Korean Movie - Haeundae

‘Haeundae’ is the name of one of South Korea’s most famous beaches and is also the center of one of the worst disasters to ever hit the country; a massive tsunami ready to hit and wipe out everyone enjoying the beach!

‘Haeundae’ is the name of one of South Korea’s most famous beaches and is also the center of one of the worst disasters to ever hit the country; a massive tsunami ready to hit and wipe out everyone enjoying the beach!

This is the premise of South Korea’s first major disaster movie ever. This movie is pegged as being a disaster, drama, comedy, and romance all rolled into one; making it very difficult to actually put into one definite genre. Like many South Korean films, this one tries to bust through genres and in doing so, while being a bit confusing for audiences, ends up standing as something very unique when compared to Hollywood. Haeundae is no different; this movie moves through the interactions of its characters, romances, and squabbles with the backdrop of an impending disaster that only the main character knows about and no one believes him until it is almost too late to do anything about it.

While hardly an original script, especially to westerners who are bombarded with disaster movies at least several times a year, Haeundae is well worth watching because of the director’s effortless ability to weave in comedy, drama, and romance without the movie turning hackneyed or overdone.

The movie is directed by Je-gyun who is already a popular name in cinema and has done a number of romances, comedies, and dramas already. He brings together a starry cast as well, including Sol Kyung-gu who plays Choi Man-shik, the main character who, after losing his best friend to a tsunami retires from the sea for good. He settles down to own a shop on the Haeundae beach. He is supported by Ha Ji-won as Kang Yeon-hee who upon being rescued by his brother Hyung Silk (Kang Ye-won) turns her attention on her rescuer. While this is being sorted out, a geologist named Kim Hwi (played by Park Joong-hoon) discovers an underwater disturbance is set to cause a massive tsunami. Naturally, no one listens to him since no one wants to believe that the biggest beach in the country will have to be evacuated.

By the time anyone listens, it’s already too late-ten minutes stands between the beach and water borne destruction. The cast for this movie might be large, but each character stands apart as distinctive and this makes the movie stand out above other disaster movies where the majority of the characters simply seem to be nothing more than screaming cannon fodder .

While not the most imaginative movie, Haeundae’s stellar cast and director turns just another disaster movie into something well worth watching and since there is more to this movie than rampant destruction, it’s something that’s a little easier to sink one’s teeth into. It’s definitely not the best movie out there, but it’s not a bad watch and if you’re into the genre, it’s worth seeing.

[Rating: 4/5]