


įor many years, Gwangju’s Uprising was a forbidden term in South Korea – those who were on the side of the government during that time held the reins of nation. The Gwangju Uprising was a result of a continuous power tug-of-war between the government and the citizens of South Korea – mainly college students – that were advocating for democracy. The plot in the film mirrors the historical background of the Gwangju Uprisings. The film centers around the Gwangju Uprising that occurred from to and it is estimated to have led to 2,000 people being killed. The film was a notable commercial success: it was the second highest grossing film of 2017 in South Korea, and currently stands as the twelfth highest-grossing South Korean film in history. It was very positively received by critics, who praised its unique approach to depicting the Gwangju Uprising events, emotional weight, as well as the main character and his relationship with Hinzpeter, and was selected as the South Korean entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 90th Academy Awards. The film was released on August 2, 2017, in South Korea. It is based on German journalist Jürgen Hinzpeter's interactions with driver Kim Sa-bok however, as Kim's identity and real name were unknown at the time the film was made (Hinzpeter only knew him as "Kim Sa-bok"), most elements regarding his life and the events that happened to him outside of Gwangju are fictional. īased on a real-life story, the film centers on a taxi driver from Seoul who unintentionally becomes involved in the events of the Gwangju Uprising in 1980. This is how we help keep our operations running, so we thank you in advance for your support.A Taxi Driver ( Korean: 택시운전사 Hanja: 택시運轉士 RR: Taeksi Unjeonsa) is a 2017 South Korean historical action drama film directed by Jang Hoon and written by Eom Yu-na, with Song Kang-ho starring in the title role, alongside Thomas Kretschmann. If you make a purchase through one of these links, Amazon gives Cinema Escapist a referral commission. Note: this article has Amazon affiliate links.

What do you think about this list? Let us know in the comments below!įor more Korean movies, check out The Ten Best Korean movies on Netflix Now that there’s a liberal President in the Blue House, I hope we can see more entertaining movies like A Taxi Driver which cover South Korea’s democratization.
#A TAXI DRIVER 2017 WATCH ONLINE FULL#
A Taxi Driver is full of great dramatic moments that make you empathize with the characters. The two get off to a rocky start, but soon realize that more beyond their selfish desires are at stake. In A Taxi Driver, veteran actor Song Kang-ho plays the eponymous driver, and Thomas Kretschmann (also in Stalingrad) plays the German reporter. For context, the Gwangju Uprising is probably the most important event in South Korea’s democratization. A Taxi Driver is not only entertaining, but also highly important to Korean society and history.Ī Taxi Driver is based on the true story of a taxi driver who drove a German reporter through a military blockade to cover the 1987 Gwangju Uprising. However, this isn’t just some thoughtless Transformers-like blockbuster.
#A TAXI DRIVER 2017 WATCH ONLINE MOVIE#
Our top Korean movie of 2017 is A Taxi Driver - which also happens to be the highest grossing movie in South Korea for the year. Korean title: 택시운전사 (Taeksi Unjeonsa) | Starring: Song Kang-ho, Thomas Kretschmann, Yoo Hae-jin I can’t emphasize the action enough… there’s a LOT of fighting. You not only learn about an important part of Korean history, but also see a huge amount of action. As WWII winds down, the Koreans on the island must band together and escape from their Japanese captors.īattleship Island came in fourth at the 2017 Korean Box Office, and it’s easy to see why. The 2017 movie Battleship Islandis a highly dramatized account of Korean life on the real-life Battleship Island. Hwang Jung-min (from Ode to My Father) stars as the main character, a musician who’s forced to work on the island. This is something that still causes Japan-Korea tensions to this day. During WWII, the Japanese forced thousands of Koreans to work on the island under appalling conditions. Remember that creepy island in the James Bond movie Skyfall? Well, it’s actually a real place called Battleship Island, off the coast of Nagasaki. Korean title: 군함도 (Gunhamdo)| Starring: Hwang Jung-min, So Ji-sub, Song Joong-ki, Lee Jung-hyun
