Sunsu-ui sidae

Like many a "Joseon Empire" historical action movie, this 2015 South Korean film is solidly anchored in sword violence. (To put it bluntly, there's lots of blood and gore.) But the addition of rape scenes made it significantly more disturbing than your average TV K-drama "sageuk", which (as of 2023) are always pristinely sanitized in romantic and/or sexual situations. This movie opens with an arty inter-splicing of a bloody battle and rather raw lovemaking, which may seem gratuitous to some, but provides a deft summary of the 2 faces of lust that fueled the rise of a 500 year dynasty. The directing and acting is top notch, especially from the two lead actors, noble hero Shin Ha-Kyun and psycho-villain Jang Hyuk (who rose to prominence in the iconic sageuk "The Slave Hunters"). Both of these action stars can actually act, and superb at packing a universe of emotion into a "100 yard stare". This film is basically a love story and could have been improved with better couple chemistry and a more memorable OST. The k-drama TV series "My Country: The New Age", also set in this era and with Jang Hyuk reprising his role as Bang Won, is cheesier/ less sophisticated than EoL, but it's much more entertaining and more visually enticing. In summary, Empire of Lust is a film worth 2 hours of your time, but its depictions of extreme avarice and cruelty are not easy watching.