Tunnel

I don't watch enough world cinema, let alone South Korean films, the country that gave us incredible flicks like Oldboy and Sky Blue (Wonderful Days) so when I see there's a showing at my other local cinema, I had to go and I didn't regret it.

Seong-hoon Kim, director of the highly acclaimed A Hard Day (now on my watchlist) tells us a story of a business man (Jung-woo Ha) who is on his way home to wife and daughter and unfortunately becomes trapped in a near fatal accident when a tunnel collapses on him and his car. We see his blight as he struggles to survive and how he comes to terms with the reality of what's happening.

There's a superb balance between him and the outside world who is attempting to rescue him, witnessing empathy, sympathy and later tragedy but also the lack of, from the media and politicians causing conflict about what's the right thing to do.

It's touching, when seeing the lengths people will go to in offering help in a time of crisis, like the radio station for example, playing him messages of support each day. This show of humanity reminded me of the epic TV movie of the late eighties, Everybody's Baby: The Rescue of Jessica McClure and the more recent World Trade Centre, only fundamental difference, this not being a true story.

Sometimes I felt like being a passerby, watching the train wreck happen right before you, seeing things going from bad to worse without being able to lift a finger to do anything. But on the flip side it's purposefully comical to display another side of what it is to be human.

There's incredible performances for the three key characters, especially Cloud Atlas star Doona Bae who plays his grieving wife having to deal with the press whilst trying to do as much as she possibly can to aid the rescue. And Dal-su Oh is superb as the chief, who's in charge of the operation who has this moral obligation to save him.

The film is loaded with tough decisions and moral issues questioning you, what would you do if you were either of the three characters. It did drag, but only ever so slightly for the 126min running time. Has got an amazing score from Young-Jin Mok and the set pieces are on point with some amazing camera work.

I wouldn't recommend this for viewers with fear of tunnels or claustrophobia but a great drama with some amazing performances, a must-see for world cinema drama fans.

Running Time: 7 The Cast: 8 Performance: 9 Direction: 8 Story: 7 Script: 8 Creativity: 8 Soundtrack: 8 Job Description: 8 The Extra Bonus Points: 0

71% 7/10

A husband and father is heading home with his daughter's birthday cake when a tunnel collapses trapping him inside his car.

Disaster movies are meant to be filled with tension and drama. This film did not fail in giving its viewers a healthy dose of both. While it is a bit drawn out, it is a decent movie that I found to be enjoyable. It is hard for me to review disaster movies simply because to have the right amount of tension you need a curiosity as to what might happen next. Knowing too much takes away from the anticipation about what might happen next. So, I'm just gonna be short and sweet about it by saying that it is a good film that had me confidently saying that had I been this fella, I would never have to work again because I would have sued the socks off of everybody.

If they have cellphone reception, they could've shared or pinned his location via GPS on Line (The Messenger they use), Google Map, or whatever convenient app they have. In a realistic situation, that is what anybody, let alone a whole team and country of concerned people, should have naturally thought of. Otherwise the movie has decent plot points and twists to keep you engaged.

Tunnel is a survival/catastrophy movie. And a good one.

In the first scene the movie sets the tone. It has slight comedic elements but mixed with a sad tone and the subtext is about responsibilitys. Who takes responsibility for what? The main character stops at a gas station and an old man works there who makes mistakes all the time. The owner had to pay 8000won because he filled diesel in one's car. After that the main character is trapped inside a collapsed tunnel. Who is responsible for that? The builders?

Unfortunately not. It's the state. In a democracy the people. The rescue teams, the workers and the tax payers. As the movie progresses the politicians, the business men and the press are trying to exploit the situation. The one responsible for the poorly constructed tunnel force the building of another one which means the stop of the rescue mission. But instead they should be the ones clearing up the mess.

Tunnel makes it very clear. The rich make more and more money and try to save money on the lives of middle class people. Their wages are exponentially higher compared to middle class peoples because they argumenting with higher responsibility for hundreds of jobs. But if they fail and hundreds of people loose their jobs it's the state, the welfare, the families who are responsible to take care of them.

Tunnel is a great movie about the unbalanced responsibility situation in the neoliberal world.

Another decent Korean offering, Tunnel is worth taking in if you're tired of Hollywood productions and you'd like to take in something different. Recommended.