The movie “Take Off” is “Gukga
Daepyo” in Korean. Its literal meaning is “national representative” or
“national athlete”. Written and directed by Kim Yong-hwa in 2009, this film was
the 2nd most attended film of the year. The story plot is based on a
real story, in which underrepresented Korean ski-jumpers strive to make
ski-jumping as one of the sport categories in the Olympics. The delicate balance
between humor and sincerity marks the epitome of this renowned movie.
Plot Summary:
The main character, Cha
Heon-tae, was adopted with his sister to American parents. He appears on a
Korean television program to search for his mother. Instead of finding his
mother, he is approached by Coach Bang, who wants to recruit members for a new
national ski jumping team for the 1998 Winter Olympics. Coach Bang recruits few others, who all have
good skills but are out of practice. Even though the road isn’t easy, the team
succeeds in qualifying at the World Cup. But the victory is bittersweet once
they hear the International Olympic Committee chose Salt Lake City in Utah over
Korea’s Muju County. Disadvantaged because the Korean ski jumpers would have to
jump in unfamiliar slopes, one of the teammates gets injured. The teammates do
not want to give up, however. Thus they motivate each other to substitute for
the injured one. The Korean team does not win the gold medal, but the Koreans back
home are proud of their accomplishments and the courage they showed to the
world.
{Three ski jumpers, main
characters}
These characters are recruited
by Coach Bang and are clueless as to how they will pull off training and
eventually entering the Olympics.
{Coach Bang in the movie}
Coach Bang, who does not look
professional at all, tries to explain what Ski Jumping is to his crew. He
misspells the word “sky” from Sky Jumping.
{Three ski jumpers from the
movie}
Due to its unpopularity, the
ski jumpers could barely get sponsored. As can be seen, these trainees had to
jump without much protection gear or warm clothing.
{Ski jumping}
It is truly a heart touching
moment when one of the crew members successfully jumps and lands perfectly.
{Alpensia Resort}
The movie was shot in a famous
ski resort in PyeongChang, Korea. PyeongChang is in the Gangwon-do (county),
which is located east of Seoul. The ski jumping slope in Alpensia was built in
2009. The winter weather tends to be colder in Gangwon-do, thus having many ski
slopes and resorts. At this ski resort, the ski jumpers had to jump 90 to 120m
high like birds and then land stably.
{PyeongChang Winter Olympic 2018}
After failing to convince the
International Olympic Committee to hold winter Olympic in Muju county in 2002,
Korea will finally be able to host the 2018 Olympic in PyoeongChang. The county
is going through much renovation and striving to provide the visitors and
Olympic athletes the best facilities. The Korea’s Olympic committee already
built a museum that is able to educate people about Korea’s relevance and
accomplishments in past Olympics.
{Luxury lounge at Alpensia resort}
Other than museums, the resort
has high class lounges to serve food and drinks. Visitors can enjoy their meal
with a fantastic view of the ski slopes.
{Night view of Alpensia ski slopes}
The view of the slopes at
night is something to note. Looking over from the balcony of the resort, the
warm looking lights mysteriously makes the scene more beautiful with cold wind
that brushes your face.
{Four original ski jumpers}
These four are the athletes
who inspired the director to produce this this movie. They are the true heroes
of the sport Ski Jumping in Korea because they strived to make the sport become
a major sport in winter Olympics. Today, Korean ski jumping athletes have
better facilities and support from the public, thanks to these legendary
figures.
Based on a true story, the
significance of the movie Take Off is that the director was able to depict the
hardship Korean ski jumpers had to go through due to the public’s negligence of
the sport. More importantly, the movie effectively demonstrates the courage and
the passion the ski jumpers had despite the harsh environment. We can
second-handedly learn about Korean athletes’ patriotism and passion for their
country and sports.
