Kim Sung-hoon's rise to fame began in 2014 with the film "The End". For him, who had a bad directing career before, it can be said that he has turned a corner. Not only did the word-of-mouth box office become popular, but he also bought the copyright of the remake with a lot of money from Hollywood. (The Chinese remake is called "Breaking the Game"). In 2016, Kim Sung-hoon's other work "Tunnel" also received favorable reviews. Because "Train to Busan", which was released at the same time, exploded the Internet, it was not so conspicuous, but its freshness on Rotten Tomatoes was even better. There is no other reason, it is still Kim Sung Hoon's golden sign - "small format, big taste" plus "black humor". It is said that his style is very similar to the Coen brothers, which is really interesting.
"Tunnel" is a disaster film, but it does not conform to the convention that every "disaster" must be "big". At best, it can only be said to be a "small disaster film". The word "tunnel" sounds claustrophobic, and the story follows that feeling. When Lee Jung-soo, a car salesman, was driving through the Hado Tunnel, he suddenly encountered a tunnel collapse and was buried alive under the rubble. He was only accompanied by a mobile phone, two bottles of mineral water and a birthday cake originally bought for his daughter. While waiting for outside rescue in the boundless darkness, a series of shady scenes were also exposed. This film is adapted from the novel of the same name, which naturally surpasses the ordinary disaster thriller genre. Moreover, Kim Sung-hoon pays attention to realism and does not engage in sensational tears. On the basis of maintaining suspense, it also injects black humor, which increases the narrative viscosity and watchability. .
Besides the director and the story, another factor that makes the film attractive or high quality is the actors. It goes without saying that Bae Doo Na and Oh Da Soo are both golden supporting roles, and more importantly, Ha Jung Woo who plays the leading role. Today's He Yingdi can be regarded as one of the representatives of Korean Mesozoic male actors. His appearance condition is not outstanding, but it inspires him to temper his superb acting skills and unique personal charm. Fierce common problem. In the more than ten years since his debut, he has played almost no identical roles, such as perverts, killers, spies, gangsters, and white-collar workers. He has a wide range of control and strong ability, which is really admirable.
When it comes to the dilemma in a small space, "Sniper Phone Booth" and "Buried Alive" are among the best. It is worth mentioning that Ha Zhengyu has already had a similar performance experience in "Horror Live", but the story line of "Horror Live" is only a few hours, while "Tunnel" is as long as 35 days. A longer period of time brings more space for one-man performances, which makes Ha Zhengyu more addicted to the drama and more enjoyable to the audience. However, unlike "Buried Alive", which relies entirely on one person's acting skills, "Tunnel" has a broader vision, involving government officials, rescue teams, media, victims' relatives and other camps, allowing the director to express more. Complex, more layered stuff.
The shallow level is human nature and warmth. Lee Jung-soo meets another beautiful young victim, Mina, in the ruins. Jung-soo almost obeyed her. Although he hesitated in giving resources (water, food, mobile phone), in the end, his sense of morality prevailed. Unfortunately, Mina died in the end. But this kind of setting is a bit superficial. If Zhengzhu is not a young girl, but an uncle, I wonder if he will do this? The warm aspect is naturally the love and encouragement given by the family. The wife played by Pei Doona has been standing by the tunnel since Zhengzhu's accident and suffered a lot of grievances. When Zhengzhu was desperate, she supported and encouraged her hard and softly, allowing her husband to endure the most difficult time. period. And the leader of the rescue team played by Wu Dazhu is also a representative of positive energy. He is always working hard to save people, and drinking urine with him is second. It is his last-minute persistence that gives Zhengzhu a chance.
But at a deeper level, as Kim Sung-hoon said: "Tunnel is a step forward in the disaster situation encountered by human beings, and shows the dark side of society through disaster." Although the film is dressed in a disaster film, it is discussing more profound social issues. This point can be seen from small to big, or the spiritual core of "Tunnel" is consistent with "Horror Live". From the moment when the tunnel collapsed and the call of 119 to the police after Zhengzhu was buried, the film's dark humor and poignant irony flowed out: the inattentiveness of the 119 operator, the rubbish construction of the tunnel builder, the wrong drawing of the tunnel design drawings, the government official's The carelessness of human life, the bureaucratic retreats of the presiding officials, the harassment of the media personnel, etc., all make people laugh and cry, and they hate it.
As we all know, criticizing the government has always been the political correctness of Chungmuro. Especially in the past two years of the "Shiyue" massacre, when the Korean public is still full of doubts and disappointments about the incompetent and corrupt government and the media with vague public opinion orientation, this film, which makes great mockery of the public power of the Korean government, is undoubtedly in the spotlight. To a certain extent, it has taken on the responsibility of discussing social focus issues. Kim Sung-hoon said, "Tunnel is a movie about life, and this is exactly what is most lacking in today's society." This sentence is not only a portrayal of Korean society, but is still valid for Chinese society. When Lee Jung-soo was finally rescued successfully and was rushing to the hospital, the female government official (implied Park Geun-hye) had to come over and make a show. The unbearable rescue captain shouted in the name of Zhengzhu: "Get out of here, you bastards." It was the last piece of the puzzle for this black humor.
Finally, remind the drivers: the phone is fully charged, and water is prepared in the car, which may save your life.
♑
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