Kundo: Age of the Rampant

A melodramatic movie of the lives of the Koreans in the time of the Joseon dynasty. The themes of oppression,greed and the revolution of the traumatized are visibly seen throughout the movie. Oppression has not limits and a Robin Hood like gesture is adopted by a band of outlaws to redeem the people from the sufferings of the governors and elites – and this, as usual, must come with a cost. Who is ready to bear the consequence? Who would be their hero? But one question comes to the mind of the audience at the end of the movie… can good come out of evil?

At the end, it is a duel between Dolmuchi/Dolchi, a former butcher (the lowest class in the Joseon Dynasty) who joins a makeshift band of outlaws to avenge the death of his family and Jo Yoon, a nobleman's son who is gifted in martial arts, but twisted by the fact that he was born to a concubine and thus is unacknowledged by his father and has no rights in the family or Joseon society. Jo Yoon desperately tries to acquire status and wealth but the outlaws are out to create that obstacle.

This movie released in 2014 has a duration of 137 minutes. The movie accommodates a blend of the instrumentals from western movie. We are drawn into a culture of hopeful and determined people, who are ready to fight any oppressive governance or society. It is an action comedy.

The major casts are Ha Jung-woo and Gang Dong-won; the movie has bagged many awards for several categories… I’ll give the action movie a 6.5 rating out of 10.

Wonderful Nightmare

 

Wonderful Nightmare is one of the most interesting South Korean movies I have watched in recent times. It would match any great Hollywood movie for its simple plot with intriguing suspense and great romantic comedy. Even if you are not romantic, you get caught up with the plot as the movie progresses and transforms a die-hard, self-centred, successful rich lawyer into a simple and selfless house wife who comes to the reality of her past and what life entails.

This movie released in 2015 and for a duration of 123 minutes presents to the world, the Korean culture laden with some simple but beautiful mix of traditional and modern beliefs in South Korea.

The major casts are Uhm Jung-hwa as Lee Yeon-Woo and Song Seung-heon as Kin Sung-hwan. If you are looking out for a movie to watch this week you can look for the subtitled version of the movie online. I would give this move a 7.5 rating out of 10 anytime… I’m itching to watch the movie again!