Blades of Blood [HD]

A glimpse into the 16th Century Korea
The movie is set months before Toyotomi Hideyoshi's invasion of the Korean peninsula and portrays two relatively obscure historical figures. Mong-Hak Lee, an illegitimate son of the king, led a rebellion that ended in failure, and Jung-Hak Hwang was one of the top three medical practitioners in the Chosun Dynasty. The plot is simple - a son pursuing his father's killer - but what makes the movie interesting is the historical background. The society was so mired in rigid class system that prevented certain people (e.g. illegitimate children) from rising farther regardless of their abilities, and the ruling class was so bent on party politics that one would automatically oppose the other regardless of the facts (i.e. both parties knew that the Japan invasion was imminent).

deserves some props
This story has its roots in the Joseon era of Korean history, with political upheaval and power struggles between different factions and an impending invasion by the Japanese. The film has received its share of criticism, mostly around the assessment that the plot was aimless and never developed into a solid storyline. It's been about a year since I've seen this film and I was hard pressed to recall what the movie was actually about, so there is probably some merit to this criticism (or I'm just getting old). What I can tell you is that I enjoyed the film when I watched it, and in my list of martial arts movies I've seen, which is up to about 200 entries, this is among 40 films that I've flagged to watch again.

One character in particular that I enjoyed was Hwang Jeong-hak, a unassuming blind swordsman. He is the most colorful and three dimensional character in the film - a mix of humor, humility, wisdom and bad-to-the-bone fighting skills. As in the Zatoichi series, there...

Nice Story
There's a Zatoichi type blind teacher in this who is comical and fun. Sure it's a mild twist on the story of getting revenge for one's fallen teacher, but it's entertaining.

The head wear in this movie is a trip to see. The work they put into the costumes was nice. It's good entertainment and a high quality visual experience.

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