A Taxi Driver

A Taxi Driver

Theatrical release poster
Hangul 택시 운전사
Hanja 택시 運轉士
Revised Romanization Taeksi Unjeonsa
Directed by Jang Hoon
Produced by Park Un-kyoung
Choi Ki-sup
Written by Eom Yu-na
Starring Song Kang-ho
Thomas Kretschmann
Music by Jo Yeong-wook
Cinematography Go Nak-seon
Edited by Kim Sang-bum
Kim Jae-bum
Production
company
The Lamp
Distributed by Showbox
Release date
  • August 2, 2017 (2017-08-02)
Running time
 137 minutes
Country South Korea
Language Korean
Budget ₩15 billion[1]
Box office US$42 million[2]

A Taxi Driver (Hangul: 택시 운전사; Hanja: 택시運轉士; RR: Taeksi Unjeonsa) is a 2017 South Korean drama film directed by Jang Hoon, with Song Kang-ho starring in the title role, alongside Thomas Kretschmann.[3][4] The film was released on August 2, 2017 in South Korea.[5]

Synopsis

A taxi driver from Seoul, incidentally gets involved in a German journalist's reporting of the events of the Gwangju Democratization Movement in 1980.

Cast

Main

A widowed taxi driver who lives with his eleven year old daughter in a small house. He is an ordinary man from the working class who cares only about his family's livelihood and is uninterested in political issues.[6] The character is based on real-life taxi driver Kim Sa-bok, who remains out of the public eye to date.[7]
A German reporter. The character is based on the life of Jürgen Hinzpeter, the late German journalist who filmed and reported on the Gwangju massacre.[8]

Supporting

A kindhearted local taxi driver
A naive university student
  • Park Hyuk-kwon as Reporter Choi
  • Uhm Tae-goo as Park Jung-sa
  • Yoo Eun-mi as Eun-jeong
  • Choi Gwi-hwa
  • Cha Soon-bae as Driver Cha
  • Han Sung-yong
  • Lee Jeong-eun
  • Jung Suk-yong
  • Kim Kang-hyun
  • Ryoo Seong-hyeon as Driver Ryoo
  • Shin Dam-soo as Driver Shin
  • Daniel Joey Albright as BBC Reporter David John

Special appearances

Production

Filming began on June 5, 2016, and ended on October 24, 2016.[9]

Release

The film was released on August 2, 2017 in South Korea.[10]

According to distributor Showbox, the film will be released in North America on August 11, Australia and New Zealand on August 24, followed by the UK on August 25. It will then open in Asian countries including Hong Kong, Taiwan and Japan in September.[11][12]

In August 2017, the film had its international premiere at the Fantasia International Film Festival in Montreal, where Song Kang-ho was named Best Actor for his role in the film.[13][14][15]

Edeltraut Brahmstaedt, the widow of the German journalist Jurgen Hinzpeter, was to visit Seoul on August 8, 2017. During the visit, Brahmstaedt planned to watch the film based on the true story of her late husband.[16]

Reception

According to the Korean Film Council, on the first day of the release, a total of 69,890 tickets were sold, which earned US$4.5 million.[17] The film was available on 1,446 screens and was shown 7,068 times across South Korea.[18] By noon on the second day of its run, the film had passed the one million viewer mark.[19]

On the third day, the total audience doubled, attracting two million viewers.[20] The viewer numbers continued to rise as the tickets sale increased to four million by the fourth day.[21][22]

A Taxi Driver has earned a total of US$30.7 million in five days with 4.38 million admissions.[23][24] It has tied with The Admiral: Roaring Currents and The Battleship Island for the record of films which have surpassed four million viewers in the first five days of release. At the end of the first seven days, the film surpassed 5 million admissions.[25][26]

Awards and nominations

Year Award Category Recipient Result
2017 Fantasia International Film Festival Best Actor Song Kang-ho [27] Won

References

  1. ↑ ""영화 '택시운전사' 1973년식 브리사 택시 복원에만 7개월"". Yonhap News Agency. 16 July 2017. Retrieved 2 August 2017.
  2. ↑ http://koreanfilm.or.kr/jsp/films/index/filmsView.jsp?movieCd=20162869
  3. ↑ Herald, The Korea (3 May 2016). "Song Kang-ho to star in ‘Taxi Driver’". Retrieved 23 February 2017.
  4. ↑ "SONG Kang-ho Takes Lead in TAXI DRIVER Depicting the Gwangju Democratization Movement". Retrieved 23 February 2017.
  5. ↑ "Big-budget movies to highlight 2017". 6 January 2017. Retrieved 23 February 2017.
  6. ↑ Shim Sun-ah and Cho Jae-young (July 12, 2017). "(LEAD) (Yonhap Interview) Actor Song Kang-ho speaks about new film on Gwangju Uprising". Yonhap News Agency. Retrieved 2017-08-02.
  7. ↑ Choe Sang-hun (August 2, 2017). "In South Korea, an Unsung Hero of History Gets His Due". The New York Times. Retrieved 2017-08-02.
  8. ↑ "German actor Thomas Kretschmann to visit Korea to promote new film". Yonhap News Agency. July 17, 2017. Retrieved 2017-08-02.
  9. ↑ "KOBIZ - Korean Film Biz Zone : in Production". Retrieved 23 February 2017.
  10. ↑ Shim Sun-ah (2017-07-14). "(Movie Review) A Taxi Driver: Gwangju Uprising seen from eyes of outsiders". Yonhap News Agency. Retrieved 2 August 2017.
  11. ↑ "‘A Taxi Driver’ to open worldwide next month". Korea JoongAng Daily. 2017-07-18. Retrieved 2 August 2017.
  12. ↑ "S. Korean Movie “A Taxi Driver” to be Released Internationally". KBS World Radio. 2017-07-17. Retrieved 2 August 2017.
  13. ↑ "‘A Taxi Driver’ to close Fantasia Film Festival". JoongAng Ilbo. 2017-07-07. Retrieved 4 August 2017.
  14. ↑ "'A Taxi Driver': Review". Screendaily. 2017-08-01. Retrieved 4 August 2017.
  15. ↑ "Song Kang-ho Wins Best Actor at Fantasia Film Fest". The Chosun Ilbo. 2017-08-04. Retrieved 4 August 2017.
  16. ↑ Yun Suh-young (2017-07-31). "Widow of German reporter Jurgen Hinzpeter to visit Seoul". The Korea Times. Retrieved 2 August 2017.
  17. ↑ Jon Maala (2017-08-03). "Taxi Driver dislodges Battleship Island from top of Korean box office". International Business Times. Retrieved 4 August 2017.
  18. ↑ "A Taxi Driver' dethrones 'The Battleship Island' on opening day". Yonhap News Agency. 2017-08-03. Retrieved 3 August 2017.
  19. ↑ "'A Taxi Driver' tops 1 mln in attendance on 2nd day". Yonhap News Agency. 2017-08-03. Retrieved 4 August 2017.
  20. ↑ "'A Taxi Driver' audience tops 2 mln by third day". Yonhap News Agency. 2017-08-04. Retrieved 7 August 2017.
  21. ↑ "'A Taxi Driver' audience tops 3 mln by 4th day". Yonhap News Agency. 2017-08-05. Retrieved 7 August 2017.
  22. ↑ Jo Ji Young (2017-08-06). "'택시운전사' 5일 만에 400만 돌파…'군함도'와 타이기록 (공식입장)" (in Korean). Sports Chosun. Retrieved 7 August 2017.
  23. ↑ Sonia Kil (2017-08-07). "Korea Box Office: ‘Taxi Driver’ Revs Up Third-Biggest Opening of All Time". Variety. Retrieved 8 August 2017.
  24. ↑ Shim Sun-ah (2017-08-07). "'A Taxi Driver' races to top weekend box office". Yonhap News Agency. Retrieved 8 August 2017.
  25. ↑ "'A Taxi Driver' tops 5 mln on 7th day". The Korea Herald. 2017-08-08. Retrieved 10 August 2017.
  26. ↑ "(LEAD) 'A Taxi Driver' tops 5 mln on 7th day". Yonhap News Agency. 2017-08-08. Retrieved 10 August 2017.
  27. ↑ Hong Dam-young (2017-08-05). "Song Kang-ho of ‘Taxi Driver’ wins best actor award at Fantasia Film Fest". The Korea Herald. Retrieved 7 August 2017.
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