Ji lives in a shanty neighbourhood together with his brother. One day government officials and hired mobsters comes to destroy the area in order to build new apartment complexes so everything will look nice when hosting the Olympics. But the people who live there don't wanna leave and a riot breaks out and in the process, Ji's brother is shot dead by a cop and Ji is thrown in prison. Later on, the same cop that shot Ji's brother is appointed governor of the very same prison that Ji's in and there he continues to torture Ji. So together with some other inmates, while being transferred on a bus, Ji and his crew breaks out and manages to escape. When free, Ji's mission is to speak about the injustice and the corrupt system, how people who are rich can get away, but if you're poor, that also means you're guilty. In order to get what they want they take hostages, but will that make anyone listen?
Holiday is a fine looking new crime/drama movie straight out of South Korea, telling the story that is based on a real hostage-taking that occured in October 1988. It's definitely a thought-provoking movie and I found it a little bit similar to Silmido. Even though Holiday is not dealing with what Silmido dealt with, they are both based on true events, injustice and they are both movies that will make you think, (or at least that should make you think).
It deals with the subjuect of an unfair society, that is if you are rich, you're not guilty, but if you are poor, you're guilty. Poor people are thrown in jail for a very long time due to some petty crimes, while those who have commited brutal and much worse crimes get the same sentences or less, and then you have those who gets passed even getting convicted for what they've done. The movie has its heart in the right place and so has the main character Ji, and even if he has done some stuff and later does some other stuff, you know that his heart is in the right place and that makes him really easy to root for.
Since Holiday is based on real events it makes it even more interesting, when thinking about what you see on screen actually have occured for real gives you a different perspective of things and adds a lot to the overall experience. I wasn't familiar with the story before watching Holiday, but I found it to be quite interesting and most of all, something worthy to think about. It's not just about the movie itself, but about how things work in the world in general, things that are unfair etc. In the end it can be applied on a lot of things.
 
To make everything look nice for the Olympics, old crummy neighbourhoods are being torn down in order for new nice looking buildings to replace them. Ji lives in one of these crummy neighbourhoods which one day is supposed to be replaced as well. The day comes, a fight breaks about and Ji's brother is shot and Ji is thrown in prison. The same cop who shot his brother later gets to run the prison that Ji's in and Ji tries to take revenge but fails and ends up being tortured and humiliated.
It's an unfair system where the poor just being pushed further and further down by the rich and someone must speak up. Apparently Ji is that person, a man who has his heart in the right place and together with some other inmates he manages to escape. While on the run, they are constantly being chased by the police and they are all over the news at all times. They try to get their message across but things never seem to look up, and it all ends with a few of them taking a family hostage.
Since I'm not Korean, I'm not sure just how big this thing actually was but it seemed like a big deal, happening around the time Seoul hosted the Olympics and all. And since I'm not familiar with what happened and how everything actually went down, it's also hard to say just how correct this movie is, if they followed everything that had happened to a 100 percent, or if they added something else to it as well. Anyway, have to take it for what it is, and what it is is a good movie that makes you think, so in the end it's all quite positive.
The pacing is really good. Sometimes Asian flicks has a tendency to slow down too much, and even though you might be used to it, it might still feel a bit to slow. Holiday kinda holds the same tempo from beginning to end and it never feels too slow or boring. It was easy to stay interested the movie throughout even though it's two hours long. When it comes to acting it's all good, standard Korean style, and they all do a good job. Main character Ji of course stands out a bit more than the rest and like I said before, he's a really likable character, no matter what he does, since deep down you know that he wants well. The man who shot his brother and who runs the prison is also quite fun to watch, a real bastard but who pulls off a great performance, so even if it's impossible to like him, you'll still like the guy if you know what I mean.
Holiday is a great looking Korean crime/drama, that has a lot of scenes both inside and outside prison. It's has a good tempo, good acting and plus that, a great score. While being an entertaining movie, it's actually more interesting and since it's based on real events, it makes it even more interesting. It also has a good ending which makes it feel even more realistic and not just like you're watching another movie. And most of all, it makes you think. Recommended.
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ALTERNATIVE TITLE: Hol-li-de-i
MOVIE YEAR: 2006
DIRECTOR: Yang Yun-Ho
WRITING CREDITS: Kim Hee-jae
GENRE: Action, Crime, Drama
CAST: Lee Seong-Jae, Choi Min-Su, Jang Se-Jin
COUNTRY: South Korea
RUNTIME: 120 min
RATING: 8/10
Holiday Website/IMDB Click here
Holiday Trailer Click here
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