The narrative of Sue Kim’s documentary “The Last of the Sea Women” starts with one narrator. A woman describes herself just before diving into the ocean to catch fish or other sea animals. And when the camera zooms out, we discover that, in fact, there are a lot of women submerged in the sea waves, this time in wetsuits. These women are from Jeju Island in South Korea where they are involved women free divers who are said to be without an oxygen tank or in other words, who use their own breath in the water.
A different narrator says ”This is a hard-working job which is motivated by love. It’s our inheritance from our mothers, our grandmothers. When times are unpleasant, for example, we don’t want to dive because it’s cold. We still dive because there’s no option other than to do so! It’s our calling, we are ladies after all.” The women of this island have collected sea urchins and conch shells for the longest time. This number reached its former peak of around 30,000 women performing the same type of work. Only 4000 women, though, are still practicing this type of fishing. Albeit in 2016, UNESCO included it in its intangible cultural heritage list. “It’s like making a slow ice cream. Our culture is slowly fading away,” says one woman.
In the beginning, we encounter many of these elderly women who have been doing the work of all their lives. To become one, they try to train for ten years at the earliest starting age of only seven. Even though it is now considered a significant aspect of Korean culture, in the past, it was regarded as a disgrace. Numerous women talk about their receiving contempt for doing such kinds of work. However, even with this newfound respect from the culture, there are only a few brave young ladies who still go to the ocean.
Along this journey are thirty-somethings Sohee Jin and Jeongmin Woo who are quite active on Youtube and TikTok. They dared to venture into this occupation despite all the challenges because, like most of their senior colleagues, this occupation is quite rewarding and brings them economic independence. Jin quit a stressful office job and now says that “there is something calming and therapeutic about being outdoors doing work.” Woo started work after her husband lost his company’s business, mentioning that it is one of the few jobs with a reasonable amount of flexibility for a working mother in Korea.
Besides its remarkable underwater camera work, Kim’s documentary is rather uncomplicated in its conception and execution. On land and at home, she employs basic camera techniques to record their daily activities followed by a simple talking-head format to record interviews with them. But this choice also enables us to hear the poets’ voices and see the intensity of their commitment to their work and their cries for a better world, which is what we all need to hear in the first place.
The women have to get deeper into the sea entirely to perform their activities. Oxygen tanks may be the standard gear requirement sooner, which many are apprehensive about because it may lead to overfishing. Jin and Woo also take their social media accounts and post these transformations. This is to encourage the remaining masses to be concerned about their future and the future of the world around them. All of this said, the documentary also offers hope as the women share their community spirit and strength together as well on this sacred tradition, opening every scene of their life with humor. That is until more awful news emerges which may threaten the haenyeo’s lifestyle and maybe the whole island’s people as well.
Jeju island shares its sea border with Japan, which has announced that it will pour radioactive oxide waste from the Fukushima nuclear leakage into the sea. The Japanese government has claimed that it is adhering to international standards and guidelines, however, anti-nuclear activists, environmentalists, and people from the fisheries background are worried that this project which may take around 30 years will ruin the marine resources for hundreds and perhaps thousands of years.
While they unite to advocate for their rights at sea and defend the ocean, the movie does not bring about a neat ending. One of the elder women, Soon Deok Jang, goes to the Human Rights Council in Switzerland to represent their plight. She is strong and has an intention of speaking her truth with the utmost potential. However, if the last year has revealed anything it is that those august international courts, the courts of last resort in the international fora are not necessarily the last hope for the common man.
“Where there is sea there will always be,” Jin asserts. Then the sprite of the sea is. These women have this trust. It looks like Kim also has this trust and concludes her documentary by remembering her foreign friends with a joint moment of pleasure during the annual celebrations. Me? I’ve got different thoughts.
For More Movies Like The Last of the Sea Women Visit 123Movies
