''The Book of Fish'' () is a 2021 South Korean

historical History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbrella term comprising past events as well ...

black and white Black-and-white (B&W or B/W) images combine black and white in a continuous spectrum, producing a range of shades of grey. Media The history of various visual media began with black and white, and as technology improved, altered to color. ...

film directed by

Lee Joon-ik Lee Joon-ik (born September 21, 1959) is a South Korean film director and producer. He is best known for directing and producing ''King and the Clown'' (2005), one of the highest grossing Korean films of all time. Other notable films include ' ...

. The film starring

Sol Kyung-gu Sol Kyung-gu (born May 14, 1967) is a South Korean actor. He is best known for his roles in ''Public Enemy (2002 film), Public Enemy'' film series, ''Peppermint Candy'', ''Oasis (2002 film), Oasis'', ''Silmido (film), Silmido'', ''Hope (2013 film ...

and

Byun Yo-han Byun Yo-han (born April 29, 1986) is a South Korean actor. He is best known for his roles in the television dramas '' Misaeng: Incomplete Life'' (2014), ''Six Flying Dragons'' (2015–2016), and '' Mr. Sunshine'' (2018). He has also appeared in ...

, is about an exiled

Joseon Joseon (; ; Middle Korean: 됴ᇢ〯션〮 Dyǒw syéon or 됴ᇢ〯션〯 Dyǒw syěon), officially the Great Joseon (; ), was the last dynastic kingdom of Korea, lasting just over 500 years. It was founded by Yi Seong-gye in July 1392 and re ...

era scholar and a fisherman and their exchange of knowledge in writing a book. The film was theatrically released on March 31, 2021 by Megabox. According to Korean Film Council data, it is at 14th place among all the Korean films released in the year 2021 in South Korea, with gross of US$2.70 million and 342,540 admissions, . The film won the

Grand Prize A prize is an award to be given to a person or a group of people (such as sporting teams and organizations) to recognize and reward their actions and achievements.

57th Baeksang Arts Awards The 57th Baeksang Arts Awards () ceremony, organised by ''Ilgan Sports'' and JTBC Plus, was held on May 13, 2021, at Korea International Exhibition Center, KINTEX, Ilsanseo-gu, Gyeonggi Province, beginning at 9:00 p.m. Time in South Korea, KST. ...

in May 2021. It has won 20 awards overall at various award ceremonies.

Synopsis

''The Book of Fish'' is a black-and-white historical film set in 1801 about the

era scholar Jeong Yak-jeon (1758–1816) (

). He was exiled to

Heuksando Heuksando is an island in the Yellow Sea located off 97.2 km from the southwest coast of Mokpo, Jeollanam-do, South Korea. It covers an area of 19.7 km2 and consists of several peaks: Munamsan (문암산/ 400m), Gitdaebong (깃대봉/ 378m), ...

Island during the

Catholic Persecution of 1801 The Catholic Persecution of 1801, also known as the Sinyu Persecution (신유박해), was a mass persecution of Korean Catholics ordered by Queen Jeongsun during King Sunjo of Joseon's reign. The government began to suppress Catholicism in the be ...

in King

Sunjo of Joseon Sunjo of Joseon (29 July 1790 – 13 December 1834, reigned 1800–1834) was the 23rd king of the Korean Joseon Dynasty. Sunjo was the 2nd son of King Jeongjo with Royal Noble Consort Su, one of King Jeongjo's concubines. Biography He w ...

’s reign. There he wrote a pishine encyclopaedia titled '' Jasaneobo''. In the film a fictional character Chang-dae (

), a young, conservative and eager to learn fisherman is introduced.

Cast

as Jeong Yak-jeon *

as Jang Chang-dae *

Lee Jung-eun Lee Jeong-eun or Lee Jung-eun () is the name of the following people: *A series of South Korean golfers, all of them have been numbered in order of age: :*Lee Jeoung Eun (golfer, born 1976) (), also known as 'Jeongeun Lee1' :*Lee Jeong Eun (golfer, ...

as woman from Gageo *

Min Do-hee Min Do-hee (born September 25, 1994), professionally known as Dohee, is a South Korean actress and singer. She debuted in 2012 as a lead vocal of South Korean girl group Tiny-G. She made her acting debut in 2013 with tvN drama '' Reply 1994'' ...

as Bok-rye * Cha Soon-bae as Poong-heon *

Kang Ki-young Kang Ki-young (born October 14, 1983) is a South Korean actor. He is well-known for his supporting roles in a number of popular Korean drama Korean dramas (; RR: ''Han-guk deurama''), more popularly known as K-dramas, are television serie ...

as Lee Kang-hwe * Dong Bang-woo as Magistrate of Naju *

Jung Jin-young Jung Jin-young may refer to: * Jung Jin-young (actor) (born 1964), South Korean actor * Jung Jin-young (singer) Jung Jin-young (; born November 18, 1991), professionally known as Jinyoung, is a South Korean singer, songwriter, record producer ...

King Jeongjo Jeongjo of Joseon (28 October 1752 – 18 August 1800), personal name Yi San (Korean language, Korean: 이산; Hanja: 李祘), sometimes called Jeongjo the Great (Korean language, Korean: 정조대왕; Hanja: 正祖大王), was the 22nd monarc ...

Kim Eui-sung Kim Eui-sung (; born December 17, 1965) is a South Korean actor. He is known for his roles in films ''The Day a Pig Fell into the Well'' (1996), ''Office'' (2015), '' The Exclusive: Beat the Devil's Tattoo'' (2015) and ''Train to Busan'' (2016); ...

as Official Jang *

Bang Eun-jin Bang Eun-jin (born August 5, 1965) is a South Korean actress and film director. She is best known for starring in Park Chul-soo's ''301, 302'' and Kim Ki-duk's '' Address Unknown''. Bang made her feature directorial debut with '' Princess Aurora ...

as Changdae's mother *

Ryu Seung-ryong Ryu Seung-ryong (born November 29, 1970) is a South Korean actor. Ryu began his acting career in theater, subsequently becoming one of the most versatile supporting actors in Korean film and television. In 2013, he headlined '' Miracle in Cell N ...

Jeong Yakyong Jeong Yak-yong (August 5, 1762 – April 7, 1836) or Chong Yagyong, often simply known as ‘Dasan’ (茶山, one of his ‘ho’ / pen-names meaning ‘the mountain of tea’), was a Korean agronomist, philosopher, and poet. He was one of the ...

* Jo Woo-jin as Byeol-jang *

Choi Won-young Choi Won-young (; born Choi Seong-wook on January 10, 1976) is a South Korean actor. Career Choi Won-young made his acting debut in 2002's ''Sex Is Zero'', and has since appeared in both film and television. But his most notable roles have be ...

Jeong Yak-jong Jeong Yak-jong (1760 – 8 April 1801), also known as ''Augustine Chong'', was a Korean Catholic martyr who contributed greatly to the spread of Catholicism in Korea. He was the older brother of Jeong Yak-yong and the father of Paul Chong Hasa ...

Yoon Kyung-ho Yoon Kyung-ho (, born 5 July 1980) is a South Korean theatre, film and television actor. He debuted in 2002 in SBS's documentary drama ''Savage Age''. He came into prominence in KBS's 2017 legal drama ''Witch at Court'' and tvN's 2019 TV series ...

as Moon Soon-deuk * Jo Seung-yeon as Yi Byeok

Production

''The Book of Fish'' is a

film, which are making a comeback in South Korea. ;Filming Filming was wrapped up on November 15, 2019.

Release

The film was theatrically released on March 31, 2021 by Megabox. ''The Book of Fish'' has been invited at the 20th New York Asian Film Festival. It was featured in 'Standouts’ strand and screened at

Lincoln Center Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts (also simply known as Lincoln Center) is a complex of buildings in the Lincoln Square neighborhood on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. It has thirty indoor and outdoor facilities and is host to 5 millio ...

and

SVA Theatre The School of Visual Arts New York City (SVA NYC) is a private for-profit art school in New York City. It was founded in 1947 and is a member of the Association of Independent Colleges of Art and Design. History This school was started by ...

in the two-week festival held from August 6 to 22, 2021 in New York. It was also selected in 'Korean Cinema Today - Panorama Section' at

26th Busan International Film Festival The 26th Busan International Film Festival opened on October 6 at the Busan Cinema Center in Busan, South Korea with South Korean film '' Heaven: To the Land of Happiness'' by Im Sang-soo. Park So-dam and Song Joong-ki hosted the opening of the ...

and will be screened in the festival in October 2021. The film was also screened at 10th Korean Film Festival Frankfurt on October 23, 2021. On May 6, 2022, it was screened at the Habitat International Film Festival (HIFF), at the Habitat Center in New Delhi. In 2022, it was selected as one of the films in 'The Actor, Sol Kyung-gu' special exhibition event at

26th Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival The 26th Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival (), an international film festival held in Bucheon, South Korea, began on 7 July 2022 with the slogan 'Stay Strange'. A non-competitive international film festival with a competitive sectio ...

to honour actor

Reception

Box office

The film released on March 31, 2021 on 1250 screens. It was at the number 1 place at the Korean box office by collecting 54,000 audiences on the weekend, taking its total commutative audience to 255,000 persons in the second week of its release. According to Korean Film Council data, it is at 14th place among all the Korean films released in the year 2021, with gross of US$2.71 million and 342,540 admissions, . * The system of KOBIS (Korean Box Office Information System) is managed by KOFIC.

Critical response

Going by Korean

review aggregator A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews of products and services (such as films, books, video games, software, hardware, and cars). This system stores the reviews and uses them for purposes such as supporting a website where users ...

Naver Naver (Hangul: 네이버) is a South Korean online platform operated by the Naver Corporation. It was launched in 1999 as the first web portal in South Korea to develop and use its own search engine. It was also the world's first operator to in ...

Movie Database'', the film holds an approval rating of 9.11 from the audience. Kim Boram reviewing ''The Book of Fish'' for Yonhap wrote that the film keeps interest of the viewers alive as the tone is not serious. He opined that the beautiful scenery of

Island makes the viewing pleasurable. He praised the performances of

as an open-minded scholar and

as Chang-dae, a young but conservative fisherman. Concluding the review Boram said, "The black-and-white cinematography makes the movie feel like a Joseon Dynasty ink painting, .... and the viewers even get the sense that color is not really important in the script-driven and performance-based piece."

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Book of Fish, The 2020s Korean-language films South Korean historical drama films South Korean biographical drama films South Korean black-and-white films Films postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic 2021 films Films about Catholicism Films about marine biology Films about fish Films about fishers Films about writers Films about teacher–student relationships Films set in South Jeolla Province Films set on islands Films set in 1801 Films set in the 1800s Films set in the 1810s Films directed by Lee Joon-ik Films set in the Joseon dynasty 2020s historical drama films South Korean films based on actual events