| Actor Lee Byung-hun, right, and Junho, actor and member of K-pop boy group 2PM in a scene from "Memories of the Sword" / Courtesy of Lotte Entertainment |
By Baek Byung-yeul
Choosing a film starring actor Lee Byung-hun has generally been a safe choice for moviegoers.
The star not only has the ability to captivate an audiences, such as in "A Bittersweet Life" (2005) or "Masquerade" (2012), but he also the gift for choosing the right scripts to make a box office hit.
Such success is unlikely for Lee's latest film "Memories of the Sword," which will to be released this Thursday, however.
Lee does not convince as director Park Heung-shik seems seriously torn between whether the film is a romance between Lee and actress Jeon Do-yeon or a martial arts action movie with lots of stunts.
Set in the doomed late period of the Goryeo Kingdom (918-1392), "Memories of the Sword" portrays the story of three swordsmen ― Deok-gi (played by Lee), Seol-rang (Jeon) and Hong-ee (actress Kim Go-eun), who all plan to kill each other.
Lee portrays Deok-gi, a resistance warrior who later seizes absolute power after betraying his comrades in a rebellion.
| Actress Jeon Do-yeon in "Memories of the Sword" / Courtesy of Lotte Entertainment |
Eighteen years later, Deok-gi encounters a young female sword fighter Hong-ee who is searching for the swordsmen that killed her parents. She is the daughter of the former leader of the rebellion force and was raised by Seol-rang, a comrade and former lover of Deok-gi.
Learning that Hong-ee will meet with Deok-gi, Seol-rang confesses to Hong-ee that she and Deok-gi betrayed their comrades and orders Hong-ee to kill her.
Lee is a scene stealer as always, powerfully portraying how a young and ambitious warrior with a lowly status decides to move up the social ladder and establishes his own country after abandoning his morals and betraying his comrades.
But as the plot progresses, the story becomes confusing and fails to explain why the three protagonists are destined to draw their swords against each other.
The director revealed that he used action scenes to show why the lives of the three main characters are intertwined.
"I don't deny that it is a martial arts film, but I made this movie thinking it is basically a romance drama," Park told reporters during a press preview held at a theater in Seoul, on Aug. 5.
"Unlike Hong Kong action movies or Chinese martial arts films, which mainly focus on action scenes, I used fighting scenes as a way to convey each character's emotions."
As Park mentioned, most of the action sequences are in slow motion and carefully choreographed and coordinated. The three protagonists shine throughout the film as the action scenes wow the audience. However, the plot is still insufficient to explain the characters' tragic fates.
"Memories of the Sword" has drawn attention as it is Lee's first appearance in a local film after the 45-year-old actor was embroiled in blackmailing scandal last year.
Although he won the lawsuit against the two blackmailers, who threatened him with a video clip showing the three trading lewd jokes, Lee has been criticized for being involved in such a scandal. The lawsuit delayed the release schedule of "Memories of the Sword," which was originally set to screen last winter.
Though Lee seems to have moved a step closer to his fans with his superb acting, it remains to be seen whether he has chosen the right script to return to the big screen.