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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, Huh Joon-ho, Jo Woo-jin, and Vincent Cassel, it is the first Korean film concerning the IMF financial crisis as its main subject.[6]
| Default | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Hangul | 국가부도의 날 |
| Hanja | 國家不渡의 날 |
| Revised Romanization | Gukga-budo-eui Nal |
| Directed by | Choi Kook-hee |
| Written by | Eom Seong-min |
| Produced by | Lee Yoo-jin |
| Starring | Kim Hye-soo Yoo Ah-in Huh Joon-ho Jo Woo-jin Vincent Cassel |
| Music by | Kim Tae-seong |
Production company | Zip Cinema |
| Distributed by | CJ Entertainment |
Release date |
|
Running time | 114 minutes |
| Country | South Korea |
| Languages | Korean English |
| Box office | US$27.6 million[1] |
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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]
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Main
- Kim Hye-soo as Han Shi-hyun[8]
- 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]
- Huh Joon-ho as Gab-soo
- Jo Woo-jin as Vice-Minister of the Ministry of Finance
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
- Lee Ho-jae as YS
- Han Ji-min as Lee Ah-ram[14]
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The read-through of the script occurred on December 7, 2017.[15] Principal photography began on December 12, 2017.[16]
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]
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]
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| Awards | Category | Recipient | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10th KOFRA Film Awards | Jury Award | Kim Hye-soo | Won | |
| 19th Director's Cut Awards | Best Actress | Nominated | ||
| Best Screenplay | Eom Seong-min | Nominated | ||
| 55th Baeksang Arts Awards | Best Actress | Kim Hye-soo | Nominated | [30] |
| 40th Blue Dragon Film Awards | Best Leading Actress | Nominated | [31] | |
| Best Supporting Actor | Jo Woo-jin | Won | [32] | |
| Best Screenplay | Eom Seong-min | Nominated | ||
| 6th Korean Film Producers Association Awards | Best Screenplay | Won | ||
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