Restless Spirits

The Restless (2006) is a Korean martial arts fantasy - out of those qualities, “fantasy” was my favorite.

In ancient Korea, political disunity lead to the country being overrun by demons. An elite demon-hunting team beats them back, but when the country is united behind one king, they are seen as dangerous to the regime. They are all killed but one, played by Jung Woo-Sung. He saves a village by destroying their demons, but they betray him, serving him drugged wine.

He manages to hide in the forest, in a derelict temple, and finally succumbs to the drug. He wakes up in heaven. To be specific “Middle Heaven” where souls stay for 49 days before they are re-incarnated. This is explained by a passing soul, who wants to know what a live human is doing in heaven - and why he stinks so bad. Didn’t he take the purifying bath?

Eventually, an angel (or boddhisatva? Deva maybe) comes along to help out. She looks exactly like Jung’s dead wife. In fact, she probably is the soul of his dead wife, but has left behind all memory of her earthly existence. Since she died horribly, it’s probably for the best.

The main plot, though, is that the souls of the demon-hunters have decided to join forces with the demons and invade earth. Jung will have to fight them through Middle Heaven.

Of course, heaven is depicted in beautiful CGI splendor and the fights are equally fantastic. But the love story between a man and his wife’s soul is the best part for me, looking at whether love can last beyond a life, and if it even should. Also, it was pretty silly in parts.

This didn’t seem like a significant movie, but it was entertaining. And you know how much I love Buddhist themes.