A vanishing way of life is captured in “The Last of the Sea Women.” Sue Kim’s feature directorial debut trains focus on the haenyeo — female divers associated primarily with Jeju Island off South Korea’s southernmost coast. Operating without oxygen tanks, these women swim to considerable depths in search of seafood whose sale provides their livelihood. But this unique vocation is dying out, a victim of various phenomena—but mostly the lack of new recruits to replenish its aging practitioners. This affectionate and humorous look at an ebbing tradition premieres Friday on Apple TV+, also opening the same date on one Laemmle screen in Los Angeles.
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Considering themselves “guardians of the sea,” haenyeo have only adopted wetsuits, flippers and goggles within the last 40 years or so; they now utilize motorboats rather than rowboats to reach diving sites. But resisting technological advances is a point of pride, as well as a means of ensuring they don’t overharvest variably protected quarry such as sea urchins, octopus, abalone and seaweed. Using only their breath, they can descend over 100 meters, staying underwater up to three minutes. The introduction of insulating clothing has extended shifts on the sea to several hours — though back on land, it can take equally long to process the haul and penetrate the tough, spiny exterior of the sea urchin.
These women are tough and spiny too, given to raucous songs, laughter and the occasional squabble. Their profession has granted independence as well as an income that commands respect, though it was not always so. Some interviewees recall not-long-distant days when haenyeo were looked down upon for their sun-darkened skin and hard labor, even if many provided their families’ primary sustenance.
Nearly all these subjects are past 60 now, one as old as 90. While now recognized as a cultural treasure, by UNESCO as well as the nation, a tradition “passed down from our mothers and grandmothers” does not seem to be attracting younger generations. The doc does meet with two photogenic 30-something women who’ve taken up the same work on a different island, 150 miles away. They appear so incongruously middle-class and media-savvy, one assumes at first that they are adopting this pursuit as some kind of influencer publicity pose. But at a celebratory annual haenyeo festival late in the going here, they’re greeted by elder Jeju “aunties” as offering hope that the calling may yet live on.
Despite glimpses of undated archival footage, history doesn’t get much attention in “Sea Women.” There is no mention of how such diving hereabouts dates back as far as the 5th century A.D., nor are there details on when it became largely “women’s work” or how economic policy shifts have contributed to its shrinking numbers in recent decades. Explored to some degree are the dangers haenyeo face on the job, such “natural” ones as strong currents and injury now joined by a growing array of man-made problems. When it rains, pesticides and fertilizers muddy the ocean, hampering visibility. Climate change and drifting trash have reduced marine life in shallow areas, forcing deeper dives.
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Halfway through, the documentary takes on a more activist tenor, as the women are outraged to learn that radiation-contaminated water from the 2011 Fukushima nuclear accident (about a thousand miles away) will soon be finally released into the ocean. They highly doubt that can possibly be safe, and this fuels organized protests that include 72-year-old Soon Deok Jang — far from the oldest active diver here— being flown across the globe to speak about water pollution to a United Nations assembly.
While it’s easy to see that environmental and societal trends will likely continue to thin the haenyeo ranks, Kim understandably prefers to emphasize their spunky spirit. Without being particularly educated or erudite as a group, they provide a model for many things, from female self-sufficiency and physically vibrant old age to ecological caretaking and citizens’ political agitation. A farewell melancholy may be built into the title, yet “Last” is upbeat in gist, to a infectious effect that will surely draw at least some new aspirants to a field otherwise facing possible extinction.
The visual highlight is unquestionably Justin Turkowski’s lovely underwater photography, capturing colorful aquatic species life, as well as our protagonists at work. An equally strong sonic contribution is Jang Young Gyu’s original score, which draws heavily on choral and percussive sounds to rousing effect.
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