YeinJee's Asian Journal

Korean movie “The Best Moment of Our Life” was premiered on Thursday (Jan 10). The movie is based on the South Korean women handball team in Athens 2004 Olympics, which they defy all odds to reach the finals to play reigning champion Danish. The Koreans lost the game eventually on penalties after extra time.

The movie focused on the team preparation before the Olympic Games. The movie is directed by Lim Soon-rye and starred Moon So-ri, Kim Jung-eun, Uhm Tae-woong, Kim Ji-young and Jo Eun-ji etc.

The movie is also known as “The Best Moment”, “The Happiest Moment of Our Life”, “The Glorious Moment of Our Life” or “Forever the Moment”. I am not sure of official title yet.

The Synopsis

South Korea women handball team was once elite in the sport, but their reputation was fading away and was considered one of the weakest competitors in the Olympics. The Korean public didn’t give their team much attention as well.

The Best Moment

Former national team player Hae-kyung (Kim Jung-eun) returns to Korea to become the coach for the national team, which was made up of mostly young players. Hae-kyung invited some of her former teammates, including Mi-sook (Moon So-ri), to join the team in order to regain their past glory.

Hae-kyung’s old school training didn’t work well with the younger players, and led to physical confrontation which resulted in Hae-kyung being replaced as the national coach by Seung-phil (Uhm Tae-woong). With encouragement from Mi-sook, Hae-kyung swallowed her pride and rejoined the team as a player.

Seung-phil was formally a famous handball player and was coaching in Europe. He implemented a more scientific and European style training program, which in turn led to resistance from the senior players… [Reference]

The story plot is probably easily predictable because it’s based on a real life story. The team would off course work out their indifference in the end and to achieve a proud result.

I am eager to watch the movie when the making was announced in 2006/2007. I watched the real game when it was played in Athens, and it is one of the most memorable games of all sports that I have ever watched. I am not a fan for both the Danish and the South Koreans, but I love underdogs… so it was heartbreaking when the Koreans lost in the end.

When the Korean players were interviewed after winning the silver medal, one of the players was quoted saying “nobody will remember 2nd place”… well, the movie proves her wrong.

It was not a gold medal, but they could really live proud for the rest of their lives for their effort. Most of us won’t even have the chance to participate in Olympic Games… taking part is already something to be proud of.