Karl’s review published on Letterboxd:
The second of two South Korean films, I saw at the movies today. I'm grateful to live near a theater that plays international films. Lord knows the Hollywood output isn't that exciting or shall I say varied. As the title states, this is about a plane headed to Seoul that is hijacked by a young man desperate to get to North Korea. It stars Ha Jung-woo (The Handmaiden), who cuts a sympathetic figure as a recently ostracized pilot. This gives the film a redemption arc.
Clocking in at a tight 100 minutes there's very little fluff. Being a sucker for airplane in peril films, I was pretty sure I'd be into this. While this doesn't have the budget or craftsman ship of say Top Gun: Maverick or Society of the Snow, director Kim Sung-han impressively stages the intensity of the highjacking. There's one scene where the plane turns upside down that got me jumping in my seat. Particularly seeing what's going on inside the plane. It's so cool!
Like the film I saw before this one (Escape), there's the push and pull between the North and South Korea. It was interesting to see through the eyes of characters on opposite sides of that divide. The reasoning the hijacker had for wanting to defect to North Korea is both fascinating and heartbreaking.
On a lighter note, I enjoyed seeing what it was like to fly in South Korea in 1971. The passengers don't get reserved seats so they have to make a mad dash for the plane once boarding begins. It's pure chaos and all-too easy for a damaged young man with a disillusioned dream to board unchecked. I'm sure after this incident security measures were drastically improved.
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