Wikipedia

Pipeline (film)

Pipeline (Korean: 파이프라인; RR: Paipeulain) is a 2021 South Korean crime action film directed by Yoo Ha and starring Seo In-guk, Lee Soo-hyuk and Eum Moon-suk.[2] The heist film tells the story of six thieves who wish to change their lives by stealing oil hidden in a tunnel dozens of meters underground in Korea.[3] The film was released theatrically on May 26, 2021.[4]

Pipeline
Theatrical release poster
Hangul
파이프라인
Revised RomanizationPaipeulain
Directed byYoo Ha
Screenplay byKim Kyoung-chan
Yoo Ha
Produced byLee Sung-jin
Yoon Hong-jun
StarringSeo In-guk
Lee Soo-hyuk
Eum Moon-suk
Production
companies
GOM Pictures
Movera Pictures
Distributed byCJ Entertainment
Little Big Pictures
Megabox JoongAng PlusM
Finecut Co., Ltd.
Release date
  • May 26, 2021 (2021-05-26)
Running time
108 minutes
CountrySouth Korea
LanguageKorean
Box officeest. US$1.06 million[1]

Synopsis

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Korea has over 1,200 km of oil pipeline, which is lifeline of the country. A drilling engineer prodigy (Seo In-guk) spearheads an oil heist to drill into this pipeline against heavy odds fighting catastrophic explosion and corporate greed.

Geon-woo (Lee Soo-hyuk), a rich oil refining company owner, sets up a plan to steal oil from pipeline between Honam and Seoul-Busan highway within a month. Pin Dol (Seo In-guk), the drilling engineer forms a team with Jeob-sae (Eum Moon-Suk), section chief Na (Yoo Seung-mok), Geun-sab (Tae Hang-ho) and Counter (Bae Da-bin) to complete the impossible heist. As the task gets delayed from various setbacks, the risks multiply.

Cast

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Production

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Casting

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In July 2019, the cast of film was finalized. Seo In-guk was cast as protagonist playing drilling engineer.[9] Seo In-guk and Lee Soo-hyuk previously appeared together in 2014 tvN drama series High School King of Savvy, 2021 series Doom at Your Service and now Pipeline.[10]

Filming

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Principal photography began on July 23, 2019 and was wrapped up on November 12, 2019. The film was planned to release in 2020, but its release was postponed due to the resurgence of the COVID-19 pandemic.[11]

Reception

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Box office

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The film was released on May 26, 2021 on 776 screens.[1] In its first week of release, it ranked number 1 among the Korean films released and number 3 among all the films released on the Korean box office.[12]

According to Korean Film Council data†, it is at 19th place among all the Korean films released in the year 2021, with gross of US$1.03 million and 139,818 admissions, as of December 12, 2021.[13]

  • †The system of KOBIS (Korean Box Office Information System) is managed by KOFIC.

Critical response

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Yang So-young, writing for Daily Economic Star, opined that the material of the film is fresh, but the presentation of narrative is obvious. Yang wrote that though realistic visuals have been created with the oil pipeline background but as content of the film it was not handled as well. He praised the performance of ensemble cast and concluded as, ".. even the unobtrusive storytelling and the characters as if they were seen from anywhere, the fresh charm falls. The great flow of the story itself is not very different from the crime entertainment movies we have seen so far."[14]

Kim Ji-eun of Newsis agreed with Yang and wrote that although idea of oil stealing is new but it is a typical caper film. As regards to acting she wrote, "Pindol, played by Seo In-guk and smirk, lacks the taste of words, and Eum Moon-seok's suffix which is not necessary to say if it's a comical acting, has a poor humor code and only appears as a weak body gag." Concluding she wrote, "The energy of the site, which went through the tunnel without dying, is transmitted intact."[15]

Yoo Na reviewing the film for YTN opined that the film has followed the typical and dull pattern of a caper film. She wrote that the story is ordinary and characters have no charm. Concluding the review Yoo Na penned, "Like a B-class black comedy, it burns action, body gags, and passion, but in the end, it did not provide emotion or fun."[16]

Kim Ji-won writing for Ten Asia described the film as, "It is entertaining to say that it is boring, and laughter does not burst to say that it is pleasant." She wrote that there was no chemistry among characters and acting looked clumsy. Concluding, she wrote, "Was director Yooha inexperienced because it was not the genre he was good at, but the genre he challenged anew? The degree of fun is ambiguous."[17]

International release

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Pipeline was released in select California theaters on May 28, 2021 and in Singapore on June 3. In addition it is sold to 815 Pictures (the United States), Klockworx (Japan), Deep Joy Picture Corporation (Taiwan), and Clover Films Distribution, who will release it in Singapore, Vietnam, Malaysia, Philippines, Indonesia, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, and Myanmar. It is expected to release in Vietnam and Malaysia in June itself.[18]

The film was screened at 10th Korean Film Festival Frankfurt on October 21, 2021.[19]

References

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  1. ^ a b "KOFIC, KOBIS (Korean Box Office Information System) The Box (2021)". KOFIC. Retrieved June 16, 2021.
  2. ^ "Pipeline, Korean Movie (2021)". HanCinema. May 21, 2021.
  3. ^ Park Ah-reum (July 25, 2019). "서인국X이수혁X음문석, 유하 감독 4년만 신작 '파이프라인'으로 뭉친다" [Seo In-guk x Lee Soo-hyuk x Eum Moon-seok, director Yoo Ha, united with the new film 'Pipeline' for the first time in 4 years]. Newsen (in Korean). Naver. Retrieved May 21, 2021.
  4. ^ "[Photo] New Poster Added for the Upcoming Korean Movie "Pipeline"". HanCinema. May 18, 2021. Retrieved May 21, 2021.
  5. ^ Park Soo-in (April 21, 2021). "서인국 이수혁 '파이프라인' 5월 개봉 확정, 범죄오락 새 라인 뚫린다" [Seo In-guk Lee Soo-hyuk'Pipeline' confirmed to be released in May, new line of crime entertainment opens]. Newsen (in Korean). Naver. Retrieved May 21, 2021.
  6. ^ Jung Yoo-jin (May 3, 2021). "'파이프라인', 도유꾼 된 서인국 어떨까…로맨틱 벗고 '강렬'" [How about 'Pipeline', Seo In-guk, who became an oil trader... Romantic naked 'intense']. News1 (in Korean). Naver. Retrieved May 21, 2021.
  7. ^ Yang So-young (May 20, 2021). "'파이프라인' 배다빈 "스크린 데뷔, 너무 떨리고 긴장된다"" ['Pipeline' Bae Dabin "Screen debut, I'm so nervous and nervous"]. The Daily Economy Star (in Korean). Maeil Economic Daily. Retrieved May 21, 2021.
  8. ^ "Pipeline - Cast (Korean Movie, 2021, 파이프라인)". Hancinema. May 27, 2021.
  9. ^ Kim Mi-hwa (July 26, 2019). "서인국, 유하 감독 '파이프라인' 출연..천공기술자 변신" [Seo In-guk and Yoo-ha's director'Pipeline' appearing... transformed into a drilling engineer]. Star News (in Korean). Retrieved May 21, 2021.
  10. ^ Yoo Na (May 20, 2021). "'파이프라인' 서인국X이수혁 "세번째 협업, 이제 서로 표정만 봐도 다 알아"" ['Pipeline' Seo In-guk x Lee Soo-hyuk "The third collaboration, now I know everything just by looking at each other's facial expressions"]. YTN (in Korean). Naver. Retrieved May 21, 2021.
  11. ^ Lee Seul (November 26, 2019). "서인국X이수혁 '파이프라인' 4개월 촬영 마침표[공식]" [Seo In-guk x Lee Soo-hyuk 'Pipeline' 4 months shooting period [Official]]. News Culture (in Korean). Archived from the original on May 21, 2021. Retrieved May 21, 2021.
  12. ^ Kim Bo-ra (May 31, 2021). "'파이프라인' 한국영화 박스오피스 1위·전체 3위[공식]" ['Pipeline' Korean movie box office 1st and 3rd overall [Official]]. Osen (in Korean). Naver. Retrieved May 31, 2021.
  13. ^ "KOBIS (Korean Box Office Information System) Year 2021". KOFIC. Retrieved December 13, 2021.
  14. ^ Yang So-young (May 22, 2021). "[리뷰] 소재는 신선한데, 아쉬운 '파이프라인'" [[Review] The material is fresh, but the'pipeline' is unfortunate]. Daily Economic Star (in Korean). Naver. Retrieved May 22, 2021.
  15. ^ Kim Ji-eun (May 22, 2021). "[리뷰]도유 범죄는 낯선데 뻔한 케이퍼 무비…'파이프라인'" [[Review] The crime of stealing is strange, but the obvious Caper movie... 'Pipeline']. Newsis (in Korean). Naver. Retrieved May 22, 2021.
  16. ^ Yoo, Na (May 25, 2021). "[Y리뷰] '파이프라인' 장르적 쾌감 전무한 케이퍼 무비의 전형" [[Y Review] The epitome of the caper movie with no genre pleasure in 'Pipeline']. YTN (in Korean). Naver. Retrieved May 25, 2021.
  17. ^ Ji-won, Kim (May 25, 2021). "[TEN 리뷰] '파이프라인' 캐릭터 설명만 봐도 상상 가능한 전개" [[TEN Review] Development that can be imagined just by looking at the description of the'Pipeline' character]. Ten Asia (in Korean). Naver. Retrieved May 25, 2021.
  18. ^ Pierce Conran (June 11, 2021). "PIPELINE Flows Overseas with 12 Sales Deals". KOFIC. Retrieved June 16, 2021.
  19. ^ "Pipeline / 파이프라인". Korean Film Festival Frankfurt. WordPress. October 21, 2021. Retrieved December 29, 2021.
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