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The Battleship Island

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The Battleship Island (Korean: 군함도; Hanja: 軍艦島; RR: Gunhamdo) is a 2017 South Korean period action drama film starring Hwang Jung-min, So Ji-sub, Song Joong-ki and Lee Jung-hyun. It is a Japanese occupation-era film about an attempted prison break from a forced labor camp on Hashima Island.[3][4]

The Battleship Island
Theatrical release poster
Hangul
군함도
Hanja
軍艦島
Revised RomanizationGunhamdo
Directed byRyoo Seung-wan
Screenplay byRyoo Seung-wan
Produced byCho Sung-min
StarringHwang Jung-min
So Ji-sub
Song Joong-ki
Lee Jung-hyun
Kim Su-an
CinematographyLee Mo-gae
Edited byKim Jae-bum
Kim Sang-bum
Music byBang Jun-seok
Production
company
Distributed byCJ Entertainment
Release date
  • 26 July 2017 (2017-07-26)
Running time
132 minutes
CountrySouth Korea
LanguagesKorean
Japanese
BudgetUS$21 million[1]
Box officeUS$47.3 million[2]

Synopsis

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Set during Imperial Japan’s occupation of Korea during World War 2, a group of over 400 Koreans endure harsh forced labor on Hashima Island and risk their lives to attempt a daring escape.[5]

Cast

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Main

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A bandmaster at a hotel in Gyeongseong, who chooses to take his only daughter to Japan in order to keep her safe. But they get sent to the Hashima labor camp instead, and there he'll do anything that's asked of him, as long as he can protect his daughter.
The best street fighter in Gyeongseong, a coarse man who constantly stirs up troubles in the labor camp. Under his harsh and rough exterior, he has a good heart.
A member of the Korean independence movement who infiltrates the island in order to rescue a fellow independence fighter being held captive there.
A comfort woman who gets moved to Hashima after going through endless troubles under Japanese occupation, but never loosens her strong grip on hope.

Supporting

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Lee Kang-ok's daughter. She was being captured by Japanese general because of her talents in singing and dancing.

Production

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Filming began June 17, 2016 in Cheongju, South Korea and finished on December 20, 2016. The film reunites Hwang Jung-min with Ryoo Seung-wan, who directed the 2015 hit movie Veteran starring Hwang.[8] Production cost about five times more than the average locally produced film due to the massive lifelike sets.[9] While the island provided the inspiration for the plot, The Battleship Island was not filmed on location. The sets were built in Chuncheon and were designed to resemble the conditions of Hashima Island's community and mines during the 1940s.[10]

Release

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The Battleship Island was first promoted at the European Film Market in February 2017 and then at the Cannes Film Festival in May. As of June 2017, it has been sold to 113 countries, including North American countries as well as France, Italy, Russia, Turkey, Malaysia, Taiwan, Indonesia, Japan, Hong Kong, Singapore and Thailand.[11][12] On June 16, 2017, an official press conference was held at the National Museum of Korea to launch the film.[9]

The film has been invited to compete at 2017 Sitges International Fantastic Film Festival of Catalonia in Spain. The film will be shown in the Orbita section for introducing most notable films of the year and honouring a title chosen by the jury composed of audiences. This is the sixth film by director Ryoo Seung-wan to be selected for a screening at this film festival.[13]

Special screenings

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On July 25, 2017, a special pre-screening was held for foreign diplomats in South Korea.[14][15]

On July 28, 2017, a special screening was held for UNESCO officials and diplomats in Paris at the headquarters of Metropolitan Filmexport. The aim was to raise awareness into the hidden history of Hashima Island and shed light on the harsh labour and living conditions imposed upon Koreans at the underground coal mining factory on the island during Japan’s rule of Korea.[16]

Box office

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The film was released on 26 July 2017 in South Korea.[10] According to the Korean Film Council, The Battleship Island created a new record with reaching 970,516 viewers on its opening night.[17] During the first weekend (July 28 to 30) since the movie was released, an audience of 2.5 million was attracted.[18] This resulted in box-office earnings of USD 18.57 million from 2,027 screens, representing 37.1% of total movie theaters in the country.[19] This marked the first time in the country that a movie had been released on more than 2,000 screens, creating controversy over screen dominance by conglomerates.[20][21]

Over 4 million tickets were sold in the first five days, earning USD 27.9 million in total and exceeding the production costs of approximately US$21 million.[22]

In its second week of release, the film was surpassed by the historical action drama film A Taxi Driver. By the end of the eighth day since the film was released, it was playing at 1,108 venues for a total of 5.18 million viewers.[23][24] The number of admissions surpassed 6 million on the 12th day of its run.[25] As of September 26, or two months after opening in the box office, overall admission was 6.58 million.

Reception

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The Battleship Island holds a 67% approval rating by 15 reviewers on aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes with a weighted average of 4.3/5 and 6.3/10, respectively.[26] On Metacritic, the film has a score of 60 out of 100 based on 4 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[27]

The New York Times noted that the film "vividly conveys the pain of a national wartime trauma whose scars clearly have not healed."[28] Although some aspects of the violence and overly-theatrical storylines were criticized, critics have praised the camera work and Ryoo for his effective use of a large-scale action set.[28][29]

Awards and nominations

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Award Category Recipient Result Ref.
1st The Seoul Awards Best Film The Battleship Island Nominated [30][31]
Best Actor Hwang Jung-min Nominated
Best Supporting Actress Lee Jung-hyun Won
Special Acting Award Kim Su-an Won
Sitges Film Festival Best Feature-length Film The Battleship Island Won [32]
26th Buil Film Awards Best Supporting Actress Kim Su-an Won [33]
Best Art Direction Lee Hwo-kyoung Won
37th Korean Association of Film Critics Awards Technical Award (art direction) Lee Hwo-kyoung Won [34]
Top 10 Films The Battleship Island Won
38th Blue Dragon Film Awards Best Supporting Actress Lee Jung-hyun Nominated [35]
Best Cinematography and Lighting The Battleship Island Nominated
Best Art Direction Won
Best Technical Achievement - Visual Effects Nominated
Popular Star Award Kim Su-an Won
25th Korea Culture & Entertainment Awards Top Excellence Award, Actor in Film Lee Geung-young Won [36]
Top Excellence Award, Actress in Film Lee Jung-hyun Won
6th The Night of Stars-Korea Top Star Awards Korea's Top Star (Film) Won
Popular Star (Film) Kim Su-an Won
23rd Chunsa Film Art Awards Best Director Ryoo Seung-wan Nominated [37]
Best Supporting Actress Lee Jung-hyun Nominated
Kim Su-an Nominated
Technical Award — Nominated
54th Baeksang Arts Awards Technical Award (Film) Lee Hwo-kyoung Nominated

Historical accuracy

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Japanese conservative media, such as the Sankei Shimbun newspaper, attacked the film accusing it of distorting historic truth.[38] In response, director Ryoo Seung-wan said "the film is a fact-based fiction" based on historical records as well as first hand testimony from survivors regarding their lack of payments, abusive treatment, and working conditions which lead to deaths of laborers from diseases, malnutrition, and accidents. The writer-director said the film was not made to stoke Korean nationalism or anti-Japanese sentiment but to show "how war can make man a monster".[9]

Ironically in South Korea, there was criticism that the film reflected a '[pro-Japanese]' colonialist view of history (식민사관) because it reduced war crimes to cinematic entertainment, and it emphasized the acts of betrayal committed by Koreans on behalf of the Japanese-colonial government.[39]

Japanese historical revisionism

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In its application to UNESCO for World Heritage status for Hashima Island, Japan acknowledged that Korean and Chinese forced laborers were used there during World War II.[40] The acknowledgement, which was only made after South Korea opposed the bid, stated "large number[s] of Koreans and others [...] were brought against their will and forced to work under harsh conditions in the 1940s at some of the sites [including Hashima island]".[41][42] However, once Hashima Island was approved as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in July 2015, the Japanese reverted to whitewashing history. Two months later Fumio Kishida, then-Japanese Foreign Minister, contradicted the earlier acknowledgement that forced laborers were used at Hashima by saying that "[forced to work under harsh conditions] by the Japanese government representative did not mean forced labor".[43][44] Although UNESCO's World Heritage Committee stipulated that a monitoring mechanism to measure the degree to which the victims of Hashima Island are remembered be a prerequisite for the successful bid,[45] the island's official tourism website and tour program - operated by Nagasaki City - makes no mention of forced laborers and currently does not make any efforts to comply with UNESCO's requirement.[46]

References

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  1. ^ "KANG Hae-jung, Producer of MISBEHAVIOR".
  2. ^ "The Battleship Island (2017)". Archived from the original on 2017-12-14. Retrieved 2017-07-30.
  3. ^ "황정민X소지섭X송중기 '군함도' 크랭크업…뜨거웠던 6개월 대장정 – 1등 인터넷뉴스 조선닷컴 – 스포츠ㆍ연예 > 엔터테인먼트 > 연예 > 연예뉴스". The Chosun Ilbo. 2016-12-22. Retrieved 2017-01-25.
  4. ^ "'군함도' 황정민·소지섭·이정현, 혼신 다한 연기 미리보기". The Korea Economic Daily.
  5. ^ ""그곳은 지옥섬"..'군함도', 강렬 포스터·예고편 공개". OSEN.
  6. ^ a b "06월 07일 06시 00분 OCN 방영 영화 '군함도', 황정민x소지섭 주연". Incheon Ilbo (in Korean). 2019-06-07. Retrieved 2019-06-23.
  7. ^ "[영화콕!]'군함도' 황정민X소지섭X송중기, 목숨 건 지옥섬 탈출…가슴 아픈 역사". 뉴스컬처 (in Korean). 2019-03-27. Archived from the original on 2021-04-13. Retrieved 2019-06-23.
  8. ^ "BATTLESHIP ISLAND Ends 6-Month Shoot". Koreanfilm.or.kr. 2017-01-02. Retrieved 2017-01-25.
  9. ^ a b c "'The Battleship Island' is fact-based fiction film, says director". Yonhap. 2016-06-15. Retrieved 2017-06-16.
  10. ^ a b "Commentary trailer for 'The Battleship Island' released". Yonhap. 2017-05-31. Retrieved 2017-06-16.
  11. ^ "Cannes: South Korean WWII Film 'The Battleship Island' Sells Worldwide". The Hollywood Reporter. 2017-06-08. Retrieved 2017-06-16.
  12. ^ "'Battleship Island' sold to 113 countries". Retrieved 2017-06-09.
  13. ^ "'Battleship Island' to compete in Spain's Sitges Film Festival". Yonhap News Agency. 2017-08-28.
  14. ^ "Special Preview of "The Battleship Island" Held in Paris". KBS World Radio. 2017-07-31. Archived from the original on 2017-08-02. Retrieved 2017-08-02.
  15. ^ 'The Battleship Island' and Japan's apology Shim Jae-yun. The Korea Times 2017-08-02 18:01
  16. ^ "'The Battleship Island' shown to UNESCO officials, diplomats in Paris". Yonhap News Agency. 2017-07-31. Retrieved 2017-08-02.
  17. ^ "Battleship Island sets record in South Korea". The Straits Times. 2017-08-01. Retrieved 2017-08-02.
  18. ^ Shim Sun-ah (2017-07-31). "'The Battleship Island' sells spectacular 2.5 mln tickets on opening weekend". Yonhap News Agency. Retrieved 2017-08-02.
  19. ^ "'The Battleship Island' sets new opening day box-office record". Yonhap News Agency. 2017-08-02. Retrieved 2017-08-02.
  20. ^ Shim Sun-ah (2017-08-02). "(Yonhap Feature) Box-office success of 'Battleship Island' overshadows competition". Yonhap News Agency. Retrieved 2017-08-02.
  21. ^ Jin Min-ji (2017-08-01). "'Battleship Island' dominates at Korean box office". Korea JoongAng Daily. Retrieved 2017-08-02.
  22. ^ Jon Maala (2017-07-31). "Battleship Island tops Korean weekend box office, hauls $27.85 million in 5 days". International Business Times. Retrieved 2017-08-02.
  23. ^ "'A Taxi Driver' dethrones 'The Battleship Island' on opening day". Yonhap News Agency. 2017-08-03. Retrieved 2017-08-03.
  24. ^ "'The Battleship Island' tops 5 million in admissions on 8th day". Yonhap News Agency. 2017-08-03. Retrieved 2017-08-03.
  25. ^ Shin Sun-ah (2017-08-07). "'A Taxi Driver' races to top weekend box office". Yonhap News Agency. Retrieved 2017-08-08.
  26. ^ "The Battleship Island (2017)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved August 21, 2017.
  27. ^ "The Battleship Island". Metacritic. Retrieved August 21, 2017.
  28. ^ a b Webster, Andy (2017-08-03). "Review: 'The Battleship Island' Is a Violent War Spectacle". The New York Times. Retrieved 2017-08-09.
  29. ^ "'The Battleship Island': Film Review". The Hollywood Reporter. 2017-08-07. Retrieved 2017-08-09.
  30. ^ ‘[더서울어워즈] '비밀의 숲'·'박열', 대상 수상…반박 불가 ★들의 잔치(종합) 본문듣기 설정 (in Korean). Retrieved 2017-10-27.
  31. ^ '서울어워즈' 송강호·나문희·지성·박보영 주연상…·'박열'·'비숲' 대상[종합]. TV Report (in Korean). October 27, 2017.
  32. ^ "The Battleship Island wins award in Spain's Sitges Film Festival". October 15, 2017. Retrieved 2017-10-17.
  33. ^ "A TAXI DRIVER Tops Buil Film Awards". Korean Film Biz Zone. October 17, 2017.
  34. ^ "THE FORTRESS Dominates 37th Korean Film Critics Association Awards". Korean Film Biz Zone. October 30, 2017.
  35. ^ "[공식입장] '제38회 청룡영화상' 후보 공개, '불한당'vs'택시' 대격돌" (in Korean). Sports Chosun. 2017-11-06.
  36. ^ "[종합] 제25회 대한민국문화연예대상 개최…'연기 부문 이경영·이정현, 예능 부문 박수홍, K-POP 부문 볼빨간 사춘기 등 수상'" (in Korean). 내외뉴스통신. 2017-11-29. Archived from the original on 2021-02-28. Retrieved 2017-11-30.
  37. ^ 제23회 춘사영화제 5월18일 개최..홍상수·김민희 참석하나. Newsen (in Korean). May 3, 2018.
  38. ^ "端島の旧島民らが韓国映画「軍艦島」に反論声明文 「フィクションとことわれば許されるのか」". 産経新聞. August 8, 2017. Retrieved December 18, 2017.
  39. ^ "'식민사관'으로 말 많은 '군함도', 류승완 감독은 어떤 생각이었냐면". Money Today. 17 July 2017. Retrieved 15 May 2023.
  40. ^ Leo Byrne (20 May 2015). "North Korea lashes out at Japan's UNESCO candidates". NK News. Retrieved 23 May 2015.
  41. ^ "Japan forced labour sites receive world heritage status". The Telegraph. 2015-07-06. Retrieved 2015-09-13.
  42. ^ "Japan sites get world heritage status after forced labour acknowledgement". The Guardian. 2015-07-06. Retrieved 2015-09-13.
  43. ^ "S. Korea and Japan debate comments about being "forced to work"". The Hankyoreh. 2015-07-07. Retrieved 2015-09-13.
  44. ^ "Japan:"Forced to Work"Isn't"Forced Labor"". SNA Japan. 2015-07-07. Retrieved 2015-09-13.
  45. ^ "The History that a large number of Koreans were forced to work against their will is reflected in the inscription of Japan's Meiji Industrial Sites on the World Heritage List". Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Republic of Korea. 2015-07-05. Retrieved 2015-09-14.
  46. ^ "GUNKANJIMA(HASHIMA)". Nagasaki City. Archived from the original on 2018-05-11. Retrieved 2015-09-14.
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