"Kingdom: Ashin of the North" is actually derived from the Korean drama "Kingdom", which became popular last year with the theme of zombies. The show has a unique approach, combining palace fighting elements and zombie themes ingeniously. It has been released for two seasons, and the word of mouth has exploded. It has been scheduled for the third season. And the protagonist of this film, Ashin, is an important new character who appeared at the end of the second season.
"Kingdom: Ashin of the North" is a detailed introduction to the past and present life of the heroine Ashin, which is the prequel and side story of "Kingdom". The film tells how Ashin grew up step by step from a weak and helpless little girl to a demon who wanted to kill everyone in the world. In the film, whether it is a life scene or a fighting scene, it is extremely realistic, magnificent, and the scenery is beautiful. Even if the zombie element is eliminated, just looking at a costume movie, it can be called an epic costume action movie.
In the film, people from all walks of life, from clothes and headgear to various tools and weapons, all restore the original appearance of history, and the attitude of serious research is very rigorous. The level of the props group is completely comparable to the level of "Game of Thrones" and "The Lord of the Rings". What is even more rare is the various devil details, such as the frostbite on the face of the heroine Ashin, which is a unique mark of nomads in the northern frigid zone. The woolly armor worn by the fierce Jianzhou Jurchen, the Zahu tribe where the heroine lives, the birch wood villages and the original iron-wood wheels, etc., and so on, these are the unique details of life of the ancient nomads who lived along the Yalu River. Constitute the truest background to the story. If such a scene is used to make a documentary called "The Mountain People by the Yalu River in the Ming Dynasty", it is entirely possible to win an award.
Storyline: As a small Jurchen tribe who crossed the Yalu River and came to Korea to seek life The film’s heroine, Ashin, has followed her father and her clan since she was a child, and has been subjected to endless oppression and humiliation by the Korean natives. As the patriarch, my father firmly believed that as long as he served the Korean people wholeheartedly and did a good job in the five-water army, he would one day be accepted and treated fairly by the Korean adults. Unexpectedly, due to the reckless actions of the upper-level figures, the relationship between the Jurchen and North Korea was tense. In this situation, Ashin's people became the victims of maintaining a stable and united political atmosphere. Her father, who was sent to spread rumors, was arrested and subjected to inhuman abuse, while his clansmen became sacrifices to the Jurchen by the North Korean side. In the entire ethnic group, only Ashin, who went out to find elixir for his mother, survived.
The following story belongs to the classic routine of traditional blood relatives revenge. The ignorant and ignorant little Ashin knelt down and begged the North Korean military officer to take in the old prostitutes, and then endured the humiliation, practiced his skills, and studied hard every day. Although she suffered injustice from all sides, even her own body could not be protected, and she was abused by everyone every night, but in the hard years, she always believed that she could use the power of the Koreans to complete revenge for her clan.
Years later, the relationship between the North Korean Jurchen and Jurchen became increasingly tense. The old prostitute asked Ashin, a breeder and part-time military prostitute living in a pigsty, to cross the river for reconnaissance. At his father's repeated request, Ashin killed his father, went back to find the true image of the extermination of the family, and completely completed the blackening. Ashin used the so-called undead grass (actually a kind of Cordyceps, unknown spores parasitic on plants) to create a large-scale zombie incident, slaughtering cities and destroying villages, cutting off the limbs of the enemy and giving them to the zombies she rescued with the undead grass. The clansmen eat it, and vow to avenge the human race to the end of the world.
The reason why this movie impresses me mainly lies in three aspects:
First, the rigorous and highly restored clothing modeling and the unique primitive and rough scenery of the Northeast virgin forest. This makes the whole film very atmospheric, and the scenery of the Siberian virgin forest shown in the whole film is very beautiful. When it comes to scenery alone, it completely kills Zhang Yimou's simple peasant aesthetic of big red and green - I want to talk about films like "Heroes" and "Golden Armor". The location of Zhang Yimou is already a high standard for domestic films.
Second, the core of revenge by blood relatives is the universal cultural value that no matter which country or nation recognizes. The director started from this point and shot the popcorn film that was supposed to be blood plasma bursting and everyone biting with their mouths open to a certain depth. Although the stereotype of "natural disasters are man-made disasters" is still not out of the way, the film's plot is smooth and reasonable, and it can be regarded as an excellent work full of sincerity.
Third, the actors' acting skills are superb, surpassing the average zombie movie by several grades. The turning point of the story is reasonable and reasonable, especially the blackening process of Ashin himself, who is the main line, reminds me inexplicably of Ye Wenjie in "Three-Body Problem". Humans don't hesitate to turn into demons with a butcher's knife in their hands. I understand Ashin's pain and hatred very well. Why does Ashin have to be blackened? At first glance, it is hatred, but it is based on the greed and tyranny of human society, and the ugly selfishness in the human soul. It can be said that the devil, Ashin, was trained step by step by human beings, just like Mr. V in V for Vendetta said. The demons created by human beings themselves will definitely become the gravediggers of human beings (I watched it many years ago, and it is now a banned film. The original words are not like this, this is just the meaning I understand).
Especially the performance of the girl Ashin kneeling in front of the clan and crying, is the best crying scene I have seen in recent years, no one. Coupled with the adult Ashin-Kim Hee-sun's deep-seated interpretation of the soul, the film is sometimes more like a passionate literary film.
Of course, this film also has flaws. For example, Bangzi always exaggerates the bravery and skill of his own nation, and raises the sense of existence of his own nation whenever and wherever. This is a very funny old international joke. For example, the Dragon Boat Festival was invented by Bangzi. Li Shimin was shot blind in one eye during the crusade against Goryeo. This kind of speechless exaggeration is also reflected in this film - as an aside, in fact, Goryeo in history, especially Goryeo in the Ming Dynasty, was sandwiched between China and Japan, and was often pressed on the ground by three parties to rub against the ground to make fire. . It belongs to the public toilet supplies shared by China, Japan and wild boar skins.
Because of this movie, I downloaded the full version of the Korean drama "Kingdom" and eagerly anticipated that "Kingdom: Ashin from Afar", which was a box office hit in Korean theaters, would continue to work hard and put the sequel on the agenda as soon as possible.
Pindao warmly recommends everyone to take a look.
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