*Cringe* Ah, I actually wrote you back a similar lengthy reply but accidentally closed off the tab when I referred back to another open one. Silly me. *Sigh*
I will now try to surmise what I did write without growing frustrated. Sorry, my fault.
It's an understatement as the film is just as full of colorful characters with well written subplots on both sides of the story.
I read a few Film Blogs or just Blogs reviewing the film that
Kundo did not have any
colourful characters.
Well, I originally begged to differ in my original reply and I will beg to differ again. Kundo, for the length it has, actually did splendid in terms of highlighting specific (principal) characters' traits and personalities in the 2+ hours it had. True, that it had to rely on building first some stereotypes before re-shaping these to formulate individualism. But, the end result was successful for Kundo.
Example. I sympathized a lot with Jo-yoon. The film's main antagonist. Sure, for the most middle part of the film he was presented as indifferent and unfeeling. Brutal whenever necessary.
But the film established enough in the beginning and towards the end that this character had more than a malicious stroke in his body. At some point, you actually saw something humane in him.
True that he needed to be established first as an unwanted, unloved and outside-
his-favour lovechild - this was so that people with short attention spans can relate or understand him a little bit from the get-go. But as the film progresses, you see glimpses of the make-up of his personality. At least it is understood that his motivation is neither Greed nor Power. It was even beyond patriarchal acceptance. At the most, he needed that.
But really, he just needed to re-assert his presence in any way possible for him to insert his identity. Hence the reason why Dochi couldn't cut off his hair and why he remarked on Jo-yoon's dead body that he should at least try to now attain his 'buddhahood'. Plus, brutal and violent as Jo-yoon was, he was unrelenting and never backed-off a fight. Dochi knew he was no coward - and being stabbed in the back was kind of a like a coward's way to kill him. Dochi knew. Jo-yoon knew. But it was justice outside the fight. It was for the people and the people re-asserting themselves.
Honestly, I thought some of the principal characters quite intricate.
Personally, I just think it's become a common practice in the West to include copious amount of flash-backs to insert a better view or in-depth explanation of a character. Viewers all want to know the whys, hows, whats, and whens of characters. Most of these kinds of dealings become tedious and redundant.
Unless it has any impact on the plot's current time, I say keep it out or keep it to a minimum. Besides, there's plenty of examples of skilled directors from each sides of the hemisphere that doesn't resort to this kind of character exposition. They're the creative kinds.
THANK YOU SO MUCH for adding to the current list of recommendations. I did, however, tried to watch the movies you mentioned that has Jung-woo Ha. Honestly, I don't know why or where it began but I'm really into Period-Action Korean films lately. Set in the past, fast-paced, brutal, interestingly executed and has intriguing, in the least, colourful characters - I'm there. I'm a sucker for these kinds of Kmovies right now. Can't tell you where it started.
Please let me know if you liked
Memories. It's not action-packed or fast-paced. But it is very intense. At least I was left feeling discomforted and disturbed by it in the end.
Btw, I re-edited my original post but forgot to re-edit one of the films I mentioned.
The Arrow is actually
The War of the Arrows. I saw that sometime on Netflix and has since stuck with me. It's very good.
The Way of the Arrow, is that the one and the same film as
The War of the Arrows? You know how it is with translating Kmovie titles into english.
If you are looking for other Kmovie however. I'd recommend you
The Face Reader. It's a period piece. Not action-packed. But it is gory and intense nonetheless.
If you are impressed with Kang Dong-won's turn as Jo-yoon in Kundo. You might like to see
Secret Reunion or
Woochi: The Taoist Priest. (I'm a self-professed big fan of KDW - seen nearly all his films/movies. This guy blends a good resume of Mainstream and Independent films. Plus, he isn't your typical pretty-boy actor. He's taken on other roles besides Kundo that makes him come across as malevolent and vicious. Real talented, which, he wasn't at first if you saw his earlier works.)
I'm a big fan of the anime and manga of Rurouni Kenshin. Very pleased and happy that they picked Takeru Sato to play him as he undeniably brought the role to life and he brought pride in the character. I grew up with the anime where I once used to live so anxiety gone, most Kenshin fans, that includes me, where very happy with the first film.
Seems like you also like Taskeshi Miike. I'd recommend his
Crows Zero,
Crows Zero 2 and
Ace Attorney to see. Takeshi is very fond of making live-action movies out of his favourite games, manga and anime. And he's very good at it. I'm actually looking forward to getting the chance to see
The Mole Song: Undercover Agent Reiji. Another live-action. Actually, if you look enough, there is plenty of good live-actions from Japan; whether it be for the big screens or for the TV. Seeing a few of these restored the faith that live-action adaptations actually works.
I can't remember what other movies I originally included in my original post but these are the ones that stuck to my mind.
I am also looking forward to the chance to actually view the
Kenshin 2 and
3 movie. What particular scenes in Kundo did you feel seem similar in the Shengetsu village sequence?
Also, about the romance, or lack thereof, in Kundo. I actually preferred it. Having seen also a fair few of, say, for example, Chinese period-fantasy-action-romantic- movies, I say it's nice to have a break. Some of those were real cheesy. If I were to state an example of a good romance handled in such a film, I'd say the not-period-piece action-heist Korean movie,
The Thieves.
But, as a girl, if I wanted to go full out on the romance, there are other movies besides that focuses solely on that. For example
Bokura ga Ita or
My Sassy Girl.
Hope this post makes sense. I'm kind of in a rush now so this will be less edited than the one now lost in the ether.
Btw.
Thank you again :) If you got anymore that you remember, please do not hesitate to recommend more. Although I am Asian, I'm not Korean. So all my information is gathered online ^^
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