Haemoo

This isn't the movie I was expecting - it's so much better.

The tonal shifts in the film are jarring, throwing the audience off from our expectations. Early exposition introduces the crew of the ship and makes a display of the human element as they first bring the immigrants on board and show them kindness. This contrasts sharply with early moments of conflict as tempers flare, to say nothing of the dramatic turn within the second half.

For as dark as it is, and well made, 'Sea fog' is deeply, terribly engrossing.

It's notable that the film was co-written between director Shim Sung-bo and celebrated film-maker Bong Joon-ho, who both similarly collaborated on Bong's marvelous 'Memories of murder.' The same grim atmosphere that pervades the latter film is just as inescapable here, if not more so, as the picture progresses. Where earlier scenes almost let us believe that 'Sea fog' is built as a sentimental human interest story along the lines of Disney's 'The finest hours,' that illusion is quickly dispelled in the second act.

It doesn't seem especially remarkable, at first, in any way. But Shim's eye as a director waits for the titular sea fog to roll in, literally lending atmosphere to the film, before he pointedly stirs it into his feature with tension as thick as the murky air. The cast roars to life with the onset of great violence and desperation, and every performance is truly riveting as the complexity of each character, and their altogether horrific personalities, are brought to the forefront.

While all excel, I'm especially enamored with the display of acting from Kim Yoon-seok, who portrays the stubborn, sole-minded captain with an unexpected range that's increasingly captivating as the feature rolls toward its conclusion. Then, too: Han Ye-ri, as Hong-mae, and Park Yoochun, as Dong-sik, share chemistry as scene partners that's greatly alluring. This is especially true in a tender scene that marks the transition from the second to third acts. Both bear such swirling, conflicting emotions in their countenance that, together with the swelling, affecting chords of Jung Jae-il's fantastic score, a scene that should be rousing and touching in a romantic sense instead feels direly tragic and heart-breaking. For as much as 'Sea fog' makes an impression from start to finish, not least of all at the climax, this scene in particular is one I am simply not going to forget.

The production design is arresting, with the scent of fish and sea air practically wafting through our screens along with the din and grit off the boat, to say nothing of the gloom of the fog. That deepening vapor is employed as pathetic fallacy in 'Sea fog,' to an extent that's maybe a bit heavy-handed, but it feels far more natural than arbitrary. The sheer quality of the storytelling and film-making herein makes this an essential watch, to say nothing of the fact that it's based on real life events.

This was only Shim's first full-length feature film, and still to date his only credit as director, but he has absolutely proven his worth. The accolades and nominations it received are very well deserved, and by all means it was a fine submission for the Academy Awards that sadly was not selected. I began watching with a particular idea in mind of what I was about to see, and I've been blown away with the experience I got instead. 'Sea fog' is an outstanding movie, highly recommended for all comers.

... 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)

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.

This film is another living proof to show the world how Korean movies could be so unique and so creative. If you turn your eyes to the recent Chinese movies, including those from Taiwan and Hong Kong, you might immediately be able to tell the day and night differences and how superior and transcendent are the Korean movies, their screenplay writers, their directors and their actors are just so superior to other Asian movie industries. Japanese movies used to be good, but after their anime crap dominated over everything, their movie industries just suffered a nose dive, most of their great movies were produced between 1930 to 1070, after that golden era, Japanese movies simply lost almost everything worth mentioning.

"Sea Fog" is another memorable Korean masterpiece. Those familiar actors were doing great in this bone-chilling film. A fishing boat, fishing bad luck, down and out captain, crew and those smuggling illegals, accident (a so appropriate American slang: "Shit happens"); so unpredictable and so unavoidable....

Then, there's one thing also proved that we are too human, too subconsciously trying to hide from the atrocity and tragedy by using sudden unexplainable sex to get a cathartic escape. I do understand that under some weird, dangerous, suffocating occasions, when the tension is too high to bear, if there is an opposite gender facing the same situation with you, both you and her or him, just might use love making as a safe harbor to escape the atrocious storm and to release the pressure right afterward. But still, when that moment happened in this film, I still couldn't help shaking my head and murmuring: "WTF!??", then suddenly I realized that episode was quite possible.

If you like this movie, please don't forget to check out another great Korean movie, "The Yellow Sea", that's another bone-chilling film that only the great Korean movie people could have achieved.

(TIFF'14 Intro) Director Sung Bo Shim introduced the movie's afternoon screening and stuck around for Q&A session afterwards.

(Review) I consider Snowpiercer to be one of the best films to come out of 2013, and Joon-ho Bong's co-scripting duties on Haemoo was what attracted me to Haemoo. While first time director, and co-script(er) Sung Bo Shim took over directorial duties for Haemoo, it is with Snowpiercer that the film will most draw comparisons. Although they couldn't be more different in terms of scripting, plot, or even the message they aim to get across, they are both a gritty, bleak look at humanity's darker side, and in both cases, play their conflicts out in locations that mirror the messages the films are trying to get across. As Snowpiercer traces a revolution that begins in the bleak lower classes back carriages of the last remaining train on Earth, moves through the empowered, and autonomous middle class cars and ends at the apathetic, electronically numb upper classes carriages, the audience are treated to a class warfare fueled journey through the entirely of our world.

Bo Shim, here, plays his tale out on a small fishing vessel, and a desperate captain, who decides to transport human cargo when business runs slow. As in Snowpiercer, the fishing vessel, and the ocean it travels on, reflect the mental state of the crew. Clear waters and sunny oceans start their journey, dark stormy waters mark their arrival to pick up the new cargo and as the crew start breaking and coming to terms with what they've been forced to do, the Haemoo (sea fog) sets in, blinding our screens, and trapping the vessel in ethereal limbo. Bo Shim takes visual clues from Joon-ho Bong and dresses up the three areas of the ship according to their roles: the uppers decks are gray and steely, the fish hold (a very bad place) is dark and bleak, and the engine room, the only 'sanctuary' for a large part of the film, is decked in shades warm yellow and brown. The film looks stark and visceral, and everything, from the script to the acting, helps get that across.

All the sights and sounds would be a waste without a solid script to back it up, and the movie does not disappoint. Haemoo throws average, ordinary, salt of the earth people into desperate situations that shatter, twist and test them. The movie's first act traces the lives of these fishermen, on and off land, and shows them going about their lives. The writing in these parts is so authentic that it's hard not to view them as real people, with real, crappy jobs by the time they head back off to sea. It is through these unremarkable and slow sequences (a charming little love story on the boat takes the better part of the first hour) that the script manages to put us at ease and catch us off guard when the s**t hits the fan. And it does hit the fan. I won't spoil anything for you, and while there's hardly any on screen violence, Haemoo was more effective as a horror movie than last night's screening of Rec 4. The final act culminates in one of the most haunting sequences you will see this year on the big screen, and ends with a perfect ending: unapologetic, chaotic, confusing, without closure. Real.

Before the film began, one of the film's protagonists (also in attendance) said she hoped that the movie will stay with the audience long after it's over. I find it hard to imagine anyone walking away from this film unscathed. How could ordinary people do these acts? Was there something dark inside them all along? Perhaps the things they were forced to do shattered their minds? Perhaps there something dark and twisted in everyone? These are questions I should stop asking myself, but I can't. Haemoo is a masterpiece, and excels in getting under your skin and affecting you on a very primal level. This is a movie you need to watch, and with an excellent score to boot, one you should want to.