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Ataxidriver

A Taxi Driver is a 2017 South Korean historical fiction film written by Eum Yu-na and directed by Jang Hoon. It chronicles the 1980 Gwang-ju Uprising told through the perspective of fairly apolitical and down on his luck Taxi Driver Kim Man-seob (Song Kan-ho), as he is forced to open his eyes to the atrocities of his seemingly stable country when he is tasked with ferrying Peter (Thomas Kretchmann), a German journalist. Swallowing his clashing political views and pride for his country, Man-seob is forced to decide which side he'll take.

The film received critical acclaim, was the second highest grossing film of 2017 in South Korea and is the twelvth-highest grossing film of all time in South Korea. It won many awards in its native country but not any outside of it even though it was submitted for the 90th Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language film.

Edeltraut Brahmstaedt, the widow of the real-life Peter, watched the movie with then-President Moon Jae-in the same year it was released. Moon himself stated "The truth about the uprising has not been fully revealed. This is the task we have to resolve. I believe this movie will help resolve it"[1].


The film contains examples of:[]

Tropes used in A Taxi Driver include:
  • Adapted Out: While Jürgen Hinzpeter appears in the movie, his sound technician, Henning Rumohr, does not. This is despite the fact that he accompanied the duo to Gwang-ju.
  • The Alleged Car: Man-seob's taxi is a 1979 Kia Brisa that he bought with his remaining funds after using most of them on hospital bills.
  • Apathetic Citizens: Man-seob, at first. He views protestors as spoiled brats and believes that they have no pride in their country. He opens his eyes when he witnesses the atrocities that are inflicted upon them by the ROK Army, specifically the death of Jae-sik.
  • Bad Liar: Man-seob, a lot. First, he claims that he speaks fluent English, despite his English being very limited (though Peter buys it). Then, he claims he lost track of the protestor's truck, despite clearly being given hand signals. Then, when escaping Gwang-ju, he claims to be a native of the city, only for a solider to point out that he has a Seoul accent. Though he adds that he moved to Gwang-ju from Seoul months ago.
  • Big Damn Heroes: And how! An entire fleet of green taxis surround the military vehicles and take the heat to allow Man-seob's one (that has Peter) to get to the airport.
  • Blackmail: Peter threatens to not pay Man-seob if he doesn't go where he wants. Man-seob relents because he's poor.
  • The Bully: Sang-gu, a fat kid who likes to bully the poorer children of his mother's tenants. His bullying turns physical at one point and he injures Eun-jung in her forehead.
  • Book-Burning: A variant. When a Gwang-ju newspaper factory publishes photos of citizens being brutalized by the army, the factory is torn and burned down by the higher-ups, who fear the potential repercussions.
  • Civilian Villain: The plainclothes officers, soldiers who disguise themselves as protestors to attack them.
  • Comically Missing the Point: When Peter tells Man-seob he has business in Gwang-ju, Man-seob assumes he is a business man and has wealth. Later, when Man-seob is sad about not seeing his daughter, Peter mistakes this as him being upset about money and offers him some....only for Man-seob to scream at him. The fact that he screams in Korean, a language Peter doesn't understand, makes it even funnier. Doubles as Dramatically Missing the Point.
  • Crapsaccharine World: South Korea in the 1980s. Most people live in bliss, unaware that civilian massacres are frequently occurring on a daily basis. This is an Enforced Trope since the government actively censors anyone who speaks ill of them or highlights their crimes.
  • Drowning My Sorrows:
Cquote1

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) One day I woke up, and she was crying, holding onto her mom's old clothes. (He starts sobbing) She must have missed her so much. I quit drinking that day. I'm the only one she has left."

Cquote2


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Hwang Taae-sol: The paratroopers dragged him off and he died on the way. So they just threw him on a rice field. There aren't enough coffins in Gwang-ju. So some students went to get more...

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  • First World Problems: Man-seob believes that the protestors have these (which is odd, because South Korea in the 1980s was anything but a first world country). He compares their issues to the ones he himself suffered from medical debt during his stay in Saudi Arabia.
  • Gory Discretion Shot: Averted, the movie does not shy away from showing the fate of civilians who cross the ROK.
  • Gratuitous English: Peter, obviously, but Man-seob can also speak it due to his prior residence in Saudi Arabia. Though he leaves a lot to be desired.
Cquote1

Man-seob: I taxi driver, you taxi customer

Cquote2
    • Jae-sik also speaks it (and serves as a translator between Peter and Man-seob) due to growing up near a U.S. Military Base. Unlike Man-seob, he's fluent in it.
    • A few other minor Korean characters, such as the agent who works with Peter, and the soldier from the ROK border, speak English.
  • Heroic BSOD: Peter, while intent on exposing the ROK's crimes, suffers from one after witnessing a firsthand massacre and the death of Jae-sik, and Man-seob has to talk him out of it.
  • Heroic Sacrifice: Near the end, many Gwang-ju taxi drivers use their vehicles to distract the South Korean military from Man-seob's taxi so that him and Peter can escape and tell the world of the ROK's human's right violations
    • Jae-sik wrestles with an ROK while on his knees to allow Peter and Man-seob to escape. It results in him getting a bloody and painful death, so much that when his corpse is found later, it's completely battered
  • He Who Fights Monsters: Sergeant first class Park, a colonel who goes to any extent he can to silence dissidents of the government. He believes that Man-seob, and Gwang-ju's protestors in general, are "communists" and uses it as an excuse to justify killing and maltreating them. He kills so many people that the hospital that treats the protestors runs out of coffins.
  • Hiding Behind the Language Barrier: When Jae-sik is in Sergeant Park's custody, he tells him to let him speak to Peter and Man-seob in English so he can beg them to save him. When he's granted permission, he actually says "Can you hear me? I can't hold this soldier much longer. So please go now, and show the world what's happening here".
    • Man-seob makes many digs at Peter in Korean.
  • Like Father, Like Son: Man-seob says Sang-gu is fat like his father. Though his father at least seems to be a nice person free of classist biases, unlike his son.
  • Line-of-Sight Name: When Peter asks for Man-seob's name, Man-seob is reluctant to give it because the South Korean authorities could track him down. He tells Peter he is called "Kim Sa-bok" after seeing a pack of Sa-bok cigarettes.
  • The Lost Lenore: Man-seob's wife. Her death drove him into becoming an alcoholic. The person Man-seob is based off actually became an alcoholic after witnessing the atrocities and being unable to cope with what he saw.
  • My Car Hates Me: Man-seob's car breaks down during his first night at Gwang-ju. It was mentioned earlier that it's an outdated 1979 Kia Brisa in need of repairs.
  • Out-Gambitted: After he escapes the military vehicles, the ROK plan to nab Peter during his scheduled flight to Japan, but unbeknownst to them, Peter leaves a day earlier and upgrades his flight to first-class.
  • Parental Substitute: Eun-jung is often taken care of by her dad's landlord while Man-seob works. She also cooks for Eun-jung and when her son bullies her, she scolds him.
  • Red Scare: The protestors are referred to as Dirty Communists by the ROK.
  • Sir Swearsalot: Man-seob.
  • Sitcom Arch Nemesis: Sang-gu is this to Man-seob (despite the fact that he's a kid and Man-seob is an adult).
  • Vulnerable Civilians: The citizens of Gwang-ju. The military murders them in droves, even as they wave a white flag.
  • Work Off the Debt: Man-seob owes his landlord months worths of unpaid rent. He decides to ferry Peter because as a foreigner, Peter could pay him a lot of money. When Man-seob objects to Peter's directions, all Peter has to do to get him to change his mind is wave a wad of cash in his face.
  • You Are Fat: When Man-seob learns Sang-gu bullied his daughter, he says that him and his mother are fat.