Film
What's on at the cinema plus reviews of the latest movie and DVD releases
Bookmark this pageDuelist (2005)
Director: Lee Myung-Se
Movie review
From Time Out London
Coming a full six years after his breakthrough feature, the dazzling cop flick ‘Nowhere to Hide’, expectations ran high in South Korea for Lee’s historical drama, but the result proved a high-profile disappointment both critically and commercially. It’s not hard to see why, since this Chosun-era detective story throws away its exquisitely pampered visuals on a script which is paper-thin when it’s not plain confounding. When an upsurge in counterfeit coins threatens the nation’s economic stability, a female investigator goes undercover with a more experienced male officer to crack the case, but along the way she contrives to fall for the chief suspect, a masked master swordsman known only as ‘Sad Eyes’. Leading lady Ha Ji-weon is happier doing tomboy-ish pluck than moon-faced romance, while the whole conceit of putting the would-be lovers through choreographed exchanges, which are as much mating dance as sword-swishing combat, looks ravishing but carries zero conviction in terms of the policier plot. Clearly, Lee has an extraordinary eye, but wilful self-indulgence leads him astray here.Author: Trevor Johnston
Time Out London Issue 1907: March 7-13 2007
Cast & crew
Director: Lee Myung-Se
Producer: Lee Myung-Se
Cast: Ji-won Ha, Ahn Sung-Kee, Dong-won Kang, Song Young-Chang full cast
Genre(s): Action/Adventure
Rated: 12A
Duration: 108 mins
UK Release: Mar 9 2007
Most popular on this site
Top Stories
Has David Cronenberg turned tame?
Has director David Cronenberg veered too far from his radical and bloody roots with new film 'A Dangerous Method'?
The 10 worst date movies
Just in time for Valentine's Day, we present ten of the least romantic films ever made
Where to watch this year's Oscar-nominated films
Find out where to watch 2012's Oscar-nominated films in London cinemas
10 unlikely badboy biopics
Featuring Phil Collins, Jeremy Clarkson, Nick Clegg, David Starkey and a host of other unlikely subjects
Interview: Sean Durkin on 'Martha Marcy May Marlene'
The first-time director of the brilliant new thriller discusses religious cults and robot boxing
Pop-up cinema for Valentine's Day
Side-step romantic clichés with some alternative Valentine’s viewing
What do you think?
Post your review now