Red Cliff (赤壁)

The Battle of Red Cliff (赤壁), is a two-episode Chinese epic film based on the Battle of Red Cliffs and events during the Three Kingdoms period in Ancient China. The first episode is expected to be released in 2008. The film is directed by John Woo and stars Tony Leung Chiu Wai, Takeshi Kaneshiro, Zhang Fengyi, Chang Chen, Hu Jun, Lin Chi-ling and Zhao Wei. With an estimated budget of US$80 million, The Battle of Red Cliff is the most expensive Asian-financed film to date.

Director John Woo said in an interview that the film will use primarily the historical record Chronicle of the Three Kingdoms as a blueprint for the Battle of Red Cliffs, rather than the historical novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms. As such, traditionally vilified characters such as Cao Cao and Zhou Yu will be given a more historically accurate treatment in the film.

The Legend

The Legend (太王四神記) portrays the life of the 19th king of Goguryeo (lasted from 37 B.C. to 668 A.D.), Hwanwoong, who was sent from the heavens to make the world a better place. He falls in love with Saeoh and gives her the joojak necklace; however, Kajin becomes jealous since Saeoh has given birth to Hwanwoong's son. She takes the baby and throws him off a cliff. Saeoh, thinking that her son had died, is overcome with grief and turns into the black joojak to destroy the world. Hwanwoong is the only one who could stop her. Afterwards, Hwanwoong returns to the Heavens and prophecizes that 2,000 years later, the true Joo Shin king will come to Earth. With the help of the four gods, he will rebuild Joo Shin.

During the time of Dam-deok, Goguryeo was the most powerful nation in East Asia (even the Chinese dynasty couldn't defeat Goguryeo). At age 11, he was made the Crown Prince and became King when he was 16. In 396, he attacked Baekje (a nation Southwest of Goguryeo) and took over the northern area above the Han River. He defeated the many invasions made by the Yeon Dynasty (China) after 400 A.D. During his reign, the number of castles he took over numbered in the hundreds and villages numbered in the thousands. However, he died at an untimely age of 39.

Jumong, the founder of Goguryeo, establish Goguryeo with his Four Gods: Cheong-ryong (Blue Dragon), Baek-ho (White Tiger), Joo-jak (Phoenix), Hyeon-mu (symbolized as a turtle). The Japanese may know them as Seiryuu, Byakko, Suzaku, and Genbu. Jumong marries Soseono, who played a major role in the founding of Goguryeo. They had two sons, Onjo and Biryu. When the son of Jumong's first wife came to Goguryeo in search of his father, and is named Crown Prince, Soseono takes her sons, Onjo and Biryu, South and establishs Baekje. This is how Baekje and Goguryeo were known as "brother countries".

As time passed, the Four Gods secluded themselves from society and watched as Baekje and Goguryeo's relationship worsened (worsened more mainly because Goguryeo's king was killed in a battle between Baekje and Goguryeo).

One day, Ju-ahn, "Hyeon-mu" of the Four Gods, sees two stars sour up into the sky. Since one came from the palace in Baekje, it predicted the birth of "Su", later known as King Ah-shin. The other star came from Goguryeo, prophesizing the birth of Dam-deok, later known as Gwang Gae Toh Dae Wang.

Realizing that his new master has come to the world, Ju-ahn awaits in the vast Manchuria with a young girl, Sujini, to see which of the two will be his master. Sujini was picked up as an orphan by Ju-ahn and considers Ju-ahn as her father. Therefore, the story is on the Four Gods looking for their master, Gwang Gae Toh Dae Wang, who was an expert in tactics, the woman he loved (Sujini), who was also loved by the coldhearted King Ah-shin.

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Little Buddha

Little Buddha is a story about the quest of a group of monks, led by Lama Norbu (Ruocheng Ying), to seek out the reincarnation of his great Buddhist teacher, Lama Dorje (Geshe Tsultim Gyeltsen). Lama Norbu and his fellow monks believe they have found a candidate of Dorje's reincarnation within a boy named Jesse Conrad (Alex Wiesendanger) in Seattle. While Jesse is fascinated with the monks and their way of life, his parents, Dean (Chris Isaak) and Lisa (Bridget Fonda), are wary, and that wariness turns into near-hostility when Norbu announces that he would like to take Jesse back with him to Bhutan to be tested. His father changes his mind however, after the death of one of his close friends, seeming to realize that there could be more to life than work and money. Dean, the father, decides to go to Bhutan with Jesse. In Nepal, two children who are also candidates are encountered, Raju (Rajuh Lal) and Gita (Greishma Makar Singh).

In the story, the Lama Norbu relates the story of Buddha, which is also enacted as a story within the story. In the story, a Hindu Prince called Siddhartha embarks on a journey to attain enlightenment and is viewed by the children in the Story. Mara, a jealous demon, senses that Siddhartha (Keanu Reeves) is about to attain enlightenment and sends his daughters to distract him. Failing to do so, he attempts to shatter Siddhartha’s resolve and thus begins an onslaught of threats, intimidation and temptation. Mara summons a terrifying horde of monsters of every conceivable description but even something as horrific as this still leaves Siddhartha unmoved, unperturbed. Instead he transforms the weapons which these hosts threw at him into lotus petals which exude a lovely fragrance as they gently floated down to earth. Mara decides that Siddhartha will not deny himself and turns into his image in a reflection on a pool of water. Instead Siddhartha reaches and pulls the image out of the water. The classic Buddhist dialogue between Mara and Siddhartha takes place:

Mara: "You who go where others dare not; Will you be my God? The architect of my house?"

Siddhartha: "Finally I meet the illusion of self; Your evil house will not be built again."

Mara: "But you live in me; I am your house."

Siddhartha: "O, trickster; phantom of my own ego, you are pure illusion. You, self, do not exist. The earth is my witness to this Supreme Enlightenment."

Lama Norbu explains that Siddhartha defeated an army of demons, simply through his observance of patience and tolerance. He achieved great peacefulness and compassion, through self-detachment from illusions.

In the end, it is found that all three children are reincarnations of the Lama Dorje - representing his body, mind, and speech. Lama Norbu enters meditation passing away soon after, and a funeral for him is held.

(Source: Wikipedia)

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Seo Dong Yo (서동요)

Producer Lee Byung-Hun and writer Kim Yeong-hyeon from "Jewel in the Palace (Dae Jang Geum)", a major hit drama in Asia have again teamed up for a new historical drama.

The SBS drama "Seodongyo" (서동요), translated as "Seodong's Song", has much in common with "Jewel in the Palace". Both deal with similar themes: a success story of a lower class person rising to the top, a love that transcends social position, a secret of birth and a rivalry between main characters. However, whereas "Jewel" is set in the Choson Kingdom (1392-1910), "Seodongyo" takes place in the Paekche Kingdom (18 B.C. - A.D 660), a first for a TV drama. Apart from the romance between a princess and a commoner, an interesting part of the drama is that it focuses on a fierce technology war almost 1,500 years ago.

The protagonist is Seodong, a commoner who strives to become a top technician. Seodong later became King Mu, the 30th king of Paekche as he was finally recognized as of royal birth. The main background of the drama is Taehaksa, Paekche's prestigious institute of science technology. As it possessed and developed the most up-to-date technology at that time, the institute was always in danger of industrial espionage from other countries like the Koguryo Kingdom and the Silla Kingdom.

"The 21st century is an era of information technology. The viewers will be able to see not only the splendidly rich culture of the Paekche Kingdom but also their ancestors' passion for information technology, which is in line with today's trend", said the drama's writer Kim.

The drama also reveals the role of monks as industrial spies at that time, an aspect of monks in the past that is rarely focused 0n.

"Monks were the advance guards of intelligence war at that time. The leaders of the three countries made the best use of the monks' mobility as they were allowed to move freely from country to country on sacred missions", said Kim.

The drama also features a character who was originally from the Silla Kingdom (57 B.C. - A.D 935) but went over to Paekche as a child and smuggled himself into Taehaksa, concentrating on secretly getting out high-quality information over a long time. Various agricultural technologies considered the most up-to-date at that time also appear in the drama. In some episodes, to solve the problems of excessive dryness of the land, they released earthworms, and used ondol (hot floor) for the first time to decrease the humidity of homes.

"Seodongyo" is said to be one of Korea's oldest folk songs. According to Samgukyusa (The Memorabilia of the Three Kingdoms) from the Silla Kingdom, the song was written by Seodong, a commoner from the Paekche Kingdom. Hearing that Princess Seonhwa, a daughter of King Chinpyong of the Silla Kingdom was beautiful, he writes a song saying that the princess visits Sodong's room every night and spreads the song around. When her father hears the song, he condemns the princess to exile. Seodong picks her up and takes her to Paekche, and they become the royal couple of the country.

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Umizaru 2 ~ Test of Trust

Sequel to box office hit about Coast Guards, "Umizaru". Two years into his career as a Japan Coast Guard diver, Daisuke Senzaki (Hideaki Ito) has matured into a seasoned diver destined to be among the corp's elite. But he is haunted by past failure and the emotional strain that accompanies a job of saving lives has cast doubts in Daisuke's mind that threaten top destroy his relationship with Kanna.

Movie Review

Why is it that an immensely good-looking and courageous man with a beautiful partner on hand has to be so gloomy and emotionally drained? Is it the scriptwriters’ scheme to inject more coolness to the character or just a plot to extract empathy from the female audience?

Hideaki Ito plays Daisuke Senzaki, an elite seasoned diver with the Japanese Coast Guards who forces himself to take a step backward in committing his relationship further with his gorgeous “kawaii” fiancé, Kana due to his struggle with his inner fears. There’s never any deep dissection into the man’s mind or behaviour. Senzaki might well be suffering from what is commonly termed as clinical depression caused by his job.

This is after all a summer blockbuster in Japan, apparently we have no time to dwell on tedious medical conditions. Before you know it, a disaster involving a sinking gigantic ferry has occurred. And our hero, Senzaki is dispatched on this highly dangerous rescue mission within the first 30 minutes of the movie. The first “Umizaru” was a surprise-hit way back in 2004 chronicling Senazaki as a young recruit and how he won the hands of Kanna behind the backdrop of the tough coast guard grueling trainings. 2 years later when “Umizaru 2: Test of Trust” (It was titled as “Limit of Love”) was released in Japan, it instantly became a box-office hit outperforming the first instalment.

It’s easy to see why the “Umizaru” series is such as hit in Japan and worldwide. It has handsome tough men, lovey-dovey romance and heart-pounding rescue missions not forgetting the lush oceanic cinematography. Practically contain bits and pieces for everyone out there. The girls will go for the suave Hideaki and the guys will go for the action sets.

There’s never a second for you to be distracted by that bucket of popcorns on your lap. Apparently, the sequel has a bigger budget for more realistic CG effects and pyrotechnics and it never disappoints despite its clinched plotline. If you assumed Japan only export horror fares then you should go for “Umizaru 2”. Japan was once a country churning out quality commercial and art films alike before the Korean wave took over. Touted as Japan’s “Top Gun”, “Umizaru 2: Test of Trust” is a commercial fare which you can trust. In fact its box-office was much better than a certain bigger ship by the name of “Poseidon” in its native land.

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