Pandora (2016 film)
Pandora (Korean: 판도라; RR: Pandora) is a 2016 South Korean disaster film written and directed by Park Jung-woo, starring Kim Nam-Gil. The film was released in South Korea on December 7, 2016.[3]
| Pandora | |
|---|---|
 International poster | |
| Hangul | 판도라 |
| Hanja | 판도라 |
| Revised Romanization | Pandora |
| McCune–Reischauer | P'antora |
| Directed by | Park Jung-woo |
| Produced by | Kim Chul-yong Park Kyung-sook |
| Written by | Park Jung-woo |
| Starring | Kim Nam-gil |
| Music by | Jo Yeong-wook |
| Cinematography | Choi Young-hwan |
| Edited by | Park Gok-ji |
Production company | CAC Entertainment |
| Distributed by | Next Entertainment World |
Release date |
|
Running time | 136 minutes |
| Country | South Korea |
| Language | Korean |
| Budget | ₩530 million (US$477,000) (est.)[1] |
| Box office | US$32 million[2] |
Plot
Jae-hyeok is a middle aged man who works at the local power plant, which is the only thing providing the town with energy, and the provider of most of the jobs. Jae-hyeok lives with his mother, sister in law, and nephew Min-jae. Jae-hyeok wishes to leave the town and the plant behind him and work on a fishing vessel to make money for his family, but is discouraged by everyone he knows.
Pyeong-seok is a member of the plant, who tries to get the president to shut down the plant, but he dismisses the claims, saying nothing will happen. One night, the animals of the town mysteriously run into the water.
Then, the next day, while Jae-hyeok is working, an earthquake suddenly strikes the town, causing one of the nuclear reactors to overheat. Attempts to cool it down are botched, as water does nothing to stop it. During an attempt to get out, the whole basement caves in, killing most of the crew. Jae-hyeok is one of the few to get out, and continues to get people to safety, until he collapses from nuclear radiation. Meanwhile, the president and his government debate allowing the reactor to vent radioactive particles into the air to relieve pressure from the core. The President insists on evacuating at least those closest to the reactor first. This backfires when the reactor stack explodes from the pressure, leading to a full nuclear meltdown.
Meanwhile, the KCDC quarantines the town's residents not far from the reactor. After Jae-hyeok's girlfriend, Yeon-joo, gets proof that the reactor exploded and delivers the news, the KCDC locks the town’s residents in the evacuation center and put up an internet jammer. Rendering their phones useless. Yeon-joo spreads the word and later the residents manage to break out and get back in the buses to continue evacuating. Back at a local hospital, situations grow tense as Jae-hyeok's situation gets worse, and the medical team runs out of medical supplies. The reactor is not cooling down and the only option is to send a team in to blow the floor out from under the spent fuel rods and create a new container in the tank below.
Jae-hyeok agrees to a rescue mission, calling a distraught Yeon-joo before getting on a bus back to the town. Jae-hyeok remembers his childhood times before the nuclear disaster, before coming to the plant. By now, the only way to prevent the disaster from irradiating the entire country is to destroy the plant itself. Jae-hyeok willingly goes, having been exposed to too much radiation. Having lost both his father and brother to radiation poisoning, he knows he’s going to die soon and he chooses to go back into the radiation to save his family.
The mission encounters a devastating blow when the remote detonators for the bombs won’t work. Someone will need to stay behind and blow the curling of the tank/the floor under the spent fuel rods. It is a suicide mission. As Jae-hyok was a demolition expert in the military, and the only one with experience in explosives, he agrees to do it. After setting up the bombs, and while waiting for the team to get clear, he uses his helmet cam to broadcast a good-bye message to his mother, sister in law, Min-jae, and Yeon-joo, before sacrificing himself by blowing himself up, killing himself and burying the spent fuel rods, saving countless lives. Sometime after this all the other people who went in there with him die from Acute Radiation Sickness.
Some time later, Jae-hyeok is considered a hero, and a memorial is set up for the dead. The town's residents are now living in makeshift houses made by the government, and Yeon-joo puts a picture of Jae-hyeok, Yeon-joo, an friends Jin-taek, Soo-won, and Gil-seop onto a memorial gate, before leaving.
Cast
- Kim Nam-gil as Kang Jae-hyeok- the childish protagonist, who works at the nuclear power plant
- Kim Young-ae as Mrs. Seok- the mother of Jae-Hyeok, who owns a restaurant and lost her husband and other son to a similar accident
- Kim Ju-hyeon as Yeon-joo- Jae-hyeok's fiance, who works as a tour guide at the power plant
- Jung Jin-young as Pyeong-seok- one of the heads of the plant, who grows more concerned about the plant
- Moon Jeong-hee as Jung-hye- Jae hyeok's sister in law and a widow who lost her husband (Jae hyeok's brother)
- Kim Dae-myung as Gil-seop- one of Jae Hyeok's friends, who aids Jae Hyeok in the nuclear mission
- Lee Geung-young as Prime Minister
- Kang Shin-il as Mr. Kong- the overbearing head of the plant, who thinks the explosion is an imagination
- Yoo Seung-mok as Mr. Kam- the other head, who suspects something is off about the plant
- Joo Jin-mo as Minister
- Song Yeong-chang as New Director
- Kim Young-woong as Mr. Hwang
- Kim Myung-min as South Korean President
- Kim Hye-eun as First Lady
- Oh Ye-sul as New Nurse
Release
Pandora is the first Korean film that has been pre-sold to Netflix. In November 2016, three weeks before the theatrical release, the company acquired exclusive international rights for streaming Pandora in 190 countries.[4][5]
Awards and nominations
| Year | Award | Category | Recipient | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | 11th Asian Film Awards | Best Production Designer | Kang Seung-yong | Nominated |
| 22nd Chunsa Film Art Awards | Best New Actress | Kim Ju-hyeon | Nominated | |
| 53rd Baeksang Arts Awards | Most Popular Actor (film) | Kim Nam-gil | Nominated | |
| 54th Grand Bell Awards | Best Film | Pandora | Nominated | |
| Best Director | Park Jung-woo | Nominated | ||
| Best Supporting Actress | Kim Young-ae | Nominated | ||
| Best Supporting Actor | Jung Jin-young | Nominated | ||
| Best Art Direction | Kang Seung-yong | Nominated | ||
| Best Lighting | Kim Ho-seong | Nominated | ||
| Best Cinematography | Choi Young-hwan | Nominated | ||
| Best Editing | Park Gok-ji | Nominated | ||
| Technical Award | Pandora | Nominated | ||
| Best Planning | Pandora | Nominated | ||
References
- "Trailer for disaster film 'Pandora' unveiled". english.yonhapnews.co.kr. Retrieved 2017-02-18.
- "Pandora (2016)". koreanfilm.or.kr. Retrieved 2017-02-18.
- "Disaster movie 'Pandora' rings true more than ever". koreatimes.co.kr. Retrieved 2017-02-18.
- Lee Hyo-won. "Netflix Buys Exclusive Distribution Rights for South Korean Film Pandora; Hollywoodreporter". hollywoodreporter.com. Retrieved 2017-03-14.
- Sonia Kil. "‘Pandora’: Netflix Acquires Global Rights to South Korean Film | Variety". variety.com. Retrieved 2017-02-18.
External links
- Pandora at HanCinema
- Pandora on IMDb
- Pandora at Rotten Tomatoes
- Pandora at the Korean Movie Database
- Pandora at Naver Movies (in Korean)