For this cultural post, I would like to talk about a film that I was able to enjoy during the extra time I was granted due to this hectic semester from the effects of coronavirus called “택시운전사” or “A Taxi Driver”. This film centers around events that happened in the time range of 1979-1980 and uncovers the Gwangju Uprising which does not get much attention despite how big of an issue it was at the time. This film is one that I watched originally upon release in 2017 with my mom but I was moved to watch it again because I remember how good a movie it was. I think it won a few Blue Dragon Film awards and it had enough acclaim to be one of the few international films that was shown in theaters which I am fortunate for.
The plot of “A Taxi Driver” is based off a true story. The film captures the story of a widowed taxi driver who has a daughter and his unintentional involvement in the Gwangju Uprising. It is based mainly on Jürgen Hinzpeter's interactions with the taxi driver Kim Sa-bok which had actually occurred. Jürgen Hinzpeter is the German journalist that is best known for his coverage on South Korean topics in real life. The film first begins in Seoul as that is where the taxi driver leaves and the fateful encounter with Jürgen Hinzpeter, also known as Peter, occurs when Kim
Man Seob (the taxi driver) overhears another taxi driver talk about a job where an international client has offered the driver 100,000 won and gets to the client faster essentially. The client, Peter, wants to spend the day in Gwangju and return to Seoul before the curfew is put in place. This is because he is a West German journalist who desires to report on the rising civil unrest in Gwangju, he is able to get into Korea despite heavy restrictions that prohibit foreign journalists into Korea, by faking being a missionary. Once Peter gets through, Kim Man Seob quickly meets him and leads him to his taxi and the journey begins to Gwangju.
In order to prevent myself from spoiling the movie for anyone that may be interested in the film, I will stop talking about the story here. I will say though that this film is one that will take you for a ride and have you on the edge of the seats as you root for the characters that are involved on these true historical events. It has been praised highly and positively by many critics. In fact these critics “praised its unique approach to depicting the Gwangju Uprising events, emotional weight, as well as the main character and his relationship with Hinzpeter”. This movie effectively did everything the critics praised it about and I was shocked at how the Gwangju Uprising actually took place and was inspired to read more about the uprising as well to get more context for what was depicted in the movie.
Replies