Blood Rain | |
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Theatrical poster
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Hangul | 혈의 누 |
Hanja | 의 |
Revised Romanization | Hyeolui Nu |
McCune–Reischauer | Hyŏl-ŭi nu |
Directed by | Kim Dae-seung |
Produced by | Kim Mi-hee |
Written by | Lee Won-jae Kim Seong-je |
Starring |
Cha Seung-won Park Yong-woo Ji Sung |
Music by | Jo Yeong-wook |
Cinematography | Choi Young-hwan |
Edited by |
Kim Sang-bum Kim Jae-bum |
Distributed by | Cinema Service |
Release date
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Running time
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119 minutes |
Country | South Korea |
Language | Korean |
Box office | US$14,270,938 |
Blood Rain (Hangul: 혈의 누; RR: Hyeolui Nu) is a 2005 South Korean film. A murder mystery set in 1808, the film touches on historical prejudice against Roman Catholicism in the Joseon Dynasty. Although primarily a period thriller, director Kim Dae-seung weaves together an unconventional mix of styles—a puzzle-box mystery plot traditionally associated with detective fiction, class-conscious social commentary, lush cinematography, sets and costume design, and a flair for gore.
It is year 1808 on Donghwa Island, a small island with a technologically advanced paper mill. The presence of the mill has spawned a bustling village, and given its townspeople a certain degree of wealth. With climate and trees perfectly suited for papermaking—and a location remote enough to ensure both privacy and secrecy—the island has established a profitable business in high quality paper, with trade routes stretching as far away as China.
This isolated and largely autonomous island begins to be plagued by a string of gruesome murders. However, it's not just the mounting death toll that's causing residents to worry, but the sadistic, methodical way in which the victims were killed. With the killer still on the loose, the government sends in special investigator Wonkyu to crack the case. While conducting his dogged investigation, he soon uncovers a myriad of hidden secrets, tracing the murders back to an incident that occurred some seven years earlier, in which the former owner of the mill was executed for practicing Catholicism. The townspeople, for their part, are convinced that the dead man's ghost has come back for revenge. As the young officer digs deeper into the island's dark past, Wonkyu discovers that there may be something even more frightening than the murders or the murderer—a truth that will make him question the depths of human nature.