Sword in the Moon


Sword in the Moon is a 2003 South Korean action-adventure film directed by Kim Ui-seok, starring Choi Min-soo and Cho Jae-hyun. It screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the 2004 Cannes Film Festival.

Plot

The film opens up with an assassination attempt on the king of Joseon at some sort of reception. The attempt is foiled by a special security squad, and specifically by its leader, Gyu-yup. A series of deaths of prominent politicians leads to a nighttime battle in which one member, a female, of what is apparently an assassin duo, is captured. Gyu-yup recognizes this female, and after her torture in prison, the film flashes back to Gyu-yup's past.
Shortly after the Japanese invasions of Korea in the middle of the Joseon period, a military unit of elite soldiers is created to ensure the peace and the security/safety of the country. In its center, the two best swordsmen, Ji-hwan and Gyu-yup, are also two inseparable friends. But a political coup d'etat plot forces Gyu-yup, threatened with the death of his entire unit of elite soldiers, to not only kill his fencing master, but also Ji-hwan, who is seeing the female assassin from the night battle, Shi-young. Having had to behead his master, kill his best friend and his best friend's lover, and lead his troops against members of their own training school, we are led to understand that Gyu-yup loses some part of himself.
The film returns to the present, five years after the events in the flashback. Gyu-yup is known as a cold and cruel commander, nicknamed "the human butcher." The discovery of a sword during the night battle that carries the seal of Gyu-yup's old unit confirms the fact that Ji-hwan is back as well. The current king himself becomes embroiled in what amount to attempts to cover up his tracks and betrays at least one of his foremost commanders by ordering his assassination. The king then plans an excursion aimed at drawing out Ji-hwan and Shi-young into the open where they are meant to be killed.
The excursion takes place, and the king is almost killed by Ji-hwan, but he is momentarily distracted by the death of Shi-young at the hands of the king's elite bodyguard and troops. The king, stabbing Ji-hwan with a heretofore hidden dagger, pushes Ji-hwan away; and the king continues to look on as Ji-hwan battles more troops. Almost defeated, Gyu-yup, finally moved by compassion and his past relationship with Shi-young and Ji-hwan, comes to Ji-hwan's rescue. He pleads for his and Ji-hwan's freedom, and when that is met with silence, he and Ji-hwan engage the troops that have surrounded them. The movie ends by freezing the old friends, united in battle again, in action against the usurper king's troops.

Cast