The Last of the Sea Women

I would highly recommend anyone wanting to learn more about this amazing tradition, read The Island of The Sea Women by Lisa See to get a more in depth understanding g of this culture. There is so much more to the Haenyou than this did orovides and a lot more history.

I watched this to learn more after finishing the book. And it was cool to see them in action, but too much fo us on what was happening in Japan. Although I understand and realize it's important, but it didn't teach me as much as I wanted to learn. Jeju island was deeply affected by the Korean War and the April 3 uprising that would have been more interesting since it directly affected these people.

I wanted to hear more about their training to become divers, their lives, etc. Instead it just had footage of harvesting and told a little about the divers. Then it switched to protesting Japan's release of nuclear wastewater into the ocean. Not at all what I was interested in. I read about the sea women in a book that was more moving and interesting than this movie. Skip the movie, read the books about the hanyeo women. You will learn more and be pulled into their lives in a much more emotional way.

The book also talked about the unique adaptations of these women's bodies. Scientists studied them and their cold resistance and other unique abilities.

As with most people who take the time to watch this fascinating documentary, I knew nothing about "haenyeos" beforehand, but I learned a lot in just 90 minutes. Yes, it's challenging to summarize a tradition that began nearly 2,000 years ago in such a short timeframe, but I think the filmmakers did an excellent job. For me, the documentary provided a riveting introduction to a way of life that's on the verge of extinction due to a number of factors.

I especially enjoyed meeting the two younger haenyeos who not only share their "aunties'" passion for the profession, but may also be able to convince a younger generation to carry on the tradition.

Overall, The Last Of The Sea Women is an emotional, educational and beautifully filmed introduction to a group of amazing women whose story I truly enjoyed hearing.

It's fascinating to me that I learned for the first time about these strong, fearless, cheerful grandmothers called haenyeo, who in their 60s and 70s still snorkel a few meters and collect seafood to sell, and that's a tradition in South Korea. On the island of Jeji, a craft that has been handed down for generations, but is now dying out due to climate change, ocean pollution, and because the new generations do not want to do it. UNESCO protected this tradition in 2016.

However, although the film is visually wonderful, they failed to elaborate on some very important topics, such as when the government of Japan decided to release radioactive material into the ocean after Fukushima and when a haenyeo representative was invited to the UN to give a speech on what consequences this would have. . We don't really get a full epilogue to it, it's just scratched the surface. In essence, they did release that material into the ocean.

A documentary film about a group of female divers, most of them elderly, from South Korea. They dive without any kind of assistance to collect seafood.

It has all the basics you'd expect in these cases: interviews with different protagonists, basic information about how long this tradition has existed, how it continues today, etc.

You might find it more or less interesting overall; personally, it didn't catch my attention at all.

The main problem arises when they mention that this group has partnered with the United Nations, throw in some low-quality meetings about the Fukushima issue, and, finally, showcase the waste of taxes and the time politicians spend padding their agendas.

You're not missing anything by skipping this documentary.