[K-FILMS ON DVD] 무영검 (Shadowless Sword) - Part 2

Reader Comments

1. Eight Rooks 05/12/2006 @ 5:11am

   Good review. Very good review. I read pretty much all of it, was especially interested in part 1, and as you might have guessed if you read my review in the forums I pretty much agree with you. I still think the exploding sandbags FX look ridiculous , and I can’t just ignore flaws in technique (if memory serves me right I thought some of the action in Bichunmoo was better, despite the film’s numerous other faults) but yeah… despite the obvious shortcomings I did feel this was a solid, entertaining film with some flashes of greatness that didn’t deserve the pasting it got.

   I still think it’s going to get critically slaughtered in the West, though. And from some of the IMDB reviews I read (I know, I know ) I have to wonder what a Western audience will make of it next to those Zhang Yimou films et al you hate so much (I think Hero’s a masterpiece, by the way, and love Flying Daggers for all its faults, though I didn’t like Crouching Tiger much).

   I still think Volcano High’s the highest Korea’s batted thus far - the energy and cheerful, cocky style even with such relatively limited technique just seems to accomplish so much. Obviously yeah, Musa’s really a period piece through and through but hmmm, Sword In The Moon did seem to have some very, very wuxia touches about it to me… eh, different strokes, maybe. Just don’t mention Arahan around me. Bleh, rarely have I been so disappointed.

   And naturally, whatever Duelist might be, none of them even come close to it. :D

   Good to have you back, and your effort’s all the more appreciated. Thanks again for a great review.

2. x 05/12/2006 @ 5:18am

   I like Volcano High too, and it’s probably the closest a character in a Korean film has come to the true ‘xia’. But it’s so… long. Needs an editor badly. But loved all the silly Hanja, Byun Hee-Bong’s character, and Siam Shade! That won some points.

   I nag on Hero a lot, but I don’t think it’s horrible. Just too ‘opportunistic’, let’s put it that way. If any other Chinese director did this, I’d be OK, but it’s Zhang Yimou. It’d be like Im Kwon-Taek directing The Bow.

3. Eight Rooks 05/12/2006 @ 5:31am

   Heh, I’ve never seen a single… “real”? Zhang Yimou film, I must admit. Though I don’t think I really have a problem with opportunism. I didn’t dislike Ang Lee for trying whatever he felt like (though again I’ve barely watched anything of his, either), I disliked Crouching Tiger because I felt - and still feel - the direction was average, the wirework was frequently bleh and far from Yuen Wo Ping’s best, the story was mediocre and the ending was terrible. I’m not certain of my thoughts on the issue mostly because all these directors I’ve barely seen any, if that, of their previous bodies of work… but the basic idea of someone going “hey, I think I’ll make a (such-and-such a genre) film” for whatever reason - fun, profit, genuine interest, all three - doesn’t really strike me as a bad thing. The end result is what matters.

4. x 05/12/2006 @ 6:10am

   Watch Red Sorghum, Raise The Red Lantern and To Live. That’s ‘real’ Zhang Yimou, and why I kind of felt ‘whatever’ watching Hero. Western Critics who criticize 5th generation filmmakers for ‘relaxing’ towards the government are a bunch of hypocrites, but I don’t like Hero for reasons that have nothing to do with the ‘Long Live the Emperor’ party line. It just feels vanilla on everything except the visuals to me. But then again, my favourite Wuxia past the 60s aren’t really wuxia (is Ashes of Time a Wuxia? Yeah, maybe on crack. Same for The Blade).

   I have no problem with Ang Lee, I just think his films are pretty, clean, ‘elegant’ empty vessels with little to say, before or after CTHD (admittedly I rather liked Brokeback, but that was more the exception confirming the rule). Problem is not him, he just wanted to filter wuxia through his eyes. It’s the machine behind all that, that creates ‘International monsters’ like The Promise, The Myth, and so on. I know I said more than enough I could wipe my behind with genre tropes per se (I take films as… films. Period), but if you want to do a Wuxia, do a Wuxia the way it’s supposed to be. Don’t make pretty exotica to excite some old farts in the Academy panel so that they’ll go see lil’ Japonese flicks with subtitles.

5. BtoFu 05/12/2006 @ 4:50pm

   I gave in and ordered this a few days ago. Didn’t really plan on it being anything that spectacular, the most I hoped for was something better than Seven Swords..which wouldn’t be a tremendous feat. The nice package clinched it for me..hopefully I’ll dig it.

6. Eight Rooks 05/18/2006 @ 4:15pm

   Nah, Hero definitely does stack up as a martial arts film for me. Different strokes, obviously, but I just couldn’t think of it as vanilla in any respect. The wirework in it is not the best I’ve ever seen but when taken along with the visuals… little Tony Leung’s duel with the emperor just had me on pleasure overload all the way through. It’s one of the few films I’ve ever had to stop watching simply because the sheer sensory onslaught - in a good way - was just too much for me to take. And while I’m not dead keen on the whole quasi-fascism thing I do feel there’s a lot more depth and thought to the plotting than the majority of critics admit. It’s not perfect, naturally, but Shadowless Sword simply can’t compare to it in any regard, IMO, apart from perhaps creative use of CG and one or two of the big, epic scenery shots.

   I’m also very wary of the rise of the bloated epic, and I’d never pretend Hero or HofD or God save us, The Promise were peerless works of cinema. However I do think people are far too ready to dismiss their good qualities in light of what they represent viz-a-vis a hunger for profit and a desire to capitalise on the Western world’s infatuation with The Other. It’s as suspect to my mind as blowing off Shadowless Sword because it’s a fairly derivative genre piece which undeniably betrays the (relative) inexperience of its cast and crew.

7. Eight Rooks 05/18/2006 @ 4:19pm

   Oh, and much as I have a sneaking fondness for Seven Swords - I still keep meaning to buy the UE with the subtitled commentary - I’ll take a flawed, clumsy but basically solid labour of love over a grand but ultimately wildly pretentious epic that ends up overshooting the mark by miles, I think. There’s nothing in Shadowless Sword to equal Donnie Yen’s fight with the bad guy right at the end, but for all its faults there’s nothing that comes close to how low Seven Swords sinks on too many occasions. Take that as you will.

8. tampasolar 05/29/2006 @ 6:56am

   this movie was top notch. ot’s def alot better than crouching tiger.

   thumbs up*

9. TeeVo 06/13/2006 @ 5:10pm

   Just saw this last night… Very entertaining...Wonder why it didn’t do so well in Korea ?? Wish LSJ didn’t have to bawl so much at ‘that’ point, kindda take away his coolness. Also wonder if anybody else feels some “brave heart” vibe at the end. *shrug*

10. Kalia X. 07/06/2006 @ 10:02am

    [SPOILERS]

    its a kool and awsome movie ever! no such girl can fight like Yoon So-Yi.

    but i felt sad about the ending. why does the heroine has to die leaving the hero alive. its really sad.

    this movie has to be TWO thumbs up!

    the ending is almost like the myth!

11. michael thing 12/30/2006 @ 8:29pm

    there’s no commend about this movie the onlt thing is that it’s marvellous and it’s getting a good market

12. pawan lama 12/30/2006 @ 8:44pm

    i got this movie very exciting and all have done their good jobs its really amazing it’s a full action with heart touching love story the sacrifice of yeon so-ha and sacrfice of Mae Young-Ok is too emotional any way its great the most thing i like about this movie is the heroine she is too sweet if i should tell about the ending without telling lies i felt crying but dont tell anyone
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