Movie Review: Take Off 2 (국가대표 2)
After a stressful week of studying for my exams, I rewarded my self by watching a popular Korean film called Take Off 2 (국가대표 2). It's not a recent film since it was released in 2016; but I saw many good reviews for the film so why not try it? Moreover, I thought it was pretty relevant to watch because Korea will be hosting the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang!
The film is a intense, thrilling yet emotional buildup that is actually based off a true story. It features several women who have been individually selected for their own reasons to compete as South Korea's first female ice hockey team. Within this team, a few unique players stand out; mainly, a North Korean defector, a middle school student, a famous figure skater exiled from her own team, a office lady and a dainty and extremely girly lady.
In the beginning, you can see that nothing is easy for this team. Firstly, only two of them know how to professionally play ice-hockey and secondly, they are always fighting with each other and showing no sense of team spirit. However, slowly the team as a whole regains their confidence and through many intense periods of training they learn each others' strengths and weaknesses and get through them together. I love how the movie portrays the feeling of being in a team and the highs and lows they get through together.
Unknown to the rest of the team, the North Korean defector (Lee Ji-Won, 이지원) has her own story. The story reveals that she has in fact a little sister who was left behind in North Korea when her and her father had to escape to South Korea. After several years of sending letters and secretly paying brokers to smuggle her little sister out she always received no reply. The North Korean defector was always weighed down by this guilt of leaving her little sister behind.
In the Asian Winter Games in Aomori, Japan, the North Korean women's ice hockey team faces the South Korean team. Lee Ji-Won takes this chance to ask her ex-ice-hockey teammates about her little sister and whether or not she is alive and her old friends cruely reply that Lee Ji-Won betrayed them and left her little sister to die.
When the match starts between the North Koreans and the South Koreans, there is a outstanding player in the North Korean game known as Lee Hye Ji (이헤지) who excels in ice hockey. Shockingly, Lee Jiwon recognizes her little sister playing for the North Korean ice-hockey team! I felt so many emotions at this point because on the one hand Jiwon feels so proud seeing her little sister for the first time in many years and even excelling in ice-hockey but on the other hand, there are still feelings of betrayal and hatred that her little sister feels. Below is the moment when her little sister crushed Jiwon against the court edge and accused her of being a traitor and a horrible sister :'(
As all films mostly have a good ending, so did Take Off 2. In the end I also felt like shedding some tears when the South Korean team won their match 3-2 against North Korea and when the two sisters finally resolved their grudges and forgave each other. At the airport it was a tearful parting because the two sisters didn't know when they could next see each other.
All in all, I really enjoyed this film and I think it portrayed the real struggle of the South Korean women's hockey team when they first began. 10/10 would recommend this movie even if you don't know anything about Korean films! I had so much fun writing this post so hope you enjoyed reading it just as much.
Sincerely,
Siree
