Writers: Kim Han-min and Yun Hong-gi
Director: Kim Han-min
Hansan: Rising Dragon is prequel to the spectacular sea-conflict tale The Admiral: Roaring Currents. As the latter opened with an ailing Admiral Yi Sun-sin being restored from ignominy to try and rectify a desperate situation one might imagine the prequel would concern the events leading to his fall from grace. This is not the case, Hansan: Rising Dragon starts even earlier focusing on the battle which established Yi Sun-sin’s reputation in the first place.
The challenge for sequels/ prequels is to avoid duplicating the first movie while also resisting the temptation to become excessive and offer more and more spectacle. To an extent director Kim Han-min avoids the former but is less successful dodging the latter.
The Admiral was a ‘David and Goliath’ tale of a vastly outnumbered navy using natural resources to overcome their enemy. Rising Dragon concentrates instead on military strategy and weapons. It also establishes parity between the opponents opening from the viewpoint of Wakisaka Yasuharu (Byun Yo-han) the Japanese commander rather than Yi Sun-sin (Park Hae-il).
Wakisaka Yasuharu has obtained details of the type of ships Yi Sun-sin intends to use in his navy and hopes this knowledge will enable him to exploit their structural weaknesses and conquer the strategically important port of Joseon. Yi Sun-sin is haunted by the memory of a defeat suffered as a cavalry general and it inspires him to develop a new “Crane Wing” strategy which, if successful would draw the enemy into a crescent-shaped formation where they would be surrounded on three sides.
Spies operate in both camps (a rare appearance in such a macho movie by a female character) and their information makes Wakisaka confident enough to launch a two-pronged offensive by land and sea. Yi Sun-sin on the other hand faces an opponent who believes he knows the weaknesses of the admiral’s ships and can, therefore, win any battle.
Concentrating on the development of military strategy builds authenticity but is not visually engaging, there are only a limited number of ways to stage scenes of officers looking at maps or blueprints of ships and arguing about Crane Wing or Fish Scale formations. There is surprisingly little tension generated by tacticians squabbling about the best way to engage the enemy. The build up to the battle becomes so complex the subtitles not only translate dialogue they serve as captions identifying the speaker, indicating where the speech is taking place and clarifying the meaning of technical terms.
The promised conflict on land and sea is only partially delivered. The land battles are the poor relation with limited screen time and little dignity largely showing armies in retreat until reinforcements arrive.
The spectacle in Hansan: Rising Dragon risks dwarfing the characters but there is a contrast between the commanders. Park Hae-il’s Yi Sun-sin is so reserved he seems to be in a permanent mediative state only emerging briefly at the opening- risking his own life running a gauntlet of gunfire to save his soldiers – and the end, letting the image slip to take a shot at his foe. Byun Yo-han’s Wakisaka Yasuharu is far less reserved regarding the entire military operation as a personal crusade. A group of warrior priests acting as spies bring a touch of malice to the warfare.
For all the care taken to build up an atmosphere of authenticity in the early part of the film a degree of contrivance sneaks in during the sea battle. The appearance of Yi Sun-sin’s improved turtle ship is a surprise to both the Japanese sailors and the audience simply because until that point its construction has not been mentioned – it is revealed only in flashback. The battle is suitably spectacular with the reactions of the wider range of characters – Yi Sun-sin’s subordinates- allowing the development of tension which is denied by their enigmatic commander. Overhead shots give the sharp thrill of witnessing the ships in arrowhead or the much spoken of Crane Wing formations.
Efforts to demonstrate the authenticity of the planning leading to the sea battle slow down the opening of Hansan: Rising Dragon but the pace gathers speed to show the full power of the conflict when it finally arrives.
The 17th London Korean Film Festival 2022 runs from 3 November – 17 November in cinemas across London. For more info: https://www.koreanfilm.
