South Korean movie set for China market test

A poster for the South Korean war epic The Admiral: Roaring Currents; the film is likely to hit Chinese theaters on Dec 12.[Photo provided to China Daily]

The Admiral: Roaring Currents, a South Korean war epic that's likely to hit Chinese theaters on Dec 12, is an ambitious project aimed at making South Korean movies more appealing to Chinese moviegoers following a decade of slump in performance.

Set in then-unified Korea of 1597, the movie tells the story of a naval officer from the peninsula and his victory over an invading Japanese fleet of vessels. It became South Korea's biggest movie ever after its release in that country earlier this year.

The movie was originally meant to premiere in China on Nov 28, but the date was pushed further into the festival season that's considered a golden period for ticket sales, trade analysts say.

With Christmas, New Year and the Chinese Spring Festival celebrations lined up between this month and February, most big-budget productions are usually shown in China in the winter.

In two small screenings to industry people, critics and the media in Beijing last week, audience responses suggested that the movie would likely strike an emotional chord in China, a country that suffered Japanese aggression.

"The sea battle scenarios are very impressive, and the image quality is as good as some of the Hollywood blockbusters. It easily arouses audience admiration for the big hero, who rescues a country and its people by himself," says Tian Jinshuang, a veteran movie critic, who attended one of the screenings.

In the movie, the legendary Korean admiral Yi Sun-sin leads only a dozen ships that remained in his command to a miraculous win against more than 300 Japanese vessels. In an attempt to push his side to beat the enemy with a fight-unto-death determination, Yi burns off all the camps on the eve of the big battle at sea.

Several golden rules from the ancient Chinese strategist Sun Tzu (BC 545-470), such as "confront a person with the danger of death and he will fight to live", are widely used in scenes.

Some Chinese who may have seen the movie online earlier commented that it "touched" them on sites such as mtime.com.

"The feeling is universal. The biggest selling point of Roaring Currents is the ethnic emotions," Tian says. "China neighbors South Korea, and our countries have close connections in history and culture. The patriotism and ancient Chinese military strategies make Chinese moviegoers feel close to the movie," Tian says.