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<\/a><\/p>\nKing Taejo, the first ruler of the Joseon Era, chooses his youngest son Bang-seok as his heir instead of the son he had from his first wife, Bang-won (Jang Hyuk, macho, mercurial and machiavellian like never before). It is the dawn of a new dynasty but it might as well be its twilight as a deluge of desire and sudden death is about to flood the young kingdom. Queue a blood feud that erupts into superbly choreographed violence, lavish production design, flourishes of historical fantasy, and hanbok-ripping sex. Court intrigue aside, the film\u2019s main business is a love story of lunatic majesty between Supreme Commander Kim Min-Jae (Save the Green Planet\u2019s Shin Ha-kyun in a stellar performance), and Gahee (Kang Han-na), a sword dancer who becomes his mistress. Kim\u2019s son Jin (heartthrob Kang Ha-neul playing against type), as it turns out, is a despicable serial rapist and it may not be an accident that Gahee has entered into upright Kim\u2019s domestic life. As family drama mixes with court drama and multiple revenge plots converge, the film enters into a sort of costume melodrama nirvana, stripped out of superfluity and softness, where the tip of a sword and a whisper from a red lip can bring the high and mighty crashing down.<\/p>\n