Overview of Smugglers
‘Smugglers’ is a South Korean movie directed by Ryoo Seung-wan. The movie features Kim Hye-soo, Yum Jung-ah and Zo In-sung. The story revolves around the life of a haenyeo who lives in a small sea village. Haenyeos are a group of brave ladies who dives into the depth of the sea to collect molluscs. Due to pollution, the haenyeos start to smuggle by collecting the crates that are hidden under the water. Jo Chun-ja, one of the haenyeos gets the craze of smuggling and escapes to Seoul putting her teammates into trouble.
Profile
- Name: Smugglers
- Genre: Adventure, Crime, Drama
- Starring: Kim Hye-soo, Yum Jung-ah, Zo In-sung
- Directed by: Ryoo Seung-wan
- Produced by: Kang Hye-jeong
- Production Company: Filmmaker R&K
- Written by: Ryoo Seung-wan, Kim Jeong-yeon
- Music by: Chang Kiha
- Running time: 129 minutes
- Distributed by: Next Entertainment World
- Release date: 26 July 2023
- Language: Korean
- Country: South Korea
Cast
- Kim Hye-soo as Jo Chun-jaÂ
- Yum Jung-ah as Um Jin-sook
- Zo In-sung as Sergeant Kwon
- Park Jeong-min as Jang Do-ri
- Park Jun-myeon as Yang Geum-ne
- Joo Bo-bi as Lee Eok-cheok
- Park Kyung-hye as Dok-soon
- Kim Jong-soo as Lee Jang-chun
- Kim Jae-hwa as haenyeo
- Go Min-si as Go Ok-bun
Synopsis
A boat filled with a group of girls who make their living by collecting shells and fishe from the bottom of the sea sails near an island. The boat stops at a specific spot and the girls in the boat jump into the water to collect the shells. However, their job is threatened due to the functioning of a factory nearby. It is killing the lives in the sea and the shells they collected recently are rotten.
That time, a man suggests the old captain of the boat and the father of Um Jin-sook, smuggle the crates that are submerged in the water. The old man agrees to give it a try when compelled several times. Smuggling the crates from the bottom of the water was not a big deal for the girls. They do the job with ease and start to earn more. They start to buy fashionable clothes and put on makeup.
Now the young man wants to use the girls to smuggle gold bars that are hidden from the surface view of the sea. The old man this time already made up his mind not to engage in gold smuggling. He warns the other one that his greed will kill him. However, when the young man tell his plan to Jo Chun-ja and Um Jin-sook, they agree to the deal without the knowledge of the old man.
The next time the old man sails his boat to collect the crates, but it is a secret only known to the two girls that this time they have to pick up the cartons of gold. While lifting the final crate of gold into the boat, the box breaks by hitting the side of the boat scattering the gold bars into the sea. Meantime, the police arrive at the site which forces them to throw the evidence back in the ocean. While pulling out the anchor, the old man and his son die. The police catch everyone in the boat except Jo Chun-ja, who hides in a corner.
Chun-ja escapes to Seoul and starts living by being a fraudulent. One day, Mr. Kwon catches her and she starts to smuggle with him. On the other hand, Um Jin-sook is imprisoned. While visiting her, the others in her group inform her that it was Chun-ja who informed the police about the gold smuggling. Um Jin-sook starts hating Chun-ja, but Chun-ja occasionally keeps checking on her dearest mates. When Um Jin-sook comes out of jail, Chun-ja summons her for a reunion. Finally, they start to get along with each other again.
Jang Do-ri, another smuggling gang leader interrupts the business of Mr. Kwon and Chun-ja. In a fight, Do-ri badly hurts Mr. Kwon. Also, the police strengthen their security to catch the smugglers. The Chief who is in charge of capturing the smugglers, catches Do-ri and the girls. He takes them to the sea to collect the evidence. When the girls dive into the water, the Chief sends Do-ri’s men into the water to kill the girls. The girls are more familiar with the sea and they kill Do-ri’s men inside the water including the chief. During the fight Um Jin-sook gets a cut on her leg. The smell of the blood attracts a shark.
To escape from the shark, the girls climb onto the boat. Do-ri does not care about the wound on Um Jin-sook’s leg and he threatens the girls to dive into the water for the carter. After diving into the water, the girls anchor the boat tightly on the seabed. Later, they hide under the boat and without Do-ri’s knowledge they climb onto the boat. Do-ri tries to pull up the anchor and in the attempt he falls into the water accidentally. The girls leave him in the water and turn their boat towards the shore taking the carter.
Theme
When completely involved, the thirst to smuggle more and get rich became the ultimate goal of a person. ‘Smugglers’ is one such movie which tells the story of a haenyeo who gets the craze of smuggling. The movie involves fights and betrayal.
Awards
- Korean Association of Film Critics Awards 2023
Best Supporting Actor – Kim Jong-soo
Technical Award: (Art) – Lee Hoo-kyoung
Music Award – Chang Kiha - 44th Blue Dragon Film Awards 2023Â
Best Film
Best Supporting Actor – Zo In-sung
Best New Actress – Go Min-si
Best Music – Chang Kiha - Buil Film Awards 2023Â
Best Supporting Actor – Kim Jong-soo
Best Supporting Actress – Go Min-si - Grand Bell Awards 2023
Best Director – Ryoo Seung-wan
Best Cinematography – Choi Young-hwan - Marie Claire Asia Star Awards 2023
Face of Asia Award – Go Min-si
Interesting Facts about Smugglers
- The 2023 Toronto International Film Festival officially invited the movie ‘Smugglers’ for the special premiere.
- After ‘The Roundup: No Way Out‘, ‘Smugglers’ is the second movie to stand at a break-even point with no loss and no gain in the money spent and the profit generated.
- ‘Smugglers’ covered 1 million admissions by the end of its 4th day’s premier and was the top-rated movie for two weeks.
