Review

It's been 11 years since the Sewol ferry disaster on April 16, yet the pain of the bereaved families continues. The victims included not only the passengers of the Sewol ferry, but also divers who died in the course of the rescue efforts. SEA TIGER illuminates the lives of the divers who have rarely been mentioned. Based on the characters from the novel The Sea of Lies by novelist Kim Takhwan, the film reconstructs the real-life stories of diver Gong Woo-young and the late diver Kim Kwan-hong. The protagonist Na Kyung-soo dives into the sunken ferry, following a colleague who went in before him—and has been living in hell ever since. The government places the blame for a diver's death on civilian diver Ryu Chang-dae, and Na Kyung-soo, anguished by the injustice of the accusation, makes every effort to clear his name. What sets the film apart is that most of its narrative unfolds on a film set. As the film opens, a director tells the cast that they'll be making a film entirely on set. From that point on, all the scenes take place within the simple spaces of the set. In some ways, it feels like a stage play, and it also recalls Lars Von Trier's Dogville (2003). With its absorbing narrative and compelling performances, the film draws the audience into the drama itself, despite its limited setting. While more favorable conditions might have helped, the sequence symbolically depicting the search inside the Sewol ferry, rendered with the minimal sets and lighting, feels all the more powerful for it. SEA TIGER is director Chung Yoonchul's first film in eight years since Warriors of the Dawn (2017), and it reaffirms the director's impeccable directorial skill. Lee Jihoon's portrayal of Na Kyung-soo is also impressive. (MOON Seok)

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