Korean director Sung bo-Shim's outstanding debut feature Sea Fog begins prosaically enough, with the small, toughened crew of a fishing trawler. Their captain, Kang Chul-joo (Yun-seok Kim) is a no-nonsense, superstitious salt who is protective of his vessel, the Junjin, despite the fact that it is owned by local seafood merchants. They are unhappy with his meager catches and threatening to sell, driving Kang to a local smuggler. The captain agrees to illicitly transport several dozen ethnically Korean immigrants from China, a scheme to which the crew reluctantly ascents due to the hefty payout. Naturally, once at sea, nothing is as simple as it seemed back in port. After a fiasco of a rendezvous in the fogbound open ocean, the men of the Junjin are soon struggling to keep the restless refugees hidden from coast guard patrols. Meanwhile, green crew member Dong-sik (Yoo-chun Park) becomes infatuated with Hong Mae (Ye-ri Han), and attempts to conceal the young immigrant woman within the comparatively warm engine room.
Sea Fog contains elements of a maritime thriller and a romantic drama, but it is fundamentally a tragedy worthy of Sophocles, one in which poor decisions and pure bad luck devilishly collude to unravel the characters' efforts. Sung's screenplay—co-written with acclaimed director Joon-ho Bong—is replete with unexpected and often devastating narrative swerves. Around the midpoint of the film, a shocking catastrophe suddenly drives Sea Fog into the borderlands of Coen brothers territory. Bloody misdeeds pile up like colliding cars on the freeway, while Dong-sik and Hong Mae fight not just to survive, but to resist the corruption and delusion that descend on the rest of the crew. It's stellar, gripping film making of the grimmest sort, where even a seemingly happy ending can dissolve into forlorn uncertainty.
Sea Fog screens November 11 at 9:10 p.m. and November 12 at 2:20 p.m. Both screenings are at the Landmark Plaza Frontenac Cinema. For tickets or additional information, visit the Cinema St. Louis website.
Full Disclosure: Andrew Wyatt is serving as a juror for the New Filmmakers Forum's (NFF) Emerging Director Award at the Whitaker St. Louis International Film Festival.
by: Andrew Wyatt of stlmag
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