Battleship Island ~ Civilians Trapped In the Horror of War

“The Battleship Island” is a 2017 Korean movie categorized as a Military and War movie, historical fiction, streaming on Netflix (until November 30, 2024). Even though it is a fictionalized account based on true historical events, its depiction is very realistic.

SUMMARY: This movie was inspired by true historical events. The lesson to be learned can be summed up in this memorable quote: “In war, it’s not the winner who survives. It’s the survivor who wins.”

♦ In Wartime, Who Wins?

“The Battleship Island” is another dark chapter in the history of Korea and the atrocities Koreans suffered during the Japanese colonial period. During World War II, Hashima Island was developed as a coal mining facility and it was a site of forced labor, where many Korean civilians were taken against their will or they were tricked with false promises.

No matter how they ended up on the island, they were forced to work under harsh conditions. Many did not survive. Men and boys worked in the mines and women were forced to become “comfort women” (a euphemism for “sex slaves”) for men in the Japanese military.

Lee Kang-Ok is a Korean musician who heads up a band and has a young daughter, So-Hee, who is very talented and a part of his show. He is deceived (by a fellow Korean who is working for the Japanese) into believing there is a paying work opportunity for his band. Musicians were needed to entertain the Japanese troops and officers. But when he arrived at the island, his daughter was taken from him by force and he was grouped with all the rest of the men who would be used laborers in the coal mine.

Fortunately, Lee Kang-Ok is quick-witted and managed to convince the military to allow him to work as a musician and he also convinced them to let him see his daughter. Even though she was at a tender age, So-Hee also had survival instincts. She convinced the military that she had all kinds of talent and no matter what she said, she knew that if she yelled out “All hail the Emperor”, things would probably go well for her. Together, father and daughter were determined to survive. Will they make it off Battleship Island?

Park Moo-Young has been planted among the laborers. But he is a soldier sent on a mission by the OSS (Office of Strategic Services). He must rescue a “VIP” (very important person), a fellow Independence fighter, who ends up with the rest of the miners on the island. Park Moo-Young is there to do his job. Getting lumped in with the group of laborers was easy. Getting himself off Battleship Island along with the VIP? Will they make it?

Mal-Nyeon is a comfort woman and Choi Chil-Sung attended Gyeongseong University. Clearly, his education didn’t do much to get him a privileged position since he ended up with the laborers. Nevertheless, he’s going to try to use his intelligence to escape from the island. In the interim, he rescued Mal-Nyeon from a drunk and abusive Japanese soldier. When Choi Chil-Sung got her back to her room, he told her he didn’t want to have sex with her. He just thought she might feel comforted if she talked to a fellow Korean.

A fellow Korean? Mal-Nyeon scoffed. The reason she ended up being a comfort woman was because a fellow Korean betrayed her. She was put on a truck and told she would have a job. First, they sent her to China and now she’s on Hashima Island. She will never trust a fellow Korean ever again! Will they make it off Battleship Island?

• NOTES: Hashima Island is also known as Gunkanjima, which means “Battleship Island” due to its resemblance to a battleship from above. (SOURCE: 30 Interesting Facts about Hashima Island – World’s Facts) … The OSS was an American intelligence agency during World War II, responsible for espionage, sabotage, and reconnaissance behind enemy lines. Today the OSS is the CIA. (SOURCE: Wikipedia)

Main Characters:

• Lee Kang-Ok (played by Hwang Jung-Min, “Mission: Cross”, “12.12: The Day”, “The Unjust”, “Narco-Saints”, “Korean Peninsula”)
• Choi Chil-Sung (played by So Ji-Sub, “Doctor Lawyer”, “Confession”)
• Park Moo-Young (played by Song Joong-Ki, “My Name is Loh Kiwan”, “Vincenzo”, “Space Sweepers”, “The Grand Heist”, “Arthdal Chronicles S1”, “Descendants of the Sun”, “Sungkyunkwan Scandal”)
• Mal-Nyeon (played by Lee Jung-Hyun, “Night of the Undead”)
• So-Hee (played by Kim Soo-Ahn, “Poong, The Joseon Psychiatrist 1 and 2“)

Where to Watch

Viewership and Rating:

• IMDb rating: 7.1 out of 10 stars
• MyDramaList: 8.3 out of 10 stars
• Amazon customers rated this film: 4.5 out of 5 stars

My personal rating is the same as the Amazon customers.

“The Battleship Island” should come with a WARNING! This movie is very hard to digest.

MovieGuide published an excellent plot summary in its review and I can’t say it better, so I’ll just quote them: “The film is about a Korean band leader and his daughter who are forced into being laborers on Hashima Island during the Japanese colonial era. It has a TV-MA maturity rating and contains strong foul language and references to the abuse Korean women suffered under the Japanese.”

MG also added that this movie is “For Adults”. I definitely agree. Children, including teenagers, should not watch this movie. It is way too intense.

I lifted the quote included in the SUMMARY above because it resonated with me. I would like to add to this quote my own observations.

In war, there will always be those who are only loyal to themselves. There’s no such thing as patriotism. They join the side they think will win hoping to keep themselves “safe” AND make money. If the side they chose did not win, they just switched back. You could say they are among the survivors who win. But they are at the bottom of this group and are like the scum of the Earth.

Those people should be tried for war crimes for betraying their fellow countrymen. But that usually never happens. Why? Because they made enough money during the war to live comfortably and happily ever after no matter which country they ended up staying in. One can only hope that one day they will burn in hellfire. Hey! There has to be some kind of justice for the wrongs they committed against their fellow countrymen.

LINKS OF INTEREST:

MovieGuide: THE BATTLESHIP ISLAND | Movie Reviews for Families

The Battleship Island movie review (2017) | Roger Ebert

‘The Battleship Island’: Film Review | The Hollywood Reporter (“Based on a liberally fictionalized version of historical events, this lavishly produced feature revisits Japanese wartime abuses of Korean …”)

Here are some interesting facts about Hashima Island | Texas WIB-WAH

TRAILER/TEASER:

Rotten Tomatoes Indie. “The Battleship Island Official Trailer 1 (2017) – Joong-Ki Song Movie.” YouTube, 2 Mar. 2017, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZgOff3LJhWg.