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Filmmaker: ‘Run Off,’ distinctive sequel to 2009 box office hit

July 6, 2016

SEOUL, July 6 (Yonhap) — KM Culture Co., the studio behind the 2009 box office success “Take Off” about the national ski jumping team, returned to the local film market with a sequel.

The forthcoming sports drama flick follows the formation of South Korea’s first-ever national female ice hockey team and its unlikely challenge for a medal in the 2003 Asian Winter Games in Aomori Prefecture, Japan.

The director of “Run Off,” Kim Jong-hyun, said on Wednesday that he felt no extra pressure due to the preceding film’s popularity which was able to draw in some 8.4 million in attendance.

“If you see it, you’ll find that it has a totally different style,” he said during a news conference for “Run Off” at a Megabox theater in Seoul. “It’s a different film except that the two have the similarity of featuring unpopular winter sports events.”

Director Kim Jong-hyun and the cast of the upcoming Korean film “Run Off” pose for a photo during a news conference for the film at a Seoul cinema on July 6, 2016. (Yonhap)

Kim is best known for “Mr. Gam’s Victory,” a 2004 Korean film based on the true story of an underdog baseball player who changes the fate of a second-rate pro-baseball team forever.

In the sequel, Dae-woong (Oh Dal-su), who had always filled the substitutes’ bench in his years as a member of the national ice hockey team, is suddenly named the coach of the country’s first-ever national female ice hockey team. He improvises a team with former sports players who all have different backgrounds and life stories ranging from Ji-won (Su Ae), a North Korea defector who was a national ice hockey team player while in her home country, to So-hyeon (Jin Ji-hee), an amateur in-line skater.

Other members are Chae-gyeong (Oh Yeon-seo), a short track skater who was ousted from her team for making trouble during a skating competition; Yeong-ja (Ha Jae-sook), a chubby housewife who was a field hockey player before marriage; Mi-ran (Kim Seul-ki), who is an accounting clerk for the national ice hockey association; and Ga-yeon (Kim Ye-won), a former figure skater who cares more about her looks than ice hockey. They then take on the seemingly impossible challenge of winning a medal in the 2003 Asian Winter Games.

Actress Su Ae speaks during a news conference for the Korean film “Run Off” at a Seoul cinema on July 6, 2016. (Yonhap)

The actresses had three months of physical training before filming to make their acting as athletes look more real.

“Because it was my first time to try ice hockey, it wasn’t easy wearing the outfit,” Su Ae said during the news conference. “But we felt safe because the director and part of the crew were always with us whenever they had spare time during the three-month practice period.”

Oh Yeon-seo’s character in the film was a professional short track skater, but she had never skated before in real life.

“My skating coaches had difficulty in teaching me how to skate at first, but I became a skillful skater by the end of the filming. I sometimes feel like skating these days,” the actress said, laughing.

However, intensive training and tough ice hockey scenes resulted in many injuries. Kim Ye-won dislocated her shoulder, while Ha had surgery for a torn cartilage in his knee.

“I participated in the training very diligently because I don’t want to look awkward on the screen. But I was taken to the hospital twice: I slipped (on the ice rink), flew in the air and then landed on my shoulder the first time and on my wrist the second,” Kim said.

“Learning how to skate was a great challenge for a person like me who has a phobia of slipping,” Ha said. But she showed up for work two days after the surgery, according to other cast members. “I couldn’t be a crybaby because others were enduring their physical challenges without complaining…. We were able to make it because we were all together.”

Three members of the country’s actual national female ice hockey team and a referee joined the film as Chinese and North Korean team members.

The film is set to open in local theaters on Aug. 11.