Lee Byung Hun 이병헌 Byunghun Lee

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Not sure if this involves the main cast of 'The Magnificent Seven'. It looks like the production is still actively ongoing end of August and moving on to New Mexico.

 

August 26, 2015

Casting call for 'The Magnificent Seven' remake

By: KOB.com Web Staff

"The Magnificent Seven" is now casting in New Mexico.

According to One Headlight Ink, the filmmakers are looking to fill a list of background roles from bearded, long-haired men to experienced horseback riders.

The new version of the 1960's classic stars Denzel Washington, Chris Pratt and Ethan Hawke.

Casting will be Saturday, Aug. 29 at the Wild West Fest at the Galisteo Rodeo Grounds in Galisteo, New Mexico. According to the event's Facebook page, entry is free for those who arrive in their "cowboy and cowgirl finest." Headshots and casting registration sessions will be available throughout the day.

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Thankyou to the fan-sharing at LBH DC Gallery  #ABittersweetLife

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#TerminatorGenisys #China

Photo credit: play.u2

 

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August 26, 2015

The Hong-yi Games

The acting is better than the swordplay in Memories of the Sword.

by Kristian Lin Fort Worth Weekly

Memories of the Sword Starring Kim Go-eun, Lee Byung-hun, and Jeon Do-yeon. Directed by Park Heung-sik. Written by Park Heung-sik and Choi Ah-reum. Not rated.

The same week that The Diary of a Teenage Girl expands to Tarrant County (see above review), another teen movie hits our theaters. It’s called Memories of the Sword, and even though it’s somewhat derivative, this attractive and well-acted South Korean film is the sort of the martial-arts adventure that fans of the genre (or moviegoers freaked out by the idea that teenage girls have sex) might be more comfortable with.

The highly convoluted plot is set roughly 1,000 years ago, where Hong-yi (Kim Go-eun) is as carefree as any girl can be who’s training to kill two specific people. She’s crushed when Sul-rang (Jeon Do-yeon), the blind woman who has raised her, reveals that she herself is one of her targets. Years ago, Sul-rang and her lover Duk-gi (Lee Byung-hun) led a popular uprising, only to betray their cause and murder Hong-yi’s real parents. Now the girl has to avenge them by killing the woman she thinks of as her mother, plus a man who’s an immensely skilled fighter and the head of the country’s military.

You can easily see the influences at work with director/co-writer Park Heung-sik. The swordfighters flying through the air recall Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, individual fight sequences are heavily influenced by scenes from the Kill Bill movies, and the historical pageantry and sumptuous costumes are reminiscent of Zhang Yimou’s Hero and House of Flying Daggers. The only time Park achieves the fluidity of those films is during the climactic sequence when Hong-yi stages a singlehanded assault on a heavily guarded castle. That almost compensates for the howler of a plot development when one character, having been run through with a sword, is cured by … acupuncture! Wow, those medieval Korean acupuncturists must have been really good.

Fortunately, this film has some of the best actors South Korea has to offer. Lee has shown off his fighting skills in Hollywood movies like Red 2 and Terminator Genisys. Here, he also gets to project streaks of sadism and thwarted love in his villain, and he’s particularly menacing in a scene when this traitor turns on his new boss and shows his true colors to an impotently spluttering king (Kim Tae-woo). Conversely, Jeon is better known as a dramatic actress — if you haven’t seen her soul-cleaving performance in Secret Sunshine, you need to — but she looks quite credible whether she’s handling a sword or playing the guilt-ridden teacher bringing retribution down on herself. Lee Kyeong-yeong contributes some badly needed comic relief as an old swordmaster who tutors our heroine to fulfill her mission. A lead actress needs a powerful presence to hold up in this company, and the relative newcomer Kim Go-eun is more than equal to the task, whether she’s slicing her way through the royal guard or getting drunk at a bar after discovering her family secret. These actors keep Memories of the Sword watchable and give us faith that we’ll see them in better projects.

 

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Just for info at the thread

Source: Jackets Junction

Storm Shadow Lee Byung Hun G.I Joe White Leather Long Coat

$189.00

Specification:

Long Coat Costume.
Padding at Sleeves and Shoulders.
Does not Include Pants or Shoes.
Unofficial Product.
High Quality Material Synthetic Leather.
Inspired from Movie: G.I Joe

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Nope.. no good news today 

After 2 weeks, it's really hard to salvage anything of short-lived hope

MOTS down to number 17 with only 24 screens left, and just 426K total admission.

 

Nonetheless, fans in the US watching the movie tomorrow (Friday, 28th), please enjoy & share your thoughts and tickets with us here.  

 

August 26, 2015

Movie review: ‘Memories of the Sword’

BY CARY DARLING Star-Telegram

☆☆☆

The plot in the South Korean martial-arts period-piece Memories of the Sword may verge on the incomprehensible but, boy, is it gorgeous.

Director Heung-Sik Park’s take on a classic Chinese wuxia tale — a medieval-set meshing of war, love and wire-work choreography where characters can become airborne as in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon — bears all the classic elements of honor, betrayal and revenge.

While Park doesn’t do much new with these elements and the clanging action scenes aren’t particularly revolutionary, the film gets by on its ravishing good looks.

Go-eun Kim is Hong-yi (who later goes by Seol-hee), a girl who decides to use her considerable skills with the sword to avenge the death of her father. He was part of a peasant uprising while she was an infant but he and her mother were betrayed by his cohort Yoo-beak (Byung-Hun Lee). Yoo-beak is now the big guy in the kingdom.

It gets more complicated from there, and many viewers may just give up trying to follow what is going on. That’s just as well. Memories of the Sword is more a parade of striking images than a coherent story.

In Korean with English subtitles

Exclusive: AMC Grapevine Mills

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There's a clip posted on this site supposedly the official trailer for 'The Magnificent Seven' (2016) but it's totally different altogether. All different actors, everything..  so strange.

 

August 27, 2015

Film Office Announces "The Magnificent Seven" to Film in New Mexico

By NEWS EDITOR AND PARTNERS • 

New Mexico Film Office Director Nick Maniatis announced today that the feature film "The Magnificent Seven," produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures and Sony Pictures Entertainment in association with LStar Capital and Village Roadshow Pictures, will be filmed throughout the state.

The film stars Denzel Washington, Chris Pratt, Ethan Hawke, Vincent D'Onofrio, Byung-hun Lee, and Peter Sarsgaard.  

The production will employ approximately 275 New Mexico crew members, nine New Mexico actors and approximately 60 New Mexico background talent. 

"New Mexico is the perfect backdrop for this film and our facilities, crew and talent will help this incredible lineup of stars tell a great western story," said Maniatis.

From a screenplay by Nic Pizzolatto and Richard Wenk, based on the 1960 theatrical motion picture of the same name by William Roberts, "The Magnificent Seven" is  directed by Antoine Fuqua  ("Southpaw") and produced by  Roger Birnbaum ("RoboCop") and Todd Black ("Southpaw," "The Equalizer") .

The film follows the story of seven outlaws and gunslingers who band together to defend people from the killer who owns most of their town.    Information from New Mexico Film Office 

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August 27, 2015

Review: Korean Warriors Seek Vengeance in ‘Memories of the Sword’

By ANDY WEBSTER NYT

In Park Heung-sik’s historical martial-arts spectacle “Memories of the Sword,” the visuals dazzle and the emotional temperature boils. It is the Goreyo era in Korean history, and two warriors, the blind swordswoman Wol-so (Jeon Do-yeon) and the royal chancellor, Yu-baek (Lee Byung-hun), are locked in enmity over the long-ago death of Wol-so’s sweetheart, who was fatally betrayed by Yu-baek. Complicating matters is Hong-yi (Kim Go-eun), a young woman raised by Wol-so who believes that Yu-baek is responsible for the deaths of her parents. A skilled fighter, she advances toward vengeance.

Though rich in period detail, the movie grows tiresome with solemn, protracted soap-operatic encounters laden with glowering stares and tearful outbursts. (Conspicuously absent is any hint of humor.) And then there are the all-too-familiar genre trappings: lavish palace interiors, pastoral tableaus, a wizened master imparting wisdom and battle maneuvers, an assassin mowing down palace guards en route to a climactic confrontation, blades clashing in a snowy courtyard.

It would all be eye-roll-inducing were it not for Ms. Jeon’s striking poise and the luminous presence of Ms. Kim, an eager performer who imbues the film with energy. So bright is her light that when Hong-yi receives a near-fatal sword thrust, it’s alarming. She is one character you do not want to see departing from this movie. It gives nothing away to say that she doesn’t.

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#TheMagnificentSeven #ChrisPratt #ByunghunLee

Photo credit: prattprattpratt (Chris Pratt instagram)

Chilling on set with Korean superstar and all around great guy #ByungHunLee aka #BillyRocks of the #MagnificentSeven 
800 horse falls!!! That's a new movie record!!!
A horse fall is a stunt. When a stuntman falls off a horse. We've done over 800 on this movie!! So far so good. No injuries. Man or horse. This movie is going to be incredible. More to come!

 

 

 

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August 28, 2015

Death or Glory: Memories of the Sword movie review

by beyondasiaphilia

A new South Korean action movie is usually a cause for celebration in my house and after the trifecta of richard simmons-kicking historicals last year (The Pirates; Kundo: Age of the Rampant, and The Admiral: Roaring Currents) I was looking forward to seeing Memories of the Sword, which opens this weekend in North America. As a big Lee Byung-hun fangirl, I mean, scholar, I’m also happy to see one of my favorite actors in a genuine starring role after suffering through his supporting roles in a string of mediocre Hollywood movies (GI Joe 1 & 2; Red 2, and Terminator: Genysis). And since LBH’s last historical film, Masquerade, was outstanding, I had high hopes for this new one. Alas, Memories of the Sword is no Masquerade, and doesn’t stand up to the big three historicals from last year either.

I should’ve known that things were amiss when Memories took forever to be released. Although it began production in 2013 and was completed in 2014, the film has languished for many months due to a tawdry blackmailing scandal involving LBH (who’s married) and a couple of younger women that concluded earlier this year with (suspended) prison sentences for the two women.

So despite a big-name cast that also includes Jeon Do-yeon (The Housemaid) and Lee Junho from boy band 2PM, the bloom is off the rose as audience buzz for this one has died down to a murmur. But the film has other flaws that may make this one more of a miss than a hit.

Right off the bat the film throws down the wire-fu gauntlet as young swordswoman Hong-Yi (Kim Go-eun) leaps many feet over a tall sunflower, then bounds high in the air across a grassy field. Following a swordfighting competition that she enters in drag, Hong-Yi encounters Yu-Baek (LBH) who is intrigued by her martial skills. The film then follows a convoluted narrative of betrayal, ambition, revenge, and concealed identity involving Hong-Yi, Yu-Baek, and Hong-Yi’s foster mother Sul Rang (Jeon Do-Yeon).

Although the movie possesses the usual sheen and polish of South Korean commercial movies, the film is burdened by a vastly overcomplicated plot and a dour overall demeanor. Everyone has something to hide and the angst is laid on pretty thick as characters weep regretfully while slashing and stabbing one another. The interlocking interpersonal relationships recall the intricacies of Ang Lee’s Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon minus Lee’s poeticism and his strong sense of narrative rhythm, and the film in some ways resembles CTHD in its costuming, its scenes of fights in bamboo forests, and its complicated court intrigue.

Yet Memories is missing Ang Lee’s masterful touch, as the film’s characters repeatedly explain their motivations and relationships to one another through long, anguished speeches or angry outbursts. Not much is left to subtlety or suggestion, yet the film still manages to bog down in confusing plot details. It’s not helpful either that most of the characters have two names and identities, which is not a spoiler in any way.

Lee Byung-Hun as usual cuts a commanding figure as the ambitious Yoo-Baek, and Jeon Do-Yeon is her expressive and emotive self. The younger actors, Kim Go-eun and Lee Junho, are also fine, though Lee doesn’t have a lot to do. Kim is convincing as the young swordswoman driven to vengeance by forces outside of her control and it’s nice to have a female protagonist in a martial arts movie. But the film feels murky and overly serious, with a leaden sense of import that drags down the story. Some of the images are quite lovely, including a beautiful swordfighting scene in a field of pale, feathery grasses, but too often the movie falls back on clichés like the metallic ringing of a sword drawn from its sheath that’s repeated a few too many times. In addition, when their demise would be inconvenient to the plot several of the main characters also have the death-defying ability to survive seemingly fatal sword wounds.

It’s always fun to see the lavishness of a South Korean movie on the big screen but with Memories as well as last month’s Assassination, both films feel a bit overstuffed. In both cases the over-the-top aesthetic of South Korean commercial cinema works to each film’s detriment, smothering any sense of artistry or nuance under a blanket of glossy emptiness.

Memories of the Sword, dir. Park Heung-sik
opens Fri. Aug. 28, 2015
AMC Metreon 16
135 4th St Suite 3000, San Francisco, CA 94103

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August 27, 2015

‘The Magnificent Seven’ rides again

By Adrian Gomez / Asst. Arts Editor, Reel NM

Some Hollywood heavy hitters – seven of them – are coming to the Land of Enchantment.

Denzel Washington is returning to film “The Magnificent Seven” along with Chris Pratt, Cam Gigandet, Matt Bomer, Ethan Hawke, Vincent D’Onofrio, Byung-hun Lee and Peter Sarsgaard.

This version of the classic follows the story of seven outlaws and gunslingers who band together to defend people from a killer who owns most of their town. It is generally based on the 1960 motion picture of the same name, which starred Steve McQueen, Yul Brynner, Eli Wallach and Charles Bronson.

The film is another version of the cult classic “The Seven Samurai.” Washington and Hawke have both filmed in New Mexico and were a powerful pair in the good cop, bad cop hit “Training Day.”

According to the New Mexico Film Office, the production will employ about 275 New Mexico crew members, nine New Mexico actors and about 60 New Mexico background talents. The production will film at locations throughout the state.

“New Mexico is the perfect backdrop for this film, and our facilities, crew and talent will help this incredible lineup of stars tell a great Western story,” said Nick Maniatis, New Mexico Film Office director.

The film will be directed by Antoine Fuqua, who recently was at the helm of “Southpaw” and “The Equalizer.”

The production begins filming Wednesday at Santa Fe Studios and is looking for men, women and children with a “Western look” for background casting. A casting call is scheduled for Saturday at the Wild West Fest in Old Galisteo. It will run from 3 to 9 p.m.

Casting directors will also be on hand to take photos of potential extras to be considered for this and other New Mexico productions. Event entry is free for hopefuls who arrive in their cowboy or cowgirl finest. Headshots and casting registration sessions will be available throughout the day.

More information can be found at wildwestfestinoldgalisteo.eventbrite.com.

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August 29, 2015

SOUTH KOREA DELIVERS HISTORICAL THRILLS WITH ASSASSINATION AND MEMORIES OF THE SWORD

By Rob Hunter   @FakeRobHunter    FILMSCHOOLREJECTS

The folks at Well Go USA have long been fans of South Korean cinema, and happily they’ve made a habit of opening new Korean films here in the United States so the rest of us can share in the joy. Two new releases have hit our shores, and while they’re completely different experiences they’re both period action films with strong female leads. Honestly, that should be enough to get you into a theater seat, but if not keep reading for more reasons.

————————————

Hong-yi (Kim Go-eun) has been training since childhood for something very special. Her parents were murdered when she was just a baby, and the blind woman who’s raised her has worked to prepare the girl for a mission of revenge. Somewhere out there are the two people responsible for making her an orphan, and when Hong-yi is ready she’ll use her finely honed fighting skills to end their lives.

But how will she know when she’s ready? When she can leap over the tallest sunflower in the field, obviously.

Running parallel to her efforts is the story (told via flashbacks) of her parents and the betrayal that led to their demise. Her father, Pung-chun, was part of a three-person resistance during the Goryeo era — “when tea, riots, and swords dominated” — alongside Duk-gi (Lee Byung-hun) and Sul-rang (Jeon Do-yeon). The latter two ultimately trade their loyalty to Pung-chun for the good graces of the reigning lord thereby setting in motion a tale of vengeance spawning nearly two decades.

Memories of the Sword applies Hong Kong’s wuxia style of martial artistry to tell its slice of pseudo Korean history, and it lets you know right off the bat (via that sunflower leap) just how committed it’s going to be to the use of wire-fu. Very. ‘Very’ is how committed it’s going to be. It’s not a deal-breaker though as the action is well-choreographed, the production design is visually exciting and the story is just compelling enough.

There are two big plot turns at play here, and while one is fairly obvious to guess from early on the other manages to land with impact. Stronger character work and more depth would have greatly improved both though as well as the film in general. There’s tragedy afoot, but we just don’t feel the weight of it all as strongly as we should.

Director Park Heung-sik somewhat makes up for the script’s shortcomings though with style and an eye for gorgeously-shot set-pieces. Fights are airy, fluid affairs utilizing slow motion and speed ramping in equal measure, and there’s a hint of Zhang Yimou’s Hero in the film’s use of color. The third act in particular presents an action sequence set against a snowy backdrop that shifts scale with immediate grace and beauty.

Kim’s young hero is physically capable and hits some successful emotional notes late in the film, but her bubbly display feels somewhat out of place early on. It’s a rough start for a character we should believe in sooner. The dramatic weight the film does attain comes courtesy of the more experienced Lee and Jeon who portray the shifting emotions of their duplicitous characters’ past and present with real humanity.

Memories of the Sword is an engaging tale that may not reach the level of epic but should appeal to fans of wuxia action and majestic visuals all the same.

Read more at http://filmschoolrejects.com/reviews/assassination-memories-of-the-sword.php#ahtDhyWYA4goSOmz.99

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From the highlight at 'Memories of The Sword' thread

A pretty long review to read but probably explains the underwhelming response to the movie ‪#‎MemoriesOfTheSword‬ ‪#‎LeeByungHun‬ ‪#‎JeonDoYeon‬ ‪#‎KimGoEun‬. Majority of reviews really had no issue with his acting performance but the movie just fell short of expectation.

 

Memories of the Sword (2015) Review: 협녀, 칼의 기억

Whose story is this?

http://www.kmovietalk.com/2015/08/memories-of-sword-2015-review.html

 

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August 31, 2015

China Box Office: ‘Terminator Genisys’ Stays Strong

Patrick Frater
Asia Bureau Chief Variety.com

“Terminator Genisys” took the top spot at the Chinese box office over the week to Sunday. Its China score puts it on course to overtake its gross from North America.

It earned $58 million from 9.83 million ticket sales scored at some 363,000 screenings. Having been released on Aug. 23, the film sees its eight-day total lifted to $84.9 million, according to data from Entgroup.

The Paramount Pictures and Skydance Productions movie is released in China by China Film Group and Huaxia Distribution.

The North American cumulative after nine weeks of release is $89.4 million.

In second place was “The Hundred Regiments Offensive,” a patriotic war action film made by a state-owned studio and released to coincide with celebrations marking the 70th anniversary of WWII hostilities in Asia. It grossed $22.8 million in three days. Unconfirmed reports point to the film having been given a major boost with exhibitors exempted from having to pay film rentals for a week.

“Terminator Genisys” was the first major U.S. movie to release after the summer blackout period and will have one more week to shine. The next Hollywood releases are being clustered together by China’s industry regulators. “Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation” will release on Sept. 8. “Minions” releases on Sept. 13 and “Pixels” on Sept. 15.

In third place this week was Cao Baoping’s crime story “The Dead End,” which earned $20.4 million in four days.

Fourth was “Go Away Mr. Tumor,” the Chinese romancer that was previously No. 1. It earned $10.4 million to expand its cumulative score to $78.1 million after 18 days.

Chinese record breaker, “Monster Hunt” added $8.94 million to its total, extending its 46 day cumulative total to $384.

“The Assassin,” which earned Taiwan’s Hou Hsiao-hsien the director prize in Cannes, came in sixth with $6.35 million. Though it was given a medium-wide release of some 69,000 screenings, that is still an impressive opening for an arthouse movie.

Seventh was the Bona-released, Fox Intl. Productions remake “Bride Wars.” It earned $3.34 million to extend its total to $27.6 million after 11 days.

Record breaking animation “Monkey King: Hero Is Back” added $2 million in eighth spot, to take its total to $153 million. Another Chinese cartoon “Roco Kingdom 4” added $1.92 million to score $11.8 million in its 18-day total.

The Tang Wei- and Sean Lau-starring romance “Tale of Three Cities” opened in 10th spot with a weak $1.53 million from 39,000 screenings in four days.

Box Office: Chinese Crowds Lifting ‘Terminator Genisys’ Into Hit Territory

http://variety.com/2015/film/box-office/terminator-genisys-china-box-office-1201581541/

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August 31, 2015

'Memories of the Sword': Film Review

The Bottom Line
This lavish action spectacle features a trio of dazzling lead performances.

by Frank Scheck THR

A young woman seeks revenge for the murder of her parents in Park Heung-sik's South Korean martial arts period epic.

American action movies would do well to take a page from Park Heung-sik's Korean martial arts extravaganza that features not one but two female badass characters. Depicting a complicated tale of violent retribution set in the Goryeo era some thousand years ago, Memories of the Sword is a visually stunning period epic that should keep genre fans satisfied until the sequel to Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon hits theaters.

Indeed, this period drama bears more than a few similarities to Ang Lee's epic (and the myriad films that influenced it and have followed it), from its strong female protagonists to its liberal use of wirework choreography that enables its performers to fly through the air. Its young heroine, the teenage Hong-yi (Kim Go-eun), is introduced in a stunning sequence in which she proves her fighting mettle to herself by leaping over an impossibly tall sunflower.

It turns out that Hong-yi is in training to avenge the murder of her parents, for which she blames Duk-Gi (Lee Byung-hun, a Korean star who's appeared in such American films as Red 2 and Terminator Genisys), the ruling dynasty's military leader. When she reveals her fighting prowess in a competition it enrages Sul-rang (Jeon Deo-yeon, Secret Sunshine), the blind woman who's raised her, leading to a disturbing revelation with further plot complications.

The intricate plotting is more than a little difficult to follow, and the frequent flashbacks of the characters' backstories slow down the pacing considerably. But the film looks gorgeous, and the frequent fight sequences, including a climactic solo siege on a castle by the daring Hong-yi, are superbly staged, even if the slow-motion is laid on far too thickly.

Lee makes for a compelling and emotionally complicated villain; the lead actresses are as impressive with their graceful athleticism as their multi-layered characterizations; and Lee Kyeong-yeong is memorable as the aged master swordsman who mentors Hong-yi and who, after casually snacking on a bug, advises it to "be a king in your next life." Packing a surprising emotional punch along with its dazzling martial arts spectacle, Memories of the Sword is a memorable addition to an oft-tired genre.

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September 1, 2015

Magnificent Seven Update:

Filming to begin in New Mexico; Remake gets earlier release date

by Staff Writer Venture Capital Post

Filming for the upcoming Magnificent Seven is set to commence in New Mexico while casting and hiring are underway for the film's extras and crew. A new release date has been given to the film scheduling it a couple of months earlier than its early 2017 previous release date.

Denzel Washington, Chris Pratt, Cam Gigandel, Matt Bomer, Ethan Hawke, Vincent D'Onofrio, Byung-Hun Lee, and Peter Saarsgard are set to star in the remake of the 1960 film of the same title, which was also a remake of Akira Kurosawa's film, Seven Samurai.

The film centers on seven gunslingers who teams up to save a poor village that is being plagued  by theives. It will be directed by Antoine Fuqua, and according to previous report, it will be scored by the late James Horner who reportedly made the score solely from the script, supposedly as a surprise to Fuqua.

According to Albuquerque Journal, the film will be set in New Mexico where the film will employ275 New Mexico crew members, 9 actors, and 60 background talents. Filming will reportedly take place in various sites all over the state.

The report suggests that men, women and children with a "Western Look" were sought for background casting while entry during casting was made free for anyone who arrives in a cowboy or cowgirl costume.

As reported by Movie Pilot, the upcoming movie could serve as a return to the western film that were prevalent during the 60s and seem to have disappeared over time. The report also cited the cast, the score, director, and the story as its possible edge.

The upcoming Maginificent Seven is expected to hit theaters in September 23, 2016, a couple of months earlier than its previous January 2017 release date. Official plot details are scarce, but more details are expected to be released in the coming months.

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September 3, 2015

Film Review: ‘Memories of the Sword’

Not even A-list stars Jeon Do-yeon and Lee Byung-hun can save this plodding Korean martial-arts epic.

Maggie Lee
Chief Asia Film Critic Variety.com
@maggiesama

An archetypal tale of love, betrayal and revenge among swordplayers of South Korea’s Goryeo dynasty (918-1392), “Memories of the Sword” is a visually arresting but vacuous, instantly forgettable period martial-arts romance. Helmer Park Heung-sik aspires to the vibrant color schemes and multiple twists of Zhang Yimou’s “Hero” and “House of Flying Daggers,” but his underdeveloped screenplay (co-penned with Choi A-reum) and overwrought narrative makes for plodding viewing, squandering the clout of its A-list stars Jeon Do-yeon (“Secret Sunshine”) and Lee Byung-hun (“I Saw the Devil”). The pic took a beating at the domestic B.O. but will have a good stab at overseas ancillary following its U.S. bow.

The Korean title “Hyubnyeo: Kal ui ki-eok,” which roughly translates as “Martial Arts Heroine: Memories of the Sword,” alludes to King Hu’s “A Touch of Zen” (“hyubnyeo” being the Korean Hanja pronunciation of “Xia Nu,” the Chinese title of Hu’s classic about a female swordswoman with a righteous vendetta). However, Park’s story is too much of a potboiler to achieve Hu’s philosophical depth, and the director’s style is more reminiscent of Lee Myung-se’s “Dualist” in its visual extravagance and incoherent, quasi-surreal narrative.

The yarn circles around three martial artists, each caught in his or her own anguished predicament. Innocent teenager Hong-yi (Kim Go-eun) has been raised by her blind adopted mother Seol-rang (Jeon) with the sole mission of avenging her parents’ deaths. Seol-rang once belonged to a band of warriors dedicated to overthrowing the corrupt monarchy. During one uprising, the rebels captured Jon-bak (Kim Tae-woo), the son of an evil magistrate (Moon Sung-geun) and stormed the city gates. However, they were double-crossed by Seol-rang’s lover, Deok-ki (Lee), who killed his sworn brother Poong-chun (Bae Soo-bin) and his wife. Were it not for Seol-rang, the traitor would have finished off Poong-chun’s infant daughter, Hong-yi too, and the girl still bears the scar of a gash made by his sword.

Eighteen years later, Deok-ki has risen in court to become the King’s most favored man; yet he misses Seol-rang, whom he still loves. Nevertheless, when he accidentally spots Hong-yi displaying the same sword techniques as Seol-rang at a public sparring contest against his protege Yool (Lee Jun-ho, from the boy band 2PM), he doesn’t hesitate to snuff out any threat to his status by whatever ruthless means necessary.

The three protags’ relationships — bound by strict martial-arts codes of honor and justice, yet thwarted by passion or ambition — are typical of the genre. However, able performances aside, the emotional turmoil of Deok-ki and Seol-rang meeting again, or Hong-yi’s faltering assumption of her avenging role, are lost in the overwrought structure of mulitiple flashbacks, replayed scenes and contrived coincidences. Even a twist that should intensify the trio’s love-hate conflicts culminates in a ending so lurid and overblown it’s almost comical. The budding attraction between Hong-yi and Yool would also have added some light-heartedness to the somber tone, but that, too, fizzles out after two mildly steamy scenes.

While it’s almost impossible for Jeon to disappoint in any film, her imitation of blindness is not convincing as she alternates between fumbling around helplessly and slicing her opponents like carrots. Lee, on the other hand, rises above the banality of the story to deliver a layered turn that makes Deok-ki’s love for Seol-rang feel genuine, despite his duplicitous behavior in all other respects. Deok-ki’s power struggle with Jon-bak, culminating in a grisly scene, is limned by Lee with cool, blood-curdling sadism. With her peachy complexion and pageboy looks, Kim has become the “it” girl of the Korean film industry since her bold performances in the Lolita drama “Eun-gyo” and mother-complex gangster pic “Coin Locker Girl.” Here, she again remains undaunted in the presence of superstars, demonstrating impressive range in action, light comedy and heavy melodrama.

There’s no question that the ravishing widescreen images by veteran lenser Kim Byung-seo (“Cold Eyes,” “Castaway on the Moon”) and the exquisite sets by production designer Han A-rum represent the pic’s biggest selling points. Even so, the exaggerated artifice of the seasonal tableaux of sunflower patches, dandelion fields, rainswept pavillions and snow-covered grounds situate them in a graphic dimension of their own, isolated from the main plot. And for all the meticulous re-creations of period architecture, from Deok-ki’s magnificent estate to Seol-rang’s Arab-influenced salon, there’s too much dawdling on decorative details, especially scenes devoted to brewing and sipping tea.

Action setpieces, though exceedingly lavish, are a throwback to ’90s Hong Kong wire stunts. The swordplay is sometimes fanciful and eye-catching, as when Hong-yi gets training from Seol-rang’s master (Lee Kyoung-young), but group combat sequences are downright sloppy. Overall, the action choreography fails to draw a line between period authenticity and pure fantasy, so characters levitate into the clouds as if endowed with magical powers one moment, then become vulnerably mortal in the next. The profusion of slow-motion and freeze-frame will give some viewers a headache. Other tech credits are uniformly first-rate.

Film Review: 'Memories of the Sword'
Reviewed at Lotte Cinema, Busan, Aug. 14, 2015. Running time: 121 MIN. (Original title: "Hyubnyeo: Kal ui ki-eok")

[rubie]

Thanks to Barbara for the highlight

August 27, 2015

Memories of the Sword (2015) Review by Paul Bramhall

http://www.cityonfire.com/memories-of-the-sword-2015-review-aka-female-warrior-memory-of-sword/

Full review at link above

Despite having a cast led by two heavyweights of Korean cinema, Memories of the Sword is the perfect example of a production which, if you don’t have the quality behind the camera, no amount of quality in front of it is going to hide the cracks.

[rubie]

September 3, 2015

Looks like they will be filming till end of September. #TheMagnificentSeven #ChrisPratt #ByunghunLee #NewMexico

Credit: prattprattpratt

The sun rises in a little place called Las Vegas, New Mexico. #MagnificentSeven We're near the end. Three weeks to go.

 

[rubie]

Full article at KoBiz, sharing related excerpt only

September 7, 2015

Period Films Open Up the Era of 10 Million Admissions
How Period Films Became the Hottest Trend in Korean Cinema in the 21st Century?

The hottest trend in Korean cinema today is "historical drama," Korean historical films, or Sageuk, which means costume dramas usually set in the Joseon dynasty (1392-1910). Along with modern period dramas (a.k.a. shidaegeuk), costume dramas set in the 20th century, a more recent past, historical dramas have become the driving force for modern Korean films' strong box office performance.

Their great performance is proven by data. Korean cinema went through a brief recess towards the end of the first decade in the 21st century, but since 2012 it became active again with the support from its strong domestic performance. Since the summer 2012 until present as many as 8 films have scored the symbolic box office record of 10 million admissions, and 5 of them are either Sageuk or shidaegeuk. Roaring Currents (2014), in particular, attracted 17.61 million viewers and became the biggest local film of all time, manifesting the power of Sageuk.
 
Faction Wins the Heart of the Audience, Balancing between Historical Facts and Imagination

The strongest advantage of historical films is that they offer the two most basic pleasures of cinema: narrative and characters. "Faction" took the period film genre to a more interesting dimension. Faction is a combination of fact and fiction that refers to a fictional story made up of imagination added to historical facts. To be sure, most sageuk adapts historical facts, but what makes faction more special is that in those stories, historical facts meet imagination at very subtle and unique moments.

Masquerade (2012) is a good example. This movie digs a historical fact: the unrecorded 15 days of King Gwanghaegun. Then the imagination goes as far as to create a clown who looked just like the king and make him sit in the king's throne for the 15 days. Such a setting created a story that twists familiar historical facts and figures in a new perspective. As a result, it crossed the hit status of the 10 million admissions.

Among the sub genres of sageuk, faction attracts the most viewers, and The Face Reader (2013) is definitely one of them. It is set during the political turmoil where Sooyangdaegun (who became King Sejo later) kicked out King Danjong, his own nephew to take the throne. The film shows how a face reader who attempted to go against history fails in the progress. 

Besides, many films stimulated curiosity of the audience by looking into the hidden side of history, including The Treacherous (2015) which is set during the time when King Yeonsangun executed a number of courtiers, Empire of Lust (2015) which depicts the "war of the princes" at the beginning of the Joseon dynasty, The Fatal Encounter (2014) that deals with the attempted assassin of King Jeongjo, I am the King (2012) that illustrates the crown prince days of King Sejong who is known to be the most revered king of Joseon, and Gabi (2012) that investigates the poisoning theory of King Gojong's death.

These films may be called "palace dramas" in the sense that they depict the royal family, their close relatives and courtiers. In the past, these palace dramas dealt with more or less the proven history while more unofficial historical episodes weaved with imagination add much more flexibility to the story spectrums these days.