The year marked the thirtieth year of significant democratic advancement in South Korean history, compared to the setting in which A Taxi Driver took place. Andrew David Jackson of Cambridge University argued that JГјrgen Hinzpeter's relationship with South Korea's democratization movement 'have become important weapons for the activist generation in an ongoing struggle over the memorialization of the Gwangju Uprising.' Candlelight Protests People in Seoul were not aware of what was happening in Gwangju, until international media took hold of the story. Tim Shorrock published numerous US government documents related to the uprisings that were happening in Gwangju, and Terry Anderson, who was a former AP correspondent, covered the uprisings himself and provided an eyewitness account of the situation in 1980. Д®fforts were made by some American journalists in order to inform the world about what was happening in Gwangju. Although a number of political dissidents and activists sought to inherit and develop the spirit of Gwangju, they were persecuted.' Scholar Kim Yong Cheol stated that, 'the political legacies the Gwangju Uprising produced played a pivotal role in checking military intervention in politics during the democratic transition as well as in establishing the principle of civilian supremacy during the democratic transition period.' Despite being banned, hundreds and thousands of news articles on what was happening in Gwangju were trying to be released by some of the journalists inside the city. According to scholar Jang Se Young from the Wilson Center, 'books related to Gwangju were strictly censored or prohibited from even being published. ДЇor many years, GwangjuвЂ™s Uprising was a forbidden term in South Korea вЂ“ those who were on the side of the government during that time held the reins of nation. The Gwangju Uprising was a result of a continuous power tug-of-war between the government and the citizens of South Korea вЂ“ mainly college students вЂ“ that were advocating for democracy. The plot in the film mirrors the historical background of the Gwangju Uprisings. The film centers around the Gwangju Uprising that occurred from to and it is estimated to have led to 2,000 people being killed. The film was a notable commercial success: it was the second highest grossing film of 2017 in South Korea, and currently stands as the twelfth highest-grossing South Korean film in history. It was very positively received by critics, who praised its unique approach to depicting the Gwangju Uprising events, emotional weight, as well as the main character and his relationship with Hinzpeter, and was selected as the South Korean entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 90th Academy Awards.

The film was released on August 2, 2017, in South Korea. It is based on German journalist JГјrgen Hinzpeter's interactions with driver Kim Sa-bok however, as Kim's identity and real name were unknown at the time the film was made (Hinzpeter only knew him as 'Kim Sa-bok'), most elements regarding his life and the events that happened to him outside of Gwangju are fictional. Д«ased on a real-life story, the film centers on a taxi driver from Seoul who unintentionally becomes involved in the events of the Gwangju Uprising in 1980. A Taxi Driver ( Korean: нѓќм‹њмљґм „м‚¬ Hanja: нѓќм‹њйЃ‹иЅ‰еЈ« RR: Taeksi Unjeonsa) is a 2017 South Korean historical action drama film directed by Jang Hoon and written by Eom Yu-na, with Song Kang-ho starring in the title role, alongside Thomas Kretschmann.

A taxi driver 2017 caver