(Lotte Entertainment)

Park Heung-sik, director of “Memories of the Sword,” said Wednesday that the lack of swordswomen heroines in Korea pushed him to make the upcoming film, despite difficulties.

Jeon Do-yeon (Lotte Entertainment)

In an interview with local media, Park said he spent a total of 11 years in bringing his brainchild to life on the silver screen -- six years to fully develop the idea and three years to write the scenario.

The filming itself only took five months. But Park faced another problem. Due to a scandal involving one of lead actors, he had to delay the release of the film for nearly a year.

Lee Byung-hun (Lotte Entertainment)

Yet his confidence in his work remains strong. “We spent the extra time perfecting the cuts and edits,” he said.

Park said he wanted people to see how women can dominate in a movie with swords in hand.

“I hope there will come a day when strong women will be seen as ‘admirable’ not ‘difficult,’” he said.

Kim Go-eun (Lotte Entertainment)

“Memories of the Sword” portrays a power struggle between three swordsmen who are bound by vengeance. The film will hit the cinemas nationwide on Thursday.

By Lim Jeong-yeo (kaylalim@heraldcorp.com)

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