I am really impressed by this film that obviously had a low budget and was still gripping all the way through.
The Los Angeles Korean Cultural Center hosts an array of events throughout the year, including exhibitions, talks, concerts and other fun programming such as movie nights.
Thursday evening’s movie of choice was South Korean film production The Terror Live [더 테러 라이브](2013), starring Ha Jung-woo and written and directed by Kim Byung-woo on a USD 3.12m budget.
Kim is introduced as an uninterested-seeming radio host, taking boring calls about tax reform. This quickly changes when the station can’t disconnect the line with a man calling in about his grievances as a construction worker who was mistreated by the government. He begins to threaten that he has a bomb, but Ha doesn’t take him seriously and then – boom! The bridge right outside the radio/TV station’s office in Seoul blows up, as promised.
The entirety of the film takes place inside the office, dealing with the stress of the terrorist situation. The movie also delves into the dark side of the TV business, showing how low the characters will go in order to try and get good ratings, or personally increase their position as an on-air host.
Much of the plot focused on resentment toward the government “saving face” instead of acting in the best interests of the nation. The terrorist demands an apology for something (I won’t get further into it so as not to be a spoiler!), and much of the dialogue pertains to whether the president would do such a thing, even if it meant saving lives.
The main actor, Ha, needed to be strong to captivate an audience with so much screen time on such a visually confined set, and he was up for the task. A dynamic script also leaves the viewer unsure of what will happen and whether the situation will get resolved or not right until the end of the last scene.
The Korean Cultural Center has a large screen on a stage on the third floor with a few rows of auditorium seating, which made for a fun viewing experience. More events at the KCC can be viewed on their calendar at http://www.kccla.org/english/calendar.asp.
Eva Cohen
check out her website at www.evacohenmedia.com
