Sea Fog

The captain of a South Korean fishing trawler is offered his biggest payday yet. All he has to do is pick up a bunch of Chinese refugees off the mainland of China and bring them to South Korea. He takes the job and initially everything goes well. However, the plans are thrown into disarray when tragedy strikes...

Interesting drama. Plot starts and develops well. The event that changes the course of the plot is shown in a semi-sympathetic light towards the crew and captain and you get the feeling it is going to be story about how the crew manage to evade the authorities, and smooth things over with their paymasters.

However, from a point the movie takes a romantic turn, and an idealistic turn, and this reduces it from a crew vs the authorities movies to a much more conventional good guys vs bad guys film. The multi-layered shades of gray is replaced a one-dimensional black- and-white. This takes the lustre off the movie to an extent.

Is still reasonably entertaining in the end, but had the potential to be something great.

It is a really interesting time for Korean cinema. Chan-wook Park and Joon-ho Bong, South Korea's leading auteurs have successfully transitioned into the English language with Stoker and Snowpiercer, introducing a larger audience to their respective cannons. South Korean cinema is flourishing. Haemoo's success on the festival circuit and its selection as Korea's entry for the foreign language Oscar is probably due in a large part to Joon-ho Bong's credit as producer and screenwriter.

Haemoo (Sea Fog) is based on a stage play which is in turn based on a real event that occurred in 2001. Judging by the collective gasp in the VIFF screening I was in, I assume most were not aware of what event it was based on. All I will say is that the incident is shocking and traumatic; this is not a film for the squeamish.

The film centers on Captain Kang and his fishing crew. He is about to lose his boat due to lack of finances so in an act of desperation he agrees to the job of smuggling Chinese-Korean immigrants into the country. His crew is not told until they are at sea.

First time director Sung Bo Shim competently handles the film, employing a straight forward, no bullshit approach to storytelling that would make Clint Eastwood proud. The set pieces are solid, especially the ship itself, although the film would have benefited from a cinematographer who wasn't afraid to take a step back. The camera is often too close to the action and three uses of shaky-cam are three too many.

Haemoo has its flaws but it's properly paced and well told. The audience at the screening seemed to love it, simultaneously applauding loudly at the finish. I look forward to seeing what Sung Bo Shim does next, preferably with a slightly larger budget.

Generally speaking, it's OK. But the difficulties ahead are a little thin, and the outbreak of the evil part of human nature is a little too abrupt and short.

... is what you get? You may expect certain things to happen, but I would think that if you haven't read too much about the story, at least the inciting incident will come as a shock. That doesn't mean that the movie has not prepared you for this, but it still is quite the shocker.

Having said all that, the characters are very well drawn. And while some things may feel like over the top (or over the board?), it all makes sense in the grander scheme of things. Very well acted and suspensful from start to finish. Although the ending may not be everyone's cup of tea I reckon (no pun intended).

If you are already a fan of Korean cinema, this will only underline that sentiment. If this is your first journey (again with the puns) into that territory (I do those on purpose don't I?), then you are in for a treat - might not be entirely a sweet one, but we wouldn't want to have it any other way (the majority of characters here will very likely disagree)

Haemoo is one of those few films, where to reveal too much while discussing it, would completely ruin the intensity of the story. If you're anything like me, you'll go into the film assuming it will be similar to 'A Perfect Storm', and you will instead find yourself in the middle of something else entirely. Kang (Kim Yun-Seok) is not only a man at the end of his tether, but the captain of fishing vessel Jeonjiho, a bucket of bolts and disrepair, in need of immediate overhaul. The owner, who he reports to, wishes to sell the vessel, though Kang's bond with his ship, which is stronger than any he has with the people in his life, leaves him desperately trying to keep that which has been in his family for generations. Unable to afford the hefty price of buying the vessel, he agrees to illegally transport Chinese-Korean stowaways, from a prearranged location at sea, to the mainland.

Dong-Sik (Park Yoo-Chun), the youngest and newest member of the Jeonjiho, is one of only a couple crew members who initially expresses issue with this plan, though the lacking quantity of fish, and the need for money, causes everyone to unanimously agree. When moving the illegal immigrants onto the vessel, the beautiful Hong-Mae (Han Ye-Ri), falls into the ocean, Dong-Sik jumping in to save her, thus beginning a strong bond that ties them together.

The inexperience the Jeonjiho crew have in transporting stowaways, alongside the lustful attraction several of the men have towards a number of the women, results in the build up of tension, as several crew members try to take advantage of the situation. Despite the dangerous conditions, and the threat of being boarded by security, Haemoo explores how sometimes, the greatest threat when you're out at sea, are the people around you.

Themes concerning love, friendship, trust, greed and fear are interwoven into the plot, the tension slowly escalating with such precise execution, that viewers will literally find themselves inches from the screen, hanging onto every action. Though there are occasional sex scenes, and moments of violence, the film is neither bloodthirsty, nor extreme in their depiction, these instead being used to heighten the story-line.

The acting is especially convincing, and it is the talents of the crew that especially increases the level of panic, fear and dread that grips the film. Despite characterization being only in short supply, the emotional depth and poignancy surrounding the leads engages us, especially as the film begins to traverse into darker territory.

A very dark, sophisticated and powerful dramatic thriller, Haemoo shows humanity at its best and worst, and though the theme of hope is continually in a state of flux, I certainly hope you watch this film; if not for any other reason, then for the wide variety of emotions Haemoo is guaranteed to offer.