The Divine Weapon

The Divine Weapon (Korean: 신기전; RR: Singijeon) is a 2008 South Korean film.

The Divine Weapon
Theatrical poster
Hangul신기전
Hanja神機箭
Revised RomanizationSingijeon
McCune–ReischauerSin’gijŏn
Directed byKim Yoo-jin
Produced byKang Woo-suk
Written byLee Man-hee
StarringJung Jae-young
Han Eun-jung
Heo Joon-ho
Ahn Sung-ki
Music byJo Seong-woo
CinematographyByun Hee-sung
Edited byKim Hyeon
Distributed byCJ Entertainment
Release date
  • 4 September 2008 (2008-09-04)
Running time
134 minutes
CountrySouth Korea
LanguageKorean
Box officeUS$19,991,573[1]

Plot

During the reign of King Sejong the Great, Joseon Korea faces increasing hostility from Ming China. Ming China, without restraint, mounts unrelenting demands against the Korean crown, further entrenching distrust and aversion to subservience. Ming China has especially been provoked by a leaked news that Korea had under way an arms development program that would undermine theirs. Mounting pressure by threat of invasion and sending down Emperor's commands requesting young Korean girls to be sent to China, to reduce Korea's manpower and debilitate its military capacity, the grip around the throat becomes ever tighter. It seems Joseon's fate is dependent on completing an unfinished project - that of making Singijeon or the Divine Weapon a reality.

In the final battle, severely outnumbered Korean forces (less than 100 men) successfully defeat the thousands of Ming Chinese in armed combat with spears, bombs, and several finished Singijeon via several hwachas. Thousands of Ming Chinese footsoldiers are killed as the arrows in the Singijeon are launched. More are killed with the gunpowder packed inside the arrows(Standard Singeijeons). Those in the Ming Chinese army who remained are finished off with the large model Singijeons (대신기전,Grand Singijeon), except one of the nobles who prefers peace over warfare.

Cast

Release

The Divine Weapon was released in South Korea on 4 September 2008, topping the box office on its opening weekend with 630,257 admissions.[2] It led the box office for a further two weeks,[3][4] and as of 9 November had accumulated a total of 3,749,611 admissions. As of 16 November, the film had grossed a total of US$19,991,573.[1] making it the seventh most popular domestic film that year.

Reception

The film has been criticized by Chinese audiences for historical inaccuracies.[5] For example, it is pointed out that Ming China and Joseon Korea never fought and were in fact allies in resisting Japanese invasion in later times, that the tribute of virgins occurred when China was controlled under the Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. It also asserted that the weapons depicted in the film were predated by similar weapons developed in China.[6][7] The similar weapons are also recorded in Central Asia and Europe.

Awards and nominations
2008 Blue Dragon Film Awards[8]
  • Nomination - Best Director - Kim Yoo-jin
  • Nomination - Best Art Direction - Min Eon-ok
  • Nomination - Best New Actress - Han Eun-jung
2008 Korean Film Awards
  • Nomination - Best Actor - Jung Jae-young
  • Nomination - Best Sound - Oh Se-jin
2009 Fajr International Film Festival, "World Panorama" section[9]
  • Best Technical and Artistic Achievement
2009 Grand Bell Awards
  • Best Film
  • Best Editing - Kim Hyeon
  • Best Sound - Oh Se-jin
  • Nomination - Best Actor - Jung Jae-young
  • Nomination - Best Lighting - Im Jae-young
  • Nomination - Best Visual Effects - Jeong Seong-jin, Han Young-woo
  • Nomination - Best Planning - Lee Young-in
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References
  1. "South Korea Box Office November 14–16, 2008". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 26 November 2008.
  2. "Korean Box Office" (Week-end 2008.09.05 ~ 2008.09.07). Hancinema. Retrieved 26 November 2008.
  3. "Korean Box Office" (Week-end 2008.09.12 ~ 2008.09.14). Hancinema. Retrieved 26 November 2008.
  4. "Korean Box Office" (Week-end 2008.09.19 ~ 2008.09.21). Hancinema. Retrieved 26 November 2008.
  7. http://movie.douban.com/review/1628224/
  8. "The Divine Weapon - Awards". Cinemasie. Retrieved 12 April 2015.
  9. برف، بیضایی و بگیچ سیمرغ‌های بلورین را به خانه بردند [Snow, Beyzai and Begić won the awards] (in Persian). Mehr News Agency. 5 February 2009.
Preceded by
The Chaser		 Grand Bell Awards for Best Film
2009		 Succeeded by
Poetry
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