X
- 2017
- Not Rated
- Well Go USA Entertainment
- 2 h 17 m
- 2017
- Not Rated
- Well Go USA Entertainment
- 2 h 17 m
Summary In this true story set in 1980, a down-on-his-luck taxi driver from Seoul is hired by a foreign journalist who wants to go to the town of Gwangju for the day. They arrive to find a city under siege by the military government, with the citizens, led by a determined group of college students, rising up to demand freedom. What began as an e...
- 2017
- Not Rated
- Well Go USA Entertainment
- 2 h 17 m
- 2017
- Not Rated
- Well Go USA Entertainment
- 2 h 17 m
A Taxi Driver
69
7.8
Where to Watch
Summary In this true story set in 1980, a down-on-his-luck taxi driver from Seoul is hired by a foreign journalist who wants to go to the town of Gwangju for the day. They arrive to find a city under siege by the military government, with the citizens, led by a determined group of college students, rising up to demand freedom. What began as an e...
Where to Watch
Top Cast
Metascore
Generally Favorable
Based on 7 Critic Reviews
69
86% Positive
6 Reviews
6 Reviews
14% Mixed
1 Review
1 Review
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
Metascore
Generally Favorable
Based on 7 Critic Reviews
69
86% Positive
6 Reviews
6 Reviews
14% Mixed
1 Review
1 Review
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
In unexpected and wonderfully satisfying ways, A Taxi Driver taps into the symbiotic relationship between foreign correspondents and locals, particularly in times of crisis.
Grafting the buddy picture onto the framework of the classic political thriller, director Jang Hoon also manages to find time for lighter moments of human comedy, and those seemingly disparate elements are deftly navigated by Song and his fellow fully dimensional characters.
User Score
Generally Favorable
Based on 38 User Ratings
7.8
79% Positive
30 Ratings
30 Ratings
18% Mixed
7 Ratings
7 Ratings
3% Negative
1 Rating
1 Rating
User Score
Generally Favorable
Based on 38 User Ratings
7.8
79% Positive
30 Ratings
30 Ratings
18% Mixed
7 Ratings
7 Ratings
3% Negative
1 Rating
1 Rating
This film is a brilliant historical lesson that utilized Song Kang-ho's emotional acting remarkably. Many have criticized the film for being propaganda in South Korea, but it is so close to non-fiction, that South Koreans should replace some textbooks with 'A Taxi Driver'. Some parts of the film could definitely explain the excessive tension between the protagonists, but overall, this will always be a exciting, spine-chilling, funny and heart-wrenching two hours for anyone from anywhere.
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A Taxi Driver is a Korean epic, a tipping point in the history of South Korea. A little old-fashioned and a touch melodramatic, it’s still a compelling Korean “Year of Living Dangerously.”
While the film clearly taps into the national zeitgeist, buoyed by a sweeping show of people’s power that ousted the president, international audiences should also appreciate the actors’ feisty turns.
A Taxi Driver can over-reach towards its final chase sequences, which enter the realm of fantasy, but they’re not enough to de-rail this fine film.
The film climaxes with a breathless escape from Gwangju, as Kim and Hinzpeter elude government vehicles with the aid of other cabdrivers. But most impressive is Mr. Song, who persuasively conveys a working stiff’s political awakening.
Song's performance makes me wish the rest of A Taxi Driver was as thoughtful.
One of the blackest pages in the South Korea that eventually rose to democracy is portrayed in this well-intentioned but not so thoughtful film.
A Taxi Driver tells a true story, as well as taking place in a real historical event.
The development of events narrates journalist Jürgen Hinzpeter's trip to South Korea to report and demonstrate to the world what was happening with the Gwangju Uprising that occurred in May 1980, during which citizens rose up against the then president Chun Doo- hwan and oppose his dictatorship.
Citizens were violently repressed, and it's estimated that more than 2000 people were killed by the military.
Now that's the background to other real story. Since Jürgen Hinzpeter was driven in and out of city of Gwangju with the same taxi driver who helped him during the time that he was in the city recording the incidents that occurred there.
This film portrays the events faithfully up to a point, and evidently fictionalizes others. That was to be expected.
However the transition that is made to develop the character of Song Kang-ho - the taxi driver - doesn't feel the most fitting.
That's not a negative criticism of Song Kang-ho's work, but let's just say the script doesn't allow him much.
Thomas Kretschmann plays Jürgen Hinzpeter, but the truth is that he doesn't have much to do. I mean his character is 100% relevant, but in terms of acting, the film belongs to Song Kang-ho
Also, even though the film is a tribute to the reporter, and what he did, his story is ultimately anecdotal in front of the terrible event that he was reporting, and despite not trivializing what happened there in any way, I feel that the creators preferred not to be so openly critical, and perhaps it was necessary because from what I understand, they were harassed by the government during the filming.
I liked. I definitely liked it. But I also think it lacked more punch.
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(Mauro Lanari)
A "hero" by chance (Frears 1992) and student protests lacking a proposal, the new partisans and revolutionaries inexperienced
since without a "pars construens", the skills and competences of founding, constituent, reforming fathers: a film that history has already proposed to us too many times.
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Production Company
The Lamp
Release Date Aug 11, 2017
Duration 2 h 17 m
Rating Not Rated
Tagline May 1980: A taxi driver heads to Gwangju
Awards
Grand Bell Awards, South Korea
• 2 Wins & 11 Nominations
Blue Dragon Awards
• 4 Wins & 8 Nominations
Buil Film Awards
• 3 Wins & 6 Nominations
