Haeundae (film)
Encyclopedia
Tidal Wave is a 2009 South Korean film. Billed as South Korea's first disaster film
, Haeundae is directed by Yoon Je-kyoon
and stars Sol Kyung-gu
, Ha Ji-won
, Park Joong-hoon
and Uhm Jung-hwa
.
of the city Busan
draws one million visitors to its beaches every year. Several years ago, Man-sik, a Haeundae local, lost Yeon-hee's father due to his mistake in the 2004 Indian Ocean Earthquake
while deep-sea fishing together at the Indian Ocean
. Because of this, for years, Man-sik wasn't able to become involved with Yeon-hee, who runs an unlicensed seafood restaurant, despite her attempts to start a relationship (Yeon-hee doesn't know that her father was killed due to Man-sik's mistake.).
Dong-choon, another Haeundae local and also a neighbor of Man-sik, teams up with Man-sik's son and gets involved with some 'illegal' activity to earn money, but the two end up getting caught by the police. Afterwards, Dong-choon's mother, concerned about her unemployed son, decides to prepare him for a job interview
, but Dong-choon refuses. As time passes, Man-sik finally plans to propose to Yeon-hee on a night with fireworks.
Geologist Kim Hwi somehow runs into his divorced wife, Yoo-jin, who is preparing for an expo in Busan. Although Yoo-jin has a daughter (and also a new boyfriend), they decide not to tell their daughter that he (Hwi) is her real father, afraid that the child would be greatly shocked.
A wealthy college student from Seoul
, Hee-mi, accidentally falls into the ocean from a luxurious yacht. Hyeong-sik, Man-sik's younger brother and also a lifeguard, rescues Hee-mi rather 'violently'. Hee-mi becomes greatly angered by the 'violent' rescue and annoys him by following him around. But as time passes on, love starts to grow between them.
During the fireworks, Man-sik proposes to Yeon-hee. Yeon-hee says that a ribbon hung outside her restaurant the day after would mean 'yes'. On the day after, Man-sik sees no ribbon, and he meets Dong-choon, who was nearby. Dong-choon tells Man-sik that he told Yeon-hee why her father died several years ago. Man-sik becomes very angry, for he thinks that what Dong-choon told Yeon-hee caused there to be no ribbon.
Meanwhile, Hwi notices that the Sea of Japan
(East Sea) is displaying similar activity to the Indian Ocean
at the time of the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake
. The Disaster Prevention Agency assures him that Korea is at no risk, but a megatsunami
soon forms near Japan and starts to travel at 500 miles per hour towards Haeundae. Hwi realizes that the citizens of Haeundae have only 10 minutes left to escape. There is a short earthquake
in Haeundae; the elevator Yoo-jin is in stops perhaps due to the earthquake. The sea starts receding from the shore, causing mass hysteria on the beaches as people realize that a tsunami is coming. Hundreds of people run for their lives, but the tsunami soon reaches Haeundae and the streets are quickly flooded and many buildings collapse. People and cars on the Gwangan Bridge are swept away by the tsunami. A powerful electric shock from a telephone pole happens on the now-flooded street where Man-sik and Yeon-hee are on, electrocuting everyone in the water and those clinging onto metallic surfaces, but the two survive.
A big cargo ship gets stuck at the Gwangan Bridge. Dong-choon, who was on the bridge and somehow managed to survive the tsunami, tries to escape from the falling cargo containers (from the ship). The containers are shown falling at an extreme momentum. Dong-choon survives this, and later on, he tries to light a cigarette while still on the bridge. His portable lighter ends up on a flammable liquid flowing from one of the containers; there is a gigantic explosion and the bridge is cut in half.
Hyeong-sik jumps down from a rescue helicopter and saves Hee-mi, who was far away in the sea with one of her friends. When Hyeong-sik and the friend are together on the rope, Hyeong-sik realizes that the rope is about to break and only one can go up to the helicopter. After a deep thought, Hyeong-sik cuts down the rope in which his body is connected to and falls down into the violent sea. The elevator Yoo-jin is in floods with water, and she talks with tears to her daughter on her portable phone. Soon, Yoo-jin is saved by a worker. On the roof of the building, Yoo-jin meets her daughter and Hwi. The two help their daughter get on a crowded rescue helicopter. Before the helicopter leaves, Hwi tells the truth to his daughter that he is really her father. Yoo-jin apologizes with tears to Hwi and they hug each other in front of a second tsunami before they are killed.
After the tsunami, there is a funeral for the hundreds of thousands of lifeguards and people who were killed in the tsunami. Among the ones who were killed is Hyeong-sik. Dong-choon finds out that his mother was killed in the tsunami and he breaks into tears. People are shown helping to reconstruct the city. Man-sik, while cleaning the ruins of Yeon-hee's restaurant, finds the red ribbon which Yeon-hee's said was a 'yes' for his proposal. The movie ends with the scene of Haeundae in ruins, but in a hopeful atmosphere.
. Directed by Doosaboo CEO Yoon Je-kyoon
, the film was funded by CJ Entertainment with a budget estimated at , one of the largest for a Korean production, although the budget is approximately a fifth of what traditionally would be needed to create comparable effects in modern cinema. Principal photography commenced on 18 August 2008 at the beaches of Busan
, South Korea, before moving to the United States in November for special effects photography. Filming wrapped on 17 December 2008 in San Francisco. Special effects and CGI were produced by American company Polygon Entertainment.
, India
, Indonesia
, Japan
, Malaysia, the Philippines
, Singapore
, Thailand
, Vietnam
, the Czech Republic
, Germany
, Hungary
, the United Kingdom
, Australia
and Turkey
. The film was released in South Korea on 22 July 2009. As of 20 September 2009, Haeundae had received a total of 11,301,649 admissions in South Korean theatres.
In the United Kingdom, the film was released as Tidal Wave on DVD
on October 12 2009.
Disaster film
A disaster film is a film genre that has an impending or ongoing disaster as its subject...
, Haeundae is directed by Yoon Je-kyoon
Yoon Je-kyoon
Yoon Je-kyoon is a South Korean film director . His debut My Boss, My Hero is about a gangster who is sent back to school, while Sex Is Zero has been compared with American Pie....
and stars Sol Kyung-gu
Sol Kyung-gu
Sol Kyung-gu is a Grand Bell Award, Golden Space Needle Award, and Bratislava International Film Festival Best Actor winning South Korean actor. He studied film and theater at Hanyang University and upon graduation took part in mostly theatrical productions...
, Ha Ji-won
Ha Ji-won
Ha Ji-won was born Jeon Hae-rim on 28 June 1978. She is a South Korean actress. She is also the Grand Prize winner of 2006 KBS Acting Awards for her performance in TV drama Hwang Jin-i.- Career :...
, Park Joong-hoon
Park Joong-hoon
Park Joong-hoon is a South Korean actor.- Life :Park was born and raised in Seoul. After graduating from the department of drama and film of Chung-Ang University, he started his career as an actor in the film Cambo...
and Uhm Jung-hwa
Uhm Jung-hwa
Uhm Jung-hwa is a South Korean female Korean pop artist and actress. Uhm began her career as a chorus member of MBC, one of the three major South Korean broadcasting companies, in 1989...
.
Plot
Located on the southeastern tip of the Korean Peninsula, Haeundae-guHaeundae-gu
-Administrative divisions:Haeundae-gu is divided into 7 legal dong, which altogether comprise 18 administrative dong, as follows:* U-dong * Jung-dong * Jwa-dong...
of the city Busan
Busan
Busan , formerly spelled Pusan is South Korea's second largest metropolis after Seoul, with a population of around 3.6 million. The Metropolitan area population is 4,399,515 as of 2010. It is the largest port city in South Korea and the fifth largest port in the world...
draws one million visitors to its beaches every year. Several years ago, Man-sik, a Haeundae local, lost Yeon-hee's father due to his mistake in the 2004 Indian Ocean Earthquake
2004 Indian Ocean earthquake
The 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake was an undersea megathrust earthquake that occurred at 00:58:53 UTC on Sunday, December 26, 2004, with an epicentre off the west coast of Sumatra, Indonesia. The quake itself is known by the scientific community as the Sumatra-Andaman earthquake...
while deep-sea fishing together at the Indian Ocean
Indian Ocean
The Indian Ocean is the third largest of the world's oceanic divisions, covering approximately 20% of the water on the Earth's surface. It is bounded on the north by the Indian Subcontinent and Arabian Peninsula ; on the west by eastern Africa; on the east by Indochina, the Sunda Islands, and...
. Because of this, for years, Man-sik wasn't able to become involved with Yeon-hee, who runs an unlicensed seafood restaurant, despite her attempts to start a relationship (Yeon-hee doesn't know that her father was killed due to Man-sik's mistake.).
Dong-choon, another Haeundae local and also a neighbor of Man-sik, teams up with Man-sik's son and gets involved with some 'illegal' activity to earn money, but the two end up getting caught by the police. Afterwards, Dong-choon's mother, concerned about her unemployed son, decides to prepare him for a job interview
Job interview
A job interview is a process in which a potential employee is evaluated by an employer for prospective employment in their company, organization, or firm. During this process, the employer hopes to determine whether or not the applicant is suitable for the job.-Role:A job interview typically...
, but Dong-choon refuses. As time passes, Man-sik finally plans to propose to Yeon-hee on a night with fireworks.
Geologist Kim Hwi somehow runs into his divorced wife, Yoo-jin, who is preparing for an expo in Busan. Although Yoo-jin has a daughter (and also a new boyfriend), they decide not to tell their daughter that he (Hwi) is her real father, afraid that the child would be greatly shocked.
A wealthy college student from Seoul
Seoul
Seoul , officially the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea. A megacity with a population of over 10 million, it is the largest city proper in the OECD developed world...
, Hee-mi, accidentally falls into the ocean from a luxurious yacht. Hyeong-sik, Man-sik's younger brother and also a lifeguard, rescues Hee-mi rather 'violently'. Hee-mi becomes greatly angered by the 'violent' rescue and annoys him by following him around. But as time passes on, love starts to grow between them.
During the fireworks, Man-sik proposes to Yeon-hee. Yeon-hee says that a ribbon hung outside her restaurant the day after would mean 'yes'. On the day after, Man-sik sees no ribbon, and he meets Dong-choon, who was nearby. Dong-choon tells Man-sik that he told Yeon-hee why her father died several years ago. Man-sik becomes very angry, for he thinks that what Dong-choon told Yeon-hee caused there to be no ribbon.
Meanwhile, Hwi notices that the Sea of Japan
Sea of Japan
The Sea of Japan is a marginal sea of the western Pacific Ocean, between the Asian mainland, the Japanese archipelago and Sakhalin. It is bordered by Japan, North Korea, Russia and South Korea. Like the Mediterranean Sea, it has almost no tides due to its nearly complete enclosure from the Pacific...
(East Sea) is displaying similar activity to the Indian Ocean
Indian Ocean
The Indian Ocean is the third largest of the world's oceanic divisions, covering approximately 20% of the water on the Earth's surface. It is bounded on the north by the Indian Subcontinent and Arabian Peninsula ; on the west by eastern Africa; on the east by Indochina, the Sunda Islands, and...
at the time of the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake
2004 Indian Ocean earthquake
The 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake was an undersea megathrust earthquake that occurred at 00:58:53 UTC on Sunday, December 26, 2004, with an epicentre off the west coast of Sumatra, Indonesia. The quake itself is known by the scientific community as the Sumatra-Andaman earthquake...
. The Disaster Prevention Agency assures him that Korea is at no risk, but a megatsunami
Megatsunami
Megatsunami is an informal term to describe a tsunami that has initial wave heights that are much larger than normal tsunamis...
soon forms near Japan and starts to travel at 500 miles per hour towards Haeundae. Hwi realizes that the citizens of Haeundae have only 10 minutes left to escape. There is a short earthquake
Earthquake
An earthquake is the result of a sudden release of energy in the Earth's crust that creates seismic waves. The seismicity, seismism or seismic activity of an area refers to the frequency, type and size of earthquakes experienced over a period of time...
in Haeundae; the elevator Yoo-jin is in stops perhaps due to the earthquake. The sea starts receding from the shore, causing mass hysteria on the beaches as people realize that a tsunami is coming. Hundreds of people run for their lives, but the tsunami soon reaches Haeundae and the streets are quickly flooded and many buildings collapse. People and cars on the Gwangan Bridge are swept away by the tsunami. A powerful electric shock from a telephone pole happens on the now-flooded street where Man-sik and Yeon-hee are on, electrocuting everyone in the water and those clinging onto metallic surfaces, but the two survive.
A big cargo ship gets stuck at the Gwangan Bridge. Dong-choon, who was on the bridge and somehow managed to survive the tsunami, tries to escape from the falling cargo containers (from the ship). The containers are shown falling at an extreme momentum. Dong-choon survives this, and later on, he tries to light a cigarette while still on the bridge. His portable lighter ends up on a flammable liquid flowing from one of the containers; there is a gigantic explosion and the bridge is cut in half.
Hyeong-sik jumps down from a rescue helicopter and saves Hee-mi, who was far away in the sea with one of her friends. When Hyeong-sik and the friend are together on the rope, Hyeong-sik realizes that the rope is about to break and only one can go up to the helicopter. After a deep thought, Hyeong-sik cuts down the rope in which his body is connected to and falls down into the violent sea. The elevator Yoo-jin is in floods with water, and she talks with tears to her daughter on her portable phone. Soon, Yoo-jin is saved by a worker. On the roof of the building, Yoo-jin meets her daughter and Hwi. The two help their daughter get on a crowded rescue helicopter. Before the helicopter leaves, Hwi tells the truth to his daughter that he is really her father. Yoo-jin apologizes with tears to Hwi and they hug each other in front of a second tsunami before they are killed.
After the tsunami, there is a funeral for the hundreds of thousands of lifeguards and people who were killed in the tsunami. Among the ones who were killed is Hyeong-sik. Dong-choon finds out that his mother was killed in the tsunami and he breaks into tears. People are shown helping to reconstruct the city. Man-sik, while cleaning the ruins of Yeon-hee's restaurant, finds the red ribbon which Yeon-hee's said was a 'yes' for his proposal. The movie ends with the scene of Haeundae in ruins, but in a hopeful atmosphere.
Cast
- Sol Kyung-guSol Kyung-guSol Kyung-gu is a Grand Bell Award, Golden Space Needle Award, and Bratislava International Film Festival Best Actor winning South Korean actor. He studied film and theater at Hanyang University and upon graduation took part in mostly theatrical productions...
... Choi Man-sik - Ha Ji-wonHa Ji-wonHa Ji-won was born Jeon Hae-rim on 28 June 1978. She is a South Korean actress. She is also the Grand Prize winner of 2006 KBS Acting Awards for her performance in TV drama Hwang Jin-i.- Career :...
... Kang Yeon-hee - Park Joong-hoonPark Joong-hoonPark Joong-hoon is a South Korean actor.- Life :Park was born and raised in Seoul. After graduating from the department of drama and film of Chung-Ang University, he started his career as an actor in the film Cambo...
... Kim Hwi - Uhm Jung-hwaUhm Jung-hwaUhm Jung-hwa is a South Korean female Korean pop artist and actress. Uhm began her career as a chorus member of MBC, one of the three major South Korean broadcasting companies, in 1989...
... Lee Yoo-jin - Lee Min-ki ... Choi Hyeong-sik
- Kang Ye-won ... Kim Hee-mi
- Kim In-kwon ... Oh Dong-choon
Production
Haeundae is a joint venture between production company Doosaboo Film and distributors CJ EntertainmentCJ Entertainment
CJ Entertainment is a South Korean entertainment company which is involved in film production, investment, distribution and exhibition. It is the largest entertainment company in South Korea...
. Directed by Doosaboo CEO Yoon Je-kyoon
Yoon Je-kyoon
Yoon Je-kyoon is a South Korean film director . His debut My Boss, My Hero is about a gangster who is sent back to school, while Sex Is Zero has been compared with American Pie....
, the film was funded by CJ Entertainment with a budget estimated at , one of the largest for a Korean production, although the budget is approximately a fifth of what traditionally would be needed to create comparable effects in modern cinema. Principal photography commenced on 18 August 2008 at the beaches of Busan
Busan
Busan , formerly spelled Pusan is South Korea's second largest metropolis after Seoul, with a population of around 3.6 million. The Metropolitan area population is 4,399,515 as of 2010. It is the largest port city in South Korea and the fifth largest port in the world...
, South Korea, before moving to the United States in November for special effects photography. Filming wrapped on 17 December 2008 in San Francisco. Special effects and CGI were produced by American company Polygon Entertainment.
Release
Distribution rights for Haeundae have been sold to Hong KongHong Kong
Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...
, India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
, Indonesia
Indonesia
Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...
, Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
, Malaysia, the Philippines
Philippines
The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
, Singapore
Singapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
, Thailand
Thailand
Thailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...
, Vietnam
Vietnam
Vietnam – sometimes spelled Viet Nam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea –...
, the Czech Republic
Czech Republic
The Czech Republic is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Poland to the northeast, Slovakia to the east, Austria to the south, and Germany to the west and northwest....
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, Hungary
Hungary
Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...
, the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
and Turkey
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
. The film was released in South Korea on 22 July 2009. As of 20 September 2009, Haeundae had received a total of 11,301,649 admissions in South Korean theatres.
In the United Kingdom, the film was released as Tidal Wave on DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
on October 12 2009.