Noryang: Deadly Sea
It occurred to me as I watched Kim Han-min‘s latest war epic that his trilogy of films about the 16th Century Korean Admiral Yi Sun-sin- which started with 2014’s “The Admiral: Roaring Currents” and continued with 2022’s “Hansan: Rising Dragon” and concluding with this film- is similar to Ronald Maxwell’s “Gettysburg” and “Gods and Generals,” a way for a filmmaker to bring cinematic tools to events of historical importance for a country. As with those films, “Noryang: Deadly Sea” is laudable for it’s attention to scale, but it takes a while to achieve the same energy as “Hansan” did.
When I reviewed “Hansan,” I likened it to nationalistic propaganda, cinema made to bring personal heroism in the name of country to life to rally the country. There’s nothing inherently wrong with that- American filmmakers have been doing it since the silent era- but it also means there is likely a tradeoff in terms of creative liberties vs. authenticity. Such historical cinema can be a mixed bag, especially if we feel like it’s trying to document every detail of history. This is what Maxwell’s Civil War films attempted to do rather than focus on telling a streamlined narrative, and both films suffered as a result. As much as I ended up appreciating “Hansan,” “Noryang” felt like too much of a slog; even when it got to the battle scenes, it wasn’t until deep in that section of the film that a sense of exhilaration came through.
The film begins with the death of Toyotomi Hideyoshi, the leader of the Japanese army. His last wishes are for his family to be safe, and for the army to retreat from Joseon. Admiral Yi Sun-sin (played here by Kim Yoon-seok) sees the annihilation of the Japanese army as the only way to end the 7-year conflict. He chooses to join forces with the Ming Dynasty in an attempt to block the army’s retreat route. But of course nothing can ever be that easy in war.
The command of craft that Han-min has is still extraordinary, especially in the battle sequences. Why “Noryang” did not compel me the same way that “Hansan” did, however, was how it really failed to engage me in a streamlined narrative, and- especially in the night sequences- the battle scenes feel more chaotic and incomprehensible before they start to show focus and energy. The production values are stunning, but emotionally, I was muted until the last 30 minutes or so. Overall, this is a good epic film, but it also shows the limits of historical cinema when spectacle takes more weight than emotions.
