Teo-neol (2016)

A man is on his way home when the poorly constructed tunnel he is driving through collapses, leaving him trapped.

Director:

Seong-hun Kim

Writer:

Seong-hun Kim (as Seong-hoon Kim)

Stars:

Jung-woo Ha, Doona Bae, Dal-su Oh

3 wins & 14 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Jung-woo Ha	...	Lee Jung-Soo
Doona Bae	...	Se-Hyun
Dal-su Oh	...	Dae-Kyung
Jeong-geun Sin	...	Captain Kang
Ji-Hyun Nam	...	Mi-Na
Hyun-Chul Cho	...	Young guy in rescue team
Hae-sook Kim	...	Minister (as Hae-suk Kim)
Seung-mok Yoo	...	Reporter Jo
Hyuk-kwon Park	...	Government official
Jin-woo Park	...	Government aide
Cheol-min Lee	...	Captain of drilling team
Sung-chun Han	...	Drone technician
Seung-hun Kim	...	Public hearing moderator (as Seung-Hoon Kim)
Soo-jung Ye	...	Old mother
Jin Yong-Ok	...	construction worker A

Storyline

A MAN'S DESPERATE STRUGGLE TO SURVIVE Jung-su, an ordinary car dealer, is on his way home with a birthday cake for his daughter. As he drives into a tunnel an unbelievable thing happens; the tunnel collapses on him. Minutes later, he realizes that he is completely caught in between the debris. Outside, this breaking news creates media frenzy. An emergency response team is immediately organized to rescue him and tries to keep the media under control. As it becomes a national concern, the government promises full support for the rescue. Days pass without any success and people start to lose hope or interest in rescuing him. Hard decisions are forced on his family while no one knows whether Jung-su is dead or alive.

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Plot Keywords:

rescue team | trapped | trapped in a tunnel | tunnel collapse | dog | 

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Taglines:

When all collapsed, only hope remained.

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Genres:

Action | Drama | Thriller

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Certificate:

TV-14

Details

Official Sites:

Official site [Japan]

Country:

South Korea

Language:

Korean

Release Date:

26 August 2016 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Tunnel

Company Credits

Production Co:

Another Sunday,BA Entertainment,DMZ Comics

Technical Specs

Runtime:

126 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Goofs

When Jung-soo reaches Mi-Na, they discover her phone was damaged and cannot be used. She asks him if she can call someone. Without telling her the phone number she wants to call, he dials her mother on his own phone.

User Reviews

Terrific disaster drama with strong performances.

I don't watch enough world cinema, let alone South Korean films, the country that gave us incredible flicks like Oldboy and Sky Blue (Wonderful Days) so when I see there's a showing at my other local cinema, I had to go and I didn't regret it.

Seong-hoon Kim, director of the highly acclaimed A Hard Day (now on my watchlist) tells us a story of a business man (Jung-woo Ha) who is on his way home to wife and daughter and unfortunately becomes trapped in a near fatal accident when a tunnel collapses on him and his car. We see his blight as he struggles to survive and how he comes to terms with the reality of what's happening.

There's a superb balance between him and the outside world who is attempting to rescue him, witnessing empathy, sympathy and later tragedy but also the lack of, from the media and politicians causing conflict about what's the right thing to do.

It's touching, when seeing the lengths people will go to in offering help in a time of crisis, like the radio station for example, playing him messages of support each day. This show of humanity reminded me of the epic TV movie of the late eighties, Everybody's Baby: The Rescue of Jessica McClure and the more recent World Trade Centre, only fundamental difference, this not being a true story.

Sometimes I felt like being a passerby, watching the train wreck happen right before you, seeing things going from bad to worse without being able to lift a finger to do anything. But on the flip side it's purposefully comical to display another side of what it is to be human.

There's incredible performances for the three key characters, especially Cloud Atlas star Doona Bae who plays his grieving wife having to deal with the press whilst trying to do as much as she possibly can to aid the rescue. And Dal-su Oh is superb as the chief, who's in charge of the operation who has this moral obligation to save him.

The film is loaded with tough decisions and moral issues questioning you, what would you do if you were either of the three characters. It did drag, but only ever so slightly for the 126min running time. Has got an amazing score from Young-Jin Mok and the set pieces are on point with some amazing camera work.

I wouldn't recommend this for viewers with fear of tunnels or claustrophobia but a great drama with some amazing performances, a must-see for world cinema drama fans.

Running Time: 7 The Cast: 8 Performance: 9 Direction: 8 Story: 7 Script: 8 Creativity: 8 Soundtrack: 8 Job Description: 8 The Extra Bonus Points: 0

71% 7/10