Taeksi woonjunsa (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

17 wins & 28 nominations.

Cast

Credited cast:
Kang-ho Song	...	Man-seob / Kim
Thomas Kretschmann	...	Peter
Hae-jin Yoo	...	Tae-sul / Hwang
Jun-yeol Ryu	...	Jae-sik / Gu
Hyuk-kwon Park	...	Reporter Choi
Gwi-hwa Choi
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Daniel Joey Albright	...	BBC Reporter David John

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

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:

Taeksi Oonjeonsa

Filming Locations:

South Korea

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$331,854, 13 August 2017, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$1,527,829, 19 October 2017

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$833,339, 20 August 2017

Company Credits

Production Co:

The Lamp

Technical Specs

Runtime:

137 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Daniel Joey Albright's voice is entirely dubbed over in his brief appearance as a BBC reporter.

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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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Soundtracks

Short Hair
Performed by Cho Yong-pil

User Reviews

Very heartwarming

The lead actor is very good. This is a funny and emotional film at the same time. The story made me wonder how much of the information we get from the media is accurate and true. It also made me guilty of being passive to national conflicts that does not affect me directly.