
2017 · war · drama · korean
Directed by Hwang Dong-hyuk2h 20m2017
Ancient Korea, 17th century. The powerful Khan of the Jurchen tribe of Manchuria, who fights the Ming dinasty to gain China, becomes the first ruler of the Qing dinasty and demands from King In-jo of Joseon to bow before him; but he refuses, being loyal to the Mings. On December 14th, 1636, the Qing horde invades Joseon, so King In-jo and his court shelter in the mountain fortress of Namhan and prepare to defend the kingdom.
Our read: The Fortress (2017) reads as a heavy, measured, grounded war · drama · korean entry — measured in intensity, mid-stakes in scope, measured in temperature, nihilistic in outlook.
Heavy, measured, measured war / drama, grounded in texture. Nihilistic, mid-stakes, measured.
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Each axis is scored by hand, not from votes or genre averages. The bar uses the film's own colours.
“You want intense Korean historical drama of 17th-century siege and political humiliation.”
Skip it tonight — Skip if bleak war history, long talks and devastating national loss will drain you.
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