Roaring Currents review [LKFF 2015]: “Stirring set pieces and magnificent spectacle.”

Roaring Currents review: An epic experience, but some pre-reading may be required.

For anyone who has visited South Korea, it is impossible to not hear about Admiral Yi Sun Shin. He is a legend of such epic proportions that he is known by everyone in the country, from kindergarteners upwards. No surprise really when you consider his achievements, one of the most famous of which is the focus of Roaring Currents, which broke all kinds of box office records in its domestic run. This is 300 on the ocean, but rather than having 300 men against thousands, this is 12 ships versus 300.

The story itself is intrigueing enough, but to watch it unfold on screen as an epic slice of entertainment is even more engaging. The entire second half is dedicated to the battle, making this a very action fuelled film. It never becomes boring though, with different tactics forever employed. It’s always nice to see an action film where brains are the focus. Yi Sun Shin (Choi Min Sik) was a great strategist and that all comes into play here as he expertly uses the currents to his advantage. Cannon balls fly and people suffer great injuries giving us a furious hours worth of fierce entertainment.

The film won’t play quite as well to international audiences though, although that’s not particularly down to faults of the film itself. Korea is still very much a country where Nationalism is yet to become uncool, and I’m not talking in a supporting a sports team kind of way. Roaring Currents is filled with applause worthy speeches and salute worthy shots of manly tears. This, added with mainstream Korean cinema’s penchant for melodrama, makes this a less than subtle celebration of a great victory in Korea’s name.

It doesn’t make Japan out to be some villainous country, although we are given a vibrant and sinister bad guy who operates independently from the government, seemingly as a way to not come off as one sided. When the film really gets going, all such politics and patriotism is easily pushed aside for stirring set pieces and magnificent spectacle. At its best it will have the audience gripping their seats as hard as the rowers grasp their oars.

The first half is infinitely slower than the second, and for the uninitiated there isn’t much set-up. This will leave some viewers confused as to the significance of certain characters and events, but as stated before this isn’t so much a fault of the movie, just one of the few cultural differences that unfortunately do have an impact on the final film.

Rich in detail and never boring once it gets going, this will hopefully be a film that inspires many to delve into the Korean history books. As he did with his previous box office triumph, War Of Arrows, Kim Han Min once again takes a period piece and makes it seem fresh and alive. The costumes are brilliant and the effects flawless, with well thought out editing that links together all parts of the narrative while keeping the action as the focus. An epic experience, but some pre-reading may be required.

Roaring Currents review by Luke Ryan Baldock, August, 2014.

Roaring Currents screens at the London Korean Film Festival on 8th November.