A Taxi Driver

South Korea 1980: A taxi driver is hired to transport a German reporter from Seoul to Gwangju. He quickly regrets his choice as he is caught in the middle of the city’s historical student demonstration.

Kim Man-seob is a debt-laden widower working as a taxi driver to support his daughter. After overhearing another taxi driver talk about the payment he’s going to receive after driving a foreign reporter to Gwangju, Man-seob – unaware of what is happening there – decides to steal the job.

The film is a dramatization of Jürgen Hinzpeter’s, the only journalist to film the massacres during the Gwangju uprising in 1980, interactions with driver Kim Sa-bok. It was positively received, and praised for its unique way of depicting the Gwangju uprising as well as for the chemistry between actors Song Kang-ho (Parasite) and Thomas Kretschmann (The Pianist), which feels like a breath of fresh air in the otherwise serious story. 

«An entertaining journey into a tragic and violent chapter of Korean modern history.»

– Maggie Lee, Variety –

Amalie Tilset

Director

Jang Hoon (b. 1975) is a South Korean director. He honed his skills as a director while working as a director’s assistant under Kim Ki-duk on movies such as Samaritan Girl, 3-Iron and The Bow. He made his directorial debut in 2008 with Rough Cut.