“The Fatal Encounter” can best be described as a hybrid of Korean film genres. While it is a period film, “The Fatal Encounter” is populated with intricate action sequences and bloody death scenes worthy of Korean film noir. With that said, many female audiences who came to the film for the attractive male leads Hyun Bin and Jung Jae Young, may leave questioning the degree of violence that is depicted.

There is beauty within the sequences that could be considered the most violent. Sword fighting and close combat contain an intimacy that is stripped from films which are set in modern times. “The Fatal Encounter” juxtaposes the ostentatious sensibility of the palace grounds with gritty mud pits where small children are trained as assassins through the most inhumane techniques. The depictions of the horrors that befall these children are a necessary plot device which sets the stage for the climax of the film.

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