The Blood Stained Route Map

The Blood Stained Route Map (Pimudun Ryakpae) (2002... or 2004)

Runtime: In total, approximately 140 minutes

Directed by: Phyo Kwang

Starring: Chang-su Choe, Ryon Hwa Kim

From: Korea Film

Here is something quite different for me as I unofficially participate in the annual month long watching of foreign films over at Letterboxd... a movie from NORTH Korea. That's right. It's technically a two part film but I have the reviews for both parts below. I shall return tomorrow night.

Part 1:

The past two years, I've enjoyed the deal where for a month Letterboxd users watch movies from other countries every day during said month. I do it too but the past two months it was after the fact so it was unofficial and it's far less than 30 or 31 films. This year I am managing to do it on the correct month and who knows how many films I'll end up seeing.

I decided it'd be rather interesting to watch a film (actually released in two parts, even if the two parts put together are only 140 minutes; the second part's coming up in a few minutes) I found out about from this site. Yes, it is from North and not South Korea, and there's actually a copy of both on YouTube with English subs. Now, I only knew the North Korean cinema scene from Pulgasari, a film I can't say I've seen. Somehow, the idea that the director and his wife were kidnapped from South Korea and for years he was forced to make films and this was one of them... it doesn't fill me with desire to check it out.

But, due to this month and judging solely from Letterboxd and the IMDb hardly any people at all (let alone from the West) have seen this so I figured I should check it out and try to rate it fairly despite my great sadness at what has happened in the country since the Korean War decades ago. I don't want to bring politics into this so let me move on and talk about the film.

I'll briefly explain the plot of the movie here. It's not presented in the clearest of fashion but 10 years before the present time of the film (which is set in the past) the Japanese are looking for two gold Buddha statues that are on an island. Besides them being gold statues it also states the identity of the rightful owners of the island; the importance of the islands strategically to the Japanese is explained.

The father splits the map in three and gives it to his sons. Pops is soon dead but the kids escape. While the majority of the film is in present time, there are flashbacks to ten years prior and you see what happened to the characters and how the ended up where they did. One of the sons early on kills himself rather than give up his piece so you follow the now adult two surviving brothers who have been separated for years.

The movie was made in this century and yet it looks older than that. I am not surprised that country's film scene would have primitive film equipment, or that all the sound was added in post-production. While I understand the circumstances of the country this film was made, this isn't too good. In the review of Part 2 I'll post soon I'll explain why.

Part 2:

Minutes ago I posted a review of Part 1 of this two part movie. Why it was released in 2 parts when they are each 70 minutes long I cannot explain... then again to keep things in perspective there are way more important questions I have about that country.

If you are wondering about story structure or other things from a country where the citizens are forced to be isolated from the rest of the world... judging things just from one motion picture may be a big leap but even in North Korea the film scene is like the rest of the world. There are such cliches here as a rebellious daughter, people looking for revenge, an outsider entering a competition and doing well in it & that sort of thing. While the movie isn't always presented in a clear fashion, amongst all the dialogue there are action scenes that are actually fine (whether it be sword fights, martial arts, or other forms of combat), and the filmmaking itself is just like a low-budget film from everywhere else. Generally in terms of how the plot is put together it's the same as elsewhere and depending on your knowledge of the ethnicities of that part of the world you'd either think this is from elsewhere in the Pacific Rim region of Asia or that it was South Korea. They didn't try to reinvent the wheel, in other words.

The reason I rate it as 2 stars is how things are muddled sometimes, it likely could have been shorter and that would have helped, and the amateurism does hurt things. I do realize the government does play a big role in the North Korean film world and who knows how big their role was in this story, but I can surmise any person who makes films there is hampered by them and how they can't learn like other filmmakers can, especially in more developed countries.

It was certainly different to watch a motion picture from that particular world. It wasn't an alien experience or surreal to watch. It was shot and put together in an acceptable manner so it was not like Birdemic or anything else amazingly inept. It's just a mediocre piece of work, that's all.