(Korean Movies) Tunnel, 2016

On the way home, what if the tunnel collapses?
that we may encounter in our daily life
The most realistic disaster movie!

Every morning and evening, we commute to work by running on roads and through tunnels. What if the place where there was no doubt about safety collapses? If all you can do is wait for rescue in the collapsed tunnel, will you be able to withstand the time?

The movie <Tunnel> is a real disaster movie about a man isolated in a collapsed tunnel and the story outside the tunnel that changes around his structure. The main character, 'Jeong-soo', is an ordinary office worker who works hard and is an ordinary head of household with a wife and daughter. One day, no different from usual, the tunnel he passed through every day collapses, and in an instant, his daily life also collapses. <Tunnel> brings the audience together by giving us the sympathy that it can happen at any time to us who watch the movie through the appearance of an ordinary person who is often seen in the vicinity facing an unexpected disaster. Trapped in the tunnel, 'Jeongsu' can be our friend, brother, husband, or ourselves. There is only one thing that 'Jeong-soo' can do, and only survive, until someone clears that huge block of stone and enters it.

While we believe in the words that 'Jeong-Soo' in the tunnel will save us, the situation outside the tunnel surrounding the structure of 'Jeong-Soo' reveals a cross-section of Korean society and seems to project our reality. The media frantic about the scoop, the exclusive report, the construction company that caused a scandal due to poor construction, and the high-ranking government officials who are in a hurry to report to the superiors while the actual structure is behind the scenes. It evokes laughter and frustration. In addition, the appearance of people outside the tunnel, wasting time without a proper coping manual, contrasts sharply with the 'Essence' who endures one minute like a year in the tunnel, and provokes anger in the viewers. It is also not unfamiliar to see the reaction of the people, who are becoming increasingly indifferent to the 'Jeong-soo' who is trapped in the tunnel as the days go by without any particular results.

As director Kim Seong-hoon said, “<Tunnel> is a story of a man in a tunnel who is in a disaster that he cannot control, but it is also about the people, society and the world outside the tunnel.” It will be an opportunity to reconsider the basic value of the movie, as well as an opportunity to ask questions to the audience themselves while realistically pointing out the current era that overlooks its importance.

Obvious situation! Obvious protagonist! Obvious story!
Reject all the stereotyped disaster movie formulas!

A huge disaster, numerous victims, and the protagonist who overcomes disasters with courage and courage – all of these are absent in the movie <Tunnel>. <Tunnel> presents a story from a new perspective by twisting all the formulas of existing disaster films.

If the existing disaster film genres portrayed large-scale disasters with numerous victims, <Tunnel> takes a different path from the start. Trapped in the collapsed tunnel, there is only one survivor, 'Jeong-soo', an ordinary head of the family who bought her daughter's birthday cake and went to work. Director Kim Seong-hoon in charge of directing said, “Human life is a value that cannot be converted into numbers, but it is meaningless to count the number of victims. Rather, I thought that loneliness and fear would be doubled when one person faced a huge disaster alone.” .

Also, if you are the main character of a disaster movie, you will think of a heroic character who does not give up in any situation and protects the loved one. However, the 'Essence' in <Tunnel> cannot do anything. What 'Jeong-soo' can do is to stick with the survival rules given by the rescue team. The biggest mission that 'Jeong Soo' has to do is to survive until the rescue team arrives, thinking about her family in a clogged tunnel, and to find hope in it without despair. The way he, the head of a family, struggles in various ways in an extremely isolated space to return to his family, evokes pitiful compassion and sympathy, and at the same time evokes bitter laughter.

Finally, a typical disaster movie focuses on how to overcome a disaster to elicit sympathy from the audience. However, <Tunnel> shows a slightly different situation. The film shows two contrasting situations inside and outside the tunnel, and properly pinches the gap between people and the 'essence' that changes over time. People gradually become selfish in the face of a rescue situation with no progress, and everything that has stopped as a result. Trapped in the tunnel, 'Jeong-soo' eagerly waits for the rescue team to arrive, but the people outside the tunnel feel deeply tired and exhausted from the lack of progress. The conflict between the characters with different voices over the structure of 'Essence' is getting deeper and deeper, and in this unfortunate situation, the audience feels both resentment and anger at the same time as they see our society. <Tunnel>, an attempt to deviate from the formula of a disaster movie and twist a different genre, will clearly show the preciousness of life and the reality of this era in which we live more than any other disaster film.

Chungmuro acting gods summer theater reception reception!
Ha Jung-woo X Bae Doona X Oh Dal-su
Preliminary to dominate the screen with overwhelming acting skills!

As director Kim Seong-hoon said, “There are actors who want to be cast by any director without having to explain why,” <Tunnel> drew attention from inside and outside the film industry just with the casting news of Ha Jung-woo, Bae Doo-na, and Oh Dal-soo. With his excellent acting skills as well as his unselfish passion, he faithfully portrayed the complex and subtle disaster situations each character faces.

Ha Jung-woo realistically shows the fierce survival story of a man who is an ordinary father with a wife and a daughter and is trying to return to the arms of his decomposed family as 'Jeong-soo' who is trapped in a collapsed tunnel. Ha Jung-woo, who decided that the acting he had planned and prepared in advance was not suitable for showing the desperation of a person trapped in a tunnel, faced the situation faced by 'Jung-su' himself and focused on spontaneously expressing his emotions, and wanted the raw emotions to be contained in the screen. made it possible Director Kim Seong-hoon said, "Ha Jung-woo's acting is a combination of outstanding concentration of moments and the improvisation and flexibility that he creates on set. He showed me more than I ever imagined.” He gave a thumbs up to Ha Jung-woo, who tried to create various situations and emotions on his own even in the limited space of the tunnel.

Bae Doo-na, who plays the role of 'Se-hyeon', who is waiting for 'Jeong-soo''s safe return, appeals to the strong wife who resolutely copes with her husband's sudden accident. Bae Doo-na, who is most wary of exaggerated or processed emotions, calmly portrays the situation and feelings of her wife who is in danger of losing her loved one. Oh Dal-soo, who worked with Bae Doo-na's acting, who wanted to look as similar to her real wife as possible while imagining the same situation, said, "I saw Bae Doona acting next to me and I cried." The audience will also blush at the sight of Bae Doo-na, completely immersed in the pain of the victim's family.

Oh Dal-soo, who transformed into 'Daegyeong', the head of the rescue headquarters who is doing his best to save 'Jeong-soo', presents a character with his own personality. He wanted to make a character like a friend who shares pain, not the universal heroic image that the character of a rescue worker has. . Bae Doo-na, who acted with him, also said, "I really liked Oh Dal-soo's role as the rescue team leader. In fact, I was comforted and depended on his eyes,” he praised. The audience will also fall in love with 'Daekyung', a rescue leader with a strong sense of duty and a warm heart, with the actor's unique acting and charm.

Ha Jung-woo, Bae Doo-na, and Oh Dal-su, who will make the hearts of the audience rise and fall as the victim, the victim's family, and the rescue team. In August, Korea will be surprised by their realistic acting.

Genre twist master!
<Going to the End> Director Kim Seong-hoon
Pay attention to his new challenge that will make Chungmuro tense!

While the eyes from inside and outside Chungmuro are hotly pouring on the next film of director Kim Seong-hoon, whose strength is genre twist and creative directing, he came back with the story of an ordinary family man trapped in a collapsed tunnel.

Director Kim Seong-hoon, who properly twisted the formula of the existing thriller genre with <Going to the End> in 2013. He inserted a striking reversal in the chase between a detective and an unidentified man, and an exquisite laugh code between scenes full of tension, boasting an unpredictable direction. Director Kim Seong-hoon, who broke the usual formulas we have seen in movies, won awards at various domestic and foreign film festivals and was recognized for his directing power and workmanship.

In <Tunnel>, which will be released in August 2016, director Kim Seong-hoon's genre twist stands out. This time, it boldly breaks the emotional formula unique to disaster movies and contains a cool satire on the current era. Director Kim Seong-hoon's narration, which makes a bitter laugh but gives a big resonance to the hearts of the audience with his dialogue and setting a situation that he can't help but sympathize with, shines in <Tunnel>. “An ordinary person who has done nothing wrong is put in a disaster situation because of the mistakes made by the society to which he belongs. As director Kim Seong-hoon said, “There were a lot of things to show in this situation in itself,” he gave me a deep immersion by realistically reproducing the fear of a very ordinary person when he was in an unexpected disaster and the reaction of society around him as if it were a real situation. do.

In the process of directing the story, director Kim Seong-hoon's original skills were felt by the actors as well. Ha Jung-woo, who plays the role of 'Jeong-soo', said, "I was impressed with the way the actors listened to each other whether they were right or wrong. Also, while filming together, I could feel how much preparation and effort he put in.” He praised director Kim Seong-hoon. Bae Doo-na of 'Se-hyeon' and Oh Dal-su of 'Dae-kyung' also said, "I respect the actors, but there is a clear direction for the story I want to tell. Nevertheless, I felt respectful to see all the actors and staff flexibly lead”, “Director Kim Seong-hoon prepared meticulously in advance so that the filming could be done perfectly and actively accepted the opinions of the actors. A filming site like <Tunnel> was a rare scene in the film industry.”

Director Kim Seong-hoon's <Tunnel>, a genre twist master with sharp insight and creative directing power, is expected to cause another seismic change in Chungmuro this summer.

[ Production Note ]

A disaster site beyond imagination that will shake the Republic of Korea!
A vivid production story from the production team!
As <Tunnel> deals with realistic disaster materials that can happen to all of us, the most important thing for director Kim Seong-hoon and the production team was the vividness of a real disaster site. The production team worked hard for about four months to complete a video that could fully touch the horror of disaster and the ever-changing exterior of the tunnel to the audience beyond the screen.

“A strong determination to capture even the smallest details at once with 4 cameras”
– Director of Photography Kim Tae-seong
<The Last Weapon Bow>, <Going to the End>, <Myeongryang>, <The Himalayas>, etc.
The filming of <Tunnel> is divided into inside and outside the tunnel. First, filming inside the tunnel was subject to many more restrictions than expected. The tunnel itself was dark and narrow, and there was a lot of dust, so it was impossible to shoot for a long time, and it was impossible to shoot multiple times. As a result, the filming team had to create a scene where four cameras were rotated at the same time for each shoot. This was to capture the small details such as the face, back view, and hand gestures in detail in order to capture the actions of the actors moment by moment from every angle. Since there is no space in the narrow tunnel, it was also difficult to use special equipment such as the Jimmy Zip camera, which can take pictures with a wide angle of view so that the situation can be seen at a glance. Also, because all sides were blocked, there was not enough space to take the picture, so I had to take a picture through the hole in the collapsed concrete. However, thanks to the efforts of the filming team that did not give in to the spatial limitations and considered methods in various ways, the survival period of 'Jeongsu' was more vividly completed. In addition, in order to express the appearance of the collapsing tunnel more realistically rather than relying solely on CG, a huge block of concrete was modeled, dropped with a crane, exploded gunpowder, and the collapse scene comparable to reality was captured on camera. Filming outside the tunnel was also a series of difficulties. In the movie, the scene where the entrance of a huge tunnel, boasting an overwhelming scale, collapses and the drilling operation in the mountains for rescue, can be captured on the scale desired by the production team with the usual equipment used in the existing movie. there was no Accordingly, the production team was able to vividly realize the scale of the disaster in one screen by actively using helicopters and drones, which are unmanned aerial cameras.

“It had to be as dark as a real collapsed tunnel.
Real and realistic as much as possible without lighting”
– Lighting director Kim Kyung-seok
<The Last Weapon Bow>, <Going to the End>, <Myeongryang>, <The Himalayas>, etc.
The lighting team made a bold decision not to use a separate light because it was determined that using lighting in a dark tunnel was not suitable for depicting the disaster situation of Jeongsu. Instead, in a line that does not interfere with the flow of the play, natural light was created with common lights used in daily life, such as car interior lights, car radio lights, cell phone flashlights, and flashlights. Even veteran lighting director Kim Kyung-seok, who has participated in many works such as <Himalayas>, <Going to the End>, and <The Last Weapon Bow>, said that it was a 'new challenge', this method not only doubles the reality of the disaster site, but also allows the actor to control the lighting himself. By doing so, it created an environment in which acting can be performed freely without restrictions on the movement although it is a narrow space.

“Only reality. Like a real tunnel”
– Artistic Director Lee Ho-kyung
<Yellow Sea>, <Gift from Room 7>, <Wokseong>, etc.
The art of <Tunnel> truly pursued the limit of 'real' both inside and outside the tunnel. This is because, in a disaster movie, if even a slight artificial aspect of the scene is felt, even the drama of the movie can be shattered to pieces. Therefore, in the tunnel, we focused on realistically expressing the scene inside the collapsed tunnel, from broken stones that collapsed around the 'Jeongsu' to reinforcing bars and ventilation fans. In addition, in order to maintain a limited movement according to the position of the actors in a narrow space inside the collapsed tunnel, it required meticulous efforts by the art team to create a set by matching the broken fragments one by one for each shoot. Outside the tunnel was even more difficult. The tunnel in the play is set in a new tunnel, but due to location variables, it became impossible to use the new tunnel that was originally planned to be filmed. In the end, we found the Okcheon Tunnel in Chungbuk, an abandoned tunnel that was used as a warehouse, and it was reborn as a new tunnel. The art team started the pre-work, including patterning, from scratch. After paving the road in front of the tunnel, as well as installing guard rails, installing a fan, and painting the exterior walls with concrete, the disaster site of <Tunnel> was born, which is more realistic than the real thing. As director Kim Seong-hoon said, “It was like a civil engineering site work, not an art set work,” the large-scale work reminiscent of a large-scale construction site made the film more realistic.

taking control of Korea
Ha Jung-woo, Bae Doona, Oh Dal-su
A record of a passionate performance devoted to the body and mind!
Ha Jung-woo, Bae Doo-na, Oh Dal-su. Those who raise expectations just by the name alone do not disappoint in the movie <Tunnel>, which will be released in August. The three actors' passionate performances that make the hearts of those who see them shake with a single gesture and facial expression optimized for the character rather than a hundred lines of dialogue is an essential viewing point in the movie.

Ha Jung-woo as Jung-soo, the protagonist, is trapped in a collapsed tunnel. Since he was an isolated character by himself, most of the scenes where he had to act alone without an actor in each filming. It must have been difficult in the situation where he had to act alone, but he drew admiration by revealing that he acted as his counterpart in the increasingly collapsing tunnel itself. Director Kim Seong-hoon said, "Ha Jung-woo has always been amazing. Just like Isinbayeva, who set a new world record every time, she showed a performance that went beyond the limit at every moment.” As if to prove this, Ha Jung-woo received a moving applause from the staff by performing a passionate performance that continued the emotional line of 'Essence' without a single shake in the long-take shoot that lasted for 20 minutes. In addition, Ha Jung-woo worked hard by adding makeup every day to realistically show the appearance of 'Essence', which was gradually getting dirty and thin because he couldn't wash it, let alone a haircut and shaving, because he was trapped in a tunnel.

Bae Doo-na, who plays the role of 'Se-hyeon', a wife waiting for the rescue of 'Jeong-soo', surprised everyone from the first day of filming. It was not enough to spend the whole night the night before filming, so she stood in front of the camera with her bare face and no makeup. This is because Se-hyeon, who ran to the scene knowing that her husband was trapped in a tunnel, judged that neat hair and makeup did not suit her. After that, Bae Doo-na worked bare-faced until the filming was over, acting out the shock and despair of his wife. She said, "I have nothing to eat, no water, no food, no light, and my husband, my child's father, and my family are in a buried tunnel that is too cold and there is no room to move." Director Kim Seong-hoon said, "Bae Doo-na tried to take the pain of 'Se-hyeon' as her own, rather than taking it out and expressing it. Thanks to her, I was able to feel the sadness of those left behind.”

Oh Dal-soo, who plays the role of 'Dae-kyung', the head of the rescue headquarters, acted with a mindset reminiscent of an actual rescue worker. When filming the second collapse scene of the collapsed tunnel, a large amount of dust was generated and covered the entire filming site, but Oh Dal-soo refused to wear protective equipment such as a mask or glasses to create a realistic situation as a rescue worker. 'Daekyung', full of a sense of mission, who devotes all of his body and mind to rescue, has developed into a warmer and more humane rescue leader that has never been seen before with Oh Dal-soo's human charm. Director Kim Seong-hoon did a great job of portraying the character, saying, "Oh Dal-soo was well versed in 'Dae-kyung', so he didn't need to tell me the direction of his acting."

Ha Jung-woo, Bae Doo-na, and Oh Dal-su performed passionately in a situation where they could not easily meet each other inside and outside the tunnel. In the scene where they exchanged conversations on the phone inside and outside the tunnel, the three actors actually exchanged calls and captured a vivid sense of presence in the video. In particular, even though Bae Doo-na was staying in Germany during filming, Ha Jung-woo showed a lot of consideration, such as calling directly so that he could concentrate on his emotions. Oh Dal-soo is also the only person who communicates with 'Jeong-soo' in the tunnel, so he did his best so that the relationship between the two could completely melt into the movie, even on days when he wasn't filming himself, he worked together on the phone. The hidden efforts of the three actors, who performed passionately for each other even in places where they could not be seen, will shine through <Tunnel> in August.