Mar

17

2008

Once Upon A Time

Posted by luna6

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Movie: Once Upon A Time
Release Date : January 31, 2008
Country : South Korea
Director : Yong-ki Jeong
Starring : Yong-woo Park, Bo-young Lee
Runtime : 110 min.
Editor Rating : 6.0
Users Rating: 6.22 1 Star2 Stars3 Stars4 Stars5 Stars6 Stars7 Stars8 Stars9 Stars10 Stars (9 votes)

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A bit of the unusual (period adventure piece ala Indiana Jones) and bits of the usual (Romantic Comedy) is what you’ll find in the pleasant South Korean film “Once Upon A Time”. The movie is set in the 1940’s during the latter days of the Japanese occupation of Korea. This setting isn’t entirely new for recent South Korean films, just within the last year alone Korean films like “Epitaph”, “Radio Days” and now “Once Upon A Time” have used this period as the backdrop to their films. Furthermore, “La Grand Chef” allotted prominent screen time to this era and there’s another big budget Korean film coming later this year (titled “Dachimawa Lee”) that will be set during this period as well. So, the film’s main drawing card isn’t so much its time setting, but rather the novel swashbuckling adventure elements placed in the film. And how does those moments stack up you may ask? Well you just have to read on….

onceuponatime-main.jpgIn “Once Upon A Time” a debonair Korean thief using the alias of Kanemura (Yong-woo Park) tip-toes around Seoul at night, stealing rare artifacts from the Japanese imperialists. When Kanemura isn’t roaming the streets to swindle expensive jewels, he spends his nights chasing after a lovely Jazz singer known as Haruko. What he isn’t aware of is that Haruko has her own particular alter ego as well, which is that of Daehangwha a legendary thief herself.

Meanwhile, the biggest heist yet for Kanemura presents itself in the next couple of days. A legendary 3,000 carat diamond known as the “Light of the East” is about to be taken from Korea and transported to the land of the rising sun. Before that happens the local Japanese commander will hold a special send-off party for the fabled Korean jewel. During this party, Kanemura plans to work his magic and steal the “Light of the East” diamond all for himself. What he isn’t aware of is that others have their own special plans that evening. Specifically, Haruko the lovely Jazz singer, has her sights set on stealing the diamond as well. Further complicating matters, two members of the Korean liberation army plan to assassinate the Japanese commander during the fateful send-off party. Who will get the diamond and then who will get diamond?

There’s lots of things to like about “Once Upon a Time”, but little to love about the film. Visually the film is appealing and does a respectable job in recreating South Korea circa the 1940’s. The action sequences were a tad bit underwhelming, but never shoddy enough to make you want to ask for a refund. Yong-woo Park, as the suave Kanemura, does his best work since performing in the off-beat comedy “My Scary Girl”. When thinking about the films he has done since that film - The World of Silence / For Horowitz / Beautiful Sunday / Changing Partners - I guess that’s not saying a whole lot. Su-hyeon Kim, who played main villain Colonel Yamada, gave the best performance of the group. His performance was over the top, but that’s precisely what the film needed.

Unfortunately co-star Bo-young Lee stood out as the weak link of the film. Obviously miscast as the seductive singer / swindler, everything about her performance screamed out “vanilla ice cream” rather than the required “strawberry sorbet”. Furthermore, if you ever wondered why South Korea never produced many accomplished Jazz singers, just check out Bo-young Lee’s closing song number at the end of the movie for the answer. Ouch.

Storywise, the film was average, often teasing you with anticipation but never able to muster up that edge of your seat excitement that should have arisen. A few unexpected surprises are unveiled at the end of the movie.

Although “Once Upon A Time” was released during the Lunar Holiday earlier this year, the film will likely make you recall another season, specifically the summer season and the blockbuster type of films rolled out during that time. Typical of those summer time flicks, the movie’s I.Q. quotient is remedial, while moderate amounts of thrills, laughs, and romance take center stage. The movie doesn’t excel at any one specific thing, but it’s likable enough as a whole to please the youngsters and adults a like. A little more excitement and someone else cast as the Jazz singer and the movie would have rocked.

buy Once Upon A Time from YesAsia

Cast:
Yong-woo Park
Bo-young Lee
Eung-su Kim
Su-hyeon Kim
Kil-Kang Ahn
Hyeong-jun Lim
Dong-il Song
Hie-bong Jo

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2008 Movie Reviews, Korean Movies, Movies |

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3 Comments so far

  1. 3 Hisashi Says: May 29, 2008

    I was in an easy mood and found it very funny. But, yeah, like you mentioned above, the girl is the weak link in the film. She beat our man at the first part of the film, but later on, all she could do was crying and asking for the diamond.

    But they left pretty much stuff (our misery villain with the broken fake diamond, for example). I don’t know how well the movie did in the BO, but I think they can adapt a sequel, a serious sequel since the Korean War was near at the end of the film.

    P/S: Am I the only one who felt sorry for the dog?

  2. 2 Rico Says: March 18, 2008

    I have this one also but for some reason i dont feel like watching it anytime soon…

  3. 1 Jasko Says: January 10, 2008

    Thanks for these previews I enjoy each and every one of them. I’m not sure about the actors in this one (they scare me) but the story seems like a whole lot of fun.