Screening followed by Q&A with film’s director, Kim Han-min.

Following up The Admiral: Roaring Currents, the naval warfare blockbuster that remains the most successful Korean film of all time with over 17 million admissions, was never going to be an easy task. Yet director Kim Han-min returns to the legendary exploits of Joseon Era admiral Yi Sun-sin’s with a prequel story that is just as sweeping but even more focussed than the hit that spawned it.

Set in 1592, six years before the events of The Admiral: Roaring Currents, the film depicts the lead up and Admiral Yi’s explosive exploits during the Battle of Hansan Island, when he led a small fleet against a vast Japanese armada. In a banner year for Park Hae-il, who also leads Park Chan-wook’s Decision to Leave, the actor takes over the mantle of the admiral from Choi Min-sik. Portraying Admiral Yi during an earlier naval campaign in his career, which also saw him heavily outnumbered by a Japanese armada, Park imbues the historical figure with a staunch and stolid solemnity.

Teeming with white knuckle tension, Hansan: Rising Dragon steers us through an impeccably realised and epic David-vs-Goliath struggle out in the open sea.

Pierce Conran