In 1997, the Asian financial turmoil caused the Korean country to go bankrupt. 21 years later, it was made into a movie and it became popular.

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Many people regard movies as art, but South Korea regards movies as historical records.

From "The Melting Pot" to "The Defender", Koreans used cameras to record the atrocities that existed in the society and accused the South Korean government of shamelessness. They used movies to push society forward.

And in 2018, another ultra-realistic Korean film that made the Korean government "fearful" was released. It was rated 8.82 by the Korean film critic network Naver. It was the first weekend box office champion of Korean Film Week and was also known as the Korean version. "The Big Short".

The name of this film is "National Bankruptcy Day".

"Day of National Bankruptcy"丨2018

국가부도의날

Director: Choi Kuk-hee

Starring: Kim Hye-soo/ Liu Yaren/ Xu Junhao/ Zhao Yujin/ Vincent Caso


zz0 has been the focus of domestic realism fans in the direction of


z0 Korean filmmakers who like and are good at "self-hacking" have been using film and television art to try their best to present the most authentic side of their country, and this "National Bankruptcy Day" is also based on real historical events in Korea.

said unceremoniously that the name alone was enough to make the film banned.

However, the "large scale" of the title did not affect the normal release of the film. After landing on major theaters in South Korea at the end of last year, the film attracted great attention. The plot is not only exciting enough, but also brings unlimited vigilance. The

film revolves around the 1997 Asian financial turmoil.

Prior to this, South Korea did not have the sense of crisis that the mountains and rain were coming, but was complacent about its status as the head of the four dragons in Asia.

In 1988, South Korea bid to host the Seoul Olympics; in 1996, it joined the OECD and officially ranked among the developed countries; until 1997, the entire Korean society was flourishing and 85% of South Koreans proudly considered themselves middle-class.

"I don't know the true face of Mount Lu, but I am in this mountain." This poem is the most appropriate description of Korea at that time.

On November 5, 1997, an emergency order was issued from the Wall Street East Asia Division: “All investors leave Korea, now!”

When Koreans were still immersed in the illusion of economic prosperity, capitalists had already begun to flee, and South Korea’s nightmare has only really begun, when the country’s bankruptcy is only one week away.

Isn't there a Korean person who is awake to South Korea's situation? Of course there is, but she is lighthearted.

Han Si Hyun (Jim Hye Soo) is the leader of the Currency Policy Group of the Bank of Korea. She was the first to discover the sign that South Korea was on the verge of bankruptcy, and reported this to the head of the Bank of Korea early, but did not receive attention until the country went bankrupt. When I saw it, I would be accused of "why did I report it?"




reported the seriousness of the situation to the chief economic officer. While the

message goes upstream, it is also the downstream command.

But at this time, the ills of the South Korean government are fully manifested. In the face of the country's imminent bankruptcy, the chief executive did not even know which department was dealing with these matters. In the end, Han Shixian reminded him to summon relevant personnel.

It can be said that the bankruptcy of the Korean economy is inseparable from the faintness of the political circle. The chief executive does not know how to deal with the economy. The president conceals the facts for the election and still insists that the Korean economy is optimistic. If you want to make a fortune in the country, we will push South Korea to the IMF (International Monetary Fund) for help...

is exactly these people, step by step leading South Korea to the end of the road.


The state is constantly covering up its ugliness, and will not admit that the country is about to go bankrupt at the last minute, but Chunjiang plumbing, even if the country does not say it, don’t ordinary people know it?

In order to better show the social situation at the time, the film adopted a three-line narrative structure. In addition to the high-level line represented by Han Shixian, there are also two lines, the middle line represented by the economic adviser Yin Zhengxue (played by Liu Yaren) and the A line of civilians represented by Jiaxiu (Xu Junhao), the owner of a small workshop.


As a professional economist, Yin Zhengxue discovered that the day of bankruptcy in South Korea was approaching with his keen sense of smell, but what he was thinking was not to save the country from fire and water, but to be the first person to leave when the shipwreck accident occurred, he thought Use this national disaster to completely change your life.


So he started to invest, make a fortune, buy US dollars early, wait for the low yield collapse, and then take the opportunity to buy a house.

At this time, the cold-blooded bourgeoisie showed its fullness, and they feasted when ordinary people were in dire straits.

When the original owner of the family who had committed suicide appeared in the acquired house, he did not have the slightest pity. When his companion asked him to go out first, he shouted "Why should I go out? This is my house now!"

instead of Everyone is as agile and lucky as Yin Zhengxue, and Jiaxiu is the one who was swept and collapsed by the financial turmoil. On the eve of the country’s bankruptcy,

had just signed a contract with a big company by accepting a bill of exchange. But when the crisis came, the big company closed down and the bill of exchange became waste paper. Jiaxiu was heavily in debt and even wanted to jump off the building to get rid of it.

And during this period, he also felt the warmth and warmth of this world's magnified humanity. Twenty years later, he was once honest and kind and warned his son, "Don't believe in people who are good to you, don't believe anyone."

film trinity, although the identities of the three protagonists can not cover all classes of Korean society, but it also shows almost the overall style of Korea when it went bankrupt.


The superstructure is sluggish and unworthy, in order to whitewash the political achievements; the

middle-class society uses information and knowledge to take advantage of the opportunity to make money; the

bottom people bear the most violent impact brought by the storm.


And the most comical thing is that when a group of high-ranking officials push South Korea into a deadly place, Han Shixian also tried desperately, trying to organize the intervention of the IMF to keep South Korea’s economy independent.

But in fact, her words are blocked by the entire South Korea, and she can only watch the country slide into the abyss and become a purgatory where the rich get richer, the poor poorer, and layoffs everywhere.


At the end of the film, there is a thought-provoking sentence: "Crisis has always been repeated. In order not to sink into crises, we must never forget, we must continue to doubt and think." Now the international situation is turbulent, and the domestic economic situation is not optimistic. Are we on the verge of crisis, or are we about to usher in the dawn, perhaps this movie can bring you more thinking.

Text/Pippi Film Editorial Department: Zhang Changjin

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