At a glance:Palace politics may have been sexier and more fun in Curse Of The Golden Flower or The Banquet but Shadows holds its own because of the little-known subject matter of day-to-day life within an olden Korean monarchy. What's more surprisin is that it's an outright feminist film that operates so cleverly, despite being set durin a patriarchal period in Korea's past! Director Kim Mi-jeong (unmistakably female) weaves through a story about palace deceit usin only female characters. All the men in this film are reduced to womanisin simpletons who play second fiddle to ladies who rule the Courts. Who would've thought that Kings could be so utterly useless to the goings on in their own castle? The whole shebang begins when a maid finds another dead one mornin, hangin gruesomely from her room. The imperial medic concludes that the cause of death wasn't suicide because there was minimal rope dust on her neck! Proud of her groundbreakin CSI work, she pursues the matter even more when higher Court ladies attempt to silence her discovery. Ain't long before everyone is let in on the fun, from nail torture and throne heirs to menstrual cycles and schemin concubines.
Bad news on the doorstep:
Bombed big time in Malaysia. It was such a loss that the distributor (AOE) decided to give up movies as one of its businesses and went back to concentratin on recyclin tyres or somethin. It's also said that another nine Korean movies they bought from Pusan went unreleased due to this overwhelmin miscalculation in biz.
Perennial wonderment:
Why Korean movies still suck. For every good Korean flick, there are 300 unwatchable ones. Must be the insular culture. Maybe that's why only their horrors travel.
Amacam joker, berapa bintang lu mau kasi?
. Solid piece of storytellin with complementary supernatural twist even.
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