“Fighter in the Wind” Korean Theatrical Poster
Director: Yang Yun-Ho
Producer: Jeon Ho-Jin
Cast: Yang Dong-Geun, Aya Hirayama, Masaya Kato, Jung Tae-Woo, Jung Doo-Hong, Lee Han-Gal
Running Time: 120 min.
By Owlman
I really enjoyed Fighter in the Wind. However, it should be noted that I’ve come to the recent realization that I’m a sucker for “underdog” movies – stories where somebody goes up against seemingly insurmountable odds and triumphs. Films about sports are built around derivatives of such a storyline and as much as it pains me to say it, I get a kick out of them. Maybe it’s a testimony to how I’ve lived my life – except for the winning part and the fame/glory that comes from winning the big tournament.
Anyway, back to Fighter in the Wind. It’s a fascinating take on the life of Choi Baedal, a native Korean who made his way into Japan and made it through his sad-sack life there to become one of the top karate masters in the country. According to this film, he had to go through some serious challenges to get there – the harsh treatment accorded to Koreans by the Japanese, the tragic loss of his 1 st master, the love and loss of a Japanese geisha (Yuko, played by Aya Hirayama), the brutal training regiment in the mountains, and facing the wrath of the union of karate dojos.
However, according to this film, he made it through and supposedly defeated every single dojo master in Japan, with the media following the amazing story of a foreigner mastering the Japanese martial art.
I emphasize “according to this film” because, quite frankly, all biographical movies that I know of tend to exaggerate and/or fictionalize many aspects of the subject’s life. For example, the whole training regiment in the mountains. It consisted of toughening his body by putting it through beatings with tree trunks and rocks, up until his body became so tough that he could crack stones. That’s one hell of a training regiment, particularly when you factor in the lack of any real food in the mountains – so much so that I thought Baedal was going to come down, don a ninja outfit, and start killing some bad guys.
Regardless, it sure made for an entertaining film. The fights were short and that’s a good thing – if they put any of the fancy-pants ballet in there (not that there’s anything wrong with it in general), it would have added to an already fairly exaggerated story. Not only that, they were brutal in that Baedal would take quite a few blows before laying a smackdown with a just a couple of moves.
Also, the love interest sure was a cutie. I don’t know what the hell MPM was smoking when he watched this movie but Aya Hirayama is one hell of a looker – Jeon Ji-Hyun’s got nothing on this one.
In conclusion, Fighter in the Wind was a very good story, even if it can’t be accepted as absolute truth of the life of Choi Baedal. One final note – some have mentioned that the character of Ryu from Street Fighter was based on this film. I beg to differ. Based on the epilogue of the movie where Baedal faces against a raging bull, only one video game came to mind…
Owlman’s Rating: 8/10
