KMovie: The Restless/Midair
A quick synopsis and some views from the audience (which would be me).
Also, LJCut is being a little testy with me and somehow I ended up with too cuts instead of one. I'll try to fix it, but no promises. I am technologically inept, after all. -_-'
The Restless
The Restless is a fairytale of lost and regained love, set in a fantasy version of feudal Korea and the world Korean mythology envisions as the afterlife. As our story opens, we’re told that the Royals of the time fell to corruption, and as such the kingdom was besieged by demonic creatures whose violence was only swayed by sacrifice. Our hero, Yi Gwak, is introduced in the first scene, saving the typical damsel in distress who was lashed to a pole and served up like dinner to some crazy ninja-demons.
Which he defeats with ease, of course.
Yi Gwak sits down to a victory meal with the townspeople, only to find out they’ve discovered his identity as head of the Chunyongdae, a group of warriors who specialize in killing demons, and also they’ve drugged his wine and called the authorities (surprise!). Despite his hero-status among the people, the Chunyoungdae are said to have attacked the government, and there’s a huge reward on Yi Gwak’s head as their leader. He escapes and stumbles off into the woods in his dazed state, and soon comes upon an abandoned hut in the pouring rain where he finally collapses.
When he wakes, he is not where he fell asleep.
This is where the story takes an Alice In Wonderland sort of tumble, and Yi Gwak discovers, with no small amount of confusion, that he is actually in Mid-Heaven, where the spirits of the dead arrive to do good deeds for 49 days until they are to be reincarnated again. But I’m not dead, Yi Gwak is clearly thinking, and so he plans to run and keep running (I suspect the afterlife is never ending, after all) until he happens upon a face that is all too familiar.
Backstory! begins and it’s revealed that before he joined the Chunyongdae, Yi Gwak had a love who was cruelly murdered by the village they lived in on suspicion of being a witch. Well alright, that’s the Westernized version, but basically they burned her at the stake (aka in her house) due to supposed supernatural tendencies. The problem with that (besides the killing) was whoever pointed the finger was a little off in their witchy-judgement; Yi Gwak was actually the one with abilities, and though he tried to tell the villagers and save his love, he was knocked witless and couldn’t do anything but watch her burn.
Ah, cruel fate.
Inanycase, he comes across a woman who looks very much like his love, riding a horse and leading a group of white clothed warriors (just in case we’re confused as to who the good guys are) who are set upon by (shock) more demons (in heaven. Who knew?). Yi Gwak jumps to the rescue of the girl who, though she carries a sword, seems to be just as useless as she is gorgeous. I mean, don’t get me wrong, she can fight, but she’s a girl, so they can’t make her too good at it because that would defeat the purpose of Yi Gwak as her knight in tarnished armour.
Excuse my grumbling.
So he saves the day again and runs off with the girl (who is conveniently unconscious) only to have her wake up and demand answers. Who is he? Why is someone who is still alive in the afterlife? Why did he save her? Yi Gwak can do nothing but gape and repeatedly ask if she remembers him , and though she’s a little intimidated by his intensity, she mellows once it’s clear he’s not going to hurt her. “Hey, want to join me on my nifty quest to save the natural (or supernatural. As you like it) order of the world?” she asks, in not so many and possibly different words.
“Sure,” says Yi Gwak, “Sounds fun.”
Stage set; enter villain.
As it turns out, Yi Gwak’s old leader (now dead, but still around in spirit. Oh, bad pun) is still a little disgruntled about his horrible time on Earth, and has taken up the mantle of leader for the new world order. He’s been releasing demons into the real world and siccing them on the spirits of the dead in order to gain power to create this new world of his, ‘cause hey, what’s a little sacrifice when you’re planning to create Utopia? In order to speed up the process, he’s discovered a power source that can guarantee his authority over the world order, the catch being that it’s actually inside the woman who looks like Yi Gwak’s love. Being a villain, he doesn’t really mind the idea of ripping it from her, regardless of whether or not she dies in the process.
So you have your hero, your lady in need of saving, and your villain (complete with ninja posse), which really does make for a good fairytale, but (without giving away too much) I will say that’s all it really adds up to. As a story, I was looking for some sharper twists and turns, but it’s fairly straightforward, bringing me to the conclusion that they really wanted it to be a fable. If you think about it in terms of Brothers’ Grimm (and I mean the people, not the god awful movie), it’s perfect. Everything that should happen, happens (and if that’s not giving away too much, go read any fairytale where good battles evil. Also keep in mind that the German, Medieval version of 'good' was never having sex, listening to your parents even when they tell you to cut off your own hands, and killing the person who killed you. Actually, that last one sounds pretty fair).
I’m not saying I wanted a horror-story ending, just that I expected complexity where there wasn’t. That doesn’t mean the story isn’t worthwhile, or that the imagery isn’t beautiful, or the acting isn’t up to par. It was an entertaining film overall; just don’t expect things to turn into the Sixth Sense and you’ll be dandy.
The trailer, for your viewing pleasure:
www.youtube.com/watch
Also, LJCut is being a little testy with me and somehow I ended up with too cuts instead of one. I'll try to fix it, but no promises. I am technologically inept, after all. -_-'
The Restless
The Restless is a fairytale of lost and regained love, set in a fantasy version of feudal Korea and the world Korean mythology envisions as the afterlife. As our story opens, we’re told that the Royals of the time fell to corruption, and as such the kingdom was besieged by demonic creatures whose violence was only swayed by sacrifice. Our hero, Yi Gwak, is introduced in the first scene, saving the typical damsel in distress who was lashed to a pole and served up like dinner to some crazy ninja-demons.
Which he defeats with ease, of course.
Yi Gwak sits down to a victory meal with the townspeople, only to find out they’ve discovered his identity as head of the Chunyongdae, a group of warriors who specialize in killing demons, and also they’ve drugged his wine and called the authorities (surprise!). Despite his hero-status among the people, the Chunyoungdae are said to have attacked the government, and there’s a huge reward on Yi Gwak’s head as their leader. He escapes and stumbles off into the woods in his dazed state, and soon comes upon an abandoned hut in the pouring rain where he finally collapses.
When he wakes, he is not where he fell asleep.
This is where the story takes an Alice In Wonderland sort of tumble, and Yi Gwak discovers, with no small amount of confusion, that he is actually in Mid-Heaven, where the spirits of the dead arrive to do good deeds for 49 days until they are to be reincarnated again. But I’m not dead, Yi Gwak is clearly thinking, and so he plans to run and keep running (I suspect the afterlife is never ending, after all) until he happens upon a face that is all too familiar.
Backstory! begins and it’s revealed that before he joined the Chunyongdae, Yi Gwak had a love who was cruelly murdered by the village they lived in on suspicion of being a witch. Well alright, that’s the Westernized version, but basically they burned her at the stake (aka in her house) due to supposed supernatural tendencies. The problem with that (besides the killing) was whoever pointed the finger was a little off in their witchy-judgement; Yi Gwak was actually the one with abilities, and though he tried to tell the villagers and save his love, he was knocked witless and couldn’t do anything but watch her burn.
Ah, cruel fate.
Inanycase, he comes across a woman who looks very much like his love, riding a horse and leading a group of white clothed warriors (just in case we’re confused as to who the good guys are) who are set upon by (shock) more demons (in heaven. Who knew?). Yi Gwak jumps to the rescue of the girl who, though she carries a sword, seems to be just as useless as she is gorgeous. I mean, don’t get me wrong, she can fight, but she’s a girl, so they can’t make her too good at it because that would defeat the purpose of Yi Gwak as her knight in tarnished armour.
Excuse my grumbling.
So he saves the day again and runs off with the girl (who is conveniently unconscious) only to have her wake up and demand answers. Who is he? Why is someone who is still alive in the afterlife? Why did he save her? Yi Gwak can do nothing but gape and repeatedly ask if she remembers him , and though she’s a little intimidated by his intensity, she mellows once it’s clear he’s not going to hurt her. “Hey, want to join me on my nifty quest to save the natural (or supernatural. As you like it) order of the world?” she asks, in not so many and possibly different words.
“Sure,” says Yi Gwak, “Sounds fun.”
Stage set; enter villain.
As it turns out, Yi Gwak’s old leader (now dead, but still around in spirit. Oh, bad pun) is still a little disgruntled about his horrible time on Earth, and has taken up the mantle of leader for the new world order. He’s been releasing demons into the real world and siccing them on the spirits of the dead in order to gain power to create this new world of his, ‘cause hey, what’s a little sacrifice when you’re planning to create Utopia? In order to speed up the process, he’s discovered a power source that can guarantee his authority over the world order, the catch being that it’s actually inside the woman who looks like Yi Gwak’s love. Being a villain, he doesn’t really mind the idea of ripping it from her, regardless of whether or not she dies in the process.
So you have your hero, your lady in need of saving, and your villain (complete with ninja posse), which really does make for a good fairytale, but (without giving away too much) I will say that’s all it really adds up to. As a story, I was looking for some sharper twists and turns, but it’s fairly straightforward, bringing me to the conclusion that they really wanted it to be a fable. If you think about it in terms of Brothers’ Grimm (and I mean the people, not the god awful movie), it’s perfect. Everything that should happen, happens (and if that’s not giving away too much, go read any fairytale where good battles evil. Also keep in mind that the German, Medieval version of 'good' was never having sex, listening to your parents even when they tell you to cut off your own hands, and killing the person who killed you. Actually, that last one sounds pretty fair).
I’m not saying I wanted a horror-story ending, just that I expected complexity where there wasn’t. That doesn’t mean the story isn’t worthwhile, or that the imagery isn’t beautiful, or the acting isn’t up to par. It was an entertaining film overall; just don’t expect things to turn into the Sixth Sense and you’ll be dandy.
The trailer, for your viewing pleasure:
www.youtube.com/watch