meganbmoore (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
meganbmoore) wrote2008-03-30 11:44 pm
meganbmoore) wrote2008-03-30 11:44 pm
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kmovie: The Restless
The Restless is a Korean movie about a vagrant swordsman named Yi-Gwak. It sucks to be Yi-Gwak. Observe:
1. Yi-Gwak can see spirits. When he sees the spirit of a young boy in his village, he tells his fiancee, So-Hwa. So-Hwa tells the boy's mother, and she convinces her son to move on. All is well, yes? WRONG! The villagers decide that it's So-Hwa who can see spirits and burn her alive right in front of him. For added angst, she's wearing her wedding clothes at the time.
2. While scattering her ashes at the river, Yi-Gwak is approached by the commander of the Chuhyongdae, the Royal Demon Hunters, and invited into their ranks. Soon, he becomes a master swordsman and their second in command, and is given a sword that can lay spirits to rest. All is well, yes? WRONG! A while back, the commander's pregnant wife was raped by nobles, leading to her suicide. When he thinks the time is right, the commander leads a raid on the palace, against Yi-Gwak's objections. All the Chuyondae are wiped out save for Yi-Gwak.
3. Yi-Gwak becomes a vagrant, and is branded an outlaw. After saving a village from demons, the villagers drug his meal so they can collect the bounty on his head, and he flees to hide in the forest before the drug takes affect. What gratitude.
4. Yi-Gwak wakes up in Midheaven, the place between Earth and Heaven where souls go before moving on. Except that he's not dead. No, we aren't really told how he got to be there while still alive. While he's still trying to figure that out, the city there is attacked. During the fight he sees the Chuneen-a guardian of Midheaven, I assume I'd recognize the word if I were Korean-Yon-hwa, and realizes that she is actually So-hwa. YAY! Right? WRONG! Yon-hwa has no memories of her life on Earth. That's ok, he'll just stare at her adoringly until it's time to fight again, even if she does kinda think he's nuts.
5. BUT WAIT! The guys who attacked Yon-hwa? The Chuhyongdae, who want to take over Midheaven. No, we don't know why, but they're doing a pretty good job of it. First, though, they have to catch Yon-hwa, who has the spirit of the ruler of Midheaven in her keeping.
So, he's an outlaw, everyone he knows is dead, he's somehow stuck in the afterlife, his True Love has amnesia, and all his old buddies want to kill her, and are willing to go through him to get her, even if they will angst a lot over it. But hey, what's all that and a few thousand demon ninjas in the face of True Love? (Ok, fine, they aren't ninjas since they're Korean, but I don't know the proper term, so they're demon ninjas.)
Uhm, yeah. So, crucial plot points mentioned above are never really explained, and a lot of the acting consists of staring(and not in the Jason Bourne "convey 5000 levels of angst in a single stare" way) and it's a superangstfest, but it's rather fun, has an interesting concept, great fights, and some interesting special effects(when people die in the afterlife, they disintegrate into what looks like paper burning to cinders.) And, for all the it's a "true love angainst the universe" angstfest, it keeps the mush and melodrama under control.
And now, pics.
1. Yi-Gwak can see spirits. When he sees the spirit of a young boy in his village, he tells his fiancee, So-Hwa. So-Hwa tells the boy's mother, and she convinces her son to move on. All is well, yes? WRONG! The villagers decide that it's So-Hwa who can see spirits and burn her alive right in front of him. For added angst, she's wearing her wedding clothes at the time.
2. While scattering her ashes at the river, Yi-Gwak is approached by the commander of the Chuhyongdae, the Royal Demon Hunters, and invited into their ranks. Soon, he becomes a master swordsman and their second in command, and is given a sword that can lay spirits to rest. All is well, yes? WRONG! A while back, the commander's pregnant wife was raped by nobles, leading to her suicide. When he thinks the time is right, the commander leads a raid on the palace, against Yi-Gwak's objections. All the Chuyondae are wiped out save for Yi-Gwak.
3. Yi-Gwak becomes a vagrant, and is branded an outlaw. After saving a village from demons, the villagers drug his meal so they can collect the bounty on his head, and he flees to hide in the forest before the drug takes affect. What gratitude.
4. Yi-Gwak wakes up in Midheaven, the place between Earth and Heaven where souls go before moving on. Except that he's not dead. No, we aren't really told how he got to be there while still alive. While he's still trying to figure that out, the city there is attacked. During the fight he sees the Chuneen-a guardian of Midheaven, I assume I'd recognize the word if I were Korean-Yon-hwa, and realizes that she is actually So-hwa. YAY! Right? WRONG! Yon-hwa has no memories of her life on Earth. That's ok, he'll just stare at her adoringly until it's time to fight again, even if she does kinda think he's nuts.
5. BUT WAIT! The guys who attacked Yon-hwa? The Chuhyongdae, who want to take over Midheaven. No, we don't know why, but they're doing a pretty good job of it. First, though, they have to catch Yon-hwa, who has the spirit of the ruler of Midheaven in her keeping.
So, he's an outlaw, everyone he knows is dead, he's somehow stuck in the afterlife, his True Love has amnesia, and all his old buddies want to kill her, and are willing to go through him to get her, even if they will angst a lot over it. But hey, what's all that and a few thousand demon ninjas in the face of True Love? (Ok, fine, they aren't ninjas since they're Korean, but I don't know the proper term, so they're demon ninjas.)
Uhm, yeah. So, crucial plot points mentioned above are never really explained, and a lot of the acting consists of staring(and not in the Jason Bourne "convey 5000 levels of angst in a single stare" way) and it's a superangstfest, but it's rather fun, has an interesting concept, great fights, and some interesting special effects(when people die in the afterlife, they disintegrate into what looks like paper burning to cinders.) And, for all the it's a "true love angainst the universe" angstfest, it keeps the mush and melodrama under control.
And now, pics.