''Take Off'' (, Hanja:國家代表, literally "National Representative" or "National Athlete" or "National Team") is a 2009

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

n film written and directed by

Kim Yong-hwa Kim Yong-hwa (born September 25, 1971) is a South Korean film director and screenwriter. Kim wrote and directed ''Oh! Brothers'' (2003), ''200 Pounds Beauty'' (2006), ''Take Off (2009 film), Take Off'' (2009) and ''Mr. Go (film), Mr. Go'' (2013) ...

. The film was the 2nd most attended film of the year in South Korea with 8,392,953 admissions.

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 Ski jumping is a winter sport in which competitors aim to achieve the farthest jump after sliding down on their skis from a specially designed curved ramp. Along with jump length, competitor's aerial style and other factors also affect the final ...

team for the approaching

1998 Winter Olympics The 1998 Winter Olympics, officially known as the and commonly known as Nagano 1998 ( ja, 長野1998), was a winter multi-sport event held from 7 to 22 February 1998, mainly in Nagano, Japan, with some events taking place in the ...

. 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 The International Olympic Committee (IOC; french: link=no, Comité international olympique, ''CIO'') is a non-governmental sports organisation based in Lausanne, Switzerland. It is constituted in the form of an association under the Swiss ...

opted for

Salt Lake City Salt Lake City (often shortened to Salt Lake and abbreviated as SLC) is the Capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Utah, most populous city of Utah, United States. It is the county seat, seat of Salt Lake County, Utah, Sal ...

over Korea's

Muju County Muju County (''Muju-gun''), is a county in North Jeolla Province (Jeollabuk-do), South Korea. Muju is known for its Muju Firefly Festival and is a tourist area. History During the era of the Three Kingdoms of Korea, Mupung (the present name) in ...

. 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

Ha Jung-woo Kim Sung-hoon (born March 11, 1978), better known as Ha Jung-woo (), is a South Korean actor, film director, screenwriter and film producer. One of the highest grossing actors in South Korea, Ha's starring films have accumulated more than 100 mil ...

- Cha Heon-tae/Bob *

Kim Dong-wook Kim Dong-wook (born July 29, 1983) is a South Korean actor. After appearing in student short films and several minor parts, Kim became a star through his supporting role in the popular TV series '' Coffee Prince'' (2007), followed by box office ...

- Choi Hong-cheol * Kim Ji-seok - Kang Chil-gu *Choi Jae-hwan - Ma Jae-bok *Lee Jae-eung - Kang Bong-gu *

Sung Dong-il Sung Dong-il (born April 27, 1967) is a South Korean actor. Sung made his acting debut in theater in 1987, then was recruited at the 1991 SBS open talent auditions. He rose to fame as the comic, Jeolla dialect-speaking character "Red Socks" in ...

- Coach Bang *

Lee Eun-sung Lee Eun-sung (Hangul: 이은성; born August 8, 1988) is a South Korean actress. She made her acting debut in the youth drama ''Sharp'', followed by roles in the Korean drama, television series ''Evasive Inquiry Agency'' (2007), and the films ''D ...

- Su-yeon *

Shin Soo-yeon Shin Soo-yeon is a South Korean actress and model. She is known for her roles in dramas such as ''Hi Bye, Mama!'', ''Graceful Family'' and ''The World of the Married ''The World of the Married'' () is a 2020 South Korean television series st ...

- Ri Ji-hye (young) *

Ma Dong-seok Ma Dong-seok (born Lee Dong-seok on March 1, 1971), also known as Don Lee, is a South Korean–American actor. With his breakout performance in '' Train to Busan'' and subsequent leading roles, he has become one of South Korea's most successful ...

(Cameo) *

Lee Hye-sook Lee Hye-sook (born September 4, 1962) is a South Korean actress. She began acting in 1979, and has remained active in Korean cinema and television Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting mo ...

- Bob's birth mother *Lee Se-rang - Middle-aged woman from

Yanbian Yanbian (; Chosŏn'gŭl: , ''Yeonbyeon''), officially known as the Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture, is an autonomous prefecture in the east of Jilin Province, China. Yanbian is bordered to the north by Heilongjiang Province, on the west by ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

* Juni - Young woman from Yanbian, China *

Lee Han-wi Lee Han-wi (born June 17, 1961) is a South Korean actor. Since his acting debut in 1983, Lee has become a prolific supporting actor on Korean film and television. He is particularly known for his mastery of ad-libbing In music and other pe ...

- Company president Ma *

Kim Yong-gun Kim Yong-gun (; born May 8, 1946) is a South Korean actor. His sons Ha Jung-woo Kim Sung-hoon (born March 11, 1978), better known as Ha Jung-woo (), is a South Korean actor, film director, screenwriter and film producer. One of the highest gr ...

- 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-gu's grandmother *

Oh Kwang-rok Oh Kwang-rok (born August 28, 1962) is a South Korean actor. Filmography Film Television series Theater References External links Oh Kwang-rokat SidusHQ iHQ Inc., doing business as SidusHQ () is one of the leading talen ...

- Pharmacist *

Kim Su-ro Kim Soo-ro (born Kim Sang-joong on May 7, 1970) is a South Korean actor. Career Early career Kim Soo-ro studied Theater at the Seoul Institute of the Arts and Dongguk University, then joined the Mokwha Repertory Company. In 1993, he made hi ...

- 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 *Henny Savenije - German sports anchor *Richard Wilson - Finnish sports anchor

Relevance

Korea is new to the venue of

, 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

. 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.

Accolades

Sequel

The

sequel A sequel is a work of literature, film, theatre, television, music or video game that continues the story of, or expands upon, some earlier work. In the common context of a narrative work of fiction, a sequel portrays events set in the same ...

''Take Off 2'' is directed by Kim Jong-hyun, and its predominantly female cast is led by

Soo Ae Park Soo-ae (; born 16 September 1979), known mononymously as Soo Ae, is a South Korean actress best known for portraying Kim In-hae in the 2013 film ''The Flu'' and Oh Soo-yeon in the 2018 film ''High Society''. Soo Ae began her career on telev ...

, playing a

North Korean defector Since the division of Korea after the end of World War II, North Koreans have fled from the country in spite of legal punishment for political, ideological, religious, economic, moral, personal, or nutritional reasons. Such North Koreans are re ...

who becomes a national ice hockey player. Also starring

Kim Seul-gi Kim Seul-ki also known as Kim Seul-gi (born October 10, 1991) is a South Korean actress who starred in many critically acclaimed dramas including '' Oh My Ghost'' (2015), '' Splash Love'' (2015), and '' The Guardians'' (2017). She is also a form ...

Jin Ji-hee Jin Ji-hee (born March 25, 1999) is a South Korean actress. Career She began her career as a child actress, and is best known for her roles in the relationship drama ''Alone in Love'' (2006), the horror fairytale ''Hansel and Gretel (2007 fil ...

and

Oh Dal-su Oh Dal-su (born 15 June 1968) is a South Korean actor. Career Oh Dal-su began his acting career in theater in Busan, and since 2001 has been the head of theater company ''Singiru Manhwagyeong'' ("Mirage and Kaleidoscope"). His rich experience ...

, the film began shooting in October 2015.

References

External links

* * * * * * * * {{Baeksang Arts Award Best Film 2009 films Films about the 1988 Winter Olympics Films about Olympic ski jumping Films directed by Kim Yong-hwa Showbox films South Korean sports drama films 2000s sports drama films 2000s South Korean films