Default (2018 film)

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]

"Sovereign Default" redirects here. Not to be confused with Sovereign default.
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]

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. Park Jin-hai (28 October 2018). "'Default' brings back economic nightmare". The Korea Times.
  7. "Default". Hancinema.
  8. "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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