Musa

Directed by Kim Sung-su, Musa is the kind of lavish production you rarely see done in Asian cinema. At least you rarely see it done this well. The rather simple story is of a group of Korean envoys who are exiled from 14th Century China. Freed by a serendipitous attack the Koreans lead by a young general decide to cut across the Chinese desert and go back to Korea. When they meet a princess being held by a Mongol general the group concoct a plan to ease their progress home.

While the story is somewhat simple it is the pacing and characterisation that drive the film. Musa is certainly now a quick film, clocking in at just over 2 and a half hours, and it uses this time to gradually build up its central characters. Due to the low numbers of characters each is given a comprehensive, if slightly clichéd, character. Everyone has a reason to be there and everyone is fleshed out just enough for their lives to mean something to the viewer.

Generally speaking the three main characters are the young General, a newly freed slave with spectacular fighting ability, and the princess held by the Mongols (played in a typical erudite fashion by the eponymous Zhang Ziyi). The supporting cast do exactly what a supporting cast should do and at times come across even more sympathetically than the leads.

The meat of the film is provided by a series of blisteringly choreographed and brutally gory battle scenes. While at first the skirmishes are difficult to keep track of it soon becomes easy to keep track of the beat of the battle. The battles themselves range from riotous free for alls to cunningly planned strategic ambushes and a final siege which is as harrowing as it is thrilling.

Backed by a beautiful anachronistic score and some stunning visuals, which keep the style of and add practicality to Modern Wuxia, Musa is a great film which is both massively entertaining and desperately bleak.

9/10