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‘Uprising’ Review: Overly Convoluted Korean Period Drama Blends Visceral Violence With Surprisingly Effective Political Comment
'Uprising' review: Action-packed but frustratingly convoluted Korean period drama sneaks in some barbed political potshots
Something that comes up almost as an aside in this handsomely mounted period piece, co-written and produced by Korean auteur Park Chan-wook, is the astonishing detail that, in the 16 th century, invading Japanese soldiers would saw off their victims’ noses as trophies of war. So prolific were these ad hoc amputations that there’s a shrine of sorts in Japan — the Mimizuka monument in Kyoto, Tokyo — that holds the noses of nearly 40,000 Koreans killed during that time, not to mention some 30,000 similar “souvenirs” from China. Frequently erupting into scenes of guts and gore that bring to mind the inventively violent samurai films of Takashi Miike, Uprising over-complicates a relatively simple plot by suddenly pivoting to King Seonjo, another nobleman who despises the proletariat and happily sells them out at the earliest opportunity by joining forces with the enemy when public opposition threatens to get out of hand.
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