I am a time travelling, crossdressing, martial arts historical epic. With a chainsaw.
I have spent the last 2 weeks ripping through Asian movies in my Netflix queue and that I have DLed. A couple have been DLed so long that they now have US releases. Whoops?
Bodyguards and Assassins (China): Set in 1905, this is about a group of people, many with no previous ties, working to stop a group of assassins during a trip of Sun Wen’s to Hong Kong to meet with fellow revolutionaries. The first hour-and-a-bit is devoted to setting up the politics and introducing the 15-or-more major characters. The last 50 minutes is nonstop action (aka, what most viewers probably signed up for-it takes a while to deliver, but it delivers) that makes Hong Kong’s streets look like Godzilla paid a visit. As roughly 80% of the fictional cast dies, they are given the “Person from place was born in this year and died in this year” treatment that characters often get in period films to let us know this was totally a real person. Am I evil if that was one of my favorite parts? At one point, Leon Lai takes on about 30 men armed with nothing but a metal fan, long, flowing hair, and Wuxia Angst. (The movie is not wuxia, but his angst is Wuxia Angst.) I may need to investigate more Leon Lai films. Also, the movie made me want a period film with a Donnie Yen/Fan Bing Bing pairing.
Coweb (China): if you are looking for a movie with a complex plot, deep characterization, and breathtaking scenery, this is not the movie for you. If you are looking for a movie about almost nothing but a teeny woman using awesome martial arts skills to kick butt for 90 minutes is a mostly non-fetishized way (unless your fetishes run towards women in business suits and women who take on an entire movie’s worth of henchmen armed with nothing but a pink hoodie and nunchucks. Which they might.) then this is the movie for you. Yiyi is a security officer who is offered a job as a rich couple’s bodyguard. Then the couple gets kidnapped and she tears up the rest of the movie looking for them, going through about 5 movies worth of bad guys along the way. It is awesome. Have
darkeyedwolf 's picspam.
The Divine Weapon (Korea): She is a smart and serious scientist devoted to perfecting her father’s formula for rocket-like projectile arrows. He is a snarky badass warrior merchant. Together, they fight crime biker a lot and create 15th century Korean Weapons of Mass Destruction to evict the forces of Ming China from Joseon Korea. Somehow, I managed stumble across a serious Korean historical epic in which both romantic leads survive and they end up happy, together, and planning to get married. I was not aware such a thing existed. Lots of interesting history, though I honestly don’t know how accurate it is-I suspect there was some fudging with the Singjijeon but my limited knowledge of Korean history is mostly set after this-and medieval science, and some pretty good action. Especially the final battle. Speaking of which, on the one hand, I’m obviously annoyed that Hong-Li basically spent the final leg of the rebellion and the final battle in a cage, but at the same time, the success relied almost entirely on her weapons, and I suspect partly her strategy, too. Fun flick.
The trailer makes it look like more of an action movie than it is (I’d say about 2 parts historical drama, 1 part action, and 1 part romance).
An Empress and the Warriors (China): The first 15 minutes of this established that China knows the way into my heart and soul by setting up a story with a princess who has to take over a kingdom at war after her father’s murder. Assistant numero uno is a general who is Sekritly In Love With (For Years) the princess and expresses his love by telling men who are bickering over what man to put on the throne to stuff it because she’s the best, and then proceeds to train her to be the most badass thing this side of, well, him. And then she actually leads armies into battle! Wearing armor without conveniently sculpted breasts! The movie lost some momentum by inserting a romance between the now-Empress and a mysterious forest dweller, though. (Note: Generals/bodyguards/assassins Sekritly In Love With princesses/heiresses/queens/ladies have about a 60% chance of it being onesided, and about a 95% chance of dying.) Not enough to deter from my overall enjoyment, but I found it a bit dull, and it seemed to be there mostly because apparently wars and rebellions aren’t enough conflict for female leads, they need romantic problems as well. Also, she’s the only woman in the entire movie? I mean, most of it does take place either on the battlefield or in the forest, but I don’t think I even spotted any extras. Which is an annoyance that reared its head a number of times. But she dodges arrows! And poisoned darts! Leads armies! Grabs a spear and jams it through her opponent’s head when he has her pinned down. Also, at one point, Donnie Yen (the general) takes on an entire army. Because he’s Donnie Yen, and just that badass.
I feel the trailer make the romance look more central to the plot than it seemed to be in the movie.
Evil Twin (Korea): This is, I think, only my second Korean horror movie, the first being The Legend of Evil Lake, though I’m not sure if that was actually horror, or just had horror elements due to the ghost. Set in the Joseon period, twin sisters-one who was sweet and everyone loved, and one who was cruel and decided unloved-fell into a lake. Hyo-Jin, the “good” twin drowned, while So-Hyon, the “bad” twin lived, but spent ten years in a coma. When she wakes up, she has amnesia and falls in love with the man who was in loves with Hyo-Jin when they were children, and Hyo-Jin’s ghost returns and starts doing nasty grudge things. One of the twists was fairly easy to spot early on, but not another, but I don’t think it detracted from the movie. There were some things I wasn’t sure about (particularly how straight the Light/Dark Heroine aspect was being played) but I think the ending made it all pay off.
Ichi (Japan): A blatant sendup to both the Zatoichi movies (which I haven’t seen) and Yojimbo (which I have seen), Ichi is about a blind, wandering swordswoman who is actually the daughter of Zatoichi, and who meets a samurai who is skilled, but unable to draw his sword due to Deep Childhood Angst, and they end up in a town where there’s a power struggle between a local gang and nearby bandits. The movie is fun and prettily shot and has some great fight scenes, but ends up being more about Ichi’s sidekick than Ichi most of the time, and we learn that Ichi became a wanderer to find her father after she was raped and kicked out of her home because of it. There were faily parts, but they were faily parts that I expected and just hoped wouldn’t be there for once, as opposed to something that was sprung on me.
(I thought about including the Funimation trailer instead? But it starts out by making her look victimized, so I shun it.)
Jeon Woo Chi (Korea): The full title of this is Master Taoist Jeon Woo Chi, I believe. This is the movie that has a man running along the side of a wall, fending off a giant, armored rat with a whip. It also has a woman running along the tops of cars and firing arrows from a moving car, as well as men getting sucked into paintings. It has another woman picking up a car, and then putting it back down because throwing it just wouldn’t be interesting enough. This is also the movie where Kang Dong Won sports a ponytail, trenchcoat and fedora and poses atop buildings, leaps over cars, runs on wires, and flies. Woochi is a taoist wizard who spends more time playing pranks than anything else. Shortly after falling in love with a supposedly cursed widow, he gets trapped in a painting by the gods, only to be brought back to fight escaped monsters in modern times. Of course, he bears a bit of a grudge for the whole painting thing, and is often more interested in chasing after the reincarnated widow. I’m not quite sure what to make of the movie, but then, I’m not sure it knew what to make of itself either. The first part is a light period fantasy romp, the second part a light modern fantasy romp with a temporally displaced lead, and the last leg is a more serious, action-oriented supernatural flick that borders on taking itself seriously at times. Despite that and some slow bits, though, it was a very entertaining movie, and I really wish Kang Dong Won did more stuff. Like sageuks.
Mulan (China) Live-action Mulan, people. Which should be self-explanatory? Not as awesome as hoped, but still pretty nifty, and considerably closer to history than the Disney version. But it needed more battle formations and battle strategies, and less romantic-wangsting. The romantic plotline started decent enough with Basara-like hot springs scenes and romantic declarations like asking your new BFF to burn your body if you die in battle so no one will learn you were really a woman breaking all kinds of laws by joining the army as a man. But then came wangst and mansplainin’ and Wentai faking his death when he’s severely wounded in battle, because worrying about him would upset her delicate womanly nerves too much. Actually, I’m trying to block that whole section of the movie. Also, while I love Zhao Wei, Chen Kun is kinda…a block of wood? Like, I look at him and think that someone looked at him with a checklist for “conventionally attractive Chinese male” and checked off everything and the end result was terribly blandly attractive? But they forgot to check his ability to, well, act. (Of course, it could just be that Zhao Wei’s awesome sucks the life right out of him. I have only seen him in two movies with her so far.) But! Epic battles! Crossdressing! Ladygeneral! Campy version of Gladiator’s villain! Random Russian singer wearing white fur! Have
darkeyedwolf 's picspam.
Negative Happy Chainsaw Edge (Japan): This is the touching love story of a boy who wants to die heroically who gives his true love a ride on his bicycle every day so she can combat a chainsaw-wielding killer who descends from the moon accompanied by gently-falling snow. Yes, you read that right. Yes, at least one of the writers seems to believe that this is, indeed, a serious, touching romance. Whose heroine decided she wasn’t going to be a victim and started walking around with throwing blades strapped to her leg, can fly, uses a chainsaw that’s trying to kill her when flipping, and battles a chainsaw with a mop. Yes, it is the glorious, badass crack you are imagining. At some point, it considers having a plot, or at least explaining things. But then it realized that that would take too much time away from asskicking and so it forgot to finish the plot. I doubt anyone cares. Have
darkeyedwolf 's picspam.
Queens of Langkasuka/Legend of the Tsunami Warrior (Thai): I include the annoying licensed title only because that’s what you’ll find it under at Netflix/DVD stores. Once upon a time, there was a supremely practical and badass queen. Everyone and their masked spouse wanted her throne, so she decided to get some cannons and blow them all out of the water, and sends her daughters to find the apprentice of a European cannon-maker who disappeared a while back. One daughter is kinda a younger version of the queen, only nicer and possibly prepping herself for a lifetime of Forbidden Love with a scarred bodyguard. The other is what happens when Xena and Disney’s Princess Jasmine have a kid. If they could have a kid. Hijinks ensue when they run into pirates, assassins, raiders, and an angsty sea rogue who breathes underwater and talks to fish. I am told large chunks are based on actual history. Presumably, not the guy who talks to fish. The first half is good but rather slow, but the second half is a blast. Have
darkeyedwolf 's picspam.
Raging Phoenix (Thai): A straight-up action flick with the actress from Chocolate playing an angry punk rocker who learns drunken kung-fu/hip hop fusion martial arts in order to take down a slavery ring specializing in pretty young girls. Her cohorts are unwashed alcoholics with angst. Her opponents include
Ninjas on pogo sticks with blades, drag queens (Thailand, I’m working on a very limited exposure here, but can we talk about that and your action movies?) sex traders, her teammates, and her liver. This is no Chocolate, and you must firmly disengage all but the “WTF? OMG DID SHE JUST…!” part of your brain, but it will do. Have
darkeyedwolf 's picspam.
Storm Warriors (China): This is a sequel to the movie Storm Riders a movie in which the wind violently musses Aaron Kwok’s mane and makes Ekin Cheng’s locks serenely flutter. At the same time. There’s also an evil master, men exploding out of waterfalls, tragic women, fun women, the exchanging of demon arms, people who crumble into dust if you touch them at the wrong time, best friends on opposite sides, and what would be a really fun pairing if the movie had, like, more than 5 seconds to spend on that. And fun fight scenes. In Storm Warriors the wind violently musses Aaron Kwok’s mane and makes Ekin Cheng’s locks serenely flutter. At the same time. There’s also an evil warlord, added Nic Tse, men exploding out of cave walls, people fighting over a dragon’s spine, men being possessed by evil spirits, and best friends on opposite sides. And way way awesome fight scenes. The women, sadly, mostly said “Wind” or “Cloud” a lot, depending on which they were in love with, and made a few heartfelt pleas, but they also actually had screen time together. Cloud is less interesting than in the first movie, but Wind is more interesting, so I suppose it balances itself out. There was also bonus Wuxia Doom. I am fond of Wuxia Doom, as long as it doesn’t result in the main character wandering ancient China with the entire rest of the cast dead.
Incidentally, does anyone know if the first Wind & Cloud series is available with English subs anywhere? I know I can get the second online, but have never found the first.
The Sword With No Name (Korea): A highly-fictionalized movie about Empress Myongseong, a Joseon queen who attempted to limit Japan’s influence in Korea and strengthen other foreign ties. The movie focuses on her fictional relationship with a fictional mercenary who falls in love with her and joins the royal guards to be close to her. The movie is gorgeous, well acted, and well written, but as you may have guessed, the fact that the main focus was on a fictional guy’s angsty forbidden love and not on the real woman kept me from enjoying it as much as I would have otherwise. Don’t get me wrong, I liked him, and thought the romantic plotline was well done, I just wish it had been a supporting plotline to her life at court instead of the main focus with her policies and struggles at court in the background. Seung-Woo Cho also tries to take on an entire army. He is not as impressive at it as Donnie Yen, but that’s ok. Not everyone can be Donnie Yen.
Wheat (China): Set in 3rd century China, this is about a village of whose husbands have left for war who mistake deserters from the enemy nation for their own soldiers, with neither the women nor the renegade soldiers knowing that the war ended just after the two men deserted. This is a very beautiful film, but it…doesn’t really seem to have a strong plot or message, and I’m not sure it really said anything beyond “war is awful.” Half the time, I think the plot was “Fan Bing Bing is breathtakingly gorgeous.” I mean, I’m totally behind that plot (it was the root of my initial interest) but I kinda needed either more meatiness to the plot or more action (despite the trailer, there’s very little action in the movie) to go with it. As it is, it’s a very lovely, well acted movie, but rather slow and without a lot to grab me.
You may have noticed that I linked to
darkeyedwolf 's posts a lot. This is because she has very convenient tags like “genre: dangerous ladies” and “genre: adventures in asskicking” that are quite beneficial.
Bodyguards and Assassins (China): Set in 1905, this is about a group of people, many with no previous ties, working to stop a group of assassins during a trip of Sun Wen’s to Hong Kong to meet with fellow revolutionaries. The first hour-and-a-bit is devoted to setting up the politics and introducing the 15-or-more major characters. The last 50 minutes is nonstop action (aka, what most viewers probably signed up for-it takes a while to deliver, but it delivers) that makes Hong Kong’s streets look like Godzilla paid a visit. As roughly 80% of the fictional cast dies, they are given the “Person from place was born in this year and died in this year” treatment that characters often get in period films to let us know this was totally a real person. Am I evil if that was one of my favorite parts? At one point, Leon Lai takes on about 30 men armed with nothing but a metal fan, long, flowing hair, and Wuxia Angst. (The movie is not wuxia, but his angst is Wuxia Angst.) I may need to investigate more Leon Lai films. Also, the movie made me want a period film with a Donnie Yen/Fan Bing Bing pairing.
Click to viewCoweb (China): if you are looking for a movie with a complex plot, deep characterization, and breathtaking scenery, this is not the movie for you. If you are looking for a movie about almost nothing but a teeny woman using awesome martial arts skills to kick butt for 90 minutes is a mostly non-fetishized way (unless your fetishes run towards women in business suits and women who take on an entire movie’s worth of henchmen armed with nothing but a pink hoodie and nunchucks. Which they might.) then this is the movie for you. Yiyi is a security officer who is offered a job as a rich couple’s bodyguard. Then the couple gets kidnapped and she tears up the rest of the movie looking for them, going through about 5 movies worth of bad guys along the way. It is awesome. Have
darkeyedwolf 's picspam.
The Divine Weapon (Korea): She is a smart and serious scientist devoted to perfecting her father’s formula for rocket-like projectile arrows. He is a snarky badass warrior merchant. Together, they fight crime biker a lot and create 15th century Korean Weapons of Mass Destruction to evict the forces of Ming China from Joseon Korea. Somehow, I managed stumble across a serious Korean historical epic in which both romantic leads survive and they end up happy, together, and planning to get married. I was not aware such a thing existed. Lots of interesting history, though I honestly don’t know how accurate it is-I suspect there was some fudging with the Singjijeon but my limited knowledge of Korean history is mostly set after this-and medieval science, and some pretty good action. Especially the final battle. Speaking of which, on the one hand, I’m obviously annoyed that Hong-Li basically spent the final leg of the rebellion and the final battle in a cage, but at the same time, the success relied almost entirely on her weapons, and I suspect partly her strategy, too. Fun flick.
The trailer makes it look like more of an action movie than it is (I’d say about 2 parts historical drama, 1 part action, and 1 part romance).
An Empress and the Warriors (China): The first 15 minutes of this established that China knows the way into my heart and soul by setting up a story with a princess who has to take over a kingdom at war after her father’s murder. Assistant numero uno is a general who is Sekritly In Love With (For Years) the princess and expresses his love by telling men who are bickering over what man to put on the throne to stuff it because she’s the best, and then proceeds to train her to be the most badass thing this side of, well, him. And then she actually leads armies into battle! Wearing armor without conveniently sculpted breasts! The movie lost some momentum by inserting a romance between the now-Empress and a mysterious forest dweller, though. (Note: Generals/bodyguards/assassins Sekritly In Love With princesses/heiresses/queens/ladies have about a 60% chance of it being onesided, and about a 95% chance of dying.) Not enough to deter from my overall enjoyment, but I found it a bit dull, and it seemed to be there mostly because apparently wars and rebellions aren’t enough conflict for female leads, they need romantic problems as well. Also, she’s the only woman in the entire movie? I mean, most of it does take place either on the battlefield or in the forest, but I don’t think I even spotted any extras. Which is an annoyance that reared its head a number of times. But she dodges arrows! And poisoned darts! Leads armies! Grabs a spear and jams it through her opponent’s head when he has her pinned down. Also, at one point, Donnie Yen (the general) takes on an entire army. Because he’s Donnie Yen, and just that badass.
I feel the trailer make the romance look more central to the plot than it seemed to be in the movie.
Evil Twin (Korea): This is, I think, only my second Korean horror movie, the first being The Legend of Evil Lake, though I’m not sure if that was actually horror, or just had horror elements due to the ghost. Set in the Joseon period, twin sisters-one who was sweet and everyone loved, and one who was cruel and decided unloved-fell into a lake. Hyo-Jin, the “good” twin drowned, while So-Hyon, the “bad” twin lived, but spent ten years in a coma. When she wakes up, she has amnesia and falls in love with the man who was in loves with Hyo-Jin when they were children, and Hyo-Jin’s ghost returns and starts doing nasty grudge things. One of the twists was fairly easy to spot early on, but not another, but I don’t think it detracted from the movie. There were some things I wasn’t sure about (particularly how straight the Light/Dark Heroine aspect was being played) but I think the ending made it all pay off.
Ichi (Japan): A blatant sendup to both the Zatoichi movies (which I haven’t seen) and Yojimbo (which I have seen), Ichi is about a blind, wandering swordswoman who is actually the daughter of Zatoichi, and who meets a samurai who is skilled, but unable to draw his sword due to Deep Childhood Angst, and they end up in a town where there’s a power struggle between a local gang and nearby bandits. The movie is fun and prettily shot and has some great fight scenes, but ends up being more about Ichi’s sidekick than Ichi most of the time, and we learn that Ichi became a wanderer to find her father after she was raped and kicked out of her home because of it. There were faily parts, but they were faily parts that I expected and just hoped wouldn’t be there for once, as opposed to something that was sprung on me.
(I thought about including the Funimation trailer instead? But it starts out by making her look victimized, so I shun it.)
Jeon Woo Chi (Korea): The full title of this is Master Taoist Jeon Woo Chi, I believe. This is the movie that has a man running along the side of a wall, fending off a giant, armored rat with a whip. It also has a woman running along the tops of cars and firing arrows from a moving car, as well as men getting sucked into paintings. It has another woman picking up a car, and then putting it back down because throwing it just wouldn’t be interesting enough. This is also the movie where Kang Dong Won sports a ponytail, trenchcoat and fedora and poses atop buildings, leaps over cars, runs on wires, and flies. Woochi is a taoist wizard who spends more time playing pranks than anything else. Shortly after falling in love with a supposedly cursed widow, he gets trapped in a painting by the gods, only to be brought back to fight escaped monsters in modern times. Of course, he bears a bit of a grudge for the whole painting thing, and is often more interested in chasing after the reincarnated widow. I’m not quite sure what to make of the movie, but then, I’m not sure it knew what to make of itself either. The first part is a light period fantasy romp, the second part a light modern fantasy romp with a temporally displaced lead, and the last leg is a more serious, action-oriented supernatural flick that borders on taking itself seriously at times. Despite that and some slow bits, though, it was a very entertaining movie, and I really wish Kang Dong Won did more stuff. Like sageuks.
Mulan (China) Live-action Mulan, people. Which should be self-explanatory? Not as awesome as hoped, but still pretty nifty, and considerably closer to history than the Disney version. But it needed more battle formations and battle strategies, and less romantic-wangsting. The romantic plotline started decent enough with Basara-like hot springs scenes and romantic declarations like asking your new BFF to burn your body if you die in battle so no one will learn you were really a woman breaking all kinds of laws by joining the army as a man. But then came wangst and mansplainin’ and Wentai faking his death when he’s severely wounded in battle, because worrying about him would upset her delicate womanly nerves too much. Actually, I’m trying to block that whole section of the movie. Also, while I love Zhao Wei, Chen Kun is kinda…a block of wood? Like, I look at him and think that someone looked at him with a checklist for “conventionally attractive Chinese male” and checked off everything and the end result was terribly blandly attractive? But they forgot to check his ability to, well, act. (Of course, it could just be that Zhao Wei’s awesome sucks the life right out of him. I have only seen him in two movies with her so far.) But! Epic battles! Crossdressing! Ladygeneral! Campy version of Gladiator’s villain! Random Russian singer wearing white fur! Have
darkeyedwolf 's picspam.
Negative Happy Chainsaw Edge (Japan): This is the touching love story of a boy who wants to die heroically who gives his true love a ride on his bicycle every day so she can combat a chainsaw-wielding killer who descends from the moon accompanied by gently-falling snow. Yes, you read that right. Yes, at least one of the writers seems to believe that this is, indeed, a serious, touching romance. Whose heroine decided she wasn’t going to be a victim and started walking around with throwing blades strapped to her leg, can fly, uses a chainsaw that’s trying to kill her when flipping, and battles a chainsaw with a mop. Yes, it is the glorious, badass crack you are imagining. At some point, it considers having a plot, or at least explaining things. But then it realized that that would take too much time away from asskicking and so it forgot to finish the plot. I doubt anyone cares. Have
darkeyedwolf 's picspam.
Queens of Langkasuka/Legend of the Tsunami Warrior (Thai): I include the annoying licensed title only because that’s what you’ll find it under at Netflix/DVD stores. Once upon a time, there was a supremely practical and badass queen. Everyone and their masked spouse wanted her throne, so she decided to get some cannons and blow them all out of the water, and sends her daughters to find the apprentice of a European cannon-maker who disappeared a while back. One daughter is kinda a younger version of the queen, only nicer and possibly prepping herself for a lifetime of Forbidden Love with a scarred bodyguard. The other is what happens when Xena and Disney’s Princess Jasmine have a kid. If they could have a kid. Hijinks ensue when they run into pirates, assassins, raiders, and an angsty sea rogue who breathes underwater and talks to fish. I am told large chunks are based on actual history. Presumably, not the guy who talks to fish. The first half is good but rather slow, but the second half is a blast. Have
darkeyedwolf 's picspam.
Raging Phoenix (Thai): A straight-up action flick with the actress from Chocolate playing an angry punk rocker who learns drunken kung-fu/hip hop fusion martial arts in order to take down a slavery ring specializing in pretty young girls. Her cohorts are unwashed alcoholics with angst. Her opponents include
Ninjas on pogo sticks with blades, drag queens (Thailand, I’m working on a very limited exposure here, but can we talk about that and your action movies?) sex traders, her teammates, and her liver. This is no Chocolate, and you must firmly disengage all but the “WTF? OMG DID SHE JUST…!” part of your brain, but it will do. Have
darkeyedwolf 's picspam.
Storm Warriors (China): This is a sequel to the movie Storm Riders a movie in which the wind violently musses Aaron Kwok’s mane and makes Ekin Cheng’s locks serenely flutter. At the same time. There’s also an evil master, men exploding out of waterfalls, tragic women, fun women, the exchanging of demon arms, people who crumble into dust if you touch them at the wrong time, best friends on opposite sides, and what would be a really fun pairing if the movie had, like, more than 5 seconds to spend on that. And fun fight scenes. In Storm Warriors the wind violently musses Aaron Kwok’s mane and makes Ekin Cheng’s locks serenely flutter. At the same time. There’s also an evil warlord, added Nic Tse, men exploding out of cave walls, people fighting over a dragon’s spine, men being possessed by evil spirits, and best friends on opposite sides. And way way awesome fight scenes. The women, sadly, mostly said “Wind” or “Cloud” a lot, depending on which they were in love with, and made a few heartfelt pleas, but they also actually had screen time together. Cloud is less interesting than in the first movie, but Wind is more interesting, so I suppose it balances itself out. There was also bonus Wuxia Doom. I am fond of Wuxia Doom, as long as it doesn’t result in the main character wandering ancient China with the entire rest of the cast dead.
Incidentally, does anyone know if the first Wind & Cloud series is available with English subs anywhere? I know I can get the second online, but have never found the first.
The Sword With No Name (Korea): A highly-fictionalized movie about Empress Myongseong, a Joseon queen who attempted to limit Japan’s influence in Korea and strengthen other foreign ties. The movie focuses on her fictional relationship with a fictional mercenary who falls in love with her and joins the royal guards to be close to her. The movie is gorgeous, well acted, and well written, but as you may have guessed, the fact that the main focus was on a fictional guy’s angsty forbidden love and not on the real woman kept me from enjoying it as much as I would have otherwise. Don’t get me wrong, I liked him, and thought the romantic plotline was well done, I just wish it had been a supporting plotline to her life at court instead of the main focus with her policies and struggles at court in the background. Seung-Woo Cho also tries to take on an entire army. He is not as impressive at it as Donnie Yen, but that’s ok. Not everyone can be Donnie Yen.
Wheat (China): Set in 3rd century China, this is about a village of whose husbands have left for war who mistake deserters from the enemy nation for their own soldiers, with neither the women nor the renegade soldiers knowing that the war ended just after the two men deserted. This is a very beautiful film, but it…doesn’t really seem to have a strong plot or message, and I’m not sure it really said anything beyond “war is awful.” Half the time, I think the plot was “Fan Bing Bing is breathtakingly gorgeous.” I mean, I’m totally behind that plot (it was the root of my initial interest) but I kinda needed either more meatiness to the plot or more action (despite the trailer, there’s very little action in the movie) to go with it. As it is, it’s a very lovely, well acted movie, but rather slow and without a lot to grab me.
You may have noticed that I linked to
darkeyedwolf 's posts a lot. This is because she has very convenient tags like “genre: dangerous ladies” and “genre: adventures in asskicking” that are quite beneficial.