Blu-ray Review: THE YELLOW SEA (UK)

I think it has become pretty clear over the last decade that nobody makes revenge thrillers like South Korea. The general cinematic world had its collective eyelids blasted off by Oldboy in 2003 and ever since then we've seen a flood of stylish and brutal revenge films make their way to international audiences. You would think that since this is really the major film export from this tiny country that they'd have grown stale by now, however, the quality of these types of films overcomes the inherent danger of repetition. There is something about Korean culture that sparks filmmakers to stark and brutal action, and while I may speculate on the actual context, I'm even happier to just sit back and enjoy the latest of these winners, NA Hong-jin's The Yellow Sea.

The film opens with a text montage describing the uniquely Korean phenomenon of the Joseonjok, or ethnic Koreans living in China. At first, it seems a bit intimidating, I don't like the idea of having to read a history lesson before watching a film, I'm usually of the opinion that the story should speak for itself. The Yellow Sea found itself at a disadvantage as a result, however, my fears were soon laid to rest as the film cranked itself up and let loose.

The story focuses on Ku-nam, a Joseonjok played by HA Jung-woo, living in Yanji China whose wife has gone to South Korea to earn some money and has never been heard of since. Ku-nam waits patiently for word from her, but is getting increaasingly anxious. When local gang boss Myun-ga, played by KIM Yun-seok, offers Ku-nam some money to pay off old debts and passage to South Korea in exchange for murdering a man on South Korean soil, Ku-nam accepts. As is to be expected in films like this, all does not go according to plan and people get double and triple crossed all over the place. Ku-nam seems to be the next on Myun-ga's hit list, but he won't go down without finding out what happened to his wife, and the chase is on.

The team behind The Yellow Sea were behind the revitalization of the Korean film industry in the latter part of the last decade with The Chaser. That film was the great white hope of Korea in that they'd experienced something of a drought in the international film community for a couple of years. By 2008, The Chaser was, again, something new and ended up resuscitating flagging international interest in Korean film. One thing that The Chaser contributed to Korean cinema as a whole was a sense of brutality that became the calling card of Korean revenge films.

While the Vengeance Trilogy was certainly violent, it was also immaculately staged, whereas The Chaser was a dirtier, grittier film that seems to have set the bar for similar films in the time since. This was most evident in the stateside success of The Man from Nowhere, which took that aesthetic and built upon it very effectively. The Yellow Sea follows that trend with one brutally realistic fight sequence after another, each more violent than the last, and it all works extremely well.

One thing that gives Korea an advantage when it comes to this kind of film is the challenge of acquiring firearms in the country. If you looks back through these films, you'll notice that there are very few firearms in the Vengeance Trilogy, The Man from Nowhere, I Saw the Devil, and so on. In fact, the one major revenge film that features a lot of gunfire is KIM Jee-woon's A Bittersweet Life, and a huge deal is made of the challenge LEE Byung-hun has in acquiring his own. As a result, revenge is a dish frequently served face to face in these films, which brings a personal feeling to Korean films that wouldn't feel true in America where you can go to Wal-Mart and come home with a gallon of milk and a rifle on the same trip.

The result, in the case of The Yellow Sea, is hand to hand combat that forces the enemies to confront one another. In this case, the weapons of choice are sashimi knives and hatchets, and believe me, they do a lot of damage. Ku-nam is no professional killer, but he has the something that his pursuer, Myun-ga, doesn't, Ku-nam has something to live for. They each plow through dozens of enemies; hatchets in skulls, sashimi knives in gullets, you name it, no one comes out unscathed. The Yellow Sea is a brutal but vividly engaging piece of filmmaking whose brisk pacing betrays it's two hour and twenty minute running time, and makes it feel like mush less.

The bleak atmosphere and overall nihilism of the characters involved in this film would surely have put it in my 2011 Feel Bad Films top ten had I seen it last year, but I count myself fortunate to have seen it now. The Yellow Sea is yet another example of what South Korea is capable of and it deserves to be seen.

The Disc:

Now the details. The Yellow Sea was funded in part by the new international arm of Fox, which leads one to believe that Fox would be happy to support and market their baby. Unfortunately, that has not been the case. Luckily, the film was picked up by Bounty Films and distributed through Eureka! in the UK, which is where this Blu-ray is from. The very same week that this outstanding Blu-ray comes out of the UK, Fox is dumping a chopped version of the film on DVD in the US. The Yellow Sea has been exhibited in three different versions, and while I cannot comment on the specific differences, I can give you the low down on the home video story.

First of all, there was a Korean Blu-ray and DVD containing the 157 minute director's cut. This is the longest version of the film by seventeen minutes. Unfortunately, in order to protect their investment, Fox stipulated that all Korean home video releases be stripped of English subtitles. There is also a director approved 140 minute international version, which is what we see from Eureka! and appears to be largely the same. Finally, there is the 136 minute US version, cut without the participation of the director, which apparently excises some of the more violent scenes. This is the film that Fox is releasing to DVD in the US.  You can find further details of the differences between the 157 minute version and the 140 international version at Wildgrounds in the links section.

Now, with that out of the way I'm free to gush about Eureka!'s Blu-ray.  It is fantastic! The film looks great, there is abundant fine detail, and the image, straight from the original digital file, is spotless. This film, unlike many revenge thrillers, doesn't take place only in the dark, there are some beautifully shot, brightly lit, action sequences, and no matter what the lighting circumstances, the film looks great, kudos to Eureka! The audio fares even better, in my opinion. The DTS-HD 5.1 surround mix is quite immersive, and the sound effects are absolutely punishing. I don't think I'll ever get the sound of ax hitting skull out of my head, but I'm not sure I want to. Awesome job.

There is one significant extra on The Yellow Sea, an hour and seventeen minute long making of documentary. Well, that may be a bit too generous, it is more like a series of behind the scenes featurettes strung together. They are informative, but don't really gel as a single feature.  That being said, it is always fun to watch the sausage being made with this kind of film. The director, stunt coordinator, and actors all have a lot to say, and it makes the hour breeze by. Perhaps not the most in-depth documentary I've ever seen on a new release, but much better than what we usually get.

Eureka! has put out a fantastic Blu-ray for The Yellow Sea. Buyers beware that this version is region B locked, and as such won't play on most North American players. If you can play it, I highly recommend that you pick up this disc. Great stuff!