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I can explain this ... Maybe it" s was my Love

Memos from Purgatory - "Restless" Review
Saturday, December 16, 2006



It is the biggest movie of the season, a martial-arts fantasy set in Purgatory called THE RESTLESS (or "Jungcheon" in Korean, a Purgatory-like world between heaven and hell). It is the story of a warrior (Jung Woo-sung, of DAISY, MUSA, and lots of stuff) who travels to Jungcheon to look for his lost love (Kim Tae-hee, mostly from TV, like LOVE STORY IN HARVARD). He finds her, but she is now an angel and does not remember him. But when an evil force threatens, Jung must save his love and the rest of Jungcheon.

THE RESTLESS is 10 billion won ($11 million) and looks like it. (note: i read frm the Korean papers tht it"s 13 billion won) Heck, it looks like 20 billion or so. This is a gorgeous spectacle of a movie, with (mostly) first-rate special effects, lavish costumes and huge sets.

Unfortunately, the story does not measure up to to amazing production values. The story feels like a cross between A CHINESE GHOST STORY and LORD OF THE RINGS. Ghost Story because of the fantasy and cheesiness. Lord of the Rings because of the epic scope and general spectacle.

The action in THE RESTLESS is pretty good. Full of special effects, the characters fly around with a lot of flair and weight (so often, f/x people look way too light and fake, but when the bad guys land in this film, they really crunch the ground... a detail I quite liked). A couple of baddies have this cool Doc Octopus thing going on which looked great.

Unfortunately, when the action ends, the film comes screeching to a halt. The contrast was really stunning. One moment, you are rocketing around at 100mph, then next moment you are in park. Considering how BICHEONMU, SHADOWLESS SWORD and MUSA also had the same problem, it seems to me to be a structural problem of some sort. (If you want to see the exact opposite, watch the DVD of PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN and check out the screenwriters" commentary... lots of interesting stuff about how to embed information without turning a movie into boring exposition).

Also like Musa, Bicheonmu and Shadowless Sword, THE RESTLESS is unrelentingly humorless. Not a smile to be found. Especially in a film so over-the-top. We are in purgatory, after all... Nothing wrong with having a cheesy story, but you might as well have some fun with it.

Not a whole lot of subtlety going on either. Good is good, bad is really bad, motivations are cliched.

As for the acting... it is about what you would expect. Jung is solid, as usual. Kim Tae-hee, however, seems to have gotten acting lessons from Kim Hee-sun.

Another complaint is one I have with almost all superpower films, and that is watching the characters" super powers expand and contract from scene to scene. We know that these characters can fly, so why are we watching them running along the ground in a chase scene? But I had the same problem with the Superman and Spider-Man movies.

So, to sum up... If you are looking for some great eye candy and a bunch of action (and don"t mind a few dull stretches), THE RESTLESS could make you pretty happy. Just don"t expect much more than that.

UPDATE: Well, looks like there was a good reason that the costumes looked so good in THE RESTLESS. The costume designer was none other than Emi WADA, a woman who has designed outfits for some first-rate films, including Zhang Yimou"s HOUSE OF FLYING DAGGERS, Peter Greenaway"s PROSPERO"S BOOKS (great film) and 8 1/2 WOMEN, and for Akira Kurosawa"s DREAM and RAN (for which she won an Academy Award).

Posted by Mark Russell
at 9:03 AM

source koreapopwars.blogspot.com
credit also aki_diwata / www.kim-taehee.com

Fantasy "The Restless" delivers, but characters are weak
2006/12/17 10:00 KST

By Kim Hyun

SEOUL, Dec. 17 (Yonhap) -- A new martial arts fantasy film, "The Restless," has drawn attention ahead of its release with a big-budget cross-border production and splashy publicity campaign. The movie"s staff included Chinese and Japanese artists, and shooting was done entirely in China.

There were also big promotion events -- a banquet at the Pusan International Film Festival in October and an exhibition on its stars and costumes.

Unveiled amid the buzz, the epic by first-time director Cho Dong-oh raises many eyebrows with surreal beauty and well-done computer graphics, but it leaves questions about the characters. The character development is thin due to heavy editing that resulted in a compact 105-minute film.

The Restless, called "Jungcheon" (halfway to heaven) in Korean, unfolds in a mythical dimension between heaven and earth where the dead reside before reincarnation. It takes place in the latter days of Korea"s Unified Silla kingdom, the early 10th century, when officials were corrupt and panic-stricken people sought rebellion.

Jung Woo-sung plays a warrior who can"t forget his love Sohwa (Kim Tae-hee), who was killed by villagers on behalf of him (note: remember the fire scene in the trailers?). The warrior accidentally gets into the semi-heaven where the dead spend 49 days repenting for their sins and erasing their memories before reincarnation. There, he encounters his lost love, but she has no memories of him.

Sohwa, as the gatekeeper of the place, becomes the target of spirits who refuse reincarnation and try to return to earth for vengeance against the corrupt world. The warrior faces a difficult decision between his lover and the spirits, who were his boss and colleagues on earth.

It"s evident in the story that love conquers all. In the battle, Kim"s character appears angelic with a snow-white robe with feather embroidery around its waist, while her enemies look miserable with drab black and glaring red outfits (even though they have sincere intentions to reform the corrupt world).

While ending with a simple conclusion, however, the story demonstrates a poetic aspect of human life -- the distance between the innocent and the experienced, represented by the young warrior and his embittered boss (Huh Joon-ho).

As the warrior risks everything for the cause of love, the boss says, "You will learn that the memories fail you. I went through the same. You will learn that love ends and then you will see the world that is giving you pain."

But the character development is too thin to deliver. Each character identifies himself or herself through terse statements, such as Sohwa who explains herself as "a heavenly person who was delivered from the anguish of the world" during her first encounter with the warrior. Many scenes that helped develop the characters were removed during the editing process.

In visual terms, the film is an enjoyable fantasy. The Chinese rivers and mountains are picturesque, and the computer graphics in battle scenes are convincing. Forty percent of the film"s content is computer graphics from a consortium of about a dozen South Korean firms.

Established artists from Japan and China also took part in the production. They included China"s prop designer Li Mingshan, whose work includes "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon"; Japan"s costume designer Emi Wada ("House of Flying Daggers" and "Hero"); and music producer Shiro Sagisu ("Neon Genesis Evangelion"). The film cost 10 billion won (US$10 million).

Rated 12, "The Restless" faces an uphill box-office battle against big-name Hollywood movies such as the new James Bond sequel "Casino Royale," "Happy Feet" and "Night at the Museum" that will all be released on Dec. 21.

hkim@yna.co.kr
(END)

source english.yna.co.kr
credit also rubie / soompi news thread

"Restless" Creates Visually Superb Epic
12-17-2006 17:36

By Kim Tae-jong
Staff Reporter


Kim Tae-hee and Jung Woo-sung star in new fantasy action epic "The Restless."

The fantasy action epic "The Restless" (Chungchon) is one of the most anticipated films slated for the Christmas season. Its main actors said that they were overwhelmed by the film"s superb computer graphics when they first saw it.

"I was so surprised. The scenes I filmed in front of a blue screen turned into great ones in the movie," the actress Kim Tae-hee said Friday during a news conference after a preview screening of the film at Yongsan CGV in Seoul.

In her first big screen role, Kim plays So-hwa, a leading female character in "The Restless."

"I decided to challenge myself when I read the film"s script last summer because the character and I have so many things in common. I tried to do my best to create a pure and innocent character using my immature side," Kim said.

Released nationwide on Dec. 21, the film is considered a comparatively big project, which has drawn huge expectations.

The blockbuster film"s production budget is about 10 billion won, and its filming took six months, mostly in China. About half of the scenes were generated by computer graphics.

Directed by Cho Dong-oh, the film tells a story of a couple, who reunites in "chungchon," a mysterious place between earth and heaven where souls of the dead stay for 49 days preparing for reincarnation.

In the film, So-hwa dies and becomes a goddess in chungchon, forgetting her past life. Her lover I-gwak, played by Jung Woo-sung, accidentally enters the mysterious place and meets So-hwa, but she doesn"t remember him. As a ghost hunter, I-gwak fights against evil spirits, which threaten So-hwa"s life.

Jung also expressed his satisfaction with the film. He joked about his digitally generated counterpart, whom he nicknamed "Jung Woo-sang." The computer-generated character was a substitute for him in dangerous scenes that even a stuntman could not do.

"I watched the film with complex emotions, both of worry and expectation," Jung said. "But I"m so happy now. I think no one can tell which parts were done by me or Woo-sang. He was so good."

Jung picked the scene where he fights against 30,000 ghost soldiers as the most impressive in the film.

Despite the spectacular computer graphics, the film"s director admitted that the most challenging part is to attract the audience to theaters as most local epic action films have not been commercially successful.

"It"s been said that the genre of fantasy epic is not successful. And many directors work under a lot of pressure when they make one. But I think and hope this movie will pave the way for the genre as a steppingstone," Cho said.
e3dward@koreatimes.co.kr

source times.hankooki.com
credit also rubie / soompi news thread

MOVIE REVIEW]"The Restless" offers unprecedented graphic works
2006.12.19



"Jungcheon (The Restless)" has four strengths: star casting, it was shot in China, superb computer graphics and renowned international staff. The question is whether these advantages can make up for its single weakness; flimsy storytelling.

The film"s most visible marketing gimmick is that Jung Woo-sung and Kim Tae-hee take lead roles. Jung is certainly a major Korean heartthrob, with some solid performances under his belt. Kim Tae-hee"s performance makes a compelling argument that she is equally as good as Jung, attracting a mostly-male audience with her trademark "big eyes."

Without these two actors investors would not have poured 10.9 billion won ($11.7 million) in the project, which is led by first-time director Jo Dong-ho.

The big-budget film, to be released nationwide on Thursday, takes on a truly Asian theme about death and life. When people die, it is believed that their soul hovers in the intermediate stage between the physical world and heaven. Lee Kwak, played by Jung, makes it to the intermediate stage where souls wait for 49 days before they climb into heaven - and here he meets his loved one, So-hwa, played by Kim. The focus in the film is how the two resolve a conflict in the surreal world.

To amplify its fantasy appeal, the production team opted to shoot the film entirely in China and it seems their investment has paid off. Unlike other Korean fantasy films, "The Restless" shows off grandiose visuals.

Moreover, international staff helped the film achieve greater cinematic effects. Shiro Sagisu, a renowned Japanese film music artist, upgraded the overall level of music, while equally respectable award-winning Emi Wada infused vitality to the traditional Asian costumes featured in the film.

Computer graphics - the most important element of the film - demonstrate a higher level than widely expected. Digital Tetra Inc., affiliated with Korea"s state-run research center ETRI, worked with 11 other companies to create better computer graphics, and their efforts are fully reflected in as many 750 high-quality computer-generated cuts.

Thanks to sophisticated computer graphics, battle scenes shine throughout the film. When main characters get entangled in a fight, no blood is shed. Instead, computer-generated images literally shatter away the victims into ashes - a stunning visual that deserves all due credits.

Director Jo and the computer graphics team spent almost a year generating computer scenes that bolster the film"s fantasy aspect and add intricate cinematic layers.

This fantasy flic may be a good alternative for those who want to avoid typical Christmas comedies and romances.

But a problem may arise for some viewers who think storytelling is more important than computer graphics. "The Restless" starts with a promising premise as a fantasy film: a handsome evil-chasing man falls into a stage where life and death are intertwined, and again falls into a conflict to protect a woman he loves.

Lee Kwak"s accidental entry into the Jungcheon world has many surprises. The most important revelation is that his former love, So-hwa, seems alive in a soul-only land, and she has no memory about her past - including her relationships with Lee Kwak.

So far, so good. But when So-hwa finally speaks and Kim Tae-hee strives to act up the character, fantasy begins to disappear. Kim"s delivery of key sentences is neither convincing nor realistic. The character is supposed to be a powerful semi-deity in this fantasy world, but Kim"s So-hwa is simply clueless. She often has no grasp about what"s going on, and Kim"s efforts to open her already "big eyes" in a big way accentuates the puzzlement that constantly plagues the disoriented character.

Flashbacks are also overused but rarely utilized to their full potential. When the main characters interact with supporting actors, a gaping hole in the storyline is embarrassingly visible. Some characters intrude into the main story without enough explanations, undercutting the strength of the already shaky storytelling.

Although the film hovers between computer graphics and flimsy storytelling, movie-goers should be relieved: they don"t have to wait for 49 days to re-enter the mundane world since the movie"s running time is a relatively short 105 minutes.

(insight@heraldm.com)
By Yang Sung-jin

source www.koreaherald.co.kr
credit also rubie / soompi news thread

ฑ่ลยศ๑ภว ภฬป๓ว? "ฝึฤฟวรภฬ ฑโบปมถฐว"
Kim Tae Hee"s Ideal type "basics"
2006.12.18


this one talks abt her special appearance on the Christmas feature of "infinite challenge" aired on the 16th. one card was passed to the infinite challenge team on this day from the production team which called it a Christmas present to them. the name and telephone number of Tae Hee were written in the card. the team members including Yoo Jae Seuk didn"t believe it. Tae Hee who"s a top star won"t give her telephone number. they reacted though and the telephone call to Tae Hee was broadcasted and even the voice was confirmed at last and it was unbelievable as usual. everyone was asking who"s acting as Tae Hee tis time.

after all, the situation was reversed after Tae Hee appeared directly in the studio. members who got to confirm the fact were unable to conceal their excitement by running here and there and shouting "wow" etc. after the broadcast on this day, viewers showed a good feeling in the appearance of Tae Hee who does not usually appear on amusement programs. they said tht it was fresh and interesting. Tae Hee"s popularity was felt on the episode of "infinite challenge" aired on 16th december as it recorded ratings of 20.8% (tns media korea).

source bookdaily
credit syah @ KTH-Home of the Angel

ม฿รตกฏ ฑ่ลยศ๑ ฟฌฑโดย กฎนฬทกว?กฏ
"The Restless" Kim Tae Hee acting in "Futuristic type" role
2006.12.18 11:15



in this article, the reporter said tht new "film actress" Tae Hee had expanded the role of "so hwa" enough in the movie and showed it. but wondered issit because of her popularity tht she was casted in this.

source segye
credit syah @ KTH-Home of the Angel

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