Launching this year’s Busan International Film Festival with a big and unapologetically bloody bang before its international release on Netflix, Korean director Kim Sang-man’s fourth feature is a visceral blockbuster featuring staggering swordplay, an impressive production design and an orthodox revenge tale wrought extremely large. Beneath the gore and the growling, Uprising is also a celebration of resistance against the privileged and oppressive elite in Korea, something which was as relevant at the time when the film was set as it is now.
The Japanese invasions of Korea in the 1590s are now largely considered (and feted) as the turning point in the history of Korean nationalism: the much-documented idea of civilian militias fighting off well-armed aggressors has long fueled the public imagination of what a Korean national identity could and should be. Amidst the many films and TV series revolving around this historical episode, Uprising is certainly an outlier. Rather than rising up against alien intruders, ordinary Koreans are seen mostly revolting against their own domestic tormentors, in the shape of an entrenched ruling class who considers its power over the people as divine and unquestionable.
Bookended by scenes charting the demise of a real-life egalitarian commune and then the birth of a fictional one, Uprising is a raging clarion call for social justice. It doesn’t hurt the cause, of course, that the message comes packaged in a high-octane action thriller boasting a stellar cast, high-end production values (thanks to Netflix’s backing) and the presence of Park Chan-wook as a producer and a co-screenwriter. The Oldboy auteur’s creative input is more than evident, as Uprising boasts of his trademark extreme violence, his love of noirish brotherhood and betrayal of men, swirling music in 3/4 time and dialogue sprinkled with jet-black humour.
Separated by their social class, the poor but dexterous orphan Cheon-yeong (Gang Dong-won, Broker) and rich but feeble scion Jong-ryeo (Smugglers) is brought together by an authentic friendship born out of skewed dynamics. Coerced into living in Jong-ryeo’s aristocratic house as a slave, Cheon-yeong becomes a training companion for his young master, to the point of taking a martial arts examination at the royal court for him so that he can establish his first footing in the circles of power.
Their relationship falters when Jong-ryeo’s father reneges on a promise to set Cheon-yeong free. The conflict soon comes to a head when a wave of Japanese warriors, led by a brutal general known as the “nose snatcher” (Jung Sung-il), sweeps into the capital. With the royal family fleeing town and the nobility in disarray, the slaves turn on their masters to avenge generations of suffering and pain – a circumstance which leads to misunderstandings, murders and a falling-out between Cheon-yeong and Jong-ryeo.
Perhaps more importantly, this deadly turn of events doesn’t just turn them into bitter enemies, it simply reveals how they can’t defy their roles in a system they can’t get out of. The unambitious yet chivalrous Cheon-yeong joins an anti-Japanese brigade and becomes one of its best warriors; the embittered Jong-ryeo, burning with vengeful rage, rises in the ranks to become the confidante of amoral and paranoid monarch Seonjo (Cha Seung-won) – a position he uses and abuses for his own aims.
Through their trials and tribulations, the corruption and greed of the authoritarian regime of the day is very much brought out into the open. Pleading for Cheon-yeong’s help and protection, a villager actually says, “The corrupt officials are even worse than the Japanese invaders!” Indeed, as the story continues, we see the rulers ignoring the plights of the people in pursuit of self-glorifying white elephants, while their Rasputins readily propose to undermine the country’s safety by corralling enemy soldiers who have surrendered into their own private armies.
However much the Japanese invaders serve as mere backdrop to these personal and political problems, their existence – or at least that of the “nose snatcher” – is essential for the film’s bombastic, swashbuckling finale. Having spent his career as a production designer and then a director of psychological thrillers and biopics, Kim shows he is just as savvy directing complex action sequences as he is in bringing a poverty-stricken, war-ravaged 16th century Korea to life.
Director: Kim Sang-man
Screenplay: Shin Chul, Park Chan-wook
Cast: Gang Dong-won, Park Jeong-min, Cha Seung-won, Kim Shin-rock
Producers: Park Chan-wook, Yoon Suk-chan, Back Ji-sun
Editor: Han Mee-yeon
Music: Alan Tyle, Cho Young-wuk
Production designer: Lee Nak-yum
Costume designer: Cho Sang-kyung
Production companies: Moho Film, Semicolon Studio
World sales: Netflix
Venue: Busan International Film Festival (Opening Film)
In Korean
127 minutes
