INTERVIEW “Escaping from East Germany helped my acting in Taxi Driver”

German actor Thomas Kretschmann poses during an interview at the Intercontinental Hotel in Samseong-dong, Seoul, Tuesday. / Courtesy of Showbox

By Kim Jae-heun

German actor Thomas Kretschmann said Tuesday his experience of escaping from East Germany helped him understand the Gwangju Democratization Movement for the movie “Taxi Driver.”

Kretschmann appears as German reporter Jurgen Hinzpeter, or by his nickname Peter, in the movie and met with the press at the Intercontinental Hotel in Seoul ahead of the film’s release next week.

“My experience escaping from East Germany when I was in my 20s, gave me lessons in my life and for my acting,” said Kretschmann. “It helped me form my view of the world. I arrived in Yugoslavia first, which adopted neither capitalism nor communism. The country remembers massacres taking place when it was being split up. I’ve starred in a film depicting the tragedy and it helped me understand the Gwangju Democratization Movement too.”

“Taxi Driver,” directed by Jang Hoon, was written based on the true story told by Hinzpeter, who covered the tragedy of the Gwangju Democratization Movement of May 1980 and revealed the truth to the world.

The military regime concealed its crackdown against the citizens, mostly students, and forced the media to forge the event into a riot by a group of communists. The government officially confirmed over 1,000 casualties during the protest.

In the film, Peter pays taxi driver Man-seop, played by Song Kang-ho, 100,000 won to take him 250 kilometers southward from Seoul. Man-seop does not know the German is a reporter and is also unaware that martial law has been declared in Gwangju.

Hinzpeter later visited Korea to find the taxi driver, whose real name is Kim Sa-bok, but the German reporter died last year.

“I wanted to meet Hinzpeter but he died a year before we started filming. Surprisingly, there was not much information about the Gwangju Democratization Movement and I read the script over and over again. I also asked director Jang Hoon to show me some documentaries about the event that I could refer to,” said Kretschmann.

The German actor confessed he knew nothing about the democratization movement that took place in Korea and he only decided to star in the movie because of the good script he read.

Kretschmann says he took many foreigner roles in international movies but he recalls that shooting in Korea was extraordinarily challenging.

“The biggest problem was the language. It would take longer for me to prepare than anybody else before the scenes. The critical scenes or dramatic scenes were easier to act than the lighter sequences with much chitchat,” said Kretschmann.

The German actor remembers the Korean actors were pleasant to work with. He particularly praised Song for his acting ability in shifting his emotions rapidly from one scene to another.

“I was honored to act with Song. He is a fantastic actor who can shift his emotions quickly from light humor to a heavy sad feeling. He’s got great acting rhythm like a wave,” said the German actor.

“Taxi Driver” will hit local theaters on Aug. 2.