“Firefighters” tells the true story of six firefighters who were forced to fight a fire in Hongje, Seoul, South Korea, in March 2001. At the time, their tragic deaths sparked a debate about the poor working conditions of firefighters.
After the controversy, many issues were improved, including the firefighters' work schedule (divided into 3 shifts), and their uniforms were also changed, instead of just waterproof clothes as before.
After officially releasing in Korean theaters on December 4, by the afternoon of December 13, the film had sold 1,107,781 tickets, earning more than 10.2 billion won (182 billion VND), ranking No. 1 at the box office, according to the Korea Box Office Information System (KOBIS).
With this achievement, the film also achieved its fundraising goal of 119 million won (over 2.1 billion VND) through the “119 Won Donation Challenge”, in which 119 won (2,100 VND) from each ticket sold will be donated to the National Fire Hospital, scheduled to open in 2025.
Faced with this achievement, the cast of the movie "Firefighters" including: Joo Won, Yoo Jae Myung, Jang Young Nam, Kim Min Jae, Lee Yoo Young could not hide their surprise and happiness.
However, the male lead Joo Won confessed: "Because the film is based on a true story, while we had fun filming on set, we also carried sadness with us while acting. I approached my role with the firefighters in mind."
Meanwhile, Yoo Jae Myung expressed his hope that the film will draw more attention to the work of firefighters in society. “There is a documentary about this incident and I can’t count how many times I’ve watched it. I hope this incident will be more widely known,” Lee Yoo Young continued.
Director Kwak Kyung Taek said that when he first received the script, he felt too burdened to handle the story of the firefighters' sacrifice, so he turned down the offer. However, after being persuaded by the production company, he decided to take on the story.
“Telling such a story requires great care. Although it is clearly a tribute to someone’s sacrifice, as a director, I feel a little embarrassed to continue to emphasize this aspect to the audience. Although it is heavy, I hope that viewers can experience a new perspective through emotional feelings.”
The 58-year-old director added that in addition to honoring the noble sacrifices of firefighters, the film also depicts their search for victims in the flames and the real-life challenges, including fire trucks struggling to reach the scene of the fire due to Korea's poor parking conditions.
“Firefighters told me that smoke is the scariest part of firefighting. They said they have the most difficulty with smoke, which makes it impossible to see ahead, and after filming, I understood why many movies fail to depict smoke accurately.
You can't see anything. The biggest challenge was adjusting to make the actors' faces and actions visible in the smoke-filled scenes. I think we portrayed the smoke better than other firefighting films," Kwak Kyung Taek confided.
In Vietnam, “Firefighters” has not yet set a release date.
