Overview of A Taxi Driver

‘A Taxi Driver’ is a South Korean movie directed by Jang Hoon and penned by Eom Yu-na. The movie was inspired by the Gwangju Uprising that happened in 1980. It was released on 2 August 2017 and features Song Kang-ho, Thomas Kretschmann, Yoo Hae-jin, and Ryu Jun-yeol.

Profile

• Name: ‘A Taxi Driver’
• Genre: Drama
• Starring: Song Kang-ho, Thomas Kretschmann, Yoo Hae-jin, Ryu Jun-yeol
• Directed by: Jang Hoon
• Screenplay: Eom Yu-na
• Cinematography: Go Nak-seon
• Produced by: Park Un-kyoung, Han Seung-ryeong
• Edited by: Kim Sang-bum,Kim Jae-bum
• Release date: 2 August 2017
• Music by: Jo Yeong-wook
• Production Company: The Lamp
• Distributed by: Showbox
• Running time: 137 minutes
• Languages: Korean, English, German
• Country: South Korea

 Cast

Synopsis

Kim Man-seob is a widower who lives with his little daughter. He works as a taxi driver and struggles to make ends meet. One day, from a fellow driver, he learns that taking foreigners to Gwangju can earn double the actual price. Therefore, he decides to try his luck by taking a foreign passenger, Jurgen Peter Hinzpeter, a journalist from Germany, to Gwangju.

Gwangju at the time was facing civil unrest. To cover up the incidents happening in Gwangju, soldiers guard every entry and exit of the city. Kim Man-seob was not very aware of the seriousness of the outbreak. Therefore, he convinced one of the soldiers guarding the border to enter Gwangju. To the soldier, he lied that Hinzpeter was a businessman.

The duo finds the streets of Gwangju empty as they drive forward. On their way, they see a group of students in a pickup truck. From their appearance, Hinzpeter and Man-seob understand that they are a group of young rebels. Accepting the invitation, Hinzpeter joins the students, and they go to the hospital nearby. On the other hand, Man-seob, hit by reality, tries to escape from Gwangju, abandoning Hinzpeter.

On his way back, an old woman asks him to take her to the hospital. Initially, he refuses, but feeling pity for her, he takes her to the hospital. There, he meets Hinzpeter, and he gets accused by Hinzpeter of stealing his bag and abandoning him without taking him to his destination. Therefore, Man-seob tries to prove his innocence by giving back his bag.

Man-seob agrees to drive Hinzpeter to his destination. On their way back from the hospital, the duo takes one of the student rebels, Jae-sik, with them. Man-seob stops at a petrol pump, and to his surprise, the staff at the pump continue fueling until the tank is full. Later, when they reach the provincial office, the people protesting there give them food for free. Seeing the surprised faces of Man-seob and Hinzpeter, Jae-sik tells them that the people are showing their gratitude to the outsiders who try to help them.

The trio reaches the top of a building and meets a Korean journalist. Hinzpeter goes to the road to film the protest. Escaping the eyes of the officers, the trio tries to retreat to Seoul. On their return journey, Man-seob’s car breaks down, making them stay that night at a local taxi driver’s house. When the trio was having dinner with the taxi driver’s family, they heard the news of the bombing of the television station.

The trio heads towards the television station to film the place where the explosion happened. In that attempt, the soldiers capture Jae-sik and attack Man-seob. When the soldiers take Jae-sik into their custody, he shouts out to Hinzpeter to release the videos that he shot.

Amid the chaos, Man-seob starts worrying about his daughter, whom he left alone at home. Therefore, he thinks of returning home but decides to stay in Gwangju when he hears that the North Korean infiltration is the reason for the chaos.

The death of Jae-sik encourages Hinzpeter to record the true events. Meanwhile, Man-seob joins the local taxi drivers to take the wounded civilians to the hospital.

After eventful days at Gwangju, Hinzpeter and Man-seob drive to Seoul. They manage to reach the boundary of Gwangju through a mountainous road. To prevent their escape, the soldiers try to chase them, but with the help of the local taxi drivers, the duo crosses the border.

Man-seob drives Hinzpeter to the airport, and before leaving, Hinzpeter asks for Man-seob’s contact address. Instead of giving his real name, he says his name as Kim Sa-bok and gives Hinzpeter the contact number of a cigarette company. Afterwards, Man-seob meets his daughter, and Hinzpeter broadcasts the footage that he shot.

Though Hinzpeter tries to contact Man-seob, he cannot find him.

Hinzpeter receives an award for disclosing the footage of the Gwangju Uprising to the world in 2003. In the interviews conducted on behalf of the award, he expresses his gratitude towards Man-seob.

On the other hand, Man-seob reads the speech of Hinzpeter in the newspaper article.

‘A Taxi Driver’ ends with a video clip of the real Hinzpeter expressing his gratitude towards Kim Sa-bok.

Themes

The film tells the story of a German journalist, Jurgen Hinzpeter, and a Korean taxi driver, Man-seob. Adding some fictional elements, the movie portrays the time during the Gwangju Uprising.

The Gwangju Uprising was caused due to the conflict between the authoritarian government and the local people, especially Koreans. The commotion was officially started from 18 May 1980 to 27 May 1980.

Awards

• 26th Buil Film Awards
  Best Film – ‘A Taxi Driver’
  Best Actor – Song Kang-ho
  Buil Readers’ Jury Award – Jang Hoon
• 21st Fantasia International Film Festival
  Best Actor – Song Kang-ho
• 54th Grand Bell Awards
  Best Film – ‘A Taxi Driver’
  Best Planning – ‘A Taxi Driver’
• 37th Korean Association of Film Critics Awards
  Top 10 Films – ‘A Taxi Driver’
  Best Supporting Actor – Yoo Hae-jin
• 1st The Seoul Awards
  Best Actor – Song Kang-ho
• 3rd Asian World Film Festival
  Special Mention Award – Song Kang-ho
  Best Film – ‘A Taxi Driver’
  Humanitarian Award – ‘A Taxi Driver’
• 38th Blue Dragon Film Awards
  Best Film – ‘A Taxi Driver’
  Best Actor – Song Kang-ho
  Best Music – Jo Yeong-wook
  Audience Choice Award for Most Popular Film – ‘A Taxi Driver’
• 17th Director’s Cut Awards
  Special Mentions – ‘A Taxi Driver’
• 17th Director’s Cut Awards
  Special Mentions – ‘A Taxi Driver’
  Best New Actor – Choi Gwi-hwa
• 25th Korea Culture & Entertainment Awards
  Best Film – ‘A Taxi Driver’
  Best Director – Jang Hoon
• 17th Korea World Youth Film Festival
  Favorite Director – Jang Hoon
  Favorite Actor for Middle-Aged Actor – Song Kang-ho
• 4th Korean Film Producers Association Awards
  Best Actor – Song Kang-ho

Interesting Facts about A Taxi Driver

1. The shooting of ‘A Taxi Driver’ was finished between 5 June 2016 and 24 October 2016.
2. The film got critical acclamation from the audience and critics.
3. On 21 September 2017, ‘A Taxi Driver’ was released in Hong Kong, China. Though the Chinese audience appreciated the movie, the Chinese government restricted its release and removed it from their review website Douban. The reason for the removal was the movie’s resemblance to the Tiananmen Square protest and massacre that happened in China in 1989.
4. Though ‘A Taxi Driver’ is based on the Gwangju Uprising, the movie also shows fictional and inaccurate incidents.
5. ‘A Taxi Driver’ has footage of the real journalist Jurgen Hinzpeter taken in an interview in 2015, in which he describes the futile efforts that he made to find the taxi driver Kim Sa-bok later. Watching the movie, Kim Sa-bok’s son tweeted that his father died of liver cancer in 1984. Also, he shared photographs of his father with Jurgen Hinzpeter on his Twitter account.
6. On 1,446 screens, ‘A Taxi Driver’ played 7,068 times in South Korea.
7. ‘A Taxi Driver’ reached one million viewer mark within 48 hours of its release.
8. Due to its immense popularity, ‘A Taxi Driver’ got into the record of the ten most-watched local films in South Korea.
9. ‘A Taxi Driver’ was released in North America, Australia, New Zealand, UK, Taiwan, Japan and Hong Kong.
10. South Korean President Moon Jae-in watched ‘A Taxi Driver’ with Jurgen Hinzpeter’s family to honour the foreign journalist’s effort.

FAQs

1. Who is the director of ‘A Taxi Driver’?
   Jang Hoon is the director of ‘A Taxi Driver’.
   
2. When was the movie ‘A Taxi Driver’ released?
   2 August 2017.
   
3. Is ‘A Taxi Driver’ based on a true incident?
   Yes. The movie is based on the Gwangju Uprising.
4. What is the Instagram ID of Song Kang-ho?
   @song.kang.ho