Taken, Joseon Style
Hollywood has Taken with Liam Neeson. South Korea’s answer is Jang Hyuk’s The Swordsman, with a dash of Joseon thrown in the mix. And what a fantastic version this is.This sageuk is about Tae Yul, Joseon’s arguably greatest living swordsman, who was formerly part of the royal retinue as the personal bodyguard of the previous King, who was subsequently overthrown in a bloody coup. Fast forward many years later after the revolt, Tae Yul is now retired from guard duty with a serious sight impairment, living off-grid in the mountain wilderness as the guardian of a young teenage girl. This is set against the backdrop of power transitioning from the Ming Dynasty to the Qing forces in Imperial China. The arrival of Qing emissaries to coerce the Joseon administration into offering money and female slaves sourced from the local populace, including the daughters of the nobles, as tribute to the new dynasty causes much consternation and dissatisfaction among the nobility and royalty.
All hell breaks loose when the young girl under Tae Yul’s care gets abducted and enslaved by the Qing slavers. This is when the “Taken plot” takes over with Tae Yul taking on all the villains and finally the showdown with not one but two major boss-fights, in a bid to rescue the girl.
This is a high quality production that’s quite decent in every aspect - direction, screenplay, cinematography, choreography, editing, and artistic set design - with many familiar faces, beautiful scenery of the countryside as well as the authentic setting of the era. The main characters and the central plot are well written but the major focus of the show is undoubtedly the action. The sword fighting choreography is absolutely outstanding and the action sequences are stunning to behold. The art of swordsmanship shown here is top tier and surpasses many other South Korean productions. Breathtaking, bloody, artistic, even poetic. Seeing is believing.
The character of Tae Yul is marvelously brought to life by Jang Hyuk. The expression, body language, dialogue…it feels as though this role was made exclusively for him that no one else could possibly portray. A man of few words where action speaks the loudest, this is a seasoned warrior who lets his uniquely-bladed sword do the talking.
The primary antagonist is played by the Indonesian martial arts actor, Joe Taslim, who injects a measure of sophisticated charm into the villainous and slightly psychopathic Gurutai, leader of the Qing envoy and cousin to the new Qing Emperor. His athleticism and way with the sword is fully displayed in the epic final showdown of the movie.
The supporting cast is a familiar one, with veterans Jung Man Shik, Choi Jin Ho, and Jang Hyun Sung portraying the nobleman, former King and chief of the King’s guard respectively. Kim Hyun Soo portrays the young girl Tae Ok and her experience shines through having started her career as a child actress over a decade prior.
The only criticism that I would level at this production would be the length - 1 hour and 40 minutes. The plot did get somewhat convoluted with certain flashbacks and side plots that could have potentially been fleshed out more, if the film had been slightly longer. The average K-drama episode is over an hour long so as a film it should have been made into at least 2 hours. As it was, the pace did feel rushed during the final arc, the conclusion of the story.
Overall, The Swordsman is one of the best action sageuk produced in recent memory that will, and should, serve as a benchmark for similar action-oriented films in the future for top quality sword fighting and action choreography, in the South Korean film and drama industry.
Was this review helpful to you?
“Be very careful of whom you mess with”
Wow!!!That was beautiful.
I have not seen fight choreography sequences like these in Korean films since Six Flying Dragons.
The storyline was clear enough for the limited timeframe and Jang Hyuk, as always, was fantastic.
This was the Joseon version of the film series, Taken.
“Be very careful of whom you mess with”
The English version:
“I don't know who you are. I don't know what you want. If you're looking for ransom, I can tell you I don't have money but what I do have are a very particular set of skills. Skills I have acquired over a very long career. Skills that make me a nightmare for people like you. If you let my daughter go now, that will be the end of it. I will not look for you, I will not pursue you. But if you don't, I will look for you, I will find you and I will kill you.”
The Korean (Hangeul) version:
“나는 당신이 누구인지 모릅니다. 당신이 뭘 원하는지 모르겠어요. 몸값을 찾으신다면 저에게 돈이 없지만 제가 가진 것은 매우 특별한 기술입니다. 오랜 경력을 통해 습득 한 기술. 당신과 같은 사람들에게 나를 악몽으로 만드는 기술. 지금 내 딸을 보내 주면 그게 끝입니다. 나는 당신을 찾지 않을 것이며 당신을 추구하지 않을 것입니다. 하지만 그렇지 않으면 내가 당신을 찾고 당신을 찾을 것이고 당신을 죽일 것입니다.”
Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED FOR THOSE ALSO WHO DON'T WATCH HISTORICAL THINGS U WILL LOVE IT ?
The most fvrt thing in this movies was "SWORD"?️ like WAOO? that style it was unique. It was best movie for who like HISTORICAL THINGS.First of all i am gonna say that it was recommended by my friend here on MDL i watched it but I usually don't watch historical dramas but this one it was amazing ?
I am not good with names so i will use main lead and like that.
The main feature of this movie was that all the actors and actress was gorgeous your eyes will b blessed?. The main lead when he is young he is so so HANDSOME what i love the most is his EYES. And our main lead when he is in 40s i guess his AURA as warrior i like it . I wanna say that VILLIAN'S actting like amazing , he himself his body? WAOO? Well its about looks.
Now we will talk about story he lives with his daughter in mountains away from village. His daughter was also so pretty. He quit using his sword beacuse of incidents which happened to him while fighting with former swordsman of KING?. The big thing is that after it his eyesight became weak. After that when he fought with anyone and espacially at end of movie with VILLIAN his eyesight became less and less clear but his SKILLS was amzing he fought with low eyesight that last scene was on another level.
Its little spoilers ? i didn't write complete storry. Hope u enjoyed it.
Was this review helpful to you?
Amazing action scenes and touching fatherly love
The storyline of this movie is something simple and very predictable however I do acknowledge the intricate action scenes on the movie and the expression of fatherly love from the lead to his daughter.JangHyuk was definitely a great actor and I've watched him from his other dramas and movies. His acting skills is really great but I didn't like this piece as much as his other shows. I fell asleep halfway the movie because there are really lots of boring parts or maybe I'm just really not in the mood for historical setting drama.
Overall, I still appreciate most parts of the movies and I think it's still a great watch considering the acting and the action scenes.
Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
Unwavering Love and Loyalty
When you've taken a commission you stick to your guns.I like how a simple looking man is a show of force to reckon with.
He is a man on a mission. He is fearless. He will do whatever it
takes to make things right. He is't a man in his prime, but that
won't stop him. He'll overcome all the hurdles. I admire his
determination, his grit. Portrayed by Jang Hyuk a marvelous
job. I've been following his career for years now.
It has intense action sequels nicely performed.
It has action and a good storyline.
Ah love conquers all.
Was this review helpful to you?
L'amour d'un père pour sa fille... et son talent d'épéiste.
je me suis laissée séduire par ce film (on se demande pour quoi !) et je n'ai pas du tout été déçue !Oui, l'histoire est simple, mais suffisamment intrigante par les silences de Jang Hyuk et par quelques flash back très bien placés qui expliquent son mutisme et son amour inconditionnel pour la fille qu'il a élevée seul ,pour qu'on ne lâche pas le fil.
C'est pour elle qu'il repart au combat, et quels combats !! Jang Hyuk a très bien entretenu sa forme physique d'ancien champion de taekwendo, même si on sait que c'est "du cinéma" ça tient vraiment la route au niveau du réalisme, et le sang gicle juste au bon moment, et pour une fois ce n'est pas flouté comme dans les dramas ! En plus, la coiffure échevelée façon « Dae Gil » lui va très bien !
En fait le personnage est en train de perdre la vue, il n'est pas vraiment aveugle comme le dit faussement la 4è de couv' du DVD !
J'avais tout à fait le sentiment d'être dans un de mes sageuks habituels, car une bonne partie de la distribution est composée d'habitués (le seigneur Lee n'est autre que le Dr Do de "romantic doctor " et le reste à l'avenant). Ils n'en sont tous que meilleurs, c'est un casting solide et qui encadre parfaitement Jang Hyuk et sa performance. Pas de cris, ou de rires bizarres, mais une voix un peu sourde, peu de paroles, ou de gestes, seuls les regards parlent ! Et Dieu sait qu'ils sont expressifs !
Il faut quand même parler de Joe Taslim, qui fait un"méchant"très convaincant !
Joe Taslim est un acteur et artiste en art martial indonésien d'origine malaise et chinoise . Il a également été membre de l'équipe nationale indonésienne de judo de 1997 à 2009 et il donne parfaitement la réplique (enfin l’épée en main ! ) à Jang Hyuk
Il m'a semblé revoir Dae Gil, l'homme fidèle à un seul amour, ici à un seul roi, portant une blessure ineffaçable ! et comme le disait une amie, j’ai eu peur qu’il connaisse la même fin !
Je n'ai pas remarqué la musique, ce qui, chez moi, est très bon signe ! mais le travail de photo, cadrages et réalisation était excellent, les scènes de combat remarquablement chorégraphiées !
Il y avait quelques belles images de galop dans la brume, mais malheureusement je ne peux plus les capturer !
ça m'a donné furieusement envie de revoir "Chuno"... (d'ailleurs, depuis je l'ai revu ! )
Was this review helpful to you?
