A Taxi Driver (2017)

A widowed father and taxi driver who drives a German reporter from Seoul to Gwangju to cover the 1980 uprising, soon finds himself regretting his decision after being caught in the violence around him.

Director:

Hun Jang

Writer:

Yu-na Eom

Stars:

Kang-ho Song, Thomas Kretschmann, Hae-Jin Yoo

19 wins & 32 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Kang-ho Song	...	Kim Man-seob
Thomas Kretschmann	...	Jürgen Hinzpeter
Hae-Jin Yoo	...	Hwang Tae-sul (as Hae-jin Yoo)
Jun-Yeol Ryu	...	Gu Jae-sik (as Jun-yeol Ryu)
Hyuk-kwon Park	...	Reporter Choi
Gwi-hwa Choi	...	Civvies leader
Soon-bae Cha	...	Driver Cha
Sin Dam-soo	...	Driver Sin
Seong-hyeon Ryoo	...	Driver Ryoo
Tae-goo Eom	...	Illegal checkpoint Sergeant First Class Park
Min-hee Park	...	Kwon Joong-ryeong
Jeong-eun Lee	...	Hwang Tae-sool's wife
Eun-mi Yoo	...	Kim Eun-jeong
Kwon Soon-Joon	...	Kang Sang-goo
Yoon Seok-ho	...	Hwang Tae-sool's son

Storyline

May 1980. A Seoul taxi driver named Man-seob (SONG Kang-ho) comes across an offer too good to be true. If he drives a foreign passenger from Seoul down to Gwangju and back again before the curfew, he'll be paid the unthinkable sum of 100,000 won - enough to cover several months of unpaid rent. Without stopping to ask the details, he picks up the German reporter Peter (Thomas Kretschmann) and sets off along the highway. Although stopped by police roadblocks at the edge of Gwangju, Man-seob is desperate to earn his taxi fare, and eventually manages to find a way into the city. There they encounter students and ordinary citizens taking part in large-scale demonstrations against the government. Man-seob, alarmed by the danger in the air, pleads with Peter to go quickly back to Seoul. But Peter ignores him, and with the help of a university student Jae-sik (RYU Jun-yeol) and a Gwangju taxi driver named HWANG (YOO Hai-jin), begins shooting with his news camera. As time passes the situation ...

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Plot Keywords:

taxi driver | gwangju south korea | car chase | beating | car crash | 

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Taglines:

May 1980: A taxi driver heads to Gwangju

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Genres:

Action | Drama | History

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Did You Know?

Trivia

South Korea's submission to the Foreign Language Film Award of the 90th Annual Academy Awards.

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Goofs

The German passport contains the colour photo with face directly toward the camera. The German requirments were that the photo be in black and white, that the bearer turns his head slightly away from the camera, and that the ear be visible.

The photo did not show either metal riveted rings or crimped edges. Gluing the photo to the passport wasn't allowed.

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Quotes

Man-seob: You know... I earned some money in Saudi Arabia. But my wife got sick and I spent it all on hospital bills. At the end, my wife insisted that I buy that taxi. And the doctor said so, too, so I should look after our daughter. We could have tried more meds, but I didn't argue. That's the kind of guy I am. The rest have to go on living, right? Because after my wife died, I got drunk every day.
[Tears begin to stream down his face]
Man-seob: One day I woke up, and she was crying, holding onto her mom's old ...
[...]

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Crazy Credits

Before the end credits roll, a footage shows the real Jürgen "Peter" Hinzpeter speaking out his heart about the desire to meet Kim Sa-bok, the driver again in future.

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Alternate Versions

In one of the Blu-ray versions, the title card and Korean intertitles have been omitted out.

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Soundtracks

Short Hair
Performed by Cho Yong-pil

User Reviews

They got a new world

In China, we had the same movement, but we failed. We still live in the control of Chinese Communist Party. Why did we fail in 4th June 1989? What should we do for our freedom?

Details

Official Sites:

Official site [Japan] US official site

Country:

South Korea

Language:

Korean German English Japanese

Release Date:

11 August 2017 (USA)

Also Known As:

A Taxi Driver

Filming Locations:

South Korea

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$331,854, 13 August 2017

Gross USA:

$1,527,829

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$86,252,940

Company Credits

Production Co:

The Lamp

Technical Specs

Runtime:

137 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1