A Man Rode Into Town 1: BLOODY FIGHT IN IRON ROCK VALLEY (South Korea) Review

 For some New Yorkers a few months back,a mysterious loner rode into town amidst the circle of covered wagons that is the New York Asian Film Festival, bearing a heavy burden and carrying thoughts of revenge on the brain. It came in the form of new Korean director JI Ha-Jean’s minimalist and modern Western film venture, Bloody Fight in Iron Rock Valley. While the dust cloud its screenings kicked up was a modest one, the film made a huge impression on me by cutting out all of the excess and in effect distilling a very tight and engaging sequence of violence and leaving the rest up to audience’s imagination.

The film finds the archetypal loner, released from a lengthy prison sentence, in pursuit of a murderous gang of thugs. Their actions are brutal, but little more than those of Chul-ki, who manages to learn about their whereabouts after interrogating an isolated member of the gang.

As Chul-ki rides a motorcycle across a barren landscape on a course determined to end in violent confrontation with those that have wronged him under still cloudy circumstances, the gang, led by a cooly menacing gangster going by the name of Ghost Face, is engaged in a corrupt plot to move a monk off of his sacred land.  With this twist, Chul-ki’s path toward vengeance intersects with a more altruistic one of helping the family, particularly the monk’s headstrong daughter, resist the oppression of these local warlords. However, little changes in his steely expression.
     
The successful coming together of masterfully conceived elements on a quite obviously low budget is a marvel (I was so impressed that I reached out to director JI Ha-Jean to share about how he made it happen, the details of which will follow soon in an interview with him). There is the setting, first of all, which has enough hints to reveal that it happens somewhere in modern times, but is otherwise hazy. The town where most of the action takes place, which seems to be nestled in a mountainous region, contains natural beauty, yet at the same time has a grey tinge of industrial failure. The wardrobe of mostly modern day and casual attire might strike an odd chord at first, but after a bit, it just blends right in with the relative timelessness of the movie. A gently rolling soundtrack of a repetitive bass melody is unobtrusive, but keeps us propelled forward toward the rising action. Fights themselves are riveting, for both their skillful execution and also the use of an interesting array of weaponry, which includes an axe and a nail gun. Yet for the most part, the mood is one of being dangerously on the edge while awaiting the explosive consequences of confrontations long built up.  Indeed BLOODY FIGHT...is an exercise in tightly wound coiled spring suspense and its ability to maintain that tension throughout is impressive. This is helped, in no small part, by a cast of characters with a knack for emoting with a little more than an expression. Leading the way is LEE Moo-saeng, whose eyes portend an impending doom.

BLOODY FIGHT IN IRON ROCK VALLEY has not been released in the US yet, nor am I aware of any impending plans this to happen. Seekers of smartly made action films, however, should keep an eye out for both the movie and its very promising director.

Please check back within these pages soon for an interview with director JI Ha-Jean!