An Admiral that takes 13 ships into battle against 300 and wins without losing a ship? Come on! There were so many shots of the Admiral's heroic visage that disbelief was easy. Plus for much of the battle it was his flagship fighting the enemy on its own.
So I looked it up. This battle did take place and that is what happened. Incredible. Admiral Yi fought 23 battles against the Japanese during the latter's attempts to conquer Korea (or Joseon as it then was) in the 1590's. Every one was fought against superior odds and he won all of them.
He was a naval warfare genius. Being British we think Nelson was unsurpassable, but it seems that Admiral Yi was his peer at the very least.
He did benefit from superior naval technology with Japanese ships carrying much less firepower and their favoured tactic being to take enemy ships by boarding them. So Admiral Yi kept his distance and used his cannons. Seems obvious I know but history is full of examples of leaders that throw away victories they might have won.
So this film is worth watching as an opportunity to learn something new. However, the mythologising of Admiral Yi was still a problem for me. One example - his battered ship is being sucked into a whirlpool but he finds the time to gaze intensely and meaningfully at his blood soaked crew and they to gaze steadily back from a deck that is hardly moving. The whirlpool must have taken a break.
But if I was Korean I would probably mythologise the genius admiral too.
So I looked it up. This battle did take place and that is what happened. Incredible. Admiral Yi fought 23 battles against the Japanese during the latter's attempts to conquer Korea (or Joseon as it then was) in the 1590's. Every one was fought against superior odds and he won all of them.
He was a naval warfare genius. Being British we think Nelson was unsurpassable, but it seems that Admiral Yi was his peer at the very least.
He did benefit from superior naval technology with Japanese ships carrying much less firepower and their favoured tactic being to take enemy ships by boarding them. So Admiral Yi kept his distance and used his cannons. Seems obvious I know but history is full of examples of leaders that throw away victories they might have won.
So this film is worth watching as an opportunity to learn something new. However, the mythologising of Admiral Yi was still a problem for me. One example - his battered ship is being sucked into a whirlpool but he finds the time to gaze intensely and meaningfully at his blood soaked crew and they to gaze steadily back from a deck that is hardly moving. The whirlpool must have taken a break.
But if I was Korean I would probably mythologise the genius admiral too.