Default (2018 film) explained

Default
Native Name:
Hangul:국가부도의 날
Hanja:國家不渡의 날
Rr:Gukga-budo-eui Nal
Director:Choi Kook-hee
Producer:Lee Yoo-jin
Starring:Kim Hye-soo
Yoo Ah-in
Heo Joon-ho
Jo Woo-jin
Vincent Cassel
Music:Kim Tae-seong
Studio:Zip Cinema
Distributor:CJ Entertainment
Runtime:114 minutes
Country:South Korea
Language:Korean
English
Gross:[1]

Default (; lit. "National Bankruptcy Day") is a 2018 South Korean drama film directed by Choi Kook-hee.[2] The film was released on November 28, 2018.[3] [4] [5] Starring Kim Hye-soo, Yoo Ah-in, Heo Joon-ho, Jo Woo-jin, and Vincent Cassel, it is the first Korean film concerning the IMF financial crisis as its main subject.[6]

Plot

Default dramatizes the behind-the-scenes story of the IMF negotiations that took place during the financial crisis in 1997[7] [8] through three parallel stories.[9]

Factory owner Gap-su (Huh Joon-ho) wins a contract to supply metal bowls to a big department store, but the store pays him with a promissory note — and so by accepting it, Gap-su unknowingly exposes himself to the risk that his customer won't be able to pay him. This backfires when the department store goes bankrupt, leaving Gap-su without the funds to pay his suppliers.

Meanwhile, a young financial analyst named Jung-hak (Yoo Ah-in) hears stories on the radio about families in distress — particularly those selling their homes below market price to pay bills resulting from small business bankruptcies. Seeking to profit from this situation, Jung-hak sets up his own investment fund to bet against the Korean economy.

Finally, the governor of Korea's central bank reads a report from his head of monetary policy, a woman named Si-hyun (Kim Hye-soo). Si-hyun's report concludes that Korea will run out of foreign reserves which serves to peg the Korean won's artificially fixed exchange rate to the US dollar within a week. This triggers an emergency meeting of top government officials, who must keep the Korean economy from collapsing.[10]

These three stories show the 1997 financial crisis from different perspectives. Si-hyun's story shows how the government acted during the crisis, Jung-hak's narrative frames the downturn in economic terms, and Gap-su represents millions of real Korean small business owners who suffered in 1997. At each of these levels, Default embodies the trauma resulting from the crisis: we see characters desperate to sell their homes, drowning their sorrows in soju, and even committing suicide.[11]

Cast

Main

A Senior financial analyst at the Bank of Korea who is striving to do the right thing during the seven days before the country is declared a liquidity crisis and sought the bailout programme from the IMF.[6]

A former banker who thinks the crisis is a lifetime chance for investment.[6]

Supporting

Cameo appearance

Production

The read-through of the script occurred on December 7, 2017.[15] Principal photography began on December 12, 2017.[16]

Release

The film was released in local cinemas on November 28, 2018.[17] [18] It was previously screened at the 71st Cannes International Film Festival's Marché du Film in May 2018. It was also screened at the 3rd International Film Festival & Awards Macau at the Special Presentations on December 9, 2018.[19] [20] Ahead of its local release, the film was sold to 17 territories including USA, Japan, Singapore, Taiwan, Indonesia, Hong Kong and Macao.[21]

Reception

Box office

On its opening day in South Korea, Default accumulated 301,324 viewers, taking nearly 40% of the box office and also taking the first place from Bohemian Rhapsody at the box office.[22] [23]

On the fifth day of its release, Default surpassed 1 million admissions, and during the first weekend of its release, Default garnered 1,573,441 viewers, securing the first place at the box office for its first weekend.[24] Default became the highest November opening in the history of the Korean box office.[25]

After topping the charts its first two weekends, it has since clocked up 3,755,233 admissions in its home country.[26]

Critical response

On Korean review aggregator Naver Movie Database, the film holds an approval rating of 6.50 from critic reviews and 8.74 from the audience.[27] The Hollywood Reporters Clarence Tsui called it "An engaging multi-strand story about a nation in turmoil", and wrote, "[...] director Choi Kook-hee has sought to fill that void in a dramatic and furious exposition of causes and effects as seen through the eyes of his three protagonists, who experience the crisis up close in different ways. [...] Choi and his screenwriter Eom Seong-min turn mind-boggling macroeconomic concepts into emotions aimed at the viewers' heart. On the downside, this tends to lead to the film defaulting toward the simplistic and melodramatic."[28] Pierce Conran from Screen Anarchy suggested that, "The film borrows heavily from recent global financial thrillers, stirs in a predictable dose of melodrama and attempts to tackle women's equality", but concluded, "Technically the film is polished, but as it deliberately seeks to evoke a glum atmosphere it comes off as a little drab."[29]

Awards and nominations

AwardsCategoryRecipientResultRef.
10th KOFRA Film AwardsJury AwardKim Hye-soo
19th Director's Cut AwardsBest Actress
Best ScreenplayEom Seong-min
Kim Hye-soo[30]
[31]
[32]
Eom Seong-min
6th Korean Film Producers Association Awards Best Screenplay

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Default (2018) . Korean Film Biz Zone . en.
  2. Web site: https://movie.naver.com/movie/bi/mi/basic.nhn?code=164192. ko:국가부도의 날. Naver. ko.
  3. Web site: 김혜수X유아인 온다…'국가부도의 날', 11월28일 개봉. Joy News 24. 10 October 2018. ko.
  4. Web site: ko:국가부도의 날. http://www.kobiz.or.kr/new/kor/01_bizmatching/movieInfo/movie_view.jsp?movieCd=20177552. Korean Film Biz Zone. ko.
  5. Web site: 'Default' sold to 17 countries in pre-release sale . 19 November 2018 .
  6. Web site: 'Default' brings back economic nightmare. The Korea Times. 28 October 2018. Park Jin-hai.
  7. Web site: Default. HanCinema.
  8. Web site: YOO Ah-in and Vincent Cassel Join SOVEREIGN DEFAULT. Korean Film Biz Zone. 10 October 2018.
  9. Web site: Review: "Default" is Korea's Take on "The Big Short" . Cinema Escapist . 30 November 2018 . 30 January 2019.
  10. Web site: 영화 "김혜수·유아인 주연, IMF 위기 속 다른 선택을 한 사람들 이야기!" - 한국강사신문. www.lecturernews.com. 12 May 2019 . ko. 2019-06-14.
  11. Web site: 영화 '국가부도의 날'이 주는 교훈, "위기는 반복된다, 잊지 말자 IMF사태". 2019-04-04. CIVIC뉴스. ko. 2019-06-14.
  12. Web site: Vincent Cassel Joins Top Korean Cast in 'Sovereign Default'. Variety. 3 December 2017.
  13. Web site: French Actor Vincent Cassel to Appear in Korean Film. October 22, 2018. The Chosun Ilbo. English.
  14. Web site: https://www.tvreport.co.kr/?c=news&m=newsview&idx=1063241. ko:[단독] 한지민 '국가부도의 날' 특별출연…김혜수와 호흡. June 16, 2018. TV Report. ko. Kim Soo-jung.
  15. Web site: ko:[단독]'국가부도의 날', 오늘(7일) 대본리딩 시작…라인업 확정. http://stoo.asiae.co.kr/news/view.htm?idxno=2017120714254854899. Sports Today. 7 December 2017. ko. 8 December 2017. 8 December 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20171208231406/http://stoo.asiae.co.kr/news/view.htm?idxno=2017120714254854899. dead.
  16. Web site: Guk-ga-bu-do-ui Nal. KOBIZ. 6 March 2018.
  17. Web site: Spackman Entertainment Group's Upcoming Film, DEFAULT, Starring Yoo Ah-in Of Spackman Media Group, Set to Release in Korea on 28 November 2018. Viet Nam News. 15 October 2018.
  18. Web site: [단독] MBC 최승호 사장, '버닝' 출연…'이창동 감독과 인연']. ko. Sports Khan. 2018-11-20. 11 October 2018.
  19. Web site: Default - IFFAM. IFFA Macao. 2019-01-08. 2021-04-23. https://web.archive.org/web/20210423091530/https://www2018.iffamacao.com/films/special-presentations/default/. dead.
  20. Web site: Spackman Entertainment Group's Film, DEFAULT, Grosses Us$22.3 Million in Box Office Revenue, Crossing The 3 Million Ticket Sales Mark. Viet Nam News. 14 December 2018.
  21. Web site: 'Default' sold to foreign countries before release. Yonhap News Agency. 19 November 2018.
  22. Web site: KoBiz - Korean film, news, actor, movie, cinema, location & Korean Film Archive. Korean Film Biz Zone.
  23. Web site: ko:김혜수 주연 '국가부도의 날', 예매율 1위…'보헤미안 랩소디' 독주 막을까. http://www.busan.com/view/busan/view.php?code=20181128000053. Busan Ilbo. Korean.
  24. Web site: '국가부도의 날', 주말 흥행 1위…"5일 만에 100만 돌파". Dispatch Korea. December 3, 2018.
  25. Web site: Spackman Entertainment Group's Film, DEFAULT, Grosses Us$22.3 Million in Box Office Revenue, Crossing The 3 Million Ticket Sales Mark. Viet Nam News. December 14, 2018.
  26. Web site: DEFAULT (2018). Korean Film Biz Zone.
  27. Web site: 국가부도의 날. Naver 영화.
  28. Web site: 'Default' ('Gukgabudo-ui Nal'): Film Review. The Hollywood Reporter. Clarence. Tsui. January 10, 2019.
  29. Web site: Review: DEFAULT, Financial Thriller Overdraws Its Trump Card. Screen Anarchy. Pierce. Conran. December 3, 2018.
  30. Web site: http://news.jtbc.joins.com/html/172/NB11796172.html. ko:'미쓰백'부터 '버닝'까지…백상 영화부문 후보 공개. jTBC News. April 5, 2019. April 5, 2019. ko.
  31. Web site: 2019 Blue Dragon Awards Honor Veteran Actors And Newcomers. 21 November 2019. Forbes.
  32. Web site: 2019 Blue Dragon Awards Honor Veteran Actors And Newcomers. MacDonald . Joan . November 21, 2019 . Forbes. https://web.archive.org/web/20191122174021/https://www.forbes.com/sites/joanmacdonald/2019/11/21/2019-blue-dragon-awards-honor-veteran-actors-and-newcomers/. November 22, 2019 . May 18, 2020.