Verdict
Summary
Memories of the Sword is an emotionally involving epic with well-developed characters and fabulous musical score. It’s a shame about some of the average wirework which lets down some of the action.
Plot: While in medieval Korea, a young girl sets out to revenge the betrayal and the death of her mother. But therefore she must face one of the most powerful men and warriors of the Goryo Dynasty.
Review: Memories of the Sword starts off as an upbeat martial arts film with a seemingly cheerful protagonist in Seol-hee (Go-eun Kim).
At first she is carefree and running through the town getting up to mischief. As the story progresses though the tale becomes quite serious and rather tragic. Soel-hee discovers her family is not quite what she thought and her world is turned upside down.
It’s a moving tale with engaging characters and a sweeping musical score. There is sadly some wirework in the fight scenes which lets it down but for the most part the action is impressively done.
The cast are all at the top of their game and Byung-hun Lee gives a great performance as the haunted but corrupt Deok-gi. This is one of his best roles yet and really gives us a display of his acting talent.
It is a little slow in parts and melodramatic but it’s beautifully shot and thoroughly engaging.
There is more slow motion than a John Woo film which gets frustrating rather fast and drags out too many scenes.
Overall, Memories of the Sword is an emotionally involving epic with well-developed characters and fabulous musical score. It’s a shame about some of the average wirework which lets down some of the action.
