#padak: swimming to sea

[marinerainbow]

Alright.

I h a v e to know what Padak is about XD

Oh... Oh you sweet summer child, you don't know?

Well I'm glad I can tell you instead of you like, stumbling on this movie and having all of it jump out at you XD

Ok ok, I genuinely love this film and I'll admit, I really want to take a moment to geek out about it. But that would involve in me getting into spoiler territory. So, in case you decide to look for this film yourself, I'll just give you the generalized story here.

The movie is about a lone mackerel, later in the film named Padak for trying to 'padak padak her way to her death' (she jumped out of the tank and was flip flopping on the ground. I'm guessing Padak is Korean for Flip-Flop? It's a good thing this film wasn't Australian, or else she'd be named Thong. I'm sorry) is fished out of the sea and dropped into a tank at a local restaurant, and has to escape back to home, all while trying to convince her new tank-mates to escape with her. Simple plot, right? Well... Here's a quote from the YouTube review that introduced me to Padak that pretty much sums up the whole movie perfectly.

"Imagine if you took the fish tank setting from Finding Nemo and mixed it with the graphic violence from Watership Down, drizzled it in the depressing tone of Plague Dogs, and gave it a garnish of that sushi scene from The Isle of Dogs. That's basically this film on a plate."

Steve Reveiws, Padak

Now, why is the sushi scene prevalent? Because this film takes place in a Korean restaurant where their food is as fresh as possible. Meaning that the fish are prepared and even eaten while still alive. And this film pulls zero punches in showing the horrors of this kind of delicacy (no, I'm serious. A fish is literally cut up and dissected on screen. This movie takes off the kid gloves and throws them in the God damn incinerator). So yeah, there are a lot of images in this film that will be upsetting to veiwers. But this film isn't gorey just for the sake of gore. It tells a genuinely very sad story and will wring out emotions from your heart, and can also be breathtaking with its musical and 2D animated segments.

I'd recommend checking out this reveiw before trying to find the film, though. Even if watching a reveiw is not at all like watching the movie, this guy does censor some of the more extreme gore (like the scene I mentioned above). He doesn't censor all of it, but I think this video is still the best introduction to this movie.

However, if you want to check out the movie, I could only find it on this website https://online.potlockermovies.com/full-movie/padak/ it's free, and it does have English subtitles (the movie doesn't have an English dub), but there are a lot if pop up adds and it's probably going to get frustrating clicking off of them, but this site was still the best I could find to watch Padak.

It's interesting to note that this film does not go in the direction you might expect it to. If it weren't for the fact that I had watched the video above before the movie itself, I would have been just as shocked with how it ended and what happened to our characters as Steve was. But at the same time, the film does establish right away that it's going for more... For lack of a better term, realistic approach. So although the film goes in an unexpected direction, it's also hard to say that it cheated you out of your time to view it.

Again, to try to keep this as spoiler free as possible, I'm only going to sum up the third act in lyrics from the last song of the movie that speaks mountains once you realize it.

Destiny tricks us like fools.

He also gives off a kind of viscious cunning vibe in the movie? Like he's the second in command character that's a bit of a bastard. I think you might like him if you watch this movie. And the old Flatfish who is 'The Master' of the tank.

Oh yeah also, there's this eel (who I think is named Anago? Or Jooldom? His name is never mentioned in the film, however the video above calls him Jooldom, and I've seen people on this site argue his name is meant to be Anago. There isn't much information for this movie online, unfortunately.) who everyone wants to become the next tumblr sexyman. All because of his voice. To be fair, it is a nice voice.

[ravewing]

rewatching padak .. oh no. i can feel the annual resurfacing of the stupid animated sushi restaurant fish hyperfixation breathing down my neck

[nekopuppetlover]

Bream, my beloved 😩💞

[source]

[jurassicearthxminecraftseaworld]

Here’s a fish post of new movie meme poster

[glass-conger]

Fish movie go brrrrr

[monokuma-apologist]

what if I used a padak song for a danganronpa animatic and what if it was a kuzupeko animatic and what if it made me cry

[franki-lew-yo]

I can think of a few more

(its never confirmed but, you know...)

also if we're talking about just best dramatic deaths by proxy um...

[wings-of-fire-confessions]

taking this as an opportunity to tell EVERYONE to watch padak: swimming to sea RIGHT NEOW !!!!!!! it’s about a mackerel who is captured from the sea and has to survive in the tank of a sushi restaurant. and it’s freacking peak !!! methinks it’s on prime video but if you dig u can find it online . the visuals are incredible, the soundtrack is beautifully composed, and it has a supercool cast of characters waow. it’s in korean, but there are subtitles. also there is fish blood and death for those of you sensitive to that stuff

also you guys should read felidae by akif pirinçci too (cw for animal death as well, and there is mature content in it and eugenics so) !! there’s also a movie adaptation of it, the original german version is on youtube but you can find a dubbed version on the internet archive.

.

[quarterlifekitty]

Your post about fish awakened an old memory of a manga about salmon, so I'm sending it to you

If the link decides not to work it's called CRIMSONS by Kanno Takanori

Wow! That looks crazy. I was thinking about the Korean movie Padak (also known as swimming to sea). Very much recommend.

[waripaucar]

Why did I make this??? XD

[snickerzanddoodlez]

Ooh! Another addition! Padak: Swimming to Sea is nice and existential

Not what I usually post but: if you are like me and are very fascinated with the “Saki Sanobashi: Go For a Punch” creepypasta-lost media-thing, here are two pieces of media I totally recommend:

1. This recreation by “Red Cube Studios”! It’s their own spin on it so not completely the same as the original post, but very good nonetheless.

2. The book “The Bunker Diary” by Kevin Brooks! One of my favorite books, same sort of “we’re completely trapped, philosophical stuff, spiraling into madness”. Not for everyone but I love it a lot, and it’s got the same sort of vibe.

[sketch-shepherd]

Unholy trinity of not kid-friendly animated Korean animal movies

[gidakata]

Nastyona & Padak; A Horror Story With A Wonderful Soundtrack

Nastyona is one of my favorite bands. Like, literally, I’ve been listening to them for years, and I was so excited when they blew up and other people got into the music because they’re an experience I truly believe everyone should get the chance to have. I can really only chalk it up to a creepy, mystified nostalgia I feel whenever I listen to the band’s music (Especially their 2008 album Another Secret). 

I’ve realized in my very short time on here that people also seem to really like Padak (also known as “Swimming To Sea”). It’s a nice little CGI animated film about fish- but unlike Nemo, the entire movie serves as a gruesome analogy to capitalism. It’s done in a very in-your-face terrifying way. The fish see the open sea the entire movie, and yet, cannot reach it. They’re supposed to just sit around and wait for their eventual deaths.

A lot of people specifically like the soundtrack, which is my favorite bit- because Yona was the one who composed most of the music used in the movie. She took on the project because the director, Lee Dae-hee, had said Yona had a voice capable of capturing the gruesome theme of the movie he aimed to have when making it. Lee has an entire interview that discusses the movie- in it he talks about how he went to a sushi restaurant, in which the fish were in a tank out front and he watched them sympathetically. In his own words, “Later, it occurred to me that the fish in the restaurant can be main characters to depict human society.”

Yona took on the project in 2012, and her work for it can be found in the Composer’s OST playlist on youtube if you want to hear the sound track with her voice. (click here for the playlist)

[cemitadepollo]

Something I did for my vectorial design class, this is my all time favorite movie I swear

[gaylactic-fire]

I can rest easy knowing no other film I watch will contain as much psychological horror, gore, mutilation, violent on screen death, animal abuse, cannibalism (of children!) and grief as Padak / Swimming To Sea (2012). At least it's a musical though!

Kind of crazy that the most disturbing movie I've ever watched was an animated film about talking fish

[chainsxwsmile]

Whatta bastard. I love him.