Night Flight (2014 film)

Night Flight (Korean: 야간비행; RR: Yaganbihaeng) is a 2014 South Korean drama film written, directed and edited by Leesong Hee-il.[1][2] It made its world premiere in the Panorama section of the 64th Berlin International Film Festival on February 7, 2014, and was released in theaters in South Korea on August 28, 2014.[3][4][5]

Night Flight
Theatrical poster
Directed byLeesong Hee-il
Produced byKim Il-kwon
Written byLeesong Hee-il
StarringKwak Si-yang
Lee Jae-joon
CinematographyYun Ji-woon
Edited byLeesong Hee-il
Production
company
Cinema DAL
Distributed byFinecut
Release date
  • February 7, 2014 (2014-02-07) (Berlin)
  • August 28, 2014 (2014-08-28) (South Korea)
Running time
144 mins
133 minutes (DVD cut version)
CountrySouth Korea
LanguageKorean
Box officeUS$66,602

Plot

Three teenage boys, Shin Yong-joo, Han Ki-woong and Ko Ki-taek, were best friends in middle school. While Yong-joo and Ki-taek still remain close, Ki-woong becomes a jjang (Korean slang term meaning "best"), one of the strongest fighters in the school, and begins to hang out with Sung-jin's gang (Sung-jin's parents are powerful figures, making him a bigwig among his schoolmates), meaning he draws away from the other two, particularly when Yong-joo becomes concerned when he finds out that Sung-jin's gang is mercilessly bullying Ki-taek, an eccentric manhwa fan.

Under intense pressure to get into a prestigious university because his mother is single and financially struggling, Yong-joo develops an unlikely relationship with Ki-woong, who tries to break away from Sung-jin. But when Ki-taek learns that Yong-joo is gay, he retaliates for a past slight and betrays his friend and joins Sung-jin's gang in ostracizing him, telling them that Yong-joo has loved Ki-woong for years.[6]

Cast
  • Kwak Si-yang as Shin Yong-joo
  • Lee Jae-joon as Han Ki-woong
  • Choi Joon-ha as Ko Ki-taek
  • Kim Chang-hwan as Oh Sung-jin
  • Lee Ik-joon as Song Joon-woo
  • Park Mi-hyun as Yong-joo's mother
  • Kim So-hee as Ki-woong's mother
  • Lee Gun-hee as Jae-ho
  • Yoon Gun-il as Bum-jin
  • Lee Seo-won as Jong-pil
  • Song Ji-ho as Jae-yeon
  • Park Jin-ah as Hyun-joo
  • Ok Joo-ri as Ki-taek's mother
  • Pyo Jin-ki as Jin-ki
  • Kim Sun-bin as Dean of students
  • Hyun Sung as Homeroom teacher
  • Park Hyuk-kwon as Big guy
  • Jung In-gi as Ki-woong's father
  • Lee Yi-kyung as Student part-timer

Production

Leesong Hee-il is Korea's top queer cinema director, and this was his fourth feature. He said he found the motif of the film from a CCTV video clip, which showed a high school student crying in an elevator just before he killed himself. After seeing that, Leesong decided to make a film exploring teenage sexual minorities and the dehumanization they face in order to survive the bullying and violence they experience at school.[7][8]

Film festivals

Besides the Berlinale, Night Flight also screened at the 38th Hong Kong International Film Festival, the 7th CinemAsia Film Festival in Amsterdam, the 29th Torino GLBT Film Festival, the 15th Jeonju International Film Festival, the 68th Edinburgh International Film Festival, the 47th Sitges Film Festival, the 34th Hawaii International Film Festival, and the 25th Stockholm International Film Festival.[9][10][11][12]

Awards and nominations
Year Award Category Recipient Result
2014 7th CinemAsia Film Festival[13] Jury Award Night Flight Won
2015 2nd Wildflower Film Awards[14] Best Director (Narrative Film) Leesong Hee-il Nominated
Best Actor Kwak Si-yang Nominated
Lee Jae-joon Nominated

References
  1. Song, Soon-jin (28 January 2014). "LEESONG Hee-il, Director of NIGHT FLIGHT: "This is a Film about Loneliness"". Korean Cinema Today. Retrieved 1 April 2015.
  2. Leesong, Hee-il (28 February 2014). "BERLIN REPORT from LEESONG Hee-il, Director of NIGHT FLIGHT". Korean Cinema Today. Retrieved 1 April 2015.
  3. "Ya Gan Bi Haeng - Night Flight". Berlinale. Retrieved 7 February 2014.
  4. Conran, Pierce (20 January 2014). "NIGHT FLIGHT Takes Off in Berlin". Korean Film Biz Zone. Retrieved 1 April 2015.
  5. Song, Soon-jin (14 February 2014). "NIGHT FLIGHT and SNOWPIERCER Hold Screenings at Berlin". Korean Film Biz Zone. Retrieved 1 April 2015.
  6. "Night Flight (2014)". YouTube. 29 May 2016. Retrieved 6 May 2018.
  7. Conran, Pierce (3 September 2014). "Night Flight". Korean Cinema Today. Retrieved 1 April 2015.
  8. Jang, Byung-won (28 January 2014). "In Focus: Night Flight - An Author Spreads His Wings of Ambition". Korean Cinema Today. Retrieved 1 April 2015.
  9. Conran, Pierce (28 February 2014). "10 MINUTES and NIGHT FLIGHT to Screen in Hong Kong". Korean Film Biz Zone. Retrieved 1 April 2015.
  10. Frater, Patrick (23 March 2014). "Night Flight Takes Off in Hong Kong". Variety. Retrieved 1 April 2015.
  11. "Night Flight Does the Rounds at Int'l Film Festivals". The Chosun Ilbo. 25 March 2014. Retrieved 1 April 2015.
  12. Conran, Pierce (4 June 2014). "Edinburgh Takes 4 from Korea". Korean Film Biz Zone. Retrieved 1 April 2015.
  13. "CinemAsia Jury Award voor Night Flight (Korea 2013)". De Aziatische Tijger (in Dutch). 9 April 2014. Retrieved 1 April 2015.
  14. Ma, Kevin (1 April 2015). "Girl at My Door leads Wildflower nominations". Film Business Asia. Archived from the original on 15 April 2015. Retrieved 1 April 2015.

[Category:South Korean coming-of-age films]

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