The Fortress

Based on real events from the early 17th century, this enthralling drama tells the story of the efforts made by the last king of independent Joseon (modern day Korea) to keep his kingdom and his people from the encroaching Qing who conquer all before them. Facing overwhelming odds, he must retreat to a remote mountain fortress and rely on it's inaccessibility and the fierceness of the winter to keep them safe until the spring, when hopefully his southern armies will be able to reinforce him. They are determined to sit it out, even if food was is in short supply for the 13,000-odd mouths they had to feed, and to a certain extent are helped by their foe who would rather the king (Park Hae-il) came out and publicly swore fealty to the Khan (Kim Pub-Lae). As you might expect, his advisors consist of those hawkish and those pragmatic, and he has to try and reconcile the increasingly fractious advice of his council. Meantime, getting a message to his troops is no mean feat, either, and he has to be aware that even if their wily blacksmith messenger does get through the enemy lines his soldiers might decide to keep their powder dry many miles away. The film looks great with authentic looking and especially frigid scenarios bringing a shiver to your spine as the occupants of the mountain refuge face the constant snow and freezing temperatures with only some straw cushions to insulate them from the cold. It does drag a little at times, but there are some entertaining combat scenes with plenty of bows, arrows and cannons to compensate. It's an history so like that other hilltop siege story "Masada", there's no actual jeopardy - but it's still a classy looking production that marries the needs of the state with the needs of the little people quite effectively for a couple of hours of honour amongst warring parties.