War of the Arrows

Best Korean movie of 2011. Set during the 2nd Manchu invasion of Korea in 1636. Excellent. I, for one, am glad to see more archery in warfare and less sword fighting. Hollywood likes swordfights for their action and drama. They are thrilling, but they are basically stupid. Remember Agincourt? (Okay, you weren't there, but you have heard of it, right? If not, go read.) Remember the black cloud of arrows in 300? And our plucky heroine in The Hunger Games?

Some of the drama was a little much, but then I suppose it is an adequate stand-in for Korean incompetence during the invasion. I mean, criminently, the enemy is at the gates and everyone is standing around wondering what to do? With that kind of discipline they deserve to be enslaved.

The best parts are the running bowfights. There is one where we have a bunch of baddies chasing our hero through a forest. Straight, tall trees, minimal undergrowth, so there is no impediment to running, but with all the trees and everyone running, it is extremely difficult to get a clear shot. There is another where our hero has managed to jump a chasm, but the baddies have him pined down behind a rock. They cannot cross without exposing themselves to his shots, but he cannot shoot without exposing himself to theirs. But it takes time to knock another arrow after making a shot, so there is a brief window of opportunity after a fusillade where you can return fire.

I am not sure of the historical accuracy of some of the armor these guys were wearing. Chain mail in the 1600's in Korea? Could be, I suppose, and somebody went nuts with the brass studding, but hey, it could have been that way. Some of the close ups of archery techniques struck me as Hollywood-ish. I don't think there is any reason to twist the arrow and the bowstring once you have the bow at full draw, or pull a bit of the bowstring below the arrow another inch or two back, unless you want to show how impossibly strong your fingers are. I guess you have to give the movie makers some license, they did do a hell of job overall.

There was the "half-pounder", a chisel tipped arrow that weighed a half pound. I think the translation got a bit garbled here, probably doesn't weigh more than a couple of ounces. A fearsome missile in any case, if your were close enough to shoot it. There was also the whistling arrow, used to communicate on the battlefield. That was new to me.