Musa

Those who settle down to enjoy the excellent 150-odd minute Musa will be surprised at how much it suggests a Western. There's sweeping landcapes, a cross-desert ordeal; competition between villains and heros, 'stagecoach' chases, abandoned and defended forts, and 'cavalry' charges. These, as well as a strong sense of a man-having-to-do what-a-Man-has-to-do, combine to create familiarity to those who know such films as (for instance) The Alamo and Commanche Station. That's not to say that Musa has no originality, or is not strongly rooted within Korean national cinema. It contains a number of striking set pieces - notably the several pitched battle scenes, multiple characterisation, as well as some insight into the various power struggles which make up mid-fourteenth century Asian history. But at the heart of this package remain a well-tried fairy story, that of a cold Princess who must learn to swallow her pride, and of a brave servant's unrequited love.

Sung-Su Kim, who directs from his own screen play, does a very good job in drawing together his disparate group of travelling companions on a dangerous journey: a Princess, a General, a monk, soldiers, wives, a cowardly translator, a whore, etc. To provide suitable contrast between the moments of combat, he relates them in short, effective, dialogue scenes. Its good to see a film too in which the ubiquitous wire work and over the top gymnastics, beloved by some Eastern action directors, is conspicuous by its absence. Its also one where the director relies less on extreme camera angles and special effects to create visual drama than on the regular ebb and flow of dramatic editing. Perhaps because of this 'naturalness', the battle scenes are consistently exciting and involving. They are also staged in enough different locales to make them varied viewing each time. A standout is a desperate confrontation amongst trees, where the director takes full advantage of foliage cover, confusion, and events within the frame to create some real martial suspense.

The HK disc I saw was generally excellent, with occasional errors in subtitle grammar, as well as the odd compression problem (on-screen blur), usually during horizontal tracking movements. All told, though, the cheap price of this disk makes it an excellent buy and I strongly recommend it - and the film.

Musa the Warrior, This Korean epic it's about an brave tale in era of the strongest ... All the elements of this film should be an great entrance's creativeness from the biggest & the greatest gate of the seventh art's , also that gate must be opens & specially for Korean-Cinema only! to given another arts a dose of dramatic realism through this film! actually , the historical exquisite cinematography characteristic has been found in Korea after this film "of course"!!

(( MUSA )) is a great film that combined the same appealing attributes of war and bravery in historical films.

10/10

HOT & GREAT congratulations of us to Korean-Cinema :-)

______(( must see and must own ))______

Someone insulted the Korean movie industry by stating this is one of Korea's best films. I must be honest, I couldn't get myself to see the entire movie, which is a rarity for me. By the time I decided to stop torturing myself the following had occurred in the movie.

1)The tempermental and rebellious "hero" who has a serious self control problem gets the entire ancient Korean Caravan in trouble with his psychotic propensity towards violence. The Caravan saves themselves and the hero with cunning and wit. 2)The "hero" puts the entire Caravan in jeopardy again by cutting off the head of one of the merchants. This time many Caravan members die but they still escape relatively intact. 3)The Caravan finds a way to escape from their dire situation but the "hero" puts an end to their salvation by doing something totally stupid and irrational. Again, the great leadership, solidarity, and fighting ability of the Caravan saves them from disaster.

By this time, I began to beg someone to have the senses to kill the "hero" who was getting everyone else killed with his irresponsible actions. Instead of languishing in frustration, I decided to use my remote control.

The "hero" is played by Jung Woo Sung, one of the worst, and yet one of the most popular, actors in Korea. The only characters he usually plays are the silent rebellious types who act angry all the time, probably to hide his lack of acting ability.

This was the most expensive movie made in Korea (few films have surpassed it since). Yet it was a box office bomb, and with a good reason.

Emissaries from Korea stumble across an attempt by Mongol warriors to kidnap a Chinese princess. Nice clean and simple premise for a Summer blockbuster, one whose marketing (and casting) coasts on the popularity of Crouching Tiger and Hero but whose execution is very different.

I saw this one by accident thinking it was Hero, the massive 2002 Oscar nominee also starring Zhang Ziyi (and, for all its dodgy ideology, worth discovering for the visual feast alone). The region 2 (Korean & French audio 5.1) looked good so I rented it... Back when that was still a thing.

First, this is not Hero, nor is it a wuxia or wire-work driven martial arts film. This is a Historical action film, and despite the prowesses of its heroes, Musa's violence is realistic and brutal. It is a very clever men-on-a-mission flick, with interesting balance and variety within the team, with echoes of Seven Samurai. Where things take an even more pleasant turn are in the interesting portrayal of our characters: a borderline unlikable "hero" (or so he seems at first) and princess, great nobility in the lower ranks, and a surprisingly likable and charismatic villain, if indeed you can call him that.

In production value terms, this can compete with anything Hollywood churns out, and the technical credits, from editing to earthy cinematography, are all excellent. Fast-shutter action, made popular by Saving Private Ryan and Gladiator, is put to brutal use here, and there is a fine balance of chaotic individual moments and interesting strategies, something that would later be explored in John Woo's Red Cliff. This film procures that very rare delight of watching a film and knowing exactly where all the money, effort and care went, because it is all up there on screen, and for once, equally distributed, performances included. Something you have got to see.

For your consideration, ladies and gentlemen: Musa.

Based on actual events, Korean diplomats were sent into China with military escorts in 1375. Remember Europe was emerging from the Dark Ages at this time, but in Asia they were an advanced civilization. With the rise of the famous Ming Dynasty in China and the waning days of the Mongols, the Korean emperor was eager to formalize ties with the new Chinese government. This is the story of one of the those diplomatic missions.

This is an epic film, shoot over 9000 miles of China's northern region. Covering plains, prairies, forests, deserts and coastline. The cinematography is beautiful.

Though this is a Korean film, it utilizes the famous Chinese actress Zhang Ziyi, who portrays a kidnapped daughter of the Chinese Emperor.

Throughout most of the film the Korean warriors speak Korean. The Princess and the Chinese villagers speak Mandarin. Interestingly the Mongols also speak Mandarin to each other, historically inaccurate but Mongols don't go to movies these days. Some of the Koreans can also speak Mandarin. This is accurate since the educated Koreans of the time, could read, write and speak Chinese. This film is subtitled in English.

This is a grand story of honor, sacrifice and overcoming overwhelming odds. The Korean warriors must fight the larger forces of the Mongols. Using tactics and strategies not unlike that which you can find in Sun Tzu's the Art of War writings.

If you want some insight into the culture and attitudes of the people of this region, Musa is the movie for you.