The Battleship Island is a film that had the highest ticket sale rate in such a short time when the film was released last year. Many South Koreans went to see the film because of two strong factors: the cast and the history that the film was based on. So Ji Sub and Song Joong Ki star along side Hwang Jung Min in the film. Marking a great moment where the two Korean heartthrobs worked together in a film. Well known director Ryoo Seung Wan directed the film while the production was done by Cho Sung Min.
The Japanese tricked Korean people into working on an Island in an underground mine during World War II. This is the story about the experiences of those Korean people who lived on the Island.
The script was based on a true story(so were other historic Korean films.) but don't let that influence how you experience this film. There have been more than a handful of films that talk about Japan's and Korea's history with each other in the past. The wounds are still open for some Korean people which would explain why Battleship Island dives right into the nitty gritty very quickly. No warning. No nothing to lessen the blows to the heart you will feel when watching history's retelling. I don't know what I had in my mind before I watched this film but this wasn't it. What got me watching must have came from the desire to see So Ji Sub and Song Joong Ki act in a project together. Viewers don't even get the chance to experience this fully because the film is so busy working hard to make the Japanese seem like the worse people ever. Oh, believe me they were if you look back at history, especially concerning America and Korea. The finger pointing just felt a bit overbearing to me. Japanese people would not be happy watching what happens to their country's flag in this film. Then, there was the deep underlining fact of Korean people have suffered greatly in history. Take these two fact together and that's all that gets shoved down your throat the whole film. History wise, You will get a lot out of this film. A lot of events are bit over dramatized but Korean people did face many of the problems the film chooses to address. I've watched film after film about how the Japanese has done Korea wrong. The subject gets tiring if you don't have anything new to add to this history written in stone. The Battleship Island might have been a grand old time for nationalistic Korean people. Each scene in the film gives a nationalistic Korean person what they want to see in order to make them feel more proud of being Korean. Human sacrifice doesn't mean as much to me anymore since I've seen so many Korean war films touch this same topic constantly. How the film decided to progress the story was pretty boring too. Some exciting scene were in there. Just not enough to make me change my mind about this film. After you push the message of "Kills those Japanese for what they did to us!" out of the way, Nothing else is there to keep The Battleship Island going except pity and lackluster attempts at character background stories. Overall, this film really isn't anything special.
Like I stated above, I watched this film for the cast. Both actors weren't really in the same space together for long period of time. They both seemed to have separate existing storylines that were told opposite each other. All the acting by the whole cast was alright. The torture Koreans felt at the hands of the Japanese could be understood well because of the acting. Child actress Kim Su An was the actual raising star of the film. She shined whenever she was on screen.
Ryoo Seung Wan does get praise from me for shooting the film so expressively. The battle scenes felt so open without restriction. They were restricted in the film but the viewer is given plenty of shots that give you a hawk's eye view of all the action.
What more can I say? The Battleship Island was a big disappointment. I'm a black male and I don't want to constantly see films about how my people were slaves. Some of the greatest films have to do with that sad piece of my people's history but the difference between our history retelling and the history that The Battleship Island was trying to convey has to do with forming a strong connection between the viewers and the characters. No strong character connection was formed in The Battleship Island for the viewers to latch on to. Betting on a connection will be there just because it's Korea's history was setting this film up to fail from the beginning.….
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