Review "A Taxi Driver" by Jang Hoon: the best film of the year?

Paris, Monday, October 24, 2017. The Korean Film Festival opens its doors. And with the film A Taxi Driver by director Jang Hoon opening for its first screening in France, the Festival offers itself a hit in its native country (not far from 12million admissions according to the organizers of the festival!). Surprise: it may well be the best film of the year. Attention, true masterpiece.

We can turn the whole thing in our heads, but it's hard to see which film released this year could compete with the striking and moving experience that is A Taxi Driver.Except maybe La La Land (and again). Funny, moving, violent, gripping, beautiful, A Taxi Driver is the very example of what can be called a perfect film.  There is almost no defect. After having delivered us the best summer blockbuster of the year 2016 (Cuckoo The Last Train to Busan), we can wonder if Korean cinema has not just delivered the best film of 2017. 

But first of all, what is A Taxi Driver? It is a film about a part of Korean history unknown in Europe, which follows the story of a somewhat stupid taxi driver, who, in order to pay his rent, agrees to transport a German journalist to Gwangju. Problem: this place is the scene of an uprising repressed in an extremely violent way. Indeed, the film takes place after the assassination of President Park Chung-hee, who pushed the military government to take power.This provoked many popular uprisings, the most radical being in Gwangju. However, the film starts as a real comedy. Carried by the absolutely hilarious comic potential of Song Kang-Ho, this first part is to laugh out loud. However, the story takes on a much more tragic tone and eventually turns to the thriller. Jang Hoon gives us a true initiatory story. That of a modest character, refusing to see the truth before accepting it, thus adapting to his time: the 80s. To see that such violence could have happened at a time so close to ours, can leave one wondering while the debate on the State of Emergency rages …

The film is masterfully framed. The filmmaker varies the cinematographic techniques and manages to focus the image on small details. The violence is aestheticized without mitigating its radical and destructive side, in particular through many slow motions. Every life lost has a real impact on the viewer, every bullet fired startles, every chase gets the viewer on edge, every gag hits the mark. In short, a film that offers a range of emotions without limits.

Finally, for those who would criticize the film on the fact that it does not propose anything politically speaking: is this the subject of the film? The answer is no.The subject of the film is to recall a historical, tragic and little-known episode of contemporary history. It's a powerful, funny and moving drama. A film that provokes sensations worthy of a roller coaster.Watching A Taxi Driver is one of the best experiences there is, because it recalls a certain idea of cinema : that of the great Hollywood classics. A Taxi Driver could be a classic of American cinema. But he is not American. This already makes it a classic of world cinema. A film that will undoubtedly mark its time.

There are still plenty of things (if there are plenty, there are several, so things) to say about A Taxi Driver.But let's stick to the essentials. A Taxi Driver is a film that takes to the guts and leaves the viewer groggy. In itself, everything you expect from a great film. A Taxi Driver is one of them. He's even more than that. It is undoubtedly an absolute masterpiece. An instant classic that is clearly one of the best films we will see this year.

A Taxi Driver trailer: