Take Off (film)

For the 1979 Soviet drama film, see Takeoff (film).
Take Off
Hangul 국가대표
Hanja 國家代表
Revised Romanization Gukgadaepyo
McCune–Reischauer Kukkataep‘yo
Directed by Kim Yong-hwa
Produced by Park Mu-seung
Bang Chu-sung
Written by Kim Yong-hwa
Starring Ha Jung-woo
Kim Dong-wook
Kim Ji-seok
Choi Jae-hwan
Lee Jae-eung
Sung Dong-il
Music by Lee Jae-hak
Cinematography Park Hyun-cheol
Edited by Park Gok-ji
Jeong Jin-hee
Distributed by Showbox/Mediaplex
Release dates
  • July 30, 2009 (2009-07-30)
Running time
 137 minutes
Country South Korea
Language Korean
Box office US$52,141,043[1]

Take Off (Hangul: 국가대표; RR: Gukgadaepyo, literally "National Representative" or "National Athlete" or "National Team") is a 2009 South Korean film written and directed by Kim Yong-hwa.[2] The film was the 2nd most attended film of the year in South Korea with 8,392,953 admissions.[3]

Plot

Cha Heon-tae, a Korean-born American, was adopted with his sister to American parents. He appears on a Korean television program in search of his mother. Since Heon-tae is a trained alpine skier, he is approached by Coach Bang who wants to recruit members for a new national ski jumping team for the approaching 1998 Winter Olympics. The other members are Choi Hong-cheol, a night club waiter; Ma Jae-bok, who works at a meat restaurant and has a strict father; and Kang Chil-gu, who lives with his grandmother and autistic brother Bong-gu. All are good skiers, but are out of practice. To gear up for the qualifying match at the World Cup, they overcome their fear and train in unusual places, such as from the top of cars, amusement park roller coasters, etc. After almost getting disqualified because of a fight the night before, they succeed in qualifying at the World Cup. But the victory is bittersweet once they hear the IOC opted for Salt Lake City over Korea's Muju County. Unfortunately, because of deep fog, Chil-gu injures his leg and becomes unable to compete. Bong-gu decides to jump as a substitute but does not make the required distance for a gold medal and nearly loses his life. Despite their loss, the athletes rejoice because Bong-gu survived the jump, and the Koreans back home are proud of them.

Cast

Relevance

Korea is new to the venue of ski jumping, and there were only five members of the national team, so this event is not well known to the Korean people. Film director Kim Yong-hwa made this movie to introduce the ski jumping event to Koreans, in order to pique their interest and therefore improve national support for the event. In order to do that, he cast top actor Ha Jung-woo. Kim also introduced the background on the players and the environment in which they practiced. This was the first Olympics in which the Korean ski jump team competed, so they did not receive much financing. Therefore, they had to practice in a bad training area. Despite this, they managed to attend the Olympics.[4]

Awards and nominations

2009 17th Chunsa Film Art Awards

2009 29th Korean Association of Film Critics Awards

2009 46th Grand Bell Awards[5]

2009 30th Blue Dragon Film Awards[6]

2009 32nd Golden Cinematography Awards

2009 12th Director's Cut Awards[7]

2010 7th Max Movie Awards[8]

2010 46th Baeksang Arts Awards[9]

Sequel

The sequel Take Off 2 will be directed by Kim Jong-hyun, and its all-female cast is led by Soo Ae, playing a North Korean defector who becomes a national ice hockey player.[10] Also starring Kim Seul-gie, Jin Ji-hee and Oh Dal-su, the film begins shooting in October 2015.[11]

References

  1. ↑ "Gukga daepyo (State Representative / Take Off / National Team) (2009)". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 2012-06-04.
  2. ↑ Park, Sun-young (3 July 2009). "Tale of Korea's ski jumpers flies onto the big screen". Korea JoongAng Daily. Retrieved 2014-11-04.
  3. ↑ "Theatrical Releases in 2009: Box-Office Admission Results". Koreanfilm.org. Retrieved 2012-06-04.
  4. ↑ Lee, Hoo-nam (1 September 2009). "National ski team schusses to glory, box office gold". Korea JoongAng Daily. Retrieved 2014-11-04.
  5. ↑ "Take Off - Awards". Cinemasie. Retrieved 2015-05-21.
  6. ↑ Lee, Hyo-won (3 December 2009). "Closer to Heaven Couple Win Best Acting Nods". The Korea Times. Retrieved 2015-05-21.
  7. ↑ Kim, Lynn (17 December 2009). "Winners of Director's CUT Awards announced". 10Asia. Retrieved 2015-05-21.
  8. ↑ Ko, Kyoung-seok (10 February 2010). "Old Partner wins Best Picture at Max Movie Awards". 10Asia. Retrieved 2015-05-21.
  9. ↑ "Ko Hyun-jung, Haeundae win grand prize at PaekSang Arts Awards". 10Asia. 29 March 2010. Retrieved 2015-05-21.
  10. ↑ "Park Soo-ae turns into ice hockey player". The Korea Times. 30 July 2015. Retrieved 2015-08-03.
  11. ↑ Conran, Pierce (10 August 2015). "TAKE OFF 2 Signs All-Female Cast". Korean Film Biz Zone. Retrieved 2015-08-11.

External links

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