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Reviews
After the Sewol (2017)
Powerful follow-up and investigation into the Sewol sinking
The strength of After the Sewol comes in how it moves quickly past the sinking itself and moves into new territory of how the families and those involved have coped with uncovering the truth of what happened that day. Fingers get pointed and numerous questions I think the general population had never considered get raised in a very suitable fashion.
The film then explores more about similar safety disasters in Korea's recent history and how the rapid development of the country is often looked at as a reason for this lack of safety protocols or adherence to safety.
I'll let the powerful interviews with those who lost loved ones speak for themselves as far as their ideas and theories, but I will say that two particular moments really touched me.
1. During the opening credits, homage is paid to the victims as the names of those who perished sink silently into the murky blackness of the screen, one after another. In the audience, we are helpless to save those names and can only watch, just as many of us did on that day in April when we watched the real ferry sink on live TV.
2. Near the end of the film, there's a moment when the interview subjects all take a pause from speaking, shift their gazes from the off-camera interviewer, and stare directly at you, the viewer, holding your gaze for a powerful few seconds.
These two moments really hit home for me. Definitely the strongest documentary of its kind out there. Kudos to Matt and Neil for doing such a respectful job!