Breathing Underwater (2016)
Genre : Documentary
Runtime : 1H 17M
Director : Koh Hee-young
Synopsis
In Jeju Province, located off the southern coast of Korea, are the women of the sea, those who hold breath for life. These women still exist and they still dive the old way, without tanks. They go into the waters of 10- to 20-meter depth to harvest seaweed and shellfish to make a living. They make a living in the same sea, but each haenyeo’s sea of life is different. The community is divided into three tiers- Group A, B and C, based on skills and capabilities. One’s rank is determined by sum or breath. Sum, is pre-determined at birth. Therefore, sum is desired. However, the ocean is harsh. May you desire! But seek what is not yours, the ocean will devour you. Life, for these women of the sea, is about holding one’s breath, and containing and controlling one’s desire. The film is a six year record of the lives of the haenyeos in Udo, an islet in the province of Jeju, known to be the birthplace of haenyeo. It is a close look into the lives that stand on the boundary of life and death.
An assassin named Tae-goo is offered a chance to switch sides with his rival Bukseong gang, headed by Chairman Doh. Tae-goo rejects the offer that results in the murder of his sister and niece. In revenge, Tae-goo brutally kills Chairman Doh and his men and flees to Jeju Island where he meets Jae-yeon, a terminally ill woman. Though, the henchman of the Bukseong gang, Executive Ma is mercilessly hunting Tae-goo to take revenge.
When Seung-min was on his first year at the Academy of Architecture, he met Seo-yeon. She was a musician student, and Seung-min totally fell in love with her. Years have passed, and now he meets Seo-yeon again - she asks him to rebuild her father's old house.
Min-Jun and Ji-Won are first-rate "players" who are dating gurus with 100% success rates in any dating pursuits. Following her usual systematic dating rules, Ji-Won fakes a car accident to capture Min-Jun's attention and successfully approaches him. However, her smooth-sailing dating life finally encounters turbulence. Min-Jun is also overwhelmed by the understanding that he has met his match.
Delightfully comic exploration of the emotional and social geography of an art-house film director.
Jin-Myung is a psychiatrist and exorcist. With his assistant, Ji-Kwang, they attempt an exorcism on Geum-Joo. She suffers from a bizarre phenomenon. They then face a powerful existence within Geum-Joo. Extreme horror arises out of her.
A girl who went missing after an accident returns 10 years later and reunites with her grandmother.
Na-young works at a post office and is sick and tired of being around her shamefully unyielding mother and her pushover father who's excessively nice. The only thing that she can look forward to is her trip abroad in a few days. But one day, her father leaves home without any notice. Her mother doesn't care what happens to him and doesn't care to look for him. Na-young has no choice but to give up her dream trip abroad and to search for her father instead. Once she arrives at her parents' hometown, Na-young is shocked to meet someone she'd never expect, even in her dreams.
A man on a bike trip across the country gets killed in an accident. His lover, So-wol, moves to the island where he died and settles down. 3 years later, the couple’s close friend, Cheol, pays her a surprise visit. Staying at her place, he goes fishing or ventures out looking for a particular lighthouse. Slowly, without knowing, the seemingly mundane daily life of island mends their broken heart.
Grand Prix" covers the world of horse racing, centered around the romance between a male horse jockey and a female horse jockey. Seo Joo-Hee (Kim Tae-Hee) is an ambitious equestrian who loses her beloved horse in a racing accident and also injures her arm. Devastated she quits the sport and travels to Jeju Island. On Jeju Island, Seo Joo-Hee meets fellow equestrian Woo-Seok (Yang Dong-Kun), a former winner of the Japan Cup who is also experienced a similar slump as Seo Joo-Hee. With Woo-Seok's help, Seo Joo-Hee becomes inspired to compete for the Grand Prix Chamionship.
What is beauty? Truth created from whith lie.
Two friends, Moon-ho and Jong-kyu, in their mid-thirties now, have known each other since childhood. As time passes, they feel more and more sorry of their younger years. In search of adventure they are ready for all kind of acrobatics, for example, to make love spontaneously, with a woman they meet for the first time. Moon-ho finds Yun-jung through the internet to have an extramarital sexual affair. Jong-kyu goes out with his first love, Soo-hyun, for the first time in ten years and together they head for a hotel... But the story goes on as if the two couples had never met...
The sudden death of her mother brings Myung-eun back home to Jeju island. There she meets her estranged sister Myung-ju and Myung-ju's daughter Seung-ah, still living at their old home, and Hyun-ah who has lived with them for over 20 years like a relative. A career woman whose hard exterior masks her illegitimacy and abandonment issues, Myung-eun tells Hyun-ah she wants to start looking for her father after the funeral. Single-minded in her desire to dig up memories of her father and discover why he left, Myung-eun resents that Myung-ju, who like their mother is a carefree fish trader and an unmarried mother of a young daughter, seemingly doesn't care. At first Myung-ju is reluctant to accompany Myung-eun, but after Hyun-ah persuades her, guilt and her sense of duty as an older sibling prevails. And so the two sisters who are dissimilar in character...
Old man, Moon-ho, spends his time masturbating because of Alzheimer. Yoon-jeong works as
caretaker for Moon-ho. One day, Yoon-jeong finds Moon-ho completely recovered from dementia…
Three friends from college are now on the brink of turning 40. To attend a funeral on Jeju Island, they go on an unexpected trip as a getaway and wind up at a guest house, where water shimmers, wind blows, and pretty women are seductive, inviting the trio back to their 20s.
Yu-jeong who works golf practice is in her late twenties. One day, she receive the shocking news that Sang-ho who is only family and one young brother deserted from his regiment...
A former jockey who became blind after losing his wife in an accident gets a second chance with the help of his daughter and an injured horse.
Everglow begins with the cute struggle of Kyung-hoon (Ji Hyun-woo), who visited Jeju to make a documentary about Jin-ok (Ko Doo-sim), a female diver. Kyunghoon’s work becomes a sincere mission for the souls buried in the deep sea and mountains.
A company is studying the possibility to open a spa hotel named after a mythical island, Ieodo. The island is inhabited by the souls of drowned sailors. During a study trip to the location of the hotel lost a journalist under mysterious circumstances. One of the contractors go to Ieodo's neighboring island, populated by widows of the dead sailors, to unravel the disappearance.
The daughter of a poor rancher, Si-eun's only hope is to one day, become a jockey. With her mother passing away at her birth, her favorite horse, Chun-doong, has become not only her friend, but also a soul mate. She is devastated when Chun-doong is sold to another owner, but when they are reunited two years later they have a chance to create a miracle by teaming up in a race.
