Blood Rain
Director: Kim Dae-seung
Year: 2005
Rating: 7.0
Country:
Korea
Blood Rain is a high octave blood-soaked period
detective mystery that brings in elements of Korean history, superstition
and class culture. The detective has been compared to Sherlock Holmes, but
that is only if Sherlock used a stick to interrogate suspects. In the opening
scene, the local people who are living on an isolated island are preparing
to ship their paper product to the King - something required by a specific
date or punishment will follow. There is an uneasy mood in the air, an expectancy
that something terrible is going to happen. As with every sailing of the
valuable commodity, there are blessings being said and a ritual performed
by the female shaman. There is a Wicker Man vibe through the film. Suddenly,
the Shaman goes into a trance and through her the voice of a man speaks of
terrible things to come to the island for their sins. Then the ship catches
fire in the harbor and a murdered body is found with a stake all the way
through him. The year is 1808.
A government investigator from the Mainland
is sent for. He is Lee Won-kyu (Cha Seung-won) from a very high-status family.
His now dead father was a Lord and he has to be treated with the respect
that his family's name brings. The civilians on the island are in panic,
thinking it is the revenge of the ghost of Commissioner Kang who was executed
seven years previously for being a Catholic. In the Joseon period there was
a mass persecution of Catholics in which thousands were executed in 1801.
This has been termed the Shinyu Persecution. There had been an earlier one
in 1791 called Persecution of God. So, another execution more or less did
not raise any red flags. But now it has come back. The five men who falsely
informed on him are being murdered in the same way his family was executed
- a stake, smothered by paper, in boiling water, a cracked head and the best
for last - having his limbs torn off. Quartering.
The film speeds along - perhaps too quickly
at times to catch up - and the Investigator seems unable to stop the murders
or find out who is behind them. It also comes home to roost in a personal
way. His own failure and the decisions he makes, could destroy him. Well
done, rarely slows down and the period detail feels authentic. It was directed
by Kim Dae-seung (The Magician, The Concubine).
