Netflix's Uprising, a historical action epic set in the Joseon Dynasty, features thrills, over-the-top action sequences, plenty of bloodshed -- and a stinging commentary on social inequality in South Korea.
Co-written and produced by acclaimed auteur Park Chan-wook and directed by Kim Sang-man (Midnight FM), the film takes place during the tumultuous period around the 1592-1598 Imjin War.
Slave-turned-militia-leader Cheon-yeong (Broker's Gang Dong-won) and high-born Jong-ryeo (Time to Hunt's Park Jeong-min) are unlikely childhood friends set against each other by the brutality of war and the era's rigid caste system.
The story's framing is established in a brief prologue, where we meet scholar Jeong Yeo-rip, leader of a 1589 movement called Great Unity where "noblemen and slaves shared food and drink and practiced martial arts together."
Such egalitarian ideals were definitely not appreciated by King Seonjo (Cha Seung-won), a real-life historical figure who embodies the era's rigidly stratified Neo-Confucian society.
Hunted down by the king's forces, Jeong Yeo-rip kills himself with a sword through the neck, in a brief taste of the gore to come.
"Both a king and a slave -- they are equal," Jeong manages to sputter out with his last breath.
Cut to Cheon-yeong, a slave boy in the house of Joseon's most influential military family. He is the "body servant" of the master's feckless son Jong-ryeo, a job that entails getting whipped whenever the young noble fails in his martial training.
"Why should I get whipped?" he protests, not unreasonably. "I did nothing wrong."
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The worse Jong-ryeo practices, the worse the beatings the slave receives in his stead, so Cheon-yeong -- a precocious fighter -- takes it upon himself to offer after-hours private lessons.
An unlikely friendship blossoms as they grow into young adulthood. Still, something is missing in Jong-ryeo's training. "You have no anger in your sword," Cheon-yeong chides.
Jong-ryeo keeps failing the state military exam, and Cheon-yeong offers to take the test for him -- on the condition that he be freed afterward.
The slave passes at the top of the class, but King Seonjo, unsurprisingly, has no interest in honoring the agreement. Fortunes turn when invasion by the Japanese sparks a slave mutiny that burns the palace to the ground and sends the royal court scrambling into exile.
Cheon-yeong escapes and eventually joins the Righteous Army, a military resistance movement against the invaders, where his sword-fighting prowess earns him the nickname the "blue-robed god."
Jong-ryeo also emerges as a military leader for the king, fueled by the death of his wife and child in the palace fire and the mistaken belief that his Cheon-yeong was responsible. Burning with a desire for revenge, he has found the anger in his sword, becoming a fierce warrior in his own right.
The theme of retribution is no surprise from Park Chan-wook, whose catalog includes the celebrated Vengeance Trilogy, nor is the mordant humor throughout.
The film's underlying social commentary is also a familiar staple of South Korean content, as hits from Parasite to Squid Game have tackled the country's own class issues in a way that has resonated with global audiences.
"I've always been interested in the topic of class," Director Kim Sang-man said at the Busan International Film Festival earlier this month. "The characters (of different classes) in this scenario all have different perspectives on the times. I thought it would be great to capture those things."
Uprising premiered as Busan's opening film, a first for a streaming feature.
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In the film, the antagonists come both from within and without the country. The brutality of the invading Japanese is seen in the character of Genshin (The Glory's Jung Sung-il) but it is the internal cruelty of the class system that is even more damning.
While King Seonjo is obsessed primarily with rebuilding his destroyed palace as his subjects starve outside its walls, a climatic three-way standoff takes place on a beach shrouded in fog, a setting that calls to mind Park's Decision to Leave.
Later on, we catch a glimpse of commoners in a public square enjoying a colorful show with music, masks and dolls.
"To punish those who leech off the people, we must all join forces!" a performer announces. "Since the masses are all beasts, it is only right that they fear us!"
The music plays on, and the film's message resonates across the centuries.
Uprising is currently streaming on Netflix.