South Korea Synopsis
자산어보
“Born as noble, one dreams to be humble. Born as humble, the other dreams to be noble.”
In 1801, after a new king ascended the throne, a scholar Jeong Yak-jeon who served the late king is exiled to Heuk-san Island. There he meets Chang-dae, a young fisherman who is a huge admirer of Confucianism and has a wide knowledge about the sea.
Other Titles From Plus M Entertainment
History + Drama in South Korea
41 South Korea titles in our catalog blend the History and Drama genres. Below: the top-rated of them (excluding The Book of Fish itself).
The 2020–2022 South Korea Window
The Book of Fish holds position #104 of 269 South Korea films in the 2020–2022 window, below highlighted by audience rating.
#1Break the Silence: The Movie
★ 9.2 · 2020
#22020 (G)I-DLE Online Concert 'I-Land : Who Am I'
★ 9.2 · 2020
#3Under the Queen's Umbrella
★ 9.1 · 2022
#4BTS: Permission to Dance on Stage – LA
★ 9.0 · 2022
#5BTS Permission to Dance On Stage – Seoul: Live Viewing
★ 9.0 · 2022
#6Undercover
★ 9.0 · 2021
#7The Fabulous
★ 8.8 · 2022
#8It's Okay to Not Be Okay
★ 8.6 · 2020
The 2020s South Korea Landscape
Catalog density by release year across the 2020s in South Korea, 301 titles in total. Highlighted year (yellow) is when The Book of Fish premiered alongside 81 others.
Position in Catalog
Released alongside 81 other South Korea films in 2021.
The 1203rd South Korea title from South Korea we index (earliest catalogued entry: 1955).
Our South Korea catalog contains 1,397 titles in total (931 films).
Audience Engagement
26 audience reviews — more than 52% of South Korea films in our index.
Popularity sits at the 43th percentile among South Korea films.
Thematic Fingerprint
Tags on The Book of Fish, grouped by how common each theme is across the full Asian catalog. Rare tags are more distinctive signals.
- exile · 4
- fishing · 3
- encyclopedia · 1
- island life · 1
- living in exile · 1
- black and white · 10
- fish · 9
- joseon dynasty · 42
- 19th century · 32
Reception Benchmarks
Ranked #321 of 1,397 South Korea films indexed here (77th percentile by TMDB audience score).
Rating is +0.7 points above the South Korea average of 6.9/10.
Among South Korea History productions specifically: #14 of 53 (top 26%).
Production Details
| Primary Country | South Korea |
|---|---|
| Original Language | Korean |
| Production Companies | Plus M Entertainment, Cineworld |
| Runtime | 2h 6m |
| Release Date | March 31, 2021 |
| IMDb | tt14371900 |