FanTasia 2010: Blades of Blood

First of all the key players. Mong-hwak Lee leads the Great Alliance. They want to overthrow the government and he wants to cut Joseon with his sword to become the king. One of his friends is Jeong-hak Hwang. Jeong-hak is an acupuncturist but is also a tremendously skilled blind swordsmen. He may not look like much, all scruffy and dressed in rags, but he is deadly with a blade. I guess blind masseuses were far and few in between during the times. Then there is Kyeong-ja Han. The bastard son of the family patriarch he has been ignored by his family and the world. And finally there is Park Ji. She has been Mong-hwak's love interest and will risk her life to have the only man she loves.

So. You have your rebel uprising. You have your bickering levels of government, East and West Cabinets, that impede the King's decisions and actions. Add to the mix an invasion by the Japanese and suddenly time is of the essence. But what gets this ball of conflict rolling is that Mong-hwak and his Great Alliance storm the Han household, slaying everyone, save for Kyeong-ja who was locked away by his family in a storage shed. Kyeong-ja of course wants to avenge the death of his family and is taken under the wing of the blind acupuncturist, who he hopes will teach him to be a great swordsman so he can carry out his vengeance. Jeong-hak also wants to find his friend and stop him and the rebellion for he knows no good will come of it. 

The relationship between the two is what really sells the film. In fact, it is the only thing that sells it because everything else about this story is of the 'been there done that' variety. It is a shame because the demands of the full story are such that the screenplay simply cannot focus all its time and energy on these two when it has other branches it must attend to. But yes, back to the relationship. They are the lighter moments in the film and truly are entertaining. As most blind swordsman go there is a free license to inject a lot of humour into the character. There is a fair share of physical comedy. These lighter moments are the best moments of the film. 

As far as 'Blades' and 'Blood' go there is enough of both of those to meet quota but there is very little one of one scenarios to highlight it as a strength. Up until the fateful meeting between Mong-hwak and Jeong-hak everything was standard issue action. But strangely when fate brings these two friends together director Jun-ik Lee makes the odd decision to slow the film speed down to some sort of poetic death dance, diminishing what should be a tension filled battle to the death. Bad decision in my opinion because if these two are supposed to be so skilled then let them fight! Let them be aggressive. Don't let your audience relax. 

Bah. Blades of Blood? Hardly. But you couldn't call it Blind Man Repeatedly Hits Boy now, could you?