It is the end of the Yuan Dynasty, a time when the Mongolians were ruling the whole of the Chinese Continent with much trouble between race and cultures. Some of those suffering included the Hans and the Koryo, an ancient race of Korean people who suffered at the hands of evil barons and Mongolian armies.In the style of Romeo and Juliet, out hero Jinha, the son of a Koryo migrant has fallen for Sullie - a girl he saved from a wolf when they were both children. Having grown up together, they seem set to be with one-another for life until 10 years later, her family arrive to get her, revealing that she is the illegitimate daughter of a Mongolian commander.
After taking her away, Jinha chases down his love through a series of fantastic battles, only to get double-crossed by her father and shot by arrows off a cliff, to his death. Found in the river below, a mysterious man brings him back to life - reborn as a new man called Jahalang, assassin for hire and out for revenge to win back the woman he loves!
I had forgotten just how much I love Bichunmoo! Having not watched it for over 10 years now, this South Korean martial arts fantasy, is packed with so much fantastic action, romance, drama and stunning cinematography, you can't help but fall for it. From the masters fight in a cage to the ninja assassins attack on the royal estate, one can't help but feel like they are watching a bigger budgeted version of Hong Kong classics, Butterfly & Sword, or Swordsman 2 & 3 respectively...
The Romeo & Juliet tale of love keeps a more serious tone running throughout compared to its Hong Kong inspirations, with great performances from all involved and some touching moments between loves. Shin Hyun Joon is wonderful as the leading man, giving a great performance as the love torn man as well as showing off some fantastic moves, a role he would reprise somewhat 5 years later in the epic, Shadowless Sword. Leading lady, who was Jackie Chan's love interest in the fun time hopping action-fantasy, The Myth, also does a great job here as the woman torn from her true love and forced into a life unwanted. She also gets to show off a few moves which is nice to see.
With the highest budget in Korean cinema of its time, director Kim Young Jun highly impresses with his directorial debut, delivering a beautiful film with highly detailed costumes, beautiful sets, and stunning cinematography. For any flaws that do stand out, he most certainly learned from his mistakes, fine-tuning them for his follow-up movie, the aforementioned Shadowless Sword, which I just love!
Bichunmoo features some of the best Hong Kong style-inspired fight scenes I've seen in a South Korean movie. While many compare it to Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon I would say not-so, with its stunning mix of fantasy wu xia, one-to-one duels, and large battles, Bichunmoo tricks you into thinking you're watching a Yuen Woo Ping or Ching Siu Tung film from the early 90's, due to its choreography, edits, cinematography and lighting, and certainly doesn't let the action fans down. This is all down to action choreographer Ma Yuk Sing, the Hong Kong action and stunt co-ordinator who worked on classics such as A Chinese Ghost Story 3, Royal Tramp 1 & 2, Dr. Wai & The Scripture With No Words, and the aforementioned Butterfly & Sword and Swordsman sequels!
Once again, I must give kudos to director Kim for such an amazing debut. I watched Bichunmoo repeatedly on release, and although I have had many more to watch over the years, will be making sure to pop this one in my player more often, in the future. With a healthy running time of 118 minutes, the film rarely loses its pace and closes with an epic and emotional finale that is just brilliant...
Overall: A blend of Butterfly & Sword meets The Banquet, Bichunmoo is highly entertaining and a gorgeous throw-back to a classic era of Hong Kong cinema!
After taking her away, Jinha chases down his love through a series of fantastic battles, only to get double-crossed by her father and shot by arrows off a cliff, to his death. Found in the river below, a mysterious man brings him back to life - reborn as a new man called Jahalang, assassin for hire and out for revenge to win back the woman he loves!
I had forgotten just how much I love Bichunmoo! Having not watched it for over 10 years now, this South Korean martial arts fantasy, is packed with so much fantastic action, romance, drama and stunning cinematography, you can't help but fall for it. From the masters fight in a cage to the ninja assassins attack on the royal estate, one can't help but feel like they are watching a bigger budgeted version of Hong Kong classics, Butterfly & Sword, or Swordsman 2 & 3 respectively...
The Romeo & Juliet tale of love keeps a more serious tone running throughout compared to its Hong Kong inspirations, with great performances from all involved and some touching moments between loves. Shin Hyun Joon is wonderful as the leading man, giving a great performance as the love torn man as well as showing off some fantastic moves, a role he would reprise somewhat 5 years later in the epic, Shadowless Sword. Leading lady, who was Jackie Chan's love interest in the fun time hopping action-fantasy, The Myth, also does a great job here as the woman torn from her true love and forced into a life unwanted. She also gets to show off a few moves which is nice to see.
With the highest budget in Korean cinema of its time, director Kim Young Jun highly impresses with his directorial debut, delivering a beautiful film with highly detailed costumes, beautiful sets, and stunning cinematography. For any flaws that do stand out, he most certainly learned from his mistakes, fine-tuning them for his follow-up movie, the aforementioned Shadowless Sword, which I just love!
Bichunmoo features some of the best Hong Kong style-inspired fight scenes I've seen in a South Korean movie. While many compare it to Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon I would say not-so, with its stunning mix of fantasy wu xia, one-to-one duels, and large battles, Bichunmoo tricks you into thinking you're watching a Yuen Woo Ping or Ching Siu Tung film from the early 90's, due to its choreography, edits, cinematography and lighting, and certainly doesn't let the action fans down. This is all down to action choreographer Ma Yuk Sing, the Hong Kong action and stunt co-ordinator who worked on classics such as A Chinese Ghost Story 3, Royal Tramp 1 & 2, Dr. Wai & The Scripture With No Words, and the aforementioned Butterfly & Sword and Swordsman sequels!
Once again, I must give kudos to director Kim for such an amazing debut. I watched Bichunmoo repeatedly on release, and although I have had many more to watch over the years, will be making sure to pop this one in my player more often, in the future. With a healthy running time of 118 minutes, the film rarely loses its pace and closes with an epic and emotional finale that is just brilliant...
Overall: A blend of Butterfly & Sword meets The Banquet, Bichunmoo is highly entertaining and a gorgeous throw-back to a classic era of Hong Kong cinema!