Haemoo

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.

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.

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.

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 BLEW all my expectations out of the water , I knew nothing about it going in and enjoyed every single second of this incredible piece of Korean Cinema.

The intensity and tone of the film is one of the best things I can say about it , you could cut the tension with a knife and my hands were sweating the whole time ! The score and editing was impeccable , particularly the score being reminiscent of huge blockbusters (all though this is a lot more adult and brutal than an American blockbuster as usual with Korean Cinema). The cinematography was absolutely incredible , considering this took place on a boat , there was practically no shaky cam throughout the entire thing and instead the viewers are treated to some gorgeous visuals and beautiful smooth and steady shots. Only negative thing I have to say about Haemoo is the fact that a few times , it felt a little bit cliché with its character moments and plot decisions (very rarely) .

I could not believe my eyes when I saw the ratings online , they deserve to be much , MUCH higher.