Default
Theatrical release poster
Hangul
국가부도의 날
Hanja
國家不渡의 날
Revised RomanizationGukga-budo-eui Nal
Directed byChoi Kook-hee
Written byEom Seong-min
Produced byLee Yoo-jin
StarringKim Hye-soo
Yoo Ah-in
Heo Joon-ho
Jo Woo-jin
Vincent Cassel
Music byKim Tae-seong
Production
company
Zip Cinema
Distributed byCJ Entertainment
Release date
  • November 28, 2018 (2018-11-28)
Running time
114 minutes
CountrySouth Korea
LanguagesKorean
English
Box officeUS$27.6 million[1]

Default (Korean: 국가부도의 날; Hanja: 國家不渡의 날; RR: Gukga-budo-eui Nal; 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 to defend the Korean won's artificially fixed exchange rate against the US dollar within a week. This triggers an emergency meeting of top government officials, who must defend the Korean economy from collapse.[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

  • Vincent Cassel as managing director of IMF[12][13]
  • Kim Hong-fa as New chief economist
  • Um Hyo-sup as Former chief economist
  • Song Young-chang as Old gentleman
  • Kwon Hae-hyo as Chancellor
  • Jo Han-chul as Lee Dae-hwan
  • Ryu Deok-hwan as Orange
  • Park Jin-joo as Kang Yoon-joo
  • Jang Sung-bum as Park Jin
  • Jeon Bae-soo as Young-bum
  • Yeom Hye-ran as Hee-won
  • Dong Ha as Third generation chaebol
  • Kim Min-sang as Department head Lee
  • Jung Kyu-soo as President Jung
  • Kim Hyung-mook as Chief financial officer
  • Seo Young-sam as Chief banking officer
  • Kim Tae-yul as Hyun-soo
  • Choi Joon-young as Hyun-soo (adult)
  • Ryu Tae-ho as Chief presidential secretary
  • Yoon Byung-hee as Manager Kim

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 Reporter's 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

Awards Category Recipient Result Ref.
10th KOFRA Film Awards Jury Award Kim Hye-sooWon
19th Director's Cut Awards Best ActressNominated
Best Screenplay Eom Seong-min Nominated
55th Baeksang Arts AwardsBest Actress Kim Hye-soo Nominated[30]
40th Blue Dragon Film AwardsBest Leading ActressNominated[31]
Best Supporting ActorJo Woo-jinWon[32]
Best ScreenplayEom Seong-minNominated
6th Korean Film Producers Association Awards Best ScreenplayWon

References

  1. ↑ "Default (2018)". Korean Film Biz Zone.
  2. ↑ 국가부도의 날. Naver (in Korean).
  3. ↑ "김혜수X유아인 온다…'국가부도의 날', 11월28일 개봉". Joy News 24 (in Korean). 10 October 2018.
  4. ↑ 국가부도의 날. Korean Film Biz Zone (in Korean).
  5. ↑ "'Default' sold to 17 countries in pre-release sale". 19 November 2018.
  6. 1 2 3 Park Jin-hai (28 October 2018). "'Default' brings back economic nightmare". The Korea Times.
  7. ↑ "Default". Hancinema.
  8. 1 2 3 "YOO Ah-in and Vincent Cassel Join SOVEREIGN DEFAULT". Korean Film Biz Zone. 10 October 2018.
  9. ↑ "Review: "Default" is Korea's Take on "The Big Short"". Cinema Escapist. 30 November 2018. Retrieved 30 January 2019.
  10. ↑ "영화 "김혜수·유아인 주연, IMF 위기 속 다른 선택을 한 사람들 이야기!" - 한국강사신문". www.lecturernews.com (in Korean). 12 May 2019. Retrieved 2019-06-14.
  11. ↑ "영화 '국가부도의 날'이 주는 교훈, "위기는 반복된다, 잊지 말자 IMF사태"". CIVIC뉴스 (in Korean). 2019-04-04. Retrieved 2019-06-14.
  12. ↑ "Vincent Cassel Joins Top Korean Cast in 'Sovereign Default'". Variety. 3 December 2017.
  13. ↑ "French Actor Vincent Cassel to Appear in Korean Film". The Chosun Ilbo. October 22, 2018.
  14. ↑ Kim Soo-jung (June 16, 2018). [단독] 한지민 '국가부도의 날' 특별출연…김혜수와 호흡. TV Report (in Korean).
  15. ↑ [단독]'국가부도의 날', 오늘(7일) 대본리딩 시작…라인업 확정. Sports Today (in Korean). 7 December 2017.
  16. ↑ "Guk-ga-bu-do-ui Nal". KOBIZ. Retrieved 6 March 2018.
  17. ↑ "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. ↑ "[단독] MBC 최승호 사장, '버닝' 출연…'이창동 감독과 인연'". Sports Khan (in Korean). 11 October 2018. Retrieved 2018-11-20.
  19. ↑ "Default - IFFAM". IFFA Macao. Archived from the original on 2021-04-23. Retrieved 2019-01-08.
  20. ↑ "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. ↑ "'Default' sold to foreign countries before release". Yonhap News Agency. 19 November 2018.
  22. ↑ "KoBiz - Korean film, news, actor, movie, cinema, location & Korean Film Archive". Korean Film Biz Zone.
  23. ↑ 김혜수 주연 '국가부도의 날', 예매율 1위…'보헤미안 랩소디' 독주 막을까. Busan Ilbo (in Korean).
  24. ↑ "'국가부도의 날', 주말 흥행 1위…"5일 만에 100만 돌파"". Dispatch Korea. December 3, 2018.
  25. ↑ "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. ↑ "DEFAULT (2018)". Korean Film Biz Zone.
  27. ↑ "국가부도의 날". Naver 영화.
  28. ↑ Tsui, Clarence (January 10, 2019). "'Default' ('Gukgabudo-ui Nal'): Film Review". The Hollywood Reporter.
  29. ↑ Conran, Pierce (December 3, 2018). "Review: DEFAULT, Financial Thriller Overdraws Its Trump Card". Screen Anarchy.
  30. ↑ '미쓰백'부터 '버닝'까지…백상 영화부문 후보 공개 (in Korean). jTBC News. April 5, 2019. Retrieved April 5, 2019.
  31. ↑ "2019 Blue Dragon Awards Honor Veteran Actors And Newcomers". Forbes. 21 November 2019.
  32. ↑ MacDonald, Joan (November 21, 2019). "2019 Blue Dragon Awards Honor Veteran Actors And Newcomers". Forbes. Archived from the original on November 22, 2019. Retrieved May 18, 2020.
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