Take Off (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 Jung Joo-kyun Kim Hak-joon |
| 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 | Park Ji-woong |
| Cinematography | Kim Yung-chul |
| Editing by |
Park Gok-ji Jeong Jin-hui |
| Distributed by | Showbox/Mediaplex |
| Release dates |
|
| Running time | 137 minutes |
| Country | South Korea |
| Language | Korean |
| Box office | $52,141,043[1] |
Take Off (Hangul: 국가대표; hanja: 國家代表; RR: Gukgadaepyo; MR: Kukkataep‘yohangul, literally "National Representative" or "National Athlete") is a 2009 South Korean film written and directed by Kim Yong-hwa. The film was the 2nd most attended film of the year in South Korea with 8,392,953 admissions.[2]
Plot
Cha Hyeon Tae, a Korean-born American, was adopted with his sister to American parents. He formally appeared on a Korean television program in search of his mother. As an Alpine Skier, Hyeon Tae is approached by Bang Jung Sam who wants to recruit members for a new national Ski Jump team. The 1998 Winter Olympics were approaching. The ski coach, Bang Jung Sam had to recruit all of the members of the ski jump team to participate in this Olympics. The members were Cha Hyeon Tae, Kang Chil Goo, Choi Heung Cheol, Ma Jae Bok, and Kang Bong Goo. They had been good skiers, but were out of practice. Cha Hyeon Tae was raised in America, and trained in alpine skiing. Heung-Cheol was a waiter for a nightclub. Ma Jae Bok had a strict father, working at a meat restaurant. Kang Chil Goo and his autistic brother Kang Bong Goo live with their grandmother. All of them had to do strenuous practice to get them geared up for the qualifying match at the World Cup. They had to overcome their fear and practice by training in unusual places, such as from the top of cars, amusement park roller coasters, etc. When the World Cup began, the team was lucky enough to pass after a disqualification from a fight the night before. Qualifying was bitter sweet as the announcement for the next Olympics opted for Salt Lake City over Korea's Muju. Unfortunately, because of deep fog, Kang Chil Goo injures his leg, and becomes unable to compete. Bong Goo 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 for the fact that Bong Goo survived the jump. Nevertheless, people in Korea were proud of them and surprised with their skills.
Cast
- Ha Jung-woo - Heon-tae/Bob
- Kim Dong-wook - Hong-cheol
- Kim Ji-seok - Chil-gu
- Choi Jae-hwan - Jae-bok
- Lee Jae-eung - Bong-ku
- Sung Dong-il - Coach Bang
- Lee Eun-sung - Su-yeon
- Lee Hye-sook - Bob's birth mother
- Lee Se-rang - middle-aged woman from Yeonbyun, China
- Juni - young woman from Yanbian, China
- Lee Han-wi - Company President Ma
- Kim Yong-gun - chairman of the organizing committee
- Hwang Ha-na - Ji-eun (Bob's younger sister)
- Seo Min-yi - 3 year old Ji-eun
- Kim Ji-young - Bong-ku's grandmother
- Oh Kwang-rok - Pharmacist
- Kim Soo-ro - Loan shark boss
- Jo Seok-hyeon - employee at Military Manpower Administration
- Park Seong-taek - Japanese broadcaster
- Kim Sung-joo - Korean broadcaster
- Cho Jin-woong - Korean broadcaster 2
- Lee Seol-ah - Hye-ra
- Jung Min-sung - classifieds journalist
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.
References
- ↑ "Box office by Country: Take Off Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 2012-06-04
- ↑ "Korean Movie Reviews for 2009" koreanfilm.org. Retrieved 2012-06-04
External links
- http://www.jump2009.co.kr/ (Korean)
- Jump 2009 at Naver (Korean)
- Take Off at HanCinema
- Take Off at the Korean Movie Database
- Take Off at the Internet Movie Database