Sword in the Moon

Korea, the late era of Joseon dynasty: Gyu-yeob (Jae-hyeon Jo) is a brutal but skilled warrior who starts tracing a mysterious assassin who has been murdering the King's ministers. Soon clues point to the assassin being Gyu-yeob's old military friend Ji-hwan (Min-su Choi) who he has fond but tragic memories of. What is the truth behind the revolutionary killer and his female assistant Shi-yeong (Bo-kyeong Kim)?

As can be expected from a historical epic, the sets, costumes and massive group scenes look authentic and the colours of the cinematography, such as the green forests and blue night scenes are a joy to the eye. Still, it's harder to sink into the world of the film than in, say, Yimou Zhang's masterpiece Hero, largely because of the restless camera-work that would be better suited in an urban modern-day action thriller than a historical warrior epic. The camera spins around the characters, constantly tracks them, shakes as if in the hands of an epileptic and even goes to very blurry slow motion for long periods of time, making the already hectic fight scenes confusing to follow. The calmer, more static shots in the peaceful scenes look very nice though; I wish this approach would have been used more prominently.

Technical direction issues aside, the film's writing isn't really among my favourites of the genre either. As Gyu-yeob is such a cold and aloof warrior, it is difficult to relate to him and his emotions about his long-forgotten friendship with Ji-hwan. Now the lengthy flashback scene detailing their time together interrupts the main plot for too long; perhaps a traditional chronological structure or showing smaller flashbacks more evenly would have worked better. The long-haired Ji-hwan is a stylish character though and easily carries the scenes where he is in. The female Shi-yeong receives less attention and her role doesn't come across a very significant one, despite her implied importance to Ji-hwan.

In summary, I think Sword in the Moon is a visually good-looking, but not very effectively directed epic in which the nature of friendship is a major theme. A calmer style of presenting the action scenes would have benefited the whole significantly and suited the extravagant, even pompous, music better. I guess the characters could also have been fleshed out better, but in spite of my complaints, the film is not terrible and fans of historical sword epics should find it easily watchable – give it a chance if this type of cinema is your thing.

I saw the movie on its North American premiere (July 14, 2004) at the Fantasia Festival. I was slightly disappointed as I had been expecting a more epic, ensemble cast movie along the lines of Musa the Warrior. Instead, the movie concentrated only a much smaller number of characters. Still, the movie was solid, thoughtful and visually intriguing. There were slightly jarring tone shifts from the dominant thoughtful and realistic tone of confused loyalties, intrigue and blood, versus the lighter, more flamboyant, martial arts sequences. It almost seemed as though the filmmakers couldn't make up their minds about whether the movie was supposed to be a martial arts "flick" or a historical epic. The story touches nicely on the issue about the need for loyalty versus the need to adapt to new situations. Is it really worth your life and those of your friends to be loyal to one's master or does there come a time when one must submit to the winds of change? Is there perhaps greater courage in leaving the old ways for new ones? How does one decide? These questions are raised in this movie, and ironically, there is the suggestion that the answer given, may in fact be the wrong one!

Although I saw this movie in Korea, in Korean, and therefore did not understand the language, images sure say more than enough. From what I can make of it, this is the story: Two superb sword fighters become friends in their service as the king's guard. One of them finds himself opposed to the ways of the king and starts assassinating important men. The other has to hunt him down. This movie is visually great. The swordfighting is great. And the movie has a gripping end. I just hope this movie will be marketed for the western cinema goers. And be released on DVD, of course.

Well, SWORD IN THE MOON finally got a DVD release in Korea, and despite the mostly negative responses I've heard to it, and the suspiciously tardy DVD release, I couldn't help but pick it up - any wu xia film is better than most non-wu xia films in my eyes :D Perhaps low expectations were an advantage, because I was quite pleasantly surprised to find the film pretty enjoyable.

An assassin is killing a number of ministers who were involved in a revolution that usurped the throne, and the government's top swordsman is tasked with identifying the culprit. This doesn't take particularly long, but the answer is not one he wanted to hear. Through prolonged flashbacks we learn why, and the history of the swordsman and the assassin, and of the revolution.

The film is typically melodramatic for a Korean film, and resolutely serious in tone - no HK style comedy moments to be found here. The story can be a little difficult to follow at first, but all makes sense eventually. The film goes a bit wobbly at the end, but no worse than a Chang Cheh film might do, and for the most part I found it enjoyable. The production values are high, with some good cinematography to capture it. The fight scenes aren't up to the calibre of the better HK wu xia films, but perhaps they're not meant to be - the fights are more "realistic", in that they're less like choreographed dance routines, but there's some wirework and occasional cgi that put the film in "wu xia" mode. The film doesn't have the best cast, unfortunately, with the leads being a tad lacking in charm and occasionally difficult to distinguish from each other. There's a young lady in the film that I don't think I've seen before, but makes the best impression of any of the principle cast - not just because you see her nekkid... or perhaps it is :p The film lacks the charm and grace of the better HK wu xia films, and perhaps the beauty too, but I only wish HK would make them half this good anymore - TWINS EFFECT 2 does not give me hope that *that's* about to happen any time soon, though Tsui Hark surely still has it in him if he can get the funding and cast. SWORD IN THE MOON is not going to go onto my list of favourite wu xia by any means, but it's a whole heap better than ROMANTIC WARRIORS or LEGEND OF THE EVIL LAKE - perhaps better than BICHUNMOO too, though I did like that film quite a bit more on a second viewing. Obviously it's nowhere near the wonderful MUSA, but it's a different affair altogether really. SITM will probably get a second viewing within three years, which is perhaps the best indicator of how much I liked it :) 7/10

After seeing a preview for this film at my local mall where there is a stand for purchasing foreign films, I thought it looked very entertaining. Before watching the movie i went on to IMDb to see what ratings and comments it received. I was worried when I noticed the low numbers and the negative ratings. Despite the hype, I watched to movie and to my surprise I found it unbelievable.

The story was great (just pay attention) and the characters and their relationships within the film is astonishing. I haven't seen such a good combination of leading characters in long time. I really felt for both characters and sensed a strong bond. As reading previous posts about this movie not being "epic" enough or a lack of martial arts I could not disagree more. This film is what it is, its not Braveheart and its not Enter the Dragon but it is still a wonderful film that does an excellent job combining story both and action.

While Sword In The Moon isn't perfect (what movie is?) it still is wonderful and moving. Just wait until the ending scene, with the music and cinematography together, its breathtaking. I only hope more people can see this movie to give it a fair voting.