The Agony of Righteousness, the Heavy Resonance of 'Determination to Annihilate the Japanese Army' in the Sea of Death [Movie 'Noryang']

Movie Review of 'Noryang: Sea of Death'
Highlighting Admiral Yi Sun-sin's Final Battle, the Battle of Noryang

“今日固決死 願天必殲此賊 Today I firmly resolve to die, and I pray to heaven to surely annihilate this enemy”

Movie 'Noryang' still cut.
[Photo by Lotte Entertainment]

Seven years after the outbreak of the Imjin War, in 1598, when Toyotomi Hideyoshi passed away, the Japanese army hurriedly attempts to retreat from Joseon. General Yi Sun-sin, determined not to let a single enemy escape, heads to the final battlefield at the Noryang Strait in Namhae County. The film Noryang: Sea of Death intensely and relentlessly illuminates the sharp conflicts among the three nations in the latter part of the war?Yi Sun-sin’s resolute refusal to let the Japanese return, the Japanese army’s urgent retreat, and the Ming fleet’s involvement after being bribed by the Japanese?as well as the struggle of one man driven by his conviction.

Yi Sun-sin (Kim Yoon-seok), having detected the Japanese retreat in advance, forms the 'Joseon-Ming Allied Fleet' with Jin Lin (Jung Jae-young), the commander of the Ming navy, and plans to block the retreat route and annihilate the enemy. Despite the armistice and peace negotiations after the Imjin War, the Japanese invaded Joseon again in 1597 through Chilcheonryang. At that time, Yi Sun-sin had handed over his position as naval commander to Won Gyun and was taken to Seoul. The Jeongyu War, which broke out after the Joseon navy suffered a crushing defeat at Chilcheonryang, once again pushed Joseon into a desperate crisis. Yi Sun-sin’s readiness to die to annihilate the enemy was solely to protect the future and safety of Joseon.

However, Jin Lin, captivated by the Japanese bribes, tries to open their retreat path. Enraged, Yi Sun-sin even mentions dissolving the 'Joseon-Ming Alliance' and sets out to block the Japanese. At this time, Shimazu Yoshihiro (Baek Yoon-sik), the commander-in-chief of the Japanese Combined Fleet, leads about 500 Japanese ships to Noryang to support the retreat. Facing the enemy with only about 200 ships of the Joseon-Ming Allied Fleet, Joseon, alongside the Ming who had taken a step back, confronts the Japanese at Noryang.

Movie 'Noryang: Sea of Death' Still [Photo by Lotte Entertainment]

The process leading Yi Sun-sin to the final battlefield is arduous and lonely. In a war where everyone says “it’s over,” his determination to achieve complete victory and annihilate the enemy alone causes fatigue not only to Jin Lin but also to the audience.

“Why does he want to fight like that? Is it because he wants to die, or...” Despite being a hero of turbulent times who won countless battles that seemed impossible by human ability alone and reversed a completely unfavorable war situation, Yi Sun-sin is constantly haunted by guilt over the death of his son on the battlefield. Yi Sun-sin’s third son, Yi Myeon (Yeo Jin-goo), died fighting the Japanese in his hometown Asan during the Jeongyu War. Jin Lin, judging that Yi Sun-sin’s conviction was rooted in personal revenge, brings the Japanese who killed his son before him, but Yi Sun-sin turns away from them. As the film Hansan previously named the Imjin War a “battle between righteousness and unrighteousness,” Yi Sun-sin’s conviction is that the only right course is to annihilate the Japanese who trampled on the people and land of Joseon for seven years and force their surrender to completely end the war.

Although Japan, which started the war with the intention of advancing even into Ming territory, asks for help from Ming to secure a retreat route and claims, “We have come not to surrender but to make peace,” Yi Sun-sin’s insistence on their annihilation becomes even clearer. Director Kim Han-min isolates Yi Sun-sin’s situation in the film as thoroughly as the historical Yi Sun-sin was, further magnifying the value and meaning of the final battle.

Movie 'Noryang: Sea of Death' Still [Photo by Lotte Entertainment]

After establishing the justification for the battle in the first half, the latter 100 minutes realistically depict the Battle of Noryang, recorded as the largest naval battle in Northeast Asia. Although the entire nation knows the outcome, the immersion in the battlefield deepens through Myeongryang and Hansan. Despite being a battle on the evening sea aboard ships, the fierce clashes between the Joseon navy and the Japanese under torchlight and moonlight are vividly portrayed through the soldiers’ expressions and solemn emotional lines, combined with spectacular direction comparable to Hollywood blockbusters, leaving a strong impression.

In an era when everyone diagnoses a crisis for movies and theaters, Noryang proves the role of theaters and the reason for cinema’s existence through the audience’s perception of historical facts and reflection on one man’s obsession, just as film theorist Francesco Casetti defined that “what guarantees the continuity of cinema is the survival of the experiential form of seeing, hearing, and sensing.” The 153-minute runtime may feel somewhat burdensome, but it is a necessary process to accompany Yi Sun-sin’s lonely and painful final moments.