The movie ‘Firefighter’ is drawing attention with its sincere actions that emphasize the message and meaning contained in the work, despite the ‘Kwak Do-won risk’, the lead actor who caused a drunk driving controversy before its release. The movie depicts the situation of firefighters who were deployed with the sole goal of putting out the fire and rescuing everyone in the harsh environment during the 2001 Hongje-dong fire disaster in which six firefighters died.

‘Firefighter’, which ranked first at the box office on the first day of its release on the 3rd, held a special large-scale preview on the 25th of last month at the CGV Yongsan I-Park Mall in Seoul, inviting 1,200 current firefighters and their families working in the Seoul and Gyeonggi regions. That day‘s press conference was attended by the lead actors Joo Won and Yoo Jae-myung, as well as director Kwak Kyung-taek, who directed the film.

In order to fully convey the hard work of the firefighters, aside from the visuals, director Kwak filmed all the fire scenes without CG, saying, “Since this film is based on a true story and depicts ’someone‘s sacrifice,’ I tried to make the film with intensity, seriousness, and sincerity rather than talent or technique.”

The firefighters who attended the press conference also thanked director Kwak and the ‘Firefighter’ production team for highlighting the hard work of firefighters. One firefighter said, “I‘ve been working for 10 years, and (the scenes in the film) were implemented so similarly to the actual scene. He conveyed his heart, saying, “Thank you for making a movie about our seniors’ noble sacrifice.”

The ‘Firefighters’ side is continuing the special ‘119 Won Donation Challenge’, donating 119 won per ticket purchased by an audience member to improve the equipment and treatment of firefighters in Korea. If the film reaches 1 million viewers, they will donate 119 million won in cash, and if the film reaches the break-even point of 2.5 million viewers, they will donate 300 million won in cash. In addition, the film company plans to provide additional in-kind support after the break-even point is reached, and the donation amount will be used to support the National Fire Hospital, which is scheduled to open in 2025.

Meanwhile, the film took special care not to damage the meaning of the film from the very beginning with the insertion of the OST. This was done by inserting Park Hyo-shin’s new single ‘Hero’, released after 5 years, into the end credits. The inserted song is one that Park Hyo-shin participated in not only singing but also writing, composing, and arranging, and contains the meaning of noble sacrifice. It is known that Park Hyo-shin, who sympathized with the message and sincerity of the movie, readily agreed to collaborate.

Park Hyo-shin and Kim Eana, who participated in writing the lyrics together, said, ”Sacrifice is the most noble act of love. In order to express that pure heart through music, we wanted to create a gap of emotions where the singer feels calm and the listener feels sad by excluding techniques as much as possible from the arrangement, composition, singing, and word choice of the lyrics.“



Reporter Lee Seung-mi smlee@donga.com