The Swordsman(검객) Korean Film Thoughts(2020)

    

    The Swordsman is a 2020 South Korean film directed by Choi Jae Hoon and starring Veteran actor Jang Hyuk. The film was postponed in South Korea due to COVID-19 but soon was released to medium success. The film was also soon licensed to many countries for release. 

   The strongest swordsman in the land lives quietly with his adopted daughter after failing to save the king years before. His daughter is soon kidnapped by slave traders and he must save her all while going blind due to an injury from that same battle years before. 

   This script is supposed to be based on true events but all I see is a rehashed version of Rurouni Kenshin. I'll try not to compare films too much since one film is from Japan and this film is Korea's history during the Ming Qing Dynasty. A lot of the film introduces a ton of characters who don't make your viewing experience any better. You instead feel bogged down by all the different faces. Our main character doesn't even get as much screen time as I felt that he deserves. There were times that I wanted to know more about the leading hero but was forced to sit through endless scenes of two kingdoms quarreling with each other. the trailer for the film actually leads viewers to believe that The Swordsman is more high action than what the film really is. Swordplay is passable however, if you have watched other samurai films from East Asia, What The Swordsman brings isn't all that spectacular. I did enjoy the swordplay toward the middle section of the film. Rurouni Kenshin's films knock the Swordsman way out the water though. Especially in high speed sword effects that this film can't touch at all. South Korea writes characters that have strong emotional connections between each which is what I enjoyed about the story involving the daughter and the film's ending that reveals answers that tie everything together nicely. I also have to correct wrong information about the summery of The Swordsman: He's not blind in the film. His eyes give him constant trouble but he is still able to see through the whole film. I thought that he might go blind during one of the major fights but that doesn't happen. Overall, South Korea did a lukewarm job of trying to imitate Rurouni Kenshin's vigor while changing a few details to not get a lawsuit from Japan. We could go even farther to say this film took another Japanese film called Ichi's whole idea. Ichi is also a much better film than The Swordsman in my opinion.

   I don't have much to say about the performances because they weren't ground breaking. Can we talk about the random white girl that was in all her glory as a prop? I wonder how much they paid her. At least her kill scene was exciting..... I mostly tuned in for Jang Hyuk and he gave a decent performance. Though, he kinda overdid acting like he was blind when the character still had vision. 

      The Swordsman is a film that you might like to watch when you have nothing else to do. It's a film that has good things going for it but you won't be floored by what you see if you have experience with East Asian cinema.