Tidal Wave (film)

Tidal Wave

Theatrical poster
Hangul 해운대
Hanja 海雲臺
Revised Romanization Haeundae
McCune–Reischauer Haeuntae
Directed by Yoon Je-kyoon
Produced by Yoon Je-kyoon
Lee Sang-yong
Gil Yeong-min
Written by Yoon Je-kyoon
Kim Hwi
Starring Sol Kyung-gu
Ha Ji-won
Lee Min-ki
Kang Ye-won
Park Joong-hoon
Uhm Jung-hwa
Kim In-kwon
Music by Lee Byung-woo
Cinematography Kim Yeong-ho
Edited by Shin Min-kyung
Production
company
Doosaboo Film
CJ Entertainment
Distributed by CJ Entertainment
Release dates
  • 22 July 2009
Running time
 120 minutes
Country South Korea
Language Korean
Budget US$16 million

Tidal Wave (Hangul: 해운대; RR: Haeundae) is a 2009 South Korean film. Billed as South Korea's first disaster film,[1] Haeundae is directed by Yoon Je-kyoon and stars Sol Kyung-gu, Ha Ji-won, Park Joong-hoon and Uhm Jung-hwa.

Plot

Located on the southeastern tip of the Korean Peninsula, Haeundae district of Busan, South Korea draws one million visitors to its beaches every year. Several years ago, Man-sik, a Haeundae local, lost Yeon-hee's father due to his mistake in the 2004 Indian Ocean Earthquake while deep-sea fishing together at the Indian Ocean. Because of this, for years, Man-sik wasn't able to become involved with Yeon-hee, who runs an unlicensed seafood restaurant, despite her attempts to start a relationship (Yeon-hee doesn't know that her father was killed due to Man-sik's mistake.).

Dong-choon, another Haeundae local and also a neighbor of Man-sik, teams up with Man-sik's son and gets involved with some 'illegal' activity to earn money, but the two end up getting caught by the police. Afterwards, Dong-choon's mother, concerned about her unemployed son, decides to prepare him for a job interview, but Dong-choon refuses. As time passes, Man-sik finally plans to propose to Yeon-hee on a night with fireworks.

Geologist Kim Hwi somehow runs into his divorced wife, Yoo-jin, who is preparing for an expo in Busan. Although Yoo-jin has a daughter (and also a new boyfriend), they decide not to tell their daughter that he (Hwi) is her real father, afraid that the child would be greatly shocked.

A wealthy college student from Seoul, Hee-mi, accidentally falls into the ocean from a luxurious yacht. Hyeong-sik, Man-sik's younger brother and also a lifeguard, rescues Hee-mi rather 'violently'. Hee-mi becomes greatly angered by the 'violent' rescue and annoys him by following him around. But as time passes on, love starts to grow between them.

During the fireworks, Man-sik proposes to Yeon-hee. Yeon-hee says that a ribbon hung outside her restaurant the day after would mean 'yes'. On the day after, Man-sik sees no ribbon, and he meets Dong-choon, who was nearby. Dong-choon tells Man-sik that he told Yeon-hee why her father died several years ago. Man-sik becomes very angry, for he thinks that what Dong-choon told Yeon-hee caused there to be no ribbon.

Meanwhile, Hwi notices that the Sea of Japan is displaying similar activity to the Indian Ocean at the time of the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake. The Disaster Prevention Agency assures him that South Korea is at no risk, but a megatsunami soon forms near Japan and starts to travel at 500 miles per hour towards Haeundae. Hwi realizes that the citizens of Haeundae have only 10 minutes left to escape. There is a short earthquake in Haeundae; the elevator Yoo-jin is in stops perhaps due to the earthquake. The sea starts receding from the shore, causing mass hysteria on the beaches as people realize that a tsunami is coming. Thousands of people run for their lives, but the tsunami soon reaches Haeundae and the streets are quickly flooded and many buildings collapse. People and cars on the Gwangan Bridge are swept away by the tsunami. A powerful electric shock from a telephone pole happens on the now-flooded street where Man-sik and Yeon-hee are on, electrocuting everyone in the water and those clinging onto metallic surfaces, but the two survive.

A big cargo ship gets stuck at the Gwangan Bridge. Dong-choon, who was on the bridge and somehow managed to survive the tsunami, tries to escape from the falling cargo containers (from the ship). The containers are shown falling at an extreme momentum. Dong-choon survives this, and later on, he tries to light a cigarette while still on the bridge. His portable lighter ends up on a flammable liquid flowing from one of the containers; there is a gigantic explosion and the bridge is cut in half.

Hyeong-sik jumps down from a rescue helicopter and saves Hee-mi, who was far away in the sea with one of her friends. When Hyeong-sik and the friend are together on the rope, Hyeong-sik realizes that the rope is about to break and only one can go up to the helicopter. After a deep thought, Hyeong-sik cuts down the rope in which his body is connected to and falls down into the violent sea. The elevator Yoo-jin is in floods with water, and she talks with tears to her daughter on her portable phone. Soon, Yoo-jin is saved by a worker. On the roof of the building, Yoo-jin meets her daughter and Hwi. The two help their daughter get on a crowded rescue helicopter. Before the helicopter leaves, Hwi tells the truth to his daughter that he is really her father. Yoo-jin apologizes with tears to Hwi and they hug each other in front of a second tsunami before they are killed.

After the tsunami, there is a funeral for the hundreds of thousands of lifeguards and people who were killed in the tsunami. Among the ones who were killed is Hyeong-sik. Dong-choon finds out that his mother was killed in the tsunami and he breaks into tears. People are shown helping to reconstruct the city. Man-sik, while cleaning the ruins of Yeon-hee's restaurant, finds the red ribbon which Yeon-hee's said was a 'yes' for his proposal. The movie ends with the scene of Haeundae in ruins, but in a hopeful atmosphere.

Cast

Cast

Haeundae is a joint venture between production company Doosaboo Film and distributors CJ Entertainment. Directed by Doosaboo CEO Yoon Je-kyoon, the film was funded by CJ Entertainment with a budget estimated at US$10–15 million, one of the largest for a Korean production, although the budget is approximately a fifth of what traditionally would be needed to create comparable effects in modern cinema.[2] Principal photography commenced on 18 August 2008 at the beaches of Busan, South Korea, before moving to the United States in November for special effects photography.[1][3] Filming wrapped on 17 December 2008 in San Francisco.[4] Special effects and CGI were produced by American company Polygon Entertainment.[1]

Release

Distribution rights for Haeundae have been sold to Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, the Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, the United Kingdom, Australia and Turkey.[5][6][7][8] The film was released in South Korea on 22 July 2009. As of 20 September 2009, Haeundae had received a total of 11,301,649 admissions in South Korean theatres.[9]

In the United Kingdom, the film was released as Tidal Wave on DVD on October 12, 2009 from Entertainment One.[10]

Critical response

The film received mixed reviews. IMDb according a mixed to positive review at the movie : 5.7 / 10.

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 "Principal Photography Begins on Korean Tsunami Movie HAEUNDAE". SciFi Japan, 24 August 2008. Retrieved on 26 May 2009.
  2. ↑ Polygon Creates VFX in Chaw and Haeundae, Develops CG Water Pipeline, Studiodaily.com, August 4, 2009.
  3. ↑ Han Sunhee. "CJ to finance, co-produce 'Haeundae'". Variety, 20 August 2008. Retrieved on 26 May 2009.
  4. ↑ "HAEUNDAE Wraps Filming". SciFi Japan, 14 January 2009. Retrieved on 26 May 2009.
  5. ↑ http://vietbao.vn/Giai-tri/Duong-dau-voi-tran-song-than-Haeundae/55253331/233/
  6. ↑ Noh, Jean. "CJ scores Singapore, Malaysia presales on Haeundae". Screendaily.com, 24 March 2009. Retrieved on 25 May 2009.
  7. ↑ Noh, Jean. "CJ seals further deals on disaster movie Haeundae". Screendaily.com, 30 March 2009. Retrieved on 25 May 2009.
  8. ↑ Shackleton, Liz. "Korea’s CJ closes deals on Thirst and Mother". Screendaily.com, 20 May 2009. Retrieved on 25 May 2009.
  9. ↑ "Haeundae (Movie – 2009)". HanCinema. Retrieved on 27 September 2009.
  10. ↑ "UK release of Haeundae". 24framespersecond. Retrieved on 8 October 2009.

External links