I do enjoy his on-screen presence.

Obsessed with being loyal to Gun is warrior-lady Mae Young-ok, who is given a great look by actress Lee Ki-yong, who seems to me to look more fit for battle than Yun So-yi, even though she treats her character's emotions with much the same blankness as Yun. Mae might have given some heart to the hardened Gun and overall bring the badguys up out of their shallow pit, but this is a pure action movie and her five minutes of fame is merely to accept punishment on behalf of her beloved master by having sex with their ruthless boss (a Keoran lord, I guess-the man pretty much does nothing except say "Do this!"). Wow, touching.

Otherwise, you have a typical band of one-second wonders who mostly are in the film for the comic relief. There are three cameos that must be mentioned, however. First is Choi Ji-woo who appears briefly as the daughter of the leader of the Flying Daggers, a brooding band of swordsmen in mourning for their dead master. Personally, I found the Flying Daggers to hold more interest and would have preferred to see a movie revolving around them. But I guess there already is one: House of Flying Daggers. Choi and the swordsmen are used for fun, being in an inn where Soha and Jeong-hyeon are dining, and Jeong-hyeon insults them to create a fight with Soha, in order to elude her. However, Soha exploits Choi's character being herself a woman and lies to get their help in finding runaway Sosam, claiming he is abandoning his wife and children. Umm, okay. I thought perhaps she'd be honest and there'd be an awesome fight sequence for the end, but I guess that's not creative enough?

Then we meet Kim Soo-ro again, who had a serious role in Bichunmoo. Here his comedic talents are put to use as Kim plays a street boss with a gaudy voice and a rather gay manner. I was pleased to see Kim, but I hardly found any purpose nor amusement from his character.

And on a personal note, the other cameo worth mentioning is actor Lee Han-garl as the commander of the guards for the Crown Prince who was killed in the beginning. Lee played Changryeon, the Lieutenant of the Ten Black Swordsmen, in Bichunmoo and is a favorite of mine. Honestly, he was the reason I purchased this movie. So imagine my disappointment when he gets his throat slit by Mae in the first five minutes.

As a wu xia feature, fans will love the high-flying sword fights and the levitating martial arts. Personally, I feel it was way overdone to the point where I just kept thinking that our heroes should just fly to Balhae so the movie can end! And I dislike the play-acting fights where the warriors spend more time posing and stretching than actually engaged in combat. But that's just me.

There are several fantasy CG moments that were elaborate and executed well, including a sword battle underwater and Gun striking a koi pond in anger and sending a drizzling wall of water into the air. And the music was interesting. It wasn't exactly epic, but it made itself known and worked well with most of the scenes.

I also had a big problem with the meaning behind the swords, and therefore the movie's title. There is the Balhae secret military attack that is used during the final showdown between Jeong-hyeon and Gun that left me feeling stupid. I may have missed the true value because of poorly translated text, but I thought it was ultimately silly. And very Bichun Shin Gi. I suppose it goes back to Soha's little speech about demons festering on one's blade because of resentful ghosts of those killed, but it was just there, with no credit, glory or explanation. So if anyone can answer the mystery of the Shadowless Sword, I'd love to know it!

It's all about the imagery and action for Shadowless Sword, so if you just want to watch an Asian sword-and-sorcery with little regard for why and who, I think you will enjoy this title. Don't reach for something more, though, because your hands will come up empty.




(Originally published as nozomu_bunny to korean_cinema circa 2005.