November 17, 2005

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  New Line Cinema is picking up this Korean film for a release in more than 60 countries, including the United States, early next year. I've seen the movie trailer on television. You may wish to check out the music video in advance. They both look fantastic.

  
  

  In brief, it looks at the lives of four people in the ancient Korean kingdom of Balhae. At one time, Korea was a kingdom that had a border reaching into Manchuria. That all changed when the Mongols came along. Now there is a rivalry between China and Korea as to which version of history is accurate. Some things mesh perfectly, while a lot is debated and argued. What I do know is that Korea has been invaded about 3,000 times in its history. That Korea went from being dirt poor in the 1950s following the signing of the peace treaty, dividing the country in half, and becoming among one of the top 20 largest economies in the world in about 50 years is nothing less than miraculous. For a comparison, it took Germany and Japan 150 years to achieve the same level of economic growth prior to WWI and WWII.

  
  

  For those who are fans of the movies Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Hero, and House of Flying Daggers, this movie looks to be an excellent addition to the new wave of martial arts movies produced since the 1990s. I'm looking forward to seeing this one.

  
  

   

  • 10:48 pm
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