Joong-cheon - The Restless

Joong-cheon - The Restless
South Korea
2006
Starring:  Jun-ho Heo, Woo-sung Jung, and Kwang-il Kim

The Restless presents life and death in a distinctly unique fashion.  From hoards of demons, legendary swordsmen, ethereal guardians, legions of the dead, and of course one beautiful love this movie moves through the life and afterlife with stunning visual sequences.

This movie is listed as a horror in virtually every database, but it's certainly not what I as a westerner consider a horror.  The movie has elements of adventure, action, fantasy, and romance.  All the ingredients I need to sit down and try to dedicate a couple of hours to something.

Joong-cheon  is also full of visually stunning sequences.  It was nomiated for the Most Visually Stunning movie in the 2007 Asian Film Festival and it won the Best Art Direction award in the Grand Bell Awards.  It contained some very well choreographed fight scenes too.  The Restless is a unique journey through this world and the afterlife.  For fans of the fantasy martial arts genre I recommend this movie.  There are some parts that I had to shake my head at, but all in all this is a pretty cool movie.

Jadesoturi - Jade Warrior

Jadesoturi - Jade Warrior
2009
Finland
Starring:  Tommi Eronen, Markku Peltola, and Jingchu Zhang

Is a fusion of an epic Finnish poem called The Kalevala and Chinese feudal wuxia this movie is the first from Finland to make it into Chinese cinemas.

Kai, the main character in this movie, remembers his past when he was a master blacksmith in China.  His blacksmith past from another life is riddled with mystery, love, sacrifice, and challenge.

I rated this movie a 3 on netflix because I liked it, but I didn't love it.  This movie wasn't overly spectacular and I was watching a subtitled version, but it did have some cool concepts.  A blacksmith must save the world for his love of lifetimes ago to be his again; can he rise to the occasion?  For the story alone I would rate it a 4 or 5, but I personally have a hard time with most movies from Scandinavia; sad, yet true and I cannot say why.  Even with all that said I would recommend this movie.  The action and intrigue come in irregular intervals and just in time to pull your attention back to the story.  Check it out for yourself and let me know what you think.  In cases like this one I am more than happy to pay for the rental just to do the little I can to encourage the cross cultural collaboration.

Quote:  "That kind of oath should not have been sworn alone.  It becomes a curse."

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Aragami

Aragami
2003
Japan
Starring:  Takao Ohsawa, Massaya Kato, Kanae Uotani

Have you ever seen a movie that takes place in 1 room?  This whole movie takes place inside a remote mountain temple.  You will certainly not have a problem following the cast in this movie.  There are only 3 main characters and 1 or 2 others.

Aragami, for those sword and weapon loving martial arts fans, is a movie that one should see.  I don't recall it being overly impressive, however, the story is decent - even though it can be understood very early on in the movie.  It's a movie I wouldn't rush out and try to buy, but it's a nice reserve when you just feel like a little action with few other complications.  Check it out.  Alcohol plays a funny part in this movie too.

Quote:  Now this liquor is from a land called Russia.  They call it vodka.  It's pretty strong.