The Admiral: Roaring Currents

The Admiral: Roaring Currents

Released: July 30, 2014

“Fear into Courage”

     The film, The Admiral: RoaringCurrents, captured the battle between Japan and Korea. It is directed by Kim Han-min, who is a South Korean naval war film director. The film is based on the historical battle that took place in 1597, Battle of Myeongnyang. Admiral Yi Sun-sin of the Joseon era, led 12 ships into against the Japanese, who led over 300 ships. The film portrays events leading up to this battle – we see both Japan and Korea prepare for this battle. On the Japan side of things, it looks like Japan could capture King Seonjo since they seem to have over 300 ships. On the Korea side, the General Bae Seol burns down a turtle ship and gets killed for it, this seems to entice the Japan side that they have a better chance at winning. When Japanese ships and Korean ships begin their clash, Japanese ships fall into a whirlpool, while the Korean ships begin to have the upper hand. To make the battle even more intense, a turtle ship appears on the Korean side, which only strengthens Korean’s win.

      The music of this film had a very westernization Pirates of the Caribbean feel. During the film, I would hear a similar up beat drumming that is in Pirates of the Caribbean.

     The Admiral: Roaring Currents, captured by attention because the music was very powerful. I think because it also had a similar feel to Pirates of the Caribbean, I could feel more passion toward the film, then Masquerade. Similarities in other films can sometimes bore the viewer, but because this film was in another language I seemed to very much enjoy it. Since, The Admiral: Roaring Currents is based on real events, and Pirates of the Caribbean is more fictional, the film definitely felt more alive. I would recommend viewers to watch this film to see and learn about a battle that took place in history.