The Sea Knows

Directed by Kim Ki-young (김기영)

Written by Kim Ki-young (김기영)

117min | Release date in South Korea: 1961/11/10

Synopsis
January 1944. Korean students are conscripted as student soldiers for a transportation troop in Nagoya, Japan. Among them are Arowoon (Kim Wun-ha) and Inoue (Lee Sang-sa), who were on a blacklist for defying the proconsul. A veteran soldier Mori (Lee Ye-chun) makes Arowoon lick the dirty sole of his combat boots or bark and act like a dog, maltreating him as a worthless being. The Japanese abuse them as they emphasize "50-years-long tradition of Japanese army" but Arowoon and Inoue sneer at them. Then Arowoon comes across Hideko (Gong Midori) who is Japanese and falls in love with her. He dates Hideko during his furlough or whenever he has time and is consoled by Hideko as they talk about what he goes through at the army. Hideko's mother (Ju Jeung-ryu) is strongly against their relationship but they get married on their own. Then, Arowoon escapes the army immediately before the massed air-raid of the U.S. and wanders around the bombed streets. When the army base and the city became completely chaotic, Japanese soldiers performed group cremation for dead soldiers as they forbid families from seeing the corpse. People are enraged as they see dead bodies burn and Arowoon walks out amid burning bodies and gets to meet Hideko again.

Source