Pugilistic romance invokes the return to a legendary or historical world possessing its individual codes of honour, and also, imminent tensions between the sexes and warriors of dividing loyalties. The Korean blockbuster film, "Bichunmoo," satisfies these criteria by harkening back to China's Yuan dynasty, controlled by the descendants of Genghis Khan, but facing serious opposition in insurgent anti-Yuan forces, thus invoking imminent political tensions between the different races of Mongolian, Han Chinese, and ancient Koryos (Koreans) as they each struggle for power within this cinematic mosaic. Imbedded within this narrative of war and dividing loyalties is, however, also the other implication that love is capable of transcending all considerations of race, class, and even death, thereby propelling it into the realm of legend. Enacting the element of romance as a pair of star-crossed lovers are the characters of Yu Jinha, an apprentice in the much-coveted art of Bichunmoo swordplay, and Sullie, his childhood sweetheart, also daughter to a Mongolian general's concubine. Computer-animated sequences of Jinha and Sullie's days together paint the whole trajectory from a rosy picture of a childhood romance set in a pastoral fantasy to a matured love as adults amidst a winter landscape. All does not go well, as Romeo does indeed face his Tybalt in the faces of class, race, and power struggle. Sullie's mother is taken ill, and the return of her father, General Tagura, from civil war to claim her back forces them apart, as he decides upon a potential husband for his daughter in the Han family of Namgung Junguang. The dirty linen of both the Tagura and Namgung families, namely their cruel extermination of Jinha's family, Koryos held hostage in China as bodyguards to the Crown Prince, for the sake of obtaining the Bichun Secrets, is gradually exposed, and further forces the lovers apart in this tussle over power. Capturing the blighted affair as a piece of flashback in time, complete with Namgung Junguang's befriending of Jinha and his betraying Jinha out of rivalry in love, the film takes a leap ahead in time to many years later when Jinha finally returns in a new name, Jahalang ( literally 'wolf of the purple dusk'), and declares his allegiances alongside the anti-Mongol forces. The character of Jinha, who is enacted by Shin Hyun-June, currently a popular actor in Korean drama serials, retains the element of boyish innocence in his handling of relationships of love and friendship, but the rapid switch in character as he faces his enemies is remarkably sinister. Kim Hee Sun's portrayal of Sullie is by no means impressive, but retains the aura of beauty around the character as the woman whom Namgung Junguang and Yu Jinha are both besotted with to the point of their deaths. Inevitable in this return of the tragic hero in the narrative is the unearthing of age-old tensions between opposing races, clan loyalties, and family loyalties. What appears to be the feuds of yester-year take on a new twist, as Jinha exacts his revenge upon his parents' murderers, but realizes to his own shock, that his benefactors are equally covetous of the Bichun Secrets , and that Sullie's sudden agreement to marry into the Namgung family was not betrayal but an attempt to prevent his own son from perishing unnecessarily as a love-child born out of wedlock. Namgung Junguang's character is no less ambiguous as he repents his betrayal of many years ago and gives up his right to both his wife and his son-in-name by a surprising act of self-sacrifice. Common to every pugilistic narrative is the expectation of lush, breath-taking cinematography, fast-paced martial arts action and immaculate fighting sequences with their flair for the most fantastic and graphic details of violence. In importing Hong Kong talent, Ma Yuk-Shing, who has directed the martial arts moves for various Hong Kong kung fu movies, "Bichunmoo" is no less like its recent predecessor, "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon," in proving the predominance of the cross-cultural and international trend that Asian cinema is gradually moving towards. It amalgamates the graphic details common to Akira Kurosawa's samurai films, in their dismembering of opponents in battle, with the stylized moves of swordplay and martial arts found in the Chinese kung fu film, to mention a few, fei tian dun di (flying in the sky and going under ground level literally), balancing on the tip of a swordblade, and the interlocking of sword with ringed sabre in order to parry the offensive blow. Riding upon the back of an age-old formula of 'love lost, love regained but foiled catastrophically once again', "Bichunmoo" is another statement in the blockbuster movie genres that rings with familiarity in its elements of swashbuckling heroes, bold villains, and beautiful damsels. But it is always the familiar that finds its favour with the audience, and in this case, pugilistic narrative itself is a test case in point.
