BLADES OF BLOOD (Korea, 2010)
Directed by: Lee Joon-Ik
Starring: Cha Seung-Won, Hwang Jung-Min, Baek Sung-Hyun, Han Ji-Hye

It's a powerhouse three-way team-up. Lee Joon-Ik, director of KING & CLOWN, the top grossing Korean movie of all time, returning to the Joseon Dynasty for the first time since K&C. Cha Seoung-Won, an actor who was originally told he was too ugly to be in movies, but who has gone on to become one of the most respected actors in Korea, taking home eight "Best Actor" awards in nine years, being cast as the movie's hero, a blind swordsman. And then there's the source material, the Korean manga, "Like the Moon Escaping from the Clouds" which was awarded the Republic of Korea Cartoon Culture Literary Prize in 1996. The result? A muscular blockbuster with impeccable style.

It's 1591 and the Japanese are coming. King Seonjo is doddering and indecisive and his court is a snake's nest of intrigue and back-stabbing with rival factions trying to game his encroaching senility. Some say the Japanese are coming, others claim they're not, but it's all just politics. Then a young, brash political party is founded by Cha Seung-Won (ATTACK THE GAS STATION) and he doesn't take it too kindly when they're accused of treason and put to the sword. Instead of folding up in shame, he picks up his meat axe and decides to stage a coup. Friend and foe alike fall beneath his blade as he slashes his way to political power. The only person who can oppose him is his old friend, a Hwang Jung-Min's blind swordsman.