[HanCinema's Film Review] "Hijack 1971"

In the opening scenes of "Hijack 1971" we see pilot Tae-in (played by Ha Jung-woo) doing generally fun jet fighter stuff until he gets called in on a serious mission. His old buddy Min-soo (played by Choi Kwang-il) who now works in commercial flight is piloting his plane to North Korea. This 1969 prologue is based on the real life Korean Air Lines YS-11 Hijacking. The real-life 1971 incident the rest of the movie is based on doesn't have its own name as far as I can tell.

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Last week I noted that both "Escape" and "Hijack 1971" were able to hit third place on the overall South Korean box office this year for domestic films. "Escape" now holds that position quite comfortably, to the tune of about half a million admissions. And it's not hard to see why, despite "Hijack 1971" having a bigger profile and bigger stars. Both are fundamentally propaganda films. "Escape" is just a lot more honest about it.

For people not familiar with the Korean Air Lines YS-11 Hijacking, there's a good chance that "Hijack 1971" is all they'll ever hear about it, and the movie takes the position that the crew were unwilling victims who had been kidnapped by North Korea. Tae-in, at one point, is incredulous that anyone would believe that Min-soo was a communist sympathizer, because South Korean news said that he wasn't. While "Hijack 1971" does sort of suggest the South Korean government at this time period wasn't exactly great, this is mainly in the context of the backstory of Yong-dae (played by Yeo Jin-goo).

Despite his being the hijacker of the plane, and the movie's presumed villain, screenwriter Kim Kyeong-chan saw fit to give Yong-dae a surprisingly sympathetic backstory. A beloved family member starved to death and Yong-dae was subjected to social cruelty. Yong-dae also, apparently, doesn't actually believe in communism, he just hates South Korea so much he'll take any alternative. Yong-dae is a pathetic character who has almost nothing to say.

And Tae-in? Well, he's really obsessed with Min-soo's honor, and seems determined to defy Yong-dae just to avoid meeting a similar fate. But there's not really much of an arc there. Director Kim Sung-han-I really just seemed to be hoping that the core premise of a hijacking was itself, dynamic and interesting enough to headline a feature film. Unfortunately, very little even really happens. Despite several passengers getting named parts I can barely remember anything about any of them.

Oh wait, one of them tries to bring a chicken on the plane. That's almost interesting, I guess. The main problem with "Hijack 1971" aside from its low-key efforts to depoliticize a constantly political era of Korean history is that what we're left with is little more than a lot of people having a very bad day. Even Sung Dong-il can't do much to lighten the mood with his portrayal of the other captain on the doomed plane. Although it's not like Ha Jung-woo is that much more dynamic, with both of them just spending the bulk of their screentime in the cockpit.

Written by William Schwartz

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"Hijack 1971" is directed by Kim Sung-han-I, and features Ha Jung-woo, Yeo Jin-goo, Sung Dong-il, Chae Soo-bin, Moon You-kang, Kim Sun-young. Release date in Korea: 2024/06/21.