Tunnel is a 2016 fim directed by Kim Sung-hoon(A Hard Day) and stars Ha Jung Woo, Bae Doo Na as the lead roles. Veteran actors, Oh Dal-Su and Shin Hung Keun also join the cast in costarring roles. The film's screenplay is based off the novel of the same name written by So Jae Won in 2013.
Every time I say the title "Tunnel", I want to add "The" in front of "Tunnel" for some reason. It sounds more dramatic to say "THE TUNNEL!"in a booming deep voice. The Tunnel, I mean- Tunnel has a disaster plot that puts one in mind of other Korean films such as The Terror Live or The Tower. Actor Ha Jung Woo stared in The Terror live too so that makes me wonder if the director saw his performance in that and asked him to do this role. His character is pretty much in the same position as in The Terror Live. Trapped in one place for the duration of the film. Things like perseverance and humanism are big core values that support Tunnel's story progression. I honestly though that I would see a victim trapped in one place unable to move while people scrabbled to get him free from the outside for the whole film. The plot instead gives the character instinct to to move around his surroundings. The fact that he survived the tunnel's collapse is in itself a miracle. A lot of other events that happen in this film surprised me as well. There's comunication connection from the tunnel to the outside world for awhile. Then there's only one way contact that throws the hopeful happy conclusion that plot was constructing into disarray. Much of the faults that lay in the South Korean place and government are exposed because of the lack of people stepping in to help until the last minute. I starting gritting my teeth when I experience a person reporting to the police that they are trapped in a collapsed tunnel only to have the police go through the notions of a routine citizen report call. HE JUST TOLD YOU HE'S IN A COLLAPSED TUNNEL! GET YOUR ASSES OUT THERE! The incident didn't even become nation wide news until they went to the scene. When it became a top story, people were more concerned with getting a new scoop or making themselves look good. Meanwhile the poor guy is in there with a birthday cake and two bottles of water. His wife comes into the picture but its not much she can do. Being hopeful that the rescue crew would save her husband was all she could do. That got crushed by all the sorry people involved who couldn't do their jobs correctly. If it wasn't for one man on the rescue crew that had a sense of justice to save lives and Ha Jung Woo's strong will to live, Tunnel would have been a morbid film.
Ha Jung Woo shines in this role that was such a perfect fit for him. I've always loved Jung Woo as an actor because he gives off a great positivity in all the roles he plays. Even the villains he has played have a witty trait that makes viewers say, "THATS OUR HA JUNG WOO!" His character was so positive considering the position he was in. Most people in that situation would have freaked out. Maybe even died of a heart attack from the shock of being buried alive like that. Ha Jung Woo's character just waited. He did what he had to do to save the resources he needed to survive. He just kept pushing to stay alive no matter the troubles that he faced down in that tunnel. Believe me, He faced problems down there that would make anyone's heart sink to their stomach. Bae Doo Na is one of those actresses that you wouldn't notice if you passed her in a sea of people of the street. She 's an actress that you can't take your eyes off when she's on screen though. Its not her looks so much as her weird charm. There's this thing about her that can't be put into words that makes her talent unreal. I've seen her in role after role over the years and she continues to empress me in the way she approaches roles. She plays a grief stricken wife who is torn between saving her husband and being influenced by the people around her. Her character wasn't an aggressive women at all. I know its Korean culture to sometimes be passive aggressive. However, you don't have time to be passive aggressive when your husband is stuck in a collapsed tunnel while the workers who are supposed to be rescuing him are taking their own good time. They had no problem running to the table to eat the food she was cooking. Some of her character's choices frustrated me in the film too. Veteran actor Oh Dal Su still plays odd costar roles. He's been doing so for as long as I can remember. His character is the only character that uses any common sense. Greed doesn't cloud his objective to save the victim trapped in the tunnel. I felt for his character as I watched the film. Almost as much as a felt for Ha Jung Woo's character. He was trying to do the right thing but people kept adding their own agenda which slowed down the rescue. Most of the conflicts stem from the humans in this film besides the tunnel itself collapsing. It didn't make any sense.
Filming seemed to have taken place in the mountains. I don't know the exact location but it was filled with forests for as far as the eye could see. The scenes in the tunnel were done with half CGI effects and shot on location. The effects looked so real that I started to scream when the tunnel was collapsing… Love when films make you the viewer get invested. The aftermath of the tunnel looks to be a set. The camera focuses on pinpointing different angles so the viewer can see how small the space he was in was. The outside scenes are shot from about for landscape view. To do this the director utilized the use of a drone to capture all the mountains and trees. The final scene of this film was a powerful one thanks to the way it was shot from above. Great film to watch if you like nature landscapes.
Tunnel was a good film. I had no doubt in my mind that this film wasn't going to be bad. Great cast and script that keeps being attractive till the credits roll. How could you not add this film to your Korean disaster film collection?
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