The Duelist

Set in eighteenth-century Korea, The Duelist follows Nam-soon, a woman working as a detective at a time when few women were permitted to investigate cases. Together with her mentor, Detective Ahn, she goes undercover to break up a ring producing counterfeit money, a trail that leads toward a powerful figure in the government. The investigation brings her into contact with Sad Eyes, a reserved and skilled swordsman in the service of the gang, whose blank expression and quiet manner hide his role in the affair. Duty and attraction pull Nam-soon in opposite directions as she and Sad Eyes meet repeatedly in combat, each encounter unsettling her sense of where her loyalty belongs.

Lee Myung-se directed the film, working from a screenplay he wrote with Lee Hae-Jyung and Lee Hae-kyung. Ha Ji-won plays Nam-soon, Gang Dong-won plays Sad Eyes, and Ahn Sung-ki appears as Detective Ahn, with Song Young-chang, Yun Ju-sang and Kim Bo-yeon among the credited cast of twenty-one. The film runs 111 minutes and was released in September 2005, produced through Korea Pictures, Michigan Venture Capital, Wellmade Entertainment and Production M. It took about 6 million USD worldwide, a modest return for its scale. On IMDb it holds 5.9/10 from roughly 1,500 votes, while on TMDB it sits at 6.5/10 from a much smaller group of 62. Directed before The Killers and Ran 12.3, it is the first of three films listed for Lee Myung-se.