Korean Title: Bichunmoo
Starring: Kim Hee-Seon, Shin Hyeon-Jun, Jeong Jin-Yeong
Director: Kim Yeong-Jun
Studio: Spectrum
Rating: R
Genre: Action

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About This DVD

Set at the close of the Yuan Dynasty, a chapter of Chinese history under the Mongolian rule, the Han clan, a family of Koryo refugees, have settled in China, where rivalries between local barons prevails, where alliances are formed and just as quickly broken, fostering an environment in which lov and war live in increasingly close proximity.

Not since The Gingko Bed have Korean audiences been graced with a love story this heartbreaking.

Chin-ha (Shin Hyeon-Jun), the Koryo Dynasty's only surviving royal bloodline heir, has the misfortune of loving the wrong woman, Shilee (Kim Hee-Seon), a daughter of the Taru family, the clan responsible for the brutal murder of his parents. Shilee, meanwhile, though much beloved by her betrothed Chun Kwang (Jeong Jin-Yeong), her spouse by arranged marriage, is unable to sever her heart from Chin-ha. Like Chin-ha, her birth chart shows Mars and Venus in conflict, her yearning for her one true love bringing love under the sign of war. Falling irremediably in love with the son of her family's mortal enemy, her heart conflicts with the demands of family and destiny.

The maxim that lovers need not the world is reinforced by this love story. The tragedy is that, unable to betray itself, love is forced to betray everything else, friends, family, country, etc. When love vows are exchanged between the kin of warring clans, the repercussions are even more heartfelt, each profession of love inflicting a deeper wound in the hearts of the clans. These are the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune felt by Romeo and Juliet and they are revisited again in this classic Asian love story.

The story is given added pathos by the rivalry formed between Chin-ha and Shilee's betrothed Chun Kwang, a noble of the Han clan. Torn between love, friendship to Chin-ha and resolution as a warrior, his heart is in interminable conflict. Unable to compete with the predestined love between his wife and Chin-ha, he is forced into treating a respected friend as a rival. Believing Chin-ha dead, Shilee agrees to marry Chun Kwang. When she fails to honor her promise to meet Chin-ha at Woo Hwa Jong on the first full moon of the following, Chin-ha despairs, not realizing that she has already been forced into an engagement with Chun Kwang by his family. But with the help of her stepbrother Rai (Jang Dong-Jik), she and Chin-ha, wishing to consummate their love, take flight. Tracked by Chun Kwang, Chin-ha is cornered by Taruga and his men at a cliff's edge, where he is pierced by an arrow and falls from the cliff. Chung Kwang's sorrow at the apparent death of his friend and rival is palpable, his inability to intercede, heartbreaking.

Restored to life miraculously by his Koryo guardians, who know him to be the sole heir of the Koryo royal bloodline, Chin-ha disguises himself as the masked man, Jaharang, a contract killer assigned to eliminate all parties intimate with the Yuan Dynasty. Wielding a sword of bitter resentment, he proceeds to ransack Jun Kwang's house. There, he finds a picture with his father's name on it. Chin-ha, who has become aware of his true identity, knows he is the sole surviving heir of the Koryo royal family. A family servant named Kwak-jeong, masquerading as his uncle, revealed the secret of his birth before dying from an assassin's surprise attack. The well kept family secret pertaining to his birth is designed to protect him from assassins intent upon putting an end to the Koryo Dynasty. Receiving his training in Bichonsingi, a martial arts technique combining Kungfu and Taekwondo styles, at the hands of Kwak-jong, his master is among the first to give his life to protect Chin-ha with the aim of protecting the Koryo royal bloodline.

Following the attack on Chun Kwang's house, Shilee's son plots revenge. Approaching the assassin Jaharang for instruction, he has no idea that he has given himself over to the very enemy against which he seeks revenge for training. Taking the boy under his wing, Chin-ha, knowing the boy to be his son by Shilee, willingly passes on all he knows to the young boy. Later, Shilee rather unkindly informs Chun Kwang that she has never loved him and that their son is not his, but Chin-ha's. Stating only that in truth he already knew, he accepts these wounds without the slightest flinch, his heart being already rent in two by the knowledge that his great love is unrequited.

But what love triangle would be complete without another equally potent love triangle intersecting at right angles? Here, enters Yo-jin (Jeon Ha-Na), the only female subordinate of Cho Bak-son, who is bitterly jealous of Shilee and obsessively in love with Chin-ha. Bitter that he will not fall for the enchantress's snares, she decides to lure him into another assassination attempt instead. Remorseful of her actions, she later extracts the poison inflicted by the poison arrow in an attempt to nurse him back to health. Finding her in a state of repose when he comes to, Chin-ha realizes that Yo-jin has administered her own fatal dose and is about to die. Advising him that she has not got all the poison out, she warns him to observe caution till it is out of his system.

Audio Format:	Dolby Digital 5.1 Ch, DTS 5.1 Surround, 2.0 Stereo Surround
Video Format:	Widescreen - Enhanced for 16:9 TVs
Languages:	Korean
Subtitles:	English
Country Made:	Korea
Region Code:	3
Year Made:	2000
Running Time:	118
Special Features:	Disc 2: Bonus Materials (116 minutes), Director's Audio Commentary, Cast and Crews, Theatrical Trailer, Location Sketch, Production Notes, CG Collections, Music Video, NG Footage, Original Sound Tracks, Highlights
Availability:	Usually ships in 5-10 days