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 ... Read allA 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.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.
- Awards
- 25 wins & 31 nominations
- Hwang Tae-sul
- (as Hae-jin Yoo)
- Gu Jae-sik
- (as Jun-yeol Ryu)
- Reporter Choi
- (as Hyuk-kwon Park)
- Illegal checkpoint Sergeant First Class Park
- (as Tae-goo Eom)
- Pregnant Woman
- (as Bong-ryeon Lee)
- Director
- Writer
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaKim Sa-bok died in 1984 due to cancer, which was confirmed by his son in 2017. Kim was not only a taxi driver but someone who worked with foreign reporters because he owned two private vehicles used as "hotel taxis." A photo of Hinzpeter and Kim can be found online, confirmed by the wife of the late reporter.
- GoofsA brief shot of aeroplane landing in Seoul showed Japan Airlines A340-300. This four-engined aeroplane wasn't launched until 1991 and entered into the commercial service in 1993. Japan Air Lines livery would have red and blue cheat lines which were eliminated from 2004 redesign.
- 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 clothes.
[He starts sobbing]
Man-seob: She must have missed her so much. I quit drinking that day. I'm the only one she has left.
- Crazy creditsBefore the end credits roll, video footage shows the real Jürgen "Peter" Hinzpeter speaking out about the desire to reunite with Kim Man-seob, his taxi driver, again in future.
- Alternate versionsIn one of the Blu-ray versions, the title card and Korean intertitles have been omitted out.
- SoundtracksShort Hair
Performed by Cho Yong-pil
Rating: 5/5
I've been highly impressed long time by Song Kang-ho, and I've been watching many of his movies since later few months. I was highly excited to watch his new historical action drama A TAXI DRIVER, because the trailer was highly impressive. It showed how the film would turn out to be. I just wanted to see it as soon as possible and I finally got the opportunity.
A TAXI DRIVER, without a second thought, is the best South Korean film I've seen till date. From narration to execution to performances to presentation: it's perfect in each and every aspect. The change in the tone of the film has been brought up extremely well, thanks to its director Jang Hoon. The screenplay is never disappointing throughout, and the film comes out as both a refreshing as well as a memorable experience.
The film's editing is top notch as it doesn't take much of time to introduce and set up the characters as well as the storyline. As the film progresses, you find yourself connected to the characters, especially the ones of Song Kang-ho and Thomas Kretschmann. Both actors have delivered extremely excellent performances, and rather so excellent that I ended up rooting for them completely. When they smiled, I smiled. When they cried, I cried too. Rest of the supporting cast, especially Ryu Jun-yeol and Yu Hae-jin deserve a lot of praise.
The film's technical aspects are top notch. The visuals are breathtaking and the story is well captured by a first-rate cinematography. The film's action sequences are another major highlight, as they induce a lot of excitement along with tension as to what would happen next. The film's not extremely violent, and thus I recommend you to watch it with your family. There's no vulgarity or obscenity in this film.
There are plenty of emotional sequences which make the film a totally unforgettable experience. Watch the film and you won't find it difficult to guess which scenes I'm talking about. Various emotional, thrilling as well as action packed sequences have been elevated by the brilliant music.
A TAXI DRIVER is a hard-hitting film which must be seen not just for its overall excellence but also for the message it delivers to its viewers. It's hard and almost impossible to forget the film, as you're left highly emotional & impressed by the time the credits start to roll. In short, a perfect masterpiece from South Korea!
- Achyut_Prashast_Singh
- Sep 30, 2017
Details
Box office
- Gross US & Canada
- $1,527,829
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $331,854
- Aug 13, 2017
- Gross worldwide
- $86,252,940
- Runtime2 hours 17 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 2.35 : 1